Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-10-03
The Soldiers Of the Republic.
By HORACE GREELEY.

Z VI bub COuE Al1llOu9 OLp6EbOu6 QuuiluOu
to vote for Electors of President on the
eVeAtfuI eighth of November ensning, at
least half Million will on that day con-
front aa soldiers the serried hosts of the
Rebellion. or these, considerable pro-
portion will be deprived of their Right of
Suffrage by the failure of their respective.
States To- adopt their election lsNsvto the
exigencies of the case, while some others
will be SO located or so occupied that
they will be unable to vote. But, after
making the needful deductions, il is NOR
ally certain that between Two and Three
Hundred Thousand Soldiers, in camp, on
the march, Or IN the hospital, will ON that
day record, by. their ballots, their judg-
ment onths State and Needg of the Nation,
and that their votes will go very faE$p-
ward deciding the result. ~ This bec6f. .es, !,
then, q deeply interesting question 3" How
will the Soldiers vote n ri
The Past, is, 70 q great extent, mirror
of the Future. "The thing which hath
been, it is that which shall be.nn There
are exceptions TO this, as to all general
rules; but the antecedent presumption is
very strong that men viii, in given cir
do as like circumstances they
have hitherto done. s@&5Ht
Let us carefully consider, then, the man-
ner in which the Soldiers of the Republic
have hitherto cast their votes, 80 lar as.
they have been permitted to vote ut all,
since they enlisted in the War for the Union.
Pennsylvania alone allowed her soldiers
serving in other States to vote at her cleo
ton of 1851. Her soldiers than cas-, in oil,
IL, ,35I votes for the HUni6n;o 8, IF9 for the
l"Democratio" State ticket-pot quite four
l"Unionn to one "DemocrattG"C1 Su-
preme Court ultimately decided these votes
invalid; but that did not affect their sig.
lnificancs so far ss regards this inquiry. +
In 1862, the legal voters Of q few regi-
ments and companies voted in ignorance or
in isiancs Of the Adjudication above mo-
tioed. They give in all j ,S67 for the
"Union," 251 for the democratic" ticket.
And 10 1859, fiEe regiments, then stationed
at Knoxyille, Tennessee, held % volunteer
election, and cast 1892 votes for Governor
Curtin, HUnion, :, and 53 for Judge Wood;
ward, his sCDemocratic" competitor. These
votes, though necessarily rejected by the
cauysssers, may fairly be considered by
the people,. III - AF.G- ? ~ ~
The soldiers of Iowa. were in 1862 first
authorized to vote while out of the State
and they then east 4,sT4 votes foFythe
"Unfon" to q, ,116 for the "Democratic"
ticket-betWeent nthree,andsfourCt0o one. In
1868, they voted q. second TIME, aud now
gave IL ,o4I for ths"Lincoln" to 3. .004 for
the "DemocrRticn candidRtes-nOrs than
tive to one. Yet the Democratic" candi-
date thus badly handled was Gen. Tuttle,
then, fighting in thewaF, and who had writ.
ten much stronger War letter than Gen.
HcClellan's acceptance. In his own bri-
gade he was very badly beaten by his
stUnion" competitor. .e i.I 77
wisconsin in 1862 pOlled . soldier-yote
of 8 ,373 iRepublicAn- Union" to 2,046 for
the aDemocratfc,, eandidates-over four to
one. In 1863, .Lher regiments cast 9,267
votes for Lewis, Union, % for Governor, !; 70
TAI for Palmer, tfDemoerstic more than
tS5slps to one. lss ; idrr ~ ~, -.ifaei ..
Ohio enabled her soldiers to vote in the
field for the FIRST time last year; and they
gave Brongh, t'Union," for Governor, Al
553 to 1891 for Yallandigham, the "exile
and martyr'-at least eighteen to one. But
for. the losses Of her regiments In the des.
perate, protFaeted, untoWard battle on the
Ohicamauga, q few days before her cleo
tion, Brought . maiority would have been
considerably larger. The above aggregates
do not include the vote polled in the Libby
prison at Richmond-162 for BtouRh, none
| for Y VallandighRm-which could not be le'
gally counted.
Missouri in 1862 allowed her soldiers 70
vote undeT certain circumstances, and they
cast a. ,ls9 for the aEmancipa pationn to seven
for thes,.D .Demoeraticp ticket. In 1863, the
Missouri soldiers voted more generally
polling s,s2T ..tRadical, 70 ,7Ig tQopaeEYa-
| tiyen ballots. Many more=3,0 u Il
stated-Were rejected and suppressed By
"ConserVativeFs County Clerks who ad-
Judged them not cast according 70 the pre-.
seFibad forms. One Colonel in actual ser.
vice was q t.ConzegYatiYe' candidate AMI
polIed SO votes in his own regiment
California first enabled her soldiers :!
vote at the election Of 1858; and they polle'
fof Low, dUhinnn candidate for Governor
i I, ,f4s; DoWney, HDemocratic,n = 140.
Colorado chose q delegate 70 Congress
in 1852, aud authorised her soldlers to Note
tThey poIled B6f aRepnbileAnn to fVelu
TTilSrS kiess bsll6ts s' - = ~ =