Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-26

men cannot go fast enough was the gen.
eral comment.
Considering the exuberance of the feel
ing, the marches were orderly. Rigid
orders had been given the men concern
ing pillaglng., Hitherto they had con-
iscated as right of war, but the war was
over now and soldier hereafter had
right to chicken or a loaf of bread for
which he did not pay. This restriction
came particularly hard on those troops
who had been living off the country" 1t
was. perhaps. requiring too much Of human
nature to expect they should not now and
then break ranks and have riot Of chick
-en-stealing and hOuse-breaking. Their
punishment. if caught. was always severe
and humiliating. They were labeled pill
layers and tied to fence by which the
whole army marched. jeering and derid-
ing.
Hsppilyythere were but rare outbreaks of
this kind. and none of them very grave.
The occasional disorders more than
for by the real sympathy
the men showed for the poverty and suf
fering they found all along their march.
They constantly met haf-starved, half
clad confederate soldiers, painfully making
their way to their homes-sometimes
alone, often in groups of two three.
Not infrequently they found a WORKOUT
man dying by the roadside With these
men the federal troops fraterniZed in the
most kindly way. sharing their rations
with them, bespeaking horses for them
from the quartermaster often taking their
addresses and promising them help when
they returned north
The first large bodie., of troops to reach a
rendezvous We're Meades and Sherman's
armies, both of which. by May 20. were en-
camped along the Potomac, opposite Wash
ington. most of them within sight of the
dome of the Capitol. In all the two armies
numbered 100000 men. brought from the
field since the surrender of Lee.
The second step in the DISARMAMENT was
the preparation of muster-out and pay
rolls. Just what this entailed only those
who have examined the rolls can realize
On them every mans army history had
to be registered; his rank and age. when
and where and by whom he was enrolled,
when and where and by whom mustered
in, when last paid and to what time, how
far he had travelled. what subsistence and
forage he had been furnished, what equip
ment and clothing he had received, his alb
SCIENCES. special duties. promotions. wounds,
! llnesses-an array of figures. dates and
facts upon whose accuracy all the future
relations of that man with the War Depart
ment must be regulated. The mere print
! ing of the blanks of these rolls and of the
| discharge papers for the men was keeping
! the government printing presses busy night
: and day. while filling them meant work
| for hundreds of officers. and clerks. Every
| thing ready for this work when Sher-
| man and Meade reached their rendezvous
! and headquarters were at once established
| and the rolls started.
/ The delay necessary to making out the
Trolls caused everywhere a percentage of
! trouble. Why he could not be disbanded
| at once many volunteer could not under
stand. ne war was over and he wanted
| to go home. Why not let him go there
| from VicksAurg, Louisville. Washington ?
Why all this fuss and feather" The
| 'free-born American who. at the be-
| ginning of the war. could not under
| stand why one should not say hello" to
the colonel, now refused to see any reason
| why ranks should not be broken on the
| spot. This spirit showed itself now and
then in small mutinies. Castle Thunder
+, in Richmond and Old Capitol prison in
Washington were full most of the sum-
mer of 1865 of men who had made UP their
| minds to do their own disbanding, but had
| been restrained at the point of the bayonet.
y.
The men were kept in order by regular
| drilling and by many reviews. The great
est Of these was a grand review ordered
by Mr.. Stanton while Sherman's and
Meade's armies were waiting around
| Washington The Secretary of War