The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-27
wood AND THE HEROES OF THE
CIVIL WAR.
Military Rewards Under Roosevelt anu
Under Lincoln.


is singularly striking.
Either the military unities were very
much out Of joint in Lincoln's day or they
are out Of joint now. 1t has been seriously
argued in answer to the almost universal
outcry against Woods elevation as unde-
served if not unprecedented, that his prior
Volunteer commissions Of Brigader and
Major General fully warranted, il they did
not actually compel his subsequent trans
fer to the line Of the permanent establish
ment az a Brigadier- General, and promo
ton now by seniority to Major-General,
The weight of precedent, however, is en-
tirely against this theory. Nineteen-twen-
tisths OF the Regular officers, both OF the
line and staff West Pointers as well as
civilians, who attained to high Volunteer
rank as the civil war progressed were
coldly permitted to resume their lesser
rank in the permanent establishment when
the Volunteers were mustered out in 1866
No commissions as Brigaders and Major
Generals In the Regular army were show
cred on them. Through their Volunteer
rank some Of these distinguished soldiers
had commanded departments and armies.
and won notable victories in the field.
Conspicuous examples are worth reciting.
Rufus ingalls,. Grants classmate and per-
| sonal crony, Chief Quartermaster OF the
Army Of the Potomac almost from the be-
ginning to the end, had been In the service
about twenty-five years when the war
ended, In 1861 he had reached the grade
Of Captain and Assistant Quartermaster in
the permanent establishment, and by regu-
lnr No;n ,x,l nrfn
master when the war closed. But mean
while, with the rank Of Brigadier-G General
| of Volunteers. he had long been the leading
spirit in the Quartermaster's department
! Of the army in Virginia Ingalls, was a
valuable man, and his services were ines
Unable Yet he received no promotion
in the Regular establishment in reward
Of those services When the war ended
Gen. Ingalls, laid down his volunteer rank
and appeared on the army rolls as plain
Major and Quartermaster.
The case of Major-Gen. Horatio G.
Wright, another Regular OF the staff
department, is even more conspicuous
object lesson in this regard. In the
permanent establishment he was Major
of Engineers when the war began and
In due course had arrived at the grade
OF lIieutenant-Colonel at its close. But
in the Volunteers Wright had been general
officer almost from the outset, and had
commanded department and independent
armies. One Of the very ablest of the
Union Generals, Wright had participated
IN some of the greatest battles of the war.
1t was Gen. Wright who defended Washing
ton against the Confederate General, Early,
in 1884, 1t was Wright's corps which first
broke through Lees lines at Petersburg
on the I'd of April, 1855. Yet this brilliant
commander was permitted TO go back TO
his insignificant Regular army rank of
Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers upon his
muster out az Volunteer General in 1885
Thore are two or three other staff exam
pies which apply with great pertinence to
STAFF Officer Woods exceptional case. John
g. Parke, No, 2 of the class Of 40. a First
Lieutenant of Typographical Engineers at
the outbreak OF the war, in due course had
attained the grade of Major in that corps
at its close. But meanwhile he had been
made a Brigadier in the Volunteers, and
soon after a Maior-General. As such,
Parke performed notable, even brilliant
service as the war progressed; was Chief Of
Stan of the Army OF the Potomac for a time
commander of the Ninth Corps, and several
times temporarily in command of the Army
Of the Potomac, But he received no re-
ward In the Regular establishment for his
great services He quietly laid down his
high Volunteer rank when the war ended
and went back to his Regular grade Of
Major. He did not reach a Colonelcy until
March II, 1884. Parke's retirement as
Colonel so late az 1880, upon his own appli-
cation after forty years service, is a GU
riouS commentary on the wholesale pro-
motion and retirement of Brigadiers now
adays for civil war services thirty-five
years ago. Most of them we're Lieuten-
ants when Parke was an army commander.
Henry j. Hunt, the Chief Of Artillery of
the Army Of the Potomac, to whom the
Union chiefly owed it's victory AT Gettvs-
burg. probably, was a Major of Regular
artillery when the war began and only a
grade higher when it closed He was
breveted for distinguished service, but
received no real advancement In Regular
grades for these services. He returned
to his rank in the Regular establishment
when the war closed, and retired az a Colo
mel in 1883. Gen. Hunt may be classed
among the most distinguished Union SOL
ders Of the war
Major-Gen John G: Foster, conspicu-
GUS department and army commander
throughout the civil war, was a Regular
Captain OF Engineers at its beginning and
a jor at its close, TO which rank he came
down after being mustered out al a Major
General of Volunteers in 1896 He died az
a Colonel Of Regulars in 1874.
Foster was a hero Of two wars, having
limo del Rey, Mexico
Gen o. Nj Poe. who was Sherman's
Chief Engineer in the Atlanta campa Ign
and afterward, went back without further
advancement TO his grade of Regular Major
when the war ended. Upton, the hero of
the Bloody Angle" at Spottsylvania, who
planned the daylight attack and carried il
out successfully, died as lately as 1881 still
Lieutenant Colonel Of Regulars. As SER
vices are now measured Upton ought in
stantly to have been made Major- General
of Regulars in 1854
Other great records outside the stafY
without adequate rewards. rs rewards are
now measured, are worth studying. George
Crook was Captain Of Regular infantry
throughout the war But Ivy distinguished
ability he rose TO he a Maior-General of
Volunteers and department commander
He was conspicuous and often determin-
ing factor in several great battles, notably
that Of Fishers Hill Crook received no
advancement in the Regular establishment
for his remarkable achievements. After
his muster out OF the Volunteer G,rvice he
resumed his rank Of plain Captain of In
fantry.
Major-Gen. Joseph j. REYNOLDS Volun-
teers), fighter, an administrator an army
commander. department commander.
and the classInate Cf Grant, was rewarded
in 1868 for his invaluable services bv pro-
motion to the grade Of Colonel in the Re0,l-
lar army, And this great soldier and
scholar was retired az Colonel in 1877 for
disability contracted In line OF duty.
Alfred PleasOnton, n cavalry commander
of the Army of the Potomac at Gettvsbury
went back to the Regular ests bshment