The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1911-03-30
A TYPICAL VOLUNTEER OFFICER
The Record OfDne Enlisted Man Which
Is Duplicated bybThousands of 9th

A 1tlSAL VOLUNTEER OEElNER
The Record OfDne Enlisted Man Which
Is Duplicated bybThousands of 9th
ers.
Editor National Tribune: Serious OBJ.
; jections are made by a few old veter-
ans to placing volunteer officers of the
civil war on the retired list, because
Il they claim it would be making dis
tinction between enlisted men and Off
GERS, observation-disclosures favor of the lat
ter; but whoever. heard n soldier COM
planning because, the officers received
more pay than he did during the war
But was not this distinction made while
the war was going9on? If a Regular
Army officer may be placed upon The
retired list at certain age and no out
cry has ever been made on that ac-
count. why should not the volunteer
officer, who served his country in a
great emergency, receive equal consid-
Grafton? The Regular officer makes
military service a profession, his life
work: the volunteer officer abandons
his regular vocation, sacrifices his bust
ness and his prospects in great crisis,
| and when he has served his country in
4 her days of peril and relieved her mis-
i fortunes he returns to civil life to begin
a new career, and. like the private SOL
der, finds himself deprived of his form
err strength and vigor, unable to cope
I with his new competitors who fill the
professions and occupy the fields of in
dustry. all owing to the hardships, ex-
posures and privations suffered in the
service. And, further, is it not a fact
that the vast majority of officers in the
volunteer service, nearly all OF them,
We're men who first enlisted as privates
and won promotion by their merits ?
Pardon me- for taking my own case as
| an illustration. / enlisted as a private
| on April 8, 1851. under President Lin
coins first call for $4,000 men. I was
then boy not yet Is years of age. 1
served as a private in Co. e, 10Th Ohio,
and as such performed all the duties
| assigned to and expected of us. /
drilled, did guard duty, stood picket,
| deployed upon the skirmsh line and
| participated in the first engagements
| (1'll not call them battles) of the war,
Phillippi, June 3; Laurel Hills, June
| rs; Carrick's Ford, July IA, 1861,
where the Confederate General, Robert
| Garnett, was killed, the first General
of the war to lose his life. All this took
place before the first battle of Bull Run
was fought, and 1 was "in it, as pri-
vate in the ranks, with my knapsack
on my back and a Belgian rife in my
hands. We served out the time of our
enlistment, three months, and month
longer. Then we were relieved by the
new three-year- men, who came out
under the second call. We returned to
Ohio and were discharged. We re-
ceived cur pay at the rate of $11 per
month. four $40 gold pieces and the
balance in silver. Most of the boys re-
enlisted. some in the artillery some in
the cavalry and some in the infantry.
1 don't know but all of them re-enlist-
ed, and all Of them who survived, as
far ss i know the facts, became COM
missioned officers before the war closed.
Judging by myself, none of them had
any thought or hope of ever being an
officer, for they realized that they were
not trained for soldiers much less for
officers. l certainly did not aspire to
and did not dream of such a thing as
being an officer. i was content to re-
enlist as a private in Co. f, 74th Ohio.
There was not an officer of this regi-
ment who had seen any service when I
enlisted in it. but from the fact that !
had been in the first three months ser
vice and having consequently had some
experience in drill and discipline, my
Captain, Walter Crook, elder brother
of him who afterwards became the dis
tinguished Mai. Gen. George Crook, ap-
pointed me Sergeant, and set me tol
drilling the company. This was the
first recognition / had ever received
and the greatest honor that could have
been conferred upon me. For the first
time in my life my boyish ambition
was aroused, and then resolved thatI
by example and conduct and strict at
tention to duty / would achieve still
higher honors. In January, 1862, was
promoted to Lieutenant by the choice
of the company. who were permitted to
make their own selection from among
their number. At the battle of Stone
River, Dec. 81, 1862, I was very Sc
verely wounded, but on recovery rel
turned to duty. For my conduct inl
this battle my name was placed uponl
the Roll of Honor in the Army of thel
Cumberland, under General Order No
49,. issued by Gen. Rosecrans, COM
manding. In December. 1868, after the
battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Noun
tain and Mission Ridge had been fought
and while camping at Chattanooga, our
regiment (all excepting about 20 men) |
re-enlisted as veterans, and the Colonel
(Josiah Given) appointed me Adjutant |
On the Atlanta campaign 1 was again
wounded at BuzZard Roost Mountain. |
May 9, 1864. while at the side of the
Colonel, as the regiment was adyancingI
on the Confederates, who were pouringI
canister, shells and rifle balls into our
ranks. While lying in the field hospi- |
tai between life and death a communi- |
cation was given me, an official docu-
ment. What could it be? l hadn't the
remotest idea, for why should anyone
wish to communicate with me in my /
helpless and almost hopeless condition?
With feeble, trembling hands l opened
the envelope. 1t was my commission
as Captain, for which my brave and
noble Colonel had recommended me to
Gov. Brough, mot as compliment, but
for meritorious services performed" II
was a great surprise to me and most :
gratifying, giving me new courage and
hope, for / had almost despaired of
ever entering the field again; in fact, so
critical was my condition that I was not
expected to survive. The nurses told
me so, and a member of my regiment
who called to see me asked If he should
send my body back to Ohio. when l re-
piled: mo; bury Inc here with the rest |
of our boys" But ] was young. just |
81, pure blooded, a country boy. Againl
recovered and re1oined the boys"
after Atlanta had fallen and the battles
of Franklin and Nashville had been
fought. Before the war closed / was
commissioned Major in the same regi- |
ment in which j enlisted and served as
a private.
give these personal details of my
own career in the army, not to boast of
my services nor to appear on dress pa
rade. / have arrived at that time in
life when the old man is looking toward
the setting sun. The glory of the rosy
dawn and the yanities of this world
have lost their charm and ceased to at
tract his attention. - l an writing this
because my war record is analogous to