Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-09-12
COFFEE BOILERS"
BOUNTY PAID RECRUITS OF THE
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

What n Private Saw In the Field and On
wretches IN Line Of Battle - A Dis
graceful Crew.
The potent cause of the Generalization Of
the Army of the Potomac was the worthless
character of the recruits who were supplied
TO thr army in lS64-5. In 1864 acquisitions
calling for 5oOOOO troops were made on the
north. so thoroughly exhausted was the
breed of fighting men in the north that hut
10000 of the enormous uumhcT of men
raised by purchase ever stood in battle ranks.
and they stood there because they had been
unable 10 elude vigilance or corrupt the hon
esty Of the guards who accompanied them
from the recruiting barracks to the front.
Since man has been ON earth the race has
been divided into two claSsS, one of which is
the criminal class This class lives hy plunder-
ing the producing class. They live 10y theft,
by murder, 10y cheating, by pandering Ia the
ignohle vices OF men. When the northern
townshipS-inspirrd 10y confidence. and not 10y
patriotism, as the rising generation is taught
began to pay bOuntles FOR recruits to ill the
quotas allotted To them the criminal class of
America quit proving on soCiety at large and
turned their attention to swlndling the gov
eTnment They accepted the bounty offered
by the towns and enlisted. When the bOun-
ties were paid 10 them they deserted and Ell
listed in another town, to again desert
Bounty jumping was the safest and most
profitable business in the United States dur
ing those days. The boldest and most mtelli-
gent of the criminal class never appeared at
the front. They escaped The weak, the
diseased, the feeble minded joined the army.
They were the scum of the slums Of the great
European and American cities To these
were added the rakinES of rural almShouses
and the ne'er-lo- wells of villages. The
cruits were faint-hearted and stupid. Many
were ireclaimshle blackGuarClS, wholly given
over TO numerous ignoble and innumerable
vices. TLey were moral lepers They were
consciencelesS, cowardly scOundrels, and the
. clean minded American and Irish volunteers
would not associate with them.
Directly after the hattie of Cold Harbor
these pretended soldiers began to he notice
able in the Army of the Potomac. They were
not the heavy artillery men drawn by Grant
from Washington TO make good his Losses.
We had no better troops than those But
these men were the bounty paid recruits.
They We're the white slaves whom greedy and
unpatriOtic men, who preyed on the neceSSi-
slums, from Castle Garden, from the arn'-
houses, from the cots of venereal hospitals.
from the bars of criminal courts. from prison
cells and from the unnatural parents of
weak minded sons. After gathering the foul
creatures they kept them in pens and private
prisons. Over the doors of these foul dens
swung signs, and blazoned on them in gilt
letters were shameful legends which an
,,aunCa1 that u,itbip n rroas, dealt i'm allnogsl
nIcn, and that the honor of townships could
be pawned there. A Mississippi slave dealer
was refined and honorable gentleman in
comparison with a northern bounty broker,
who sold men to the townships which filled
their quotas by purchase. | have seen these
fOu! recruits many of them unable to speak
English, vermin-infestei, rough skinned,
stinising with disease their eyes running mat
ter, their legs and arms thin and feeble, their
hacks boS we'd, and their ratlike and idiotlile
heads hanging low, join the army, TO he vir-
tually kicked out of the decent commands
they were billeted on They were scorned.
kicked and cursed by the volunteers as NANCY
ours These degraded men formed the coffee
boilers
/ first saw systematic coffee boiling" a
sure sign that discipline was relaxed, at Cold
HarbOr. In the woods TO the rear and right
Of my battery groups of unwounded men
cooked and boiled coffee. TheSe men had
dropped out Of their commands as they alp-
preached the battle line and had hidden in
the woods There were sCOr-s Of them in the .
army at Cold Harbor There were hundreds /
Of them around Petersburg. Oh, these coffee .
boilers!7 How my gorge rises against them:
They sneaked away from their regiments
during battle or while marching To battle, to
rnjoin them when on the march They were
always present when TationS were issued
Thcy were never present when cartridges .
were supplied. They were. without excrp-
ton. thieves They robbed the dead They
stole from the living. They were strongly .
suspected of killing wounded men o nights Z
More cowardly creatures were never clad in
the uniform Of English speaking people. They
plundered houses. They frightened women
and little children. They burned dwellings
To call soldier of the Army of the Po: omac
a coffee boiler was an insult to lie promptly
resented
These worthless creatures weakened every
hattie line they were forced into No matter
how brave a veteran soldier may BE-, he relies
on the men on either side of him to stand
there until they fall He relies on them to
accompany him in the advance, and to he 10y
his side when slowly falling back before a
superior force. 1t is essential that soldier
hears the voices of his comrades when be is
charging He must know that bis comrades
are stanch fighters rs he. Then he can fight
with comparative comfort How was i with
the larger portions of the bounty paid rc-
cruitsi 1t did not lie within the power of any
regimental officers to hold these undiScIplucd
blackguards steady under fire Dozens Of
k,a,
ing away their arms as they fled, yelling. IN
the rear and to their coffee pots. They weak
ened the battle lines, as no man can fight
when surrounded by cowarSls who are easily
panic stricken, and who are unr,strained 10y
any consideration Of pride from ignOminiOaS-
ly running away Ia save their lives.
No man really enjoys a battle. One has TO
string up his nerves and take firm grip on
himself morally, and hold himself in the lat
tie flame for few moments until warmed to
passion. The impulse is to run out Of the
danger The men the bounty brokers SUP
piled TO the army had no morality, no seuti-
ment except of fear, and they could not and
would not stand fire. They desired Ia live TO
enjoy the spending Of the money they had rc-
ceived So they Shirlled, ard ran, and boiled
coffee in the rear until gathered up by the
provost guards and sent to their regiments
They were disciplined somewhat during the
winter Of 1864 and 1865. Previous to the
spring of 1865 the larger portion Of the
bounty paid recruits would not have been
worth burning Confederate powder to kill, as
their presence in our ranks impaired the eff
cheney Of our army. They could have been
safely killed with clubs.
After the battle of June Is, 1854, the ELL
listed men frequently discussed the condition
or the Army Of the Potomac. They sat ~
nights in groups behind the intrenchmemts,
and talked, talked, talked of the disinteSrat-
inr, fnrre which Grant rnmInanle1 Ennr-