The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-03-17
The National Guard of PENNSYLVANIA.
(From Washington dispatch to the new
YORK Herald. March g.

Ahc Nh'tOhdi Wudfu vi TenHSl lFhnIas
(From a Washington dispatch to the new
York Herald. March 5.
The Second division comprised
eighteen regiments of the National
Guard of Pennsylvania, composed of
young and well-made men and COM
manded by officers of experience i'm
the civil war. ltwas really in a strictly
military sense division, numbering
about seven thousand men, armed
with the Springfield breech- loading
mnskets, clad in the uniform of the
United States Army, equipped with
knapsacks, blankets, haversaclls, and
canteens OF uniform pattern, and pro-
vided with three days rations. In
short, IL was body of soldiers ready
for real service in any direction. 1t
took three quarters of an hour to pass
the reviewing stand, and the mon
otony of its appearance, there being
no variety save in the color of the blan-
kets, and the numbers on the flags and
knapsacis, was a disappointment to the
ladies and those who were looking for
bright spectacle; but to q military
eye it had that very quality in which
militia are usually deficient, viz: An
air OF reality. 1t was not so much of
a show, but it was very much like
L
made a strong impression in Pennsyl-
vaiiia, and this division is the out
come of it. The National Guard of
Pennsylvania has been entirely re-
organized, or more properly organized
since that date, and has had its uni
forms only year. They were OBJ
tanned from the United States on pay
nent by the State of the cost price.
Curiously enough, it is reported that
the Pennsylvania railroad, which suf-
fered so heavily in 1877, transports the
whole division here and back without
expense. The corporation appears
to have had its eyes opened as to the
value of really efficient force i'm an
emergency which may occur again at
any moment, and it cultivates a good
order. y Y
Whatever of military interest there
was in to-day's parade is found in the
regulars, the Pennsylvania division
ami the three or four organized regi-
ments and battalons from other States.
The rest of the blage had no mil
itary value in ITS present form. AS
for the regulars it is their business to
be soldiers and to devote their whole
time to it. 1t is generally believed
that they do So and that small as they
are in numbers, they are surpassed by
no army in the world in individual in
telligence, education, and general mil
itary efficiency. Concerning the mill
tia OF the country at large, however,
no such uniformity of opinion exists.
BY large number of people, at least
it is considered more for show than
any useful purpose. But the Pennsyl-
vania division, as it appeared to-day,
is open to no such criticism whatever.
1t ii is devoid of bear-skin caps and
other fancy nonsense in its uniform,
and it showed in every point of detail
the results of careful organization on
strictly military principles. In drill
the various regiments were unequal.
The marching of some could not be
surpassed. The marching of others
was poor The same variety was Oh
servable in the men. The faces in
some of the regiments were more in
telligent and the bodies more muscu-
lar and better set up than i'm others.
Taken as a whole, however, the raw
material in the men would bear favor
able comparison with all equal num-
Der of the United States army or any
other army and the drill of those who
was defective can readily be i'm
proved. Proficiency in drill is not a
difhcult thing to obtain. nor is it in drill
that the militia is ordinarily defective.
It. is rather in discipline and i'm mill.
tary habits and thoughts, in organiza-
ton and subordination of self that the
citizen soldier needs improvement. In
all these respects this Pennsylvania
division showed to-day all entirely
new departure from the old militia
ideas, for it was thoroughly organis ed
on the basis of accepted military prin-
ciples. The arms, clothing, and
equipments were uniform and of the
pattern adopted by the General Gov
ernment, whose officers are presum-
bly, capable OF selecting the best for
actual service. The officers and men
were known to each other i'm their res
pective spheres of command, and it
was all under one authority. Moth
ing but the experience of battle and
the traditions of former achievements
are needed to make these men trained
soldiers, and even this is not wholly
lacking, for although the men in the
rank are too young to have seen SER
vice in the civil war, yet a large pro-
portion of tie officers were educated in
that fiery school, the greatest school
of war the world has seen since Ma
po!eon's day.
Ii the present organization of the
National Guard of Pennsylvania can
be kept up for few years longer, and
constantly increase its efficiency in
points of detail, as it naturally will if
the organization is undisturhed, it bids
fair to at last solve the militia problem
in satisfactory manner, L. g.. to pro-
vide body of soldiery really efficient
in case emergency, either for State or
National purposes, and yet not wholly
to abstract its members from the pro-
ductive energies of peaceful occllpa-
tions. From a population of abont
four and quarter millions, Pennsyl-
vania sent here to-day seven thousand
well-equipped and organized soldiers,
or about one in six hundred of the
population. Could the great States of
New York, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana,
Virginia, and Kentucky, with their
population of fifteen to sixteen mil
lions, have an equally well-organized
force in proportion to their numbers,
we should then have in realty "a Ma
tional Guard, as well as a Stale guard
in each State, greater in size than our
regular army, Is il not worth while