The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1901-05-24

malc"n'ents. We began to feel that
the Federal government, with its in
txhaustlbIe source "f supplies. was
drawing lis coil around us. Grur,b.
ling, while prevalent, was very un,
popular With the average soldier; We
felt it our DUTY to fight and nos fo-ter
adversely. Most uf our troops were
enlisted for y montis. and this fact
gave rrason for doubt among the dis.
contents. In few months Inc time
of certain Commands would expire.
and as they left the field the work
would, uf uoIrse, De heavier for these
remaining, and consequently VIC
would never have an army sufficient
to cope with that of the enemy.
The reasoning was better than the
pluck. The 'cNscript plan" had
not been concei. ed Yet. The R:ch-
mond Examiner. | think, was the
first paper TO Suggest tho pr"priety
of transcription" The greatest
biunder ever :naie by the Corfedcr-
ate Congress was. the passage If that
Act. lC threw diSc"nlent into the
army. even am ong the intelligent
volunteers. The volunteer Soldier
felt tuau his country distrusted his
loyalty to its flag. 1t was blow
from which the Confederacy never
recovered. 1t did not put an ad-
ditionnl available man in the army,
but Oh the on.rary, kept men who
might have done something out,
Tnere WAS lie, .rly as ,nauy men com
IniSslnnet anG detailed TO execute rhc
'conscrlpt law" as Genera Joh, son
lad before Atlanta in 1861. No
eIual number of men in the Federal
army done trh effective service for
the Unlo!, as rhey did.
Your re,ders may think that I am
oft the subject. but as these impress
sions were mate upon my mind at
that time. tank they are part and
parcel of rhe "Reminiscences of the
War. Many brave and true men
went into our army after the passage
Of the 'conscrpt act and did good
ser"icc TOO, hut they would have
gone just as readily without "con-
script law" as with it. Many men
who made good farm hands made
poor soldiers. We needed bo,h.
The volunoee,' soldier stood no longer
upon his nigh sense of honor in the
eyes of his counhymen, but was
doing Il service under compulsion
1t would have been better had the
Confederate Congress proposed an
unconditional surrender of our army
than to have passed rhis act: Our
rohlG wonHn were the first to feel its
sting. IL tore the son from the arms
Of his mother. and the husband from
The fond embraces Of his wife. The
poor invalid ran the gauntlet Of the
medical "xalnning board" only y to
be ushered into the army and to a
premature gave. lf produced a
spirit Of disgust that perlnealed all
classes of society, that found its an
tidote at Appomattox G. H., Va.
To prove our logic, we will say that
not battle fought exclusively with
volunteers whs lost to the Confcd-
eracy. The ''conscript law" alone is
responsible for the coinage of the
eHpr ession, 'rich man IS war and poor
mans fight"
A CHRONIC GRUMBLER.
Financially. as well as socially and
morally, oar army was m ,de up Of
all classes of men. Bill Blackwell
was a great talker. and men who
knew nothing Of his standing in the
community in which, he lived, would
pay great attention to him. He was
one Of the iEen with whom everything
went wrong: The rations were un-
fit TO ear; neither plentiful nor of
the right kind; the clothing furnished
by the Confedc, ate Government was
indecent and siaoddy. In talking
with meh who knew nothing of him
this was his text. sOne day | came