Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1864-01-14
From the Vermont Brigade.
CAMP OF THE VERMONT BRIGADE, }
January 9, 1864.


Editor Rutland Herald The advanc,
guard of three hundred thousand men
has arrived here. The first detachment
of recruits for this Brigade came on the
9Th inst, and about the same number
have reached here since that time. They
are generally fine looking men and much
larger than the average of those now
here. Few large or at least tall men
remain in the old regiments. Very few
deserted while on the way here. An un-
usually large proportion are French but
are none the worse for that. The French
and Irish make good soldiers, but save
us from Dutchmen. "Take any shape
but that
1t is surprising to see how soon these
men become efficient soldiers. Associat-
ing constantly with those to whom every
service is familiar, by the time their first
uniform has lost its brightness they are
almost as reliable as their more expert
enced comrades. Time and training
can alone insure proficiency in the
manual, but recruit who has already
sufficient knowledge of firearms to
shoot squirrel will get along very well
on the field of battle. .........
Exemption from disease is not the least
of the advantages gained by the recruit
in joining an old regiment. Few new
regiments pass year i'm the service
without losing many by disease, while
the recruits who have Joined this army
during the past eighteen months have
suffered little from this cause. This is
due partly to the fact that surgeons and
officers have learned to take care of the
men, but mainly to the fact that the men
have learned to take care of themselves.
Experience teaches the soldier many
little arts, not given i'll books, which
tighten his toll, lessen his hardships, and
preserve his health and thus the recruit
acquires with ease what others have
learned as the fruit. of a long and
costly experience. This is of more i'm
portance than is supposed. The young
soldier fesrs only the dangers of the bat
tie field, but diseaseis his greatest enemy.
A good illustration ofthis is found in the
report of the casualties during the Mex
fcan war by the Adjutant General, dated
Dec. Sd, 1S49. According to that report
there were employed during the Mexican
war an aggregate of 100,454 men OF
these 1549 were killed in battle and died
of wounds, while 1885 died Of ordinary
disease. 1t may be thought that the
losses in action during this war have
been, comparatively, much greater, and
if we were to credit the dispatches of
sensational newspaper correspondents,
of regiments decimated," I" Ass cut to
pieces" that went into the fight with
six hundred men and came out with but
fifty" &c, we might grant it, but old sol
dierS know how much such stories
amount to and are thankful that they are
not at the mercy Of these blood thirsty
knights of the quill, who think nothing
of annihilating regiment with single
stroke of the pen. But some one will
ask, g Did not our army lose twenty
eight hundred killed at Gettysburg 2"
True, yet that was but three to one hun
dred of those engaged, and that and
Charlottesville where our loss was much
less, are the only engagements of magni-
tude in which this army participated
during the past year, while perhaps as
many as hundred and fifty thousand
different men have belonged to it during
the time. Besides, this army has pro-
portionately lost more than any other
large army in the country.
| would not wish to depreciate the
real dangers of the battlefield, but there
has been so much exaggeration upon the
subject that it seemed few facts in
reference to it might be useful.
A.A.C.