National Republican., 1876-09-30
THE "B0Ys WHO WORE THE BLUE"-
WHO ARE THEYi

A convention is soon 10 pc nelQ at 1nulau-
apolis of the Boys who wore the Blue"
in contradistinction TO the one held there
not long ago by the "Boys in Blue" The
question naturally arises, who are these
new campsigners and where do they come
fromf A Baltimore cotemporary, the Bee,
independent in politics, alludIng to this
subject, says:
"Why did they wear It When did they
wear it? How soon did they skip out of 1t 7
These conundrums are likely to be suggested
by the organization of boys who once upon q
time 'pore the blue They assume that they,
during the war of the rebellion; were just as
patriotic as those who call themselves the
BOYS in Blue Were they? That is another
conundrum. There is a story that when the
Boys who wore the Blue met to organize,
one man proposed that every person coming
forward to Join should show his honorable
discharge but this was voted down, as one
man said claim agent had his, and another
said he had lost his, and several others said
they had sold theirs. We don't vouch for this
story, but a respectable citizen, who is better
posted on the late war than any other fndiyid-
ual in Baltimore, and whom we believe to be
perfectly truthful, has called on US to ask, in
justice to the Boys in Blue, that we publish in
the Bee certain facts. He said there were in
Fort Delaware and other places a large num-
Der OF Confederate soldiers who had been
taken prisoners at Antietam, Sharpsburg and
other battle-felds. Many Of them had been
sick ard wounded and had recovered in
hospitals. They became greatly tired of
imprisonment, and one of them, Robert
Rideuour, of Texas, proposed that they
should all get their liberty by taking the iron
clad oath, and entering the Union service.
They acceGed to 1t, ard were enlisted under
General Schoepf. All who did so were sent to
p,I vhero ha
put as orderlies ard attendants at Jarvis and
OF her hospitals, or they were put in the inya-
lid corps, or otherwise distributed around.
Some twenty or thirty of them stepped round
from one camp to another, and most of these
became bounty jumpers. When men were
needed for the Red River expedition, the So
C lied Third Maryland cavalry regiment was
ealisted mostly Of these men who wore the
blue after they had taken the iron clad oath.
This Third regiment never did any harder SER
ce than cat their ratiors. Five or six times
they were called TO assemble, but enough of
them could not be got together to be sent off,
but at last they did get one squad who started,
but when they got as far as New Orleans they
all deserted, and a week after Bob Ridenour
was keeping q store in that city, having doffed
the blue. If these are not the facts, then the
boys who wore the blue should rise to ex-
plain. Many brave and honorable man wore
the gray. No doubt some such afterwards
tOOk Ine nOn-clduu OaIn anu uOnneQ Lne Dlue,
but just now it is interesting to inquire why
they wore 1t, when they wore it and whether
they skipped out of it If they have anything
to say, the Bee is ready to do them Justice"
The correspondent of the New York
Times at Indianapolis, writing under the
impulse of immediate and direct observa-
ton, confirms the Bees statement as fol-
lows:
"Hour by hour It is more apparent that the
Democrats hope to carry Indiana by fraud,
and have no hope in anything else. Their
scheme now is to import voters from all parts
of the country under guise of attendants at a
soldiers convention on Thursday. So thor
oughly has Col. Friedley, chairman of the Re-
publican State committee, been convinced of
this fact that he has taken steps to have all in
coming trains on Monday Tuesday and Wednes-
day closely watched, in order to detect the
sort of gentry who usually attend Democratic
reunions. 1t is believed that Tilden intends
TO pour into this State every grade Of crimi-
nails from burglars to sneak thieves, under
the disguise OF Union veterans, in order to
scatter them over the State betimes to vote
for Tilden and reform. If the game succeeds,
it will not be for want of Republican vigilance,
but yet there is danger in It.. TIlden is desper-
ate, and he intends TO carry Indiana if he can
in October"
1t requires but little acquaintance with
the manifold notifications and despicable
trickery of the Democrats in the manage
ment of a campaign to decide after reading
the foregoing extracts exactly who and
n hat the Boys who wore the Blue" are
and what they are organized for. The de-
cision, however, will shock the moral
sense of every respectable and law abiding
citizen in the country. At the same time
the exposure of Tilden's intent to plagia-
rize in such cruel and ignominious man
ner the impulses which actuated these
brave defenders Of the Union when they
gathered at indianapolis will arouse such
storm of indignation against the Democ-
racy as will insure consolidation of the
vote of all the true soldiers Of the country
to the support of Hayes and Wheeler.
Pertinent to this subject is the Demo
cratic charge that the armies of the United
States, and especially cir officers, are
employed in advancing the Republican
cause, and the assertion that the rank and
file, as well as the officers, are Republi-
cans. The truth is that to great extent
during the past ten years the regular army
has been recruited from veterans of both
the Union and Confederate armies, the re-
suit being that large numbers of ex-Con-
federates are now marching through the
South or suffering the deprivations of
frontier warfare under the good old flag of
the Union. But the most pertinent feature
of this aspect of the case is the fact that
Uhila Wipfald Scott EaponnI a
general in the army, and Fighting Joe
Hooker are proclaimed as the leaders of
this Boys-who- the Blue movement,
not single officer of any rank yet re-
maining in the service has ever been
known TO aid by his presence
or the use of his name any Republican
convention or campaign movement At
the army reunions Democratic and Repub-
lican soldiers alike convene to celebrate
their respective anniversaries, and revive
sacred memories of the past. At the con-
vocations Of the Grand Army of the Re-
public only ex-soldiers are gathered to-
gether. But at no time and at no place
has political convention held in the in
terests OF the Republican party ever been
attended or aided by an officer of the army
of such rank as Gen. Hancock. Most as
suredlY, in view of the character of the
coming assemblage at indianapolis, he has
little reason to be proud of the distinction
which is thus conferred upon him. At
any rate, no thorough soldier will envy
him.
EDITORIAL POSTSCRIPT.
Lately a grass was discovered to cause in