The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-05
Contrasts of the Service.

The contrast between the Union and Con-
federate armies was very great. The excla-
nation OF the piogis southern woman on see
ing the Confederate army: ''The Lord bless
your dirty, ragged soulsl" expresses the feel
ing that every stranger had upon seeing a
body q southern soldiers. They looked ike
a mob. Their uniforms consisted of odd gar
ments originally intended to be worn with
those Of the same color and cut, but the de-
sign was not carried out for lack of supplies.
Hats and caps, jackets, blouses and frock
coats were side by side in the ranks. On the
Union side, after the abandonment of the
fancy Eouave suits in 1862, the uniform regu-
lationS for different arms of the service were
strictly adhered to, and the regular United
States uniform was supplied TO all the troons.
They were required 70 keep them in oroor.
The same with arms and camp equipage. The
standard Of the regular army was introduced
by the regular regiments and by the regular
officers who served with volunteers.
The war gave rise to many surprises in the
development of the efficiency of the differ
ent arms of the service and proving the ca
pabilites of men. The north began with the
notion that its problem was to be the sup
preston of local instructions; the south
that il would be called upon to resist coer-
cion and invasion. The Union leaders asked
for bodies of armed men to march, or stand
still and shoot, and the Confederate aimed to
fire the peoples hearts and incite them to
armed resistance. Every type of ability and
every kind of military engine were called
into use, and naturally where everything be-
gan at the primitive stage the fitness of this
or that arm of service could only be deter
mined after trial The same with men. The
military knowledge of both sides came from
the same school-West Point, Mexico and
the plains The fame won at Bull Run by
the Black Horse cavalry, and the Union reg
ular batteries, led to an appreciation of these
arms.
In the south the formation of cavalry and
artillery commands was somewhat of an ac-
cident Young men owned horses and men
were accustomed to travel on horseback
Their government could not buy mounts for
a large force and good humoredly yielded to
the inclinations of the hour and accepted
mounted men and batteries as fast as they
were offered. Furthermore, the different
states where government arsenals were l0-
Gated had seized large quantities of field guns
and equipments, and as the artillery volun-
teers furnished their own animals the organ
ization of this army went on rapidly and
without expense.
In warfare afioat both sides had much to
learn. The north had a small navy of wooden
ships and the south had to improvise one
from such craft as she could find in her wa
ters or buy abroad The Confederates had
the first real victory through an ironclad-
the Merrimac-and the north quickly turned
to the use of monitors and armored gun
boats As the seEfghts were principally at
close quarters rams came into general use.
On the Union side A. H. Foote, d. g. Farra-
gut, D. D. Porter and j. A. Dahlgren became
distinguished feet commanders, with the
rank of rear admiral The Confederates did
not maintain good feet at any point, and
glory was won by southern tars chiefly in
cruising. The south made three wonderful
rams-the Merrimac, the Albemarle and the
Arkansas-but their careers were short The
most famous cruisers were the Sumter, the
Alabama, the Florida and he Shenandoah.
George L. Kilmer.