The Portland daily press., 1874-05-29
Military Education.


To the Editor Of the Press:
The trouble at Bowdoin College brings to
light the sad fact that our young mon are grow
ing up untaught by the experience OF the late
war. When the rebellion broke out in 1861,
our State was almost without an officer or SOL
der worthy of the name. There were dozen
or more so-called volunteer companies, but one
half of these Immediately fell to pieces and
the other half served as nucleus for the First
Maine Regiment. In this famous old battal-
ion was gathered almost all the military wis
dom of the Western part of the State; and yet
in all that galaxy there were not six native
Americans so well instructed as the Seph.
omOre officers at Bowdoin.
We were then sadly in want of military men
with brains, and in our poverty we suffered
ourselves to be taught and our regiments to be
differed largely by men who had learned the
art of war by idling and carousing with the old
volunteers
Ii Bowdoin had adopted its present military
regulations in 1851, and had thus been able to
turn out previous to the war, three hundred
such men as will graduate this summer, the
benefit to the State and nation would have
been incalculable.
The war showed us plainly that we must de-
pend upon q volunteer and not standing
army. How then shall we get our officers.
We have but to cast glance at our companies
as they parade the streets Memorial day to see
/ that but few can come from that source. We
m ust look for men of superior intelligence
our best blood-and hence must go to the col
leges The nation can hardly survive another
war that finds us SO ill prepared as we were
in 1861 1t is well to educate our youth in the
peaceful arts and to sustain our colleges but as
State we can far better afford to let the pres
ent rebellious classes of Bowdoin scatter to the
winds than to suffer the college to give up its
military feature, and so lose for the future the
corps of intelligent officers that she will furnish
MS.
| We are most fortunate to have such a col
| lege in our State, and with such an officer at
its head We should be alive to the fact, more
over, that wars are possible and probable; and
that they are no pleasing diversion; we cannot
avoid them, and therefore must be prepared.
Our regular army is SO small that it cannot
| furnish even colonies enough for such an
| army as we should need in active service. The
college drill is our only practical resource; we
| must not let that be abolished.
Few seem to know, for it is not pleasant to
| own it, that the Southern army had better reg
mental officers than the Northern until the
last years of the war, and many of their victo-
| ries came from this The reason of this can be
| Inen into the army and these had received
abont such military education as the Bowdoin
| student now receives.
Since the war the military spirit has not died
out at the South, and she is probably. long,
long way ahead of tie North now in her abili-
| ty to furnish volunteer officers not veterans.
The present difficulty will not pass without
some good result. The public perhaps do moi
know that the military officer at BOwdoin is
popular with and respected by the students.
Doubtless he and Gen. Chamberlain can rene
dy any defects in the system and perhaps make
it more attractive. But the public should in.
sist as far as the public can that the military
instruction shall not be abolished
| j. MIG.