The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-01-18
WASHINGTON c, THURSDAY JANUARY 49,
FoRE1GNEss IN THE UNION ARMY.

FOREIGNERS IN THE UNION ARMY.
Editor National Tribune: The ex.
pfanation in your issue OF Oct. S, head
ed Foreign Recruits" In regard to the
number of foreigners in the Union
army. Is, to say the least, misleading.
Comrade Bishop Fellows made a speech
good many years ago in Chicago be-
fore an audience Of old veterans, quot
ing figures from the War Department to
substantiate his statement that the num-
Der of foreigners in the war for the
Union We're, all told. 100000. OF this
number 100000 were Germans. 100000
Irish. the others different nationalities.
You also say that two decades before
our war we had large influx Of Ger
mans, Irish, and English. and that the
young children they brought could be
called Americans by the time the war
broke out. There was only one decade,
as the revolution in Germany was in
the years 1S4S-49. and the immigration
commenced in 1850. and the children.
young at that time. could not have borne
arms in 1861 and 1862. The Germans
who shOuldered muskets were mostly
of my age at enlistment, % years; the
sons and younger brothers of those who
fought in Germany in 1849 and others
animated by the spirit of their elders
who could not go because of age or
want this country broken up into indie
pendent States, as they finally would
have been if secession had been victori-
Gus.
If State rights had been established
here We would have been in years to
come weak and quarreisOme number
of States with all the unbearable trou-
bles the Germans had to suffer up to
the war Of 1870. when they united. That
is the reason why SO many young Ger
mans, filled with patriotism for this
country, enlisted to help put down the
rebellion and make this country strong
union OF States. thereby showing the
crowned heads of Europe that if peo-
pie want to be free and are willing to
fight for their freedom, they will be
free. Such was the feeling Of that large
percentage of Germans who enlisted at
the outbreak Of the war, many more In
proportion to the number of able-bod-
led Germans at that time in the North
ern and Western States than Of the ma
tive-born Americans. The same feeling
prevailed among the Germans in the
Western States; they were just as will
ing to drop their work OF home-building
to take up arms when the first call for
men by our beloved President. Abraham
Lincoln, was issued on April Is, 1851,
proving that they had the true Amer
lean spirit, which Miss Minna Irving has
&
titled ''The True American" and which
for the benefit Of my comrades I will
quote:
"The True Americas.
[" 'Americanism is not matter Of
birthplace. of ancestry. OF creed. Of oc-
cupation: Americanism is matter Of
the spirit within mans soul.'-President
Roosevelt
HE need not first behold the day
In Georgia or in Maine
Among New Englands snowy hills,
Or Dixie's sugar-cane,
To be the nobIest of his kind
Since first the world began,
The best Beloved Of Freedoms sons,
A true American.
1.-The Norseman with his viking blood
And locks of yellow gold,
The German feeling in his breast
knightly courage bold,
The lad OF England's dewy lanes,
Or Scotland's ancient clan,
Each rallies to the Stars and Stripes,
A true American.
"It matters not the spot Of earth
That claimed him at his birth.
The open hand, the loyal heart.
The soul of honest worth.
The love of right and liberty.
The life that all may scan,
These are the signs by which we know
The true American"
-Theo r. Gelbart, Co. B. goth N. Y.
Midland Park. n. j.
In spite of what our correspondent
says, we still adhere to our first state
ment. Bishop Fellows can have no
later statistics from the War Depart
81,
ones have been collated. The muster
rolls Of 100000 eniistments show that
100000 were born in this country
OF the remaining 100000 $4,000 were
born in Germany, 10000 in Ireland,
$4,000 in England, $4,000 in British
America and $4,000 in other countries.
The great emigration of Germans and
panic Of 1897 when the distress in those
countries was very great, and was sub
sequently accentuated by the potato
famine in Ireland and the revolutionary
troubles in Germany in 1S4S. The i'm
migration to this country had steadily
risen from 1885 in 1920 to 79,34O in
1887. 1t then fell to 1891 in 1898, but
leaped up to 104,565 in 1912, and in
1S49 was 297,024; in 1851, $4,000, in
1853. 36S,645. and in 1854. 427,833
This emigration was largely composed
of young families with children run
ming from the babe in arms to 10 and
l 2 years of age, SO that the boys brought
by the 100000 emigrants between
1912 and 1854 inclusive were of just the
right age to enlist in 1861-65.-Editor
National Tribune
The 01st n. Y.
Editor National Tribune: l should
like 10 see a brief sketch of the 6lst
y. Y. In the columns of The National
Tribune.-C. II. Mitchell, Fargo, N. d.
The 61st \. Y, called also the Gin
ton Guard, was organized in New York