The times., 1895-09-27
THEY SAVED THE NATION
How the Proud Legions Went
Down In the War.
A BOIL THAT MEANS SOMETHING.
Some Startling Figures of the Calamities
of Camp and Fieid-What the Soldiers
Passed Through-About One Out of Ev-

cry Two Killed or Injured In the Conflict.
Copyright. 1861
The Warnings and those who with them
consider it an impertinence for spokesman
OF the Grand Army to say, "We saved the
nation" have thus far failed to enlighten
the liberal public as to who did save it.
Waring brought out one echo which declar-
ed that at the outside there are not more
than 90, 900 veterans alive who took part
In the fighting. 1t Is often asserted that
there are more pensioners on the rolls
than there were soldiers in the army at
any ono time, and so on TO tho end of q
long category Of reasons assumed for not
recognizing soldiers claims. 1t is also
stated that there are more pensioners on
the rolls than there are survivors, hence
many must be ilnpostors, and that the SOL
diers who performed but little service are
on the same plane as those who bore the
brunt of the fighting. IL point of fact,
there ere about 400, 900 surviving veterans
not now upon the roll, a number large
enough to include all the mon whose serv-
ices were so trivial as to give them no
claim to pension. The disability laws
make no distinction as to length of service.
The pension is for disability. 1t may
have occurred during the first day of q sol
diers term or at the end of four years
hard service. Only q graded service pen
sion could reduce the inequalities which
exist with respect to amount of allowance
for terms served by the pensioner. The
side of the veterans can hardly be set forth
with adequacy and still keep within the
bounds of self respect and modesty. They
went to the war voluntarily when the ma
tion was in danger and it was the nation
which spread abroad at that time, with
striking emphasis and display, the idea
that all who suffered for the cause would
be showered with benefits at the end.
Nothing was too good to say to the volun-
teers then; nothing too much to promise.
The nation was saved and it is startling
commentary upon the result if the people
today are unable to recognize its saviors.
Historians and descriptive writers have
labored to impress upon this generation
the services of leaders of certain armies
and of heroes of certain battlenelds. Yet
with all that has been written and re-
counted at the flreside, the risks taken, the
deeds of yalor performed, the sUfferings
that fell to the armies universally and to
every man in them and the daring expo
sure of life and limb for the glory of the
flag are but little understood and appreci-
ated by those who at heart wish to do
full honor and justice to the veteran SOL
diers. There were about 1900, 600 indiyid-
uals in the war, and it is not too much
to say that every man who enlisted had
but one chance in two OF escaping the hor-
rible evils of war. There. were $780, 900
deaths in all during service, while tens of
thousands died of the effects of service i'm
mediately after discharge. There were
also Ok0 000 mon xvorDdad en- cavaralv tO
be sent to general hospital for treatment
and there were 100000 cases of disease
treated in the hospitals. If half of the men
in the whole army entered the hospital,
every one victim to six diseases during
his confinement there, it would not be sur
prising. The war was long one, and the
Union soldiers were wholly unprepared by
nature to endure the exposure TO southern
climes OF the victims sent to hospitals
about 240 900 died. and it is reasonable to
suppose that at least as many moro were
brought almost to the point of death by
disease and that they left the service
marked for life. OF those hit in battle
there were more than twice as many re-
ooveries as deaths reported, and no doubt
1t would be fair to estimate the very dan
gerously sick who recovered at 1000
men. There were over 10000 men re-
ported missing or captured. OF course
those known to have died are included in
this report. They numbered 80, 900 among
the prisoners, iuavluy Iou,oUU SURVIVORS,
most of whom brought back from captivity
the evil effects of confinement and priva-
tion. Taking the four classes of casualties
to which every individual was exposed,
there were over a million, as follows;
Deaths, all causes ,..................... 519,O00
Wounded, recovered. d.................... 2oOOOg
Prisoners, survived. observation-disclosures. 10000
Serious illness mot fatal. D............... 100000
l,l50,OOO
Many would be counted twice or even
three times in this list, which is official,
except that fractions of thousand are dis
carded. But after allowing for all Of the
repetitions the startling fact remains that
nearly /, 1000. 900 out of the 1900, 600 men
who wore the blue risked all that makes
life worth living.
And it is possible to verify on an extern
sive scale the facts assumed as basis for
this argument. In tho 300 Union regi-
ments whose records are given minutely in
f. Colonel Fox's work, "Regimental Losses"
the showing of casualties is greater than l
to 2, taking the deaths, wounds and the
dangerous cases recovered on tho above
pltsn IJuCH vi thtSS IOsllllCnuo iOSO 1OV
men or more by death on the field of bat
tie. For the purposes of this argument
they are but typical. While there were
many hundreds of regiments in the Union
army where the loss of life in killed was
less than 100 in each, yet tho service per-
formed was one of exposure equal to any
and the execution in battle and elsewhere
as important.
Table of casualties in 800 regiments,
prison and hospital cases, not fatal, exclud-
ed:
MAINE.
Killed W'd'd. Died. Total.
LIST cavalry, 174 43 3I4 9j3
1st heavy artillery. 423 500 260 1913
Bd infantry....,...: 1874 855 49 6]S
9TH infantry....... 1T0 443 131 750
9th infantry...... 1853 966 102 62l
7th infantry....... 128 4T 2l2 767
9th infantry...... 1874 365 247 71G
9th infantry. 1872 462 239 SS3
10th infantry....,. 1Sl 678 259 10lS
18th infantry...... 207 552 163 o22
10th infantry..... 1872 col 194 8H
Goth infantry..... 1F 3S1 146 GA
8lst infantry....... lS3 AS I6 6Oi
The maximum strength of infantry was
1000 men, of cavalry and heavy artillery
1900. The long service regiments received
additional recruits The First Maine
heavy artillery and the Thirty-frst infan-
49, o,toro1 tho AoI1 a., 1914 ord tbair