The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1891-12-31
WAR TINE HEROES.
MINIMIZING 1He eouNtY."
IAN Army omoer Tells Some Remarkable
stories Of war Times,

DUMPING The BOONIr'
pAn-Army omcer Tells Some Remarkable
stories Of war Times,
and phat IA yer by Phalim doin'
now, Mistress Maloney9"
''Sure it's gov'ment employ he is
now, and Il foipe Job he has indade.
Every wake or two he comes home wild
lashins Of greenbacks and batthers
down the dure wild a new goold watch. p"
Faith an it is a nate job intirely,
and phwat do they call it2"
'Indade / disremcmber the exact
name, but / think they call IL 'lcppin
the bounty
Phelim's experiences IN 1858 was that
of a good msny thousnrds durinG the
hardest days OF tt.s great re bellion The
drafts o. sproj ~ the president were
beiaR rapidly enforced A man whose
/ name was on the fated list of conscripts
had but the one alternativs-ths ralSs
or provide a 'substitute. BY the pros
visions Of the act ofcongfcss authorizing
the draft, 500 was the allowance for
these Substitutes. But as the war pro-
crossed and everybody's name was on
the provost marshal's books-that is
every citizens name who had ever voted
or was an eligible voter-the price rose
in n~roportion.to the scarcity of ayailable
material for Substitutes, till i'll some Of
the suuf1cr stutas in NeN pgs-7
in many western neighborbed4 large
strfss-fron twelve hundred d6nnra 70
two Thousand dollars even, uofa. paid
by those who were drafted, and the
quotas Of each county and town being
duly II jorsioned, the citizens thereof
voted county and town bount.es, and
these sums, added to the state and ma
tional bennties, mdde np a very re-
Spectacle inducJment TO young men TO
enlist
This .states ,of affairs held out every.
tcnptution 70 u%npriucipled men to. en-
enlist for edo bounty kInsy such q
'hstmente were made by foreigners and
not a few Americans, most Of them with
no family ties and no regard for them
II they had, did the same thing. They
enlisted for the money, pure and
simple, and a little perjury here and
there was small matters to such elastic
consciences. The substitute was IN n
strange part Of the country, had sworn
to the fact that he was an alien pr at
any rate had never voted, and enlisted
only for bounty meant to desert when
he could, Another class was composed
of men recruited to fill up regiments
already in the field They received
similar large bOunties, and had no more
intention of fighting han the substi-
tutes had. and were in great part,
especially in cities, graduates from jails
and pen~itentiaries, good enough food
for powder If their teeth were strong
enough to bite a "hard-tacle."
When these men had passed their
medical examination, signed their en-
lishneut papers and duly perjured
themselves according to the law, they
were put into United States uniforms,
furnished with llanket, knapsack,
haversack and c~anteen and sent, under
guard, to some receiving depot where
they remained until they were for.
warded to the several regiments To
which. they we're accredited II In these
temporary depots, especially in large
cities like New-furlt, Philadelphia untl-
Doston, there was a complete reign of
terror. Strength and brutality were
uppermost Half a dozen r%uftians
would attack o small sized man and
take his money from him. To complain
was useless; it was impossible to identi-
fy the money or to fix the ~offense, in
general, upon any n individual.
From time to time these recruiting
dcpots were th;nned out by sending the
men to various camps until enough
were collected for any designated regi-
ment Troops from the east were sent.
to Camp Grant and Camp FayiUr, four.
or five miles from Washington, the
former being only for drafted men and
the other for substitutes and recruits
newly enlisted.
l had charge Of the latter camp dur
ing the winter Of 1S64-5. and of all the
angraeieasssorkI ever hadta do in the
army that vas the meanest. To start
with. | had control OF d shifting, vary
ing class of humanity, as hard a lot
as ever assembled in a penitentiary,
with none of the restraints which are
thrown about the latter place, with no
possibility Of maintaining more than a
s%eihblance Of discipline, had all the
responsibilities of u prison warden.
without his means of enforcing obedi-
encc, and | am satisfied that q year Of
such work would have .brutalized me
beyond redemption Asst was, / found
my character, not | trust an ungentle
one, deteriorating from day to day un-
der such debasing influences, and l was
truly thankful when transferred to a
more congen al line of duty.
Camp Taylor covered in all an urea Of
about fifteen acres, surrounded by no
stockade, but instead with an armed
guard of the veteran reserve corps, an
organization which those OF the present
generation know nothing. 1t was com
posed of soldiers who had been wound
ed severely enough to prevent them
from doing more serious duty in the
field. Many OF these men had received
very little bounty on enlistment; some
none at all, and it is not to be wondered
at that they felt aggrieved at seeing
these roughs with hundreds OF dollars
in their pockets, enjoying life after
their fashion, gambling and loafing
and idlinE away the slow hours, while
they, who had hofne-the heat aud bur
den OF the day, were living along,
wounded and getting a mere pittance.
Nor Is II to be wondered at, either,
that a hundred dollar bill, deftly adj
ministered by a recruit who wanted to
desert, should make his guards tenn
porarily blind for a few minutes or ac-
cidentally turn his back TO permit an
- Ln.lr Ill., ~ - a..