The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-02
A YOUNG MEMS WAR.

While, as the eye runs over the faces
of the men who wear the bronze but
tons, the evidences of age are every
where apparent, it is still plain that
the majority of them are yet under
sixty and between that and fifty, while
the youthfulness of some seems to cast
discredit on the claim that they took
part in the great war. But if one takes
off from their present ages the thirty
five years that have elapsed since Sum-
ter was fired on, it is clear that they
were then ranging below and in the
twenties. If we recall correctly the
age of the army of volunteers was
under twenty at enlistment and TWEEN
ty-three at it's expiration. This would
probably be too high an average for
those who responded to the first call
for troops.
And that it was the young mer Who
ones remained at home until, anyway,
towards the close of the war was but
natural. Youth is impulsive and hot
headed. 1t responds readily to appeals
to sentiment; it's conceptions of coun-
try and duty to it are fresher and
higher than they become after life's
struggle really begins and one finds
how hard and stern it is and how COM
PEELED self is to consult first it's own
needs Then there is for young men
a charm in the shrill music of the fife
and the tap of the drum, In the excite
ment of the camp and march, and even
In the thought of the battle, when afar
off. All their reading has associated
eminence, fame, glory with war, and
their ambitions impelled them to seek
fame by the same means. With those
of maturer years there were obliga-
lions of business and family that could
not be dropped suddenly and left to
care for themselves. There was duty
owed to wife and family that was fully
as high in degree as that owed to
country. The youngsters of those hot
days, seeing this holding back while
they were eagerly seeking chances for
enrolment, called it cowardice; now
they see that it was merely a com
mendable prudence
But the effect was to make the war
on the part of the North and South. a
war fought out by young men. Among
the enlistments, it is true, there were
men in and past the middle age. but
they soon succumbed to the fatisues
of the campaign and were inyalided
and retired. They made up almost
solidly the shorter term men. the hun
dred day and nine months enlistments
Youthfulness marked the field and
staff, as well as the rank and file. The
old officers were not equal to the oc-
casion, did not rise to meet the emer-
gencies, could not grasp the situation
Scott, on whom the North first leaned
as on staff, proved inadequate; Hal
eek was an impeachment. The man
was not ready-made for the occasion:
he had to be evolved out of new ma
terial; had to grow into the vastness
OF the enterprise, developing mean
while faculties for dealing with it.
Looking back on it now, one mar
yels that men so young should have
had the self-conf1dence, self-reliance
to assume the responsibilities they did
and that they should have been
thought capable Of carrying the i'm
mense responsibilities placed on them.
Who would now think his boy of nine
teen to -twenty-one could be safely or
evenly prudently entrusted with mat
tiers that boys of that age then jauntily
assumed and worthily executedf who
would commission a boy of twenty
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