Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-06-04
THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
AS Compared With the European Con
script He Is Another Kind of Man.


Military officers who have come
from abroad to witness the operations
of the army and navy are more sur
prised by the volunteer system than
by anything else they see. The con-
fdence reposed in it also excites their
wonder. In Germany and France
every able. bodied young man is taught
the duties of soldier under compul-
sorry laws. But in the United States
conscription is almost unknown. Even
in the Civil war it was not resorted to
until the latter years of the struggle.
In short time this country will have
2SO, 900 men in the army and over TO-
900 in the navy. Not one is serving
without his own free consent. The
first preliminary to enlistment is the
decision of the individual that he
wants to enlist. Six weeks ago our
army consisted of $4,000. 1t has been
multiplied tenfold and not man is
with the colors against his will. The
volunteers who have come forward
are numerous enough to fill both calls
of the president, and If more are re-
uuired the quotas will be met without
recourse to draft.
When the foreign officer witnesses
this uprising be admits that the United
States occupies a peculiar position.
In numbers the volunteers are unde-
niably ample. But he doubts their
value for speedy service. He calls
them raw levies. The phrase in
America has meaning different from
that attached to it in Europe. The
American volunteer is fighter effect
i've after a very short training. A
hundred years of history attest this
fact. The Revolution was begun by
"embattled farmers" Wellington's s
veterans were terribly defeated at
New Orleans by American fighters
but slightly trained as soldiers. In
the Mexican war our volunteers under
Scott and Taylor advanced rapidly in
the face of largely superior force
and frequently stormed difficult posi-
tions. The mass of the troops on both
sides in the Civil war were volunteers,
and they fought the greatest battles OF
the century. In courage, Intelligence,
endurance and persistence the Amer
lean volunteers have never had su-
perior in any of the armies of the
world. The country calmly believes
in them because it knows what they
have done on hundreds of fields.
Furthermore, a large number of the
volunteers assembled in the camps are
carefully drilled. In addition TO the
regular army not less than 10000 OF the
national guard are incorporated in the
volunteer regiments. Thousands OF
those called raw recruits are marksmen
and accomplished horsemen, equal to
all demands. In this broad company
of As states, several as yet hardly con-
ouered from the wilderness, a hardy
and varied training in outdoor life is
often a necessity. When a foreign
officer looks upon division of Amer
lean volunteers and is told that they
have been enlisted but a month or two
he is poor observer if he can see
nothing there but gathering like that
of young conscripts in Europe. The
moral handspring is not the same, the
material is far more mature, resolute
and powerful. What the American
volunteer has done in the past he can
do again. All that is necessary is to
direct his splendid energies Alright. He
will then accomplish all that is within
range of the possible.