Washington sentinel., 1899-01-07

| q ulSundL ldlluACs C'llG ASS iiAA@AI
mutinied under FIRE and forced tn
surrender Of the forts below New
Orleans and the other tour, atte
losing nearly all the men, origin
/ ally enlisted, by desertion, had t
be filed up with men from othe
regiments or by conscripts.
On the other side, / have never
heard that the regulars proved tc
be as good soldiers as the volun.
teers. It was a common saying ot
the Contederates, that they had a
very soft thing when they only had
regulars to fight. The transfer of
discontented volunteers to the reg
ulars did not tend to improve their
quality, as was soon found out. 1t
was to the interest Of the volunteer
officer to dump, in this way, the
worse material on to G reg ulars.
Do not suppose tina. / mean by
this criticism to impugn the worth
Of the regulars, either of officers,
commissioned or no1-commis-
stoned, in the Civil War. The
only meaning l wish to convey is
that they showed to much
greater advantage when command
ing soldiers recruited from their
own State and surrounded by their
own relatives, friends, fellow towns
men and fellow countrymen. To
show how they entered into the
organization of the Confederate
army, my own State, Louisiana, is
an instance. OF the thirty one
regiments Of infantry raised in the
first year OF the war, seventeen were
commanded by colonels who had pre-
viously held commissions in the United
Stated army (eight OF whom were
graduates of West Point, three who had
held commissions in the French army,
1.-TWO of whom had graduated at the
Ecole Polytechnique and the other at
ST. Cyr), two who had been officers in
the Prusslan army and both graduates of |
military schools, and one ex-officer OF |
the United States navy, who was also a
graduate of Annapolis. OF the others, |
all were graduates of military schools |
or had seen service previously in the |
war. Fully five per cent. Of the officers |
and men Of these 81 regiments, [ am |
had previously served IN the |
United States army either as officers. |
officers or prlvates, |
commanded a company for a time |
during that period, of which half the
men had been recruited from the forces |
hat had been surrendered by General |
Twigg. Every noncommissionedo officer
IF the company previously served in the
United States army, 1t was Child's
,lay for these men to organize that
ragged but Incompatible infantry"
The men elected the company officers
md the captain appointed the noncom-
officers. The company officers
hen elected the field officers and the
Executive appointed the general and
taft officers. In the exercise of that
ight the Executive was held in check
" public opinion. All the brigadier /
generals appointed from Louisiana in
he provisional army of the Confederate
states were promoted from colonelcies
With one exception. f. T. Nichols was
romoted from a lieutenant colonel over
he head of his colonel, II. B. Kelly. |
Ormerly first lieutenant Of the Tenth |
jnited States infantry. This,promotiou |
revoked very little criticism as the
,rmer was a graduate of West Point
nd had been senior to his colonel IN
he United States army. The appoint
lent OF Richard Taylor, son Of Zachary
'aylor, former President OF The United
tates, rom a colonel to brigadler
eneral, though, did create burst ofin.
ignation from the officers Overslaughed.
was denounced as a piece Of gross
epotism, as he was connected by mar
age with President Davis, who had
cen married to his sister. BTigadier
General w. II. T Walker, former
Iajor of the Tenth regiment United
tates inlsntry, who was relieved from
lie command ofthe brigade to thus
ake way for the promotion Of its junior
,lonel, promptly resigned in a caustic ,
tier which when published reflected [
,ry severely on the appointing power. r
herson Davis saw his error, and after {
nding TAYLOR to the Trans Mississippi {
apartment, Teappointed Walker a c
ajor general, giving him the strongest G
vision in the Western army to COM l
and d
After a careful study Of the mode OF v
pointing officers in the different armies
the civilized world. and taking into
our peculiar institutions,
pronounce IN the organization of U
DIVISIONAL armies in favor OF the cleo q
IN system. The men to elect their {
mpany officers, the company officers q
elect the field officers, and the field o
icers to elect the general officers. p
ter the first organization is effected, q
promotion by seniority and the Il
caucy Of the lowest grade, that OF u
cond lieutenant, to be filled by election p
the men, Appointments limited to G
e noncommissioned officers Of the u
mpany 5v the captain, nOncommis II
,ned staff by the colonel and general .
lh by the general. 1t was by pursuing Il
is system OF election that the revolu- e
mary government Of France towards II