Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-30

government and that many borne upon the
pension rolls, though needy and destitute,
should be stricken therefrom. These so-called
latter-day patriots and reformers alege that
the soldier and sailor were paid in full for ser
vice rendered and that thirteen dollars month
was sufficient compensation for the same. They
put under their feet all considerations Of
loyalty and patriotism. that. with a few ex-
ceptions. all who enlisted were lmbued with
those sentiments alone. In settling snch qnes-
tions we say to them. "Put Yourself in the place
of those whom you would decry." In the
words of comrade of this department, who
stands as an authority upon such matters, and
as an evidence that the pathways Of the vet
Grams of the war for the Union were not strewn
with flowers. desire to give a portion of the
history OF one regiment in our army: The
fifty-seventh Massachusetts left the state as
late rs April Is, 1864. Mark the date: April
lS, 1864. 1t had in it 1852 men. This
is another number which l wish you to note
1852 men. May g. before the regiment was
three weeks from the state, 1t was in the center
of the bloody hell of the Wilderness. and when
its maiden fight closed fifty-seven of its men,
bers lay stark and stiff upon the blood-soaked
sand, $50 others had received more or less ter
rible wounds and thirty more were missing"
either killed or captured. That Is. nearly one
fourth of the original number of the regiment
were knocked out inside of three weeks. Six
days later, at Spottsylvania Court House, it
went through another terrible ordeal, in which
it lost thirteen killed. fifty-ive wounded
and four missing, and on May Is, just
O month after it babe farewell to Massachusetts,
it lost three killed and fourteen wounded. Thus,
within one calendar month of the regiments
departure from the state it had lost out Of the
1862 men who followed its flag seventy
three killed. OPT wounded and thirty -four miss
ing-334 in ALL or about one-third Of its num-
which in any European army would have
prevented any call f'r it to do any
more fighting, and would havo given it
an honorable, well-earned place in the rear-the
remainder OF the regiment went steadily and
calamity forward, taking its full share of all
of the Army of the Potomac from the Kappa
hammock to the James one long. CHASTITY harvest
field Of death.
BY the time of the battle of Poplar Springs
Church but seventy of the regiment gathered
around its colors, and of them four were killed.
When we come to go over the rolls of this regi-
ment, We find that in a few months it lost 201
killed, SIS wounded and sc by death in prison
or from disease incurred by hardships; that is,
ont of 1.052 enlistments S02 men had in much
less than one year after enlistment been killed,
wounded Or had died; that is, four out of every
five of the men who gathered around the flag
in April, 1864 in all the pride of their vigorous
youth. were, before the year ended. either
molderlng In shallow graves in NiIginia's soil
or dragging out lives of pain and privation re-
sulting from wounds received in action.
ANOTHER REGIMENT.
The fifth New York volunteers, Duryce
Zouaves. the regiment in which had the honor
of serving, was caught in the cyclone of battle
at Second Bull Run. and, in the endeavor to
stay the progress of the rebels, lost 297 killed,
wounded and missing within ten minutes. This
WAS more than 80 per cent of the entire number
taken into action The first Maine heavy artillery
at Petersburg out of 800 men taken into a
charge lost 632 killed and wounded. To all
those who would say that the monthly stipend
received by our country's defenders in the late
war. considering also that it was paid in a de-
precIated currency, was in full OF all demands,
l say, put yourself in their places and take their
chances. IT this was ompensation for the loss
OF arm or leg, or for shattered health, then
must be put aside all appeals to patriotism in