Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-06-23

a |
and fighting qualities. Regiments. occupying
by common consent position above a
Others for efficiency in the field and pluck an
Il determination in battle. These character
istics will generally be found traceable to tw,
prime eluses. FIRST, tue material of which
the regiment is composed, and second, tn
method pursued in its early education. Wher
. the material was good ard the early com
manders good soldiers the highest etilcienc.
results. We can also recall instances wher
the material being excellent the regimen
failed to make a distinguished record 10
themselves, simply from the fact that incl
instructors, the colouels-the fathers-wer
not the right men in the right place, neve
saw regiment of this kind so situated, Win
out experiencing that kind OF pity when ONT
always feels when seeing bright, handsome
boy going to ruin from the lack of the right
| kind of early training
K Still further, we can recall instances where
the material being inferior, the regi
ment nevertheless made brilliant
record for itself, and attained ;, q
national reputation, esimply from having the
| right kind of commanding olncer, VINO, up
hill work though it was, succeeded IN mould
ing the material, by careful painstaklng LABOR
into an efficient organization, ready and Will
ing when the time came to perform its work,
and TO recognize the importance OF that drill
and discipline, the use OF which never fails to
demonstrate itself 10 the first battle.
And right here 1 desire 10 give test:
mony to the appreclative intelligence OIL
the mass of our volunteer soldiers
la my experience during the war | was often
struck with the listless, don't care manner
in which many volunteer regiments went
| through their drills of instruction. On a
close inspection discovered that the secret
laid in the commanding officer: who was try
ing to teach ignorant men something oil which
he himself knew nothing. 1t did not take
long for the men in the ranks to discover that
the colonel not only knew little, but frequent
~ less than they knew themselves. How,
under the circumstances, could we expect the
drill 10 be ANYTHING but listlesS. 1t was per-
fectly wonderful to sec the magical trans
formation which took place when a COM
manding officer who understood his business
took hold. Then everybody seemed TO wake
up, and 20 matter how unpopular and deteste l
| the "old man" might be, not private IN the
| ranks but who listened to the words oil COM
mand, wondered how it was going to be exc
cuted, sneered at some supposed snarl into
| which the colonel had gotten the regiment
| and reioiced with one voice at the successful
| manner in which "lhe Internal old scoundrel"
untangled the concern by his knowledge OF
tacticsi / have known OF commanding
officers SO thoroughly detested by their com.
mauds for rigid enforcement of discipline
L
that the colonels first fight with them should
| be the last, and 10 and behold when that first
| fight came and they witnessed,on the field OF
battle, the effect of that schooling throng b
| which they had been put, they felt more like
falling down and worshipping the desplsed col
onel than of numbering him. Generally under
these circumstances it required only ore
battle to establish that species OF accord be
tween the commanding officer and his COM
mand, which lies at The root OF all discipline.
After that the men were always great deal
more anxious about the life of their COM
mandiug officer than they were OF their own
lives.
You will perceive from what have already
said, that of the two important elements 60
ing towards tine formation OF an efficient vol
unteer regiment, material and commanding
Ger, regard the commanding officer as
the more important, and Of the three classes
which have enumerated,
First-Good material, ard good command
ing officer.
S.cond-Poor material, and good command
ing officer.
Third-Good material, and poor command
ing officer.
1t is, l presume, almost superiluous Tor us TO
say to You survivors Of the First Minnesota,
that place your regiment rs belonging to the
first class. The best evidence OF the kind OF
material OF which q regiment is composed is
that furnished by its conduct on its lrst held
| of battle, if it happens ogo Iutoa hight before
it has had sufficient opportunity for organi,
cation, drill and discipline. Your regiment
was organized and mustered into the service
of the United States In April 1861, and You
first went INTO battle on the now famous field
of Bull Run in the following July. Last year
| | had occasion, at the request of your brigade
| commander on that field, Gen. VIM. u. Fran X
| lin, to hunt up his report of the part taken by
his brigade in that action, and amongst the
papers of the late Gen. Gormau, your nrst
| coloneD copy of the report WAS iouud. lu
| il is this paragraph:
"The Minnesota regiment moved IRON lis
position on the right OF the field to the
support OF Ricketts, battery, and CALAMITY
engaged the enemy at that point. 1T was SO
near the enemy's lines that friends aud foes
were for a long time COMPOUNDED. The regi-
ment behaved exceedingly we'll aud finally re-
tired from the field in good order The other
two regiments of the brigade retired in con-
fusion and no efforts of myself or staff were
successfulin rallying them.
~ respectfully refer you to Col. Gorman's
report for the account OF his regiments be-
hayior and the good conduct of his officers
and men,"
As one, the greater part of whose life has
been spent in the profession of arms, assert,
without the fear of contradiction, that no
| body of men when for the first time under fire
| and SO soon after their first formation into
military organization, could be stated by COM
petent military authority TO have behaved
exceedingly we'll and finally retired from the
| field in good ORDER" in the midst of dire con-
| fusion all round them, without its being
taken as conclusive evidence of the fine ma
| terial of which that body was composed. You
| therefore embodied in your ranks the first con-
dtions of al efficient organization, and your
| first battle gave promise of that future renown
which you afterwards gained in that brave
old Army of the Potomac, where, in the
struggle for pre-eminence Tor bravery and dis
cipline, competitors were SO plentiful.
| With this good material on which to work
| I need only refer to the list of distinguished
soldiers who successfully commanded the
regiment, 10 show that you possessed the Sec
| ond element to success. And it is not remark.
able that, IS these commanders were success
siyely taken from your head and assigned to
higher commands, the leaven which they and
| you had impaired to the mass, had worked up
others capable OF worthily filling their shoes
and aid in maintaining that reputation which
at the close OF the war had become national in
its character.
NV ACQUAINTANCE with the First Minnesota
commenced on the field of Antietam, when
witnessed the advance of the division to which
it belonged under that brave old soldier, John
Sedgwick, and directly under the eye OF that
other brave old soldier, Z V. Sumner. None
of you who were there will probably ever
FORGET the forward sweep of the division over
the open ground to the south of the now his
I toric corn field across the Hagerstown pike,
and into the woods beyond. Nor will you
forget how when you reached these, you were
met by whitening fire from behind Lodges OF
rock, before which no troops could stand,
simply because the best troops will BOT long
stand against destructive fire to which they
forget the terrible spectacle of that fine old
division going to pieces amidst perfect storm
of bullets, bursting shells aud whistling can
mister. The best of troops will break some
times, and right here the advantages of dis
cipline come in. Poor troops break and 20 to
!, pieces and are not again seen on the field