Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-01-04
Proportion Of Native and Foreign
Elements In the Union Armies.

At the late New England dinner in
New York, DIR. Bellows, President Of the
Sanitary Commission, made the follow.
ing statements, as reported in the
Evenipg Post. DR.. Bellows said:
. "No less than thirteen millions of
money passed through his hands for the
relief of the widows and orphans of the
brave men who fought these battles in
the late struggle. He would state a
circumstance that would scarcely be be-
lieved unless it came from authority,
that no less than ninety per cent. who
fought throughout the war were purely
American. He did not think his friend,
the President of the st Patrick Society,
would be obliged to him for this state-
ment, but it was, nevertheless, the truth,
and if his worthy friend was chagrined
with the statement, he would say TO him,
it is SO; but let the London Times put
that fact in its pipe and smoke it. More
than that, more than ninety per cent of
the claims of wounded soldiers and sol
diers' widows and orphans came from
those of foreign birth. He did not say
this to reflect upon the gallantry aud
loyalty and bravery OF the Irish and
German and other people who had so
nobly fought for the Union and the
country they had adopted. He merely
did it at this time--at the close of the
great events through which they had
passed-to vindicate the character and
patriotism of the native element, and to
disabuse those powers abroad who
imagined or wished to please them
selves or their subjects with the idea
that the great American struggle and
the great victory which closed it was
achieved by the foreign element of the
country. This was not so. With all
thanks and gratitude to the Irish, Ger
man and other elem ents that entered
the struggle, he was bound to make
this declaration at the present time"
The Post adds:
sufficient reply to the English journals
which have had the audacity to assert
that our war for the Union was fought
by foreigners hired for the purpose. The
proportion of adopted citizens in our
army was perhaps as great as we could
have expected, for it was not to be ex.
pected that the head Of an Irish or Ger
man family just arrived would leave his
wife and children who depend on his
daily labor, and enroll himself as soil
der to fight for institutions the bless
ings of which he had scarce time to ex-
perience, and in behalf of which he
could, therefore, be expected to feel no
great enthusiasm. But the great truth
that the Union was defended and the re-
nellion put down by men born and
brought mp under our institutions re-
mains an established fact, honorable
both to them and to the country, for
which so many of them nobly laid down
their lives.
The other point--that small as was
the proportion of men of foreign birth
who went as volunteers into the service,
ninety in a hundred claims for relief
made by wounded soldiers and the wild
owa and orphan children of soldiers,
have come from persons of foreign Dirt a
lis, perhaps, even more remarkable. It.
should be observed, as in part account
ing for this, that the emigrant in this.
country is generally poor man, and
has no relatives who might contribute to.
his support or provide him with occupa.
ton. But even making that allowance,
the fact stated by De- Bellows demon
strates the superiority of our institutions
over those of the monarchies OF the old
world in rearing up self-reliant race of
men, full of resources, unwilling to de-
pend on charity, and ingenious in de-
vising the means of dispensing with its
aid. ~ g.