Evening star., 1911-08-20
FIFTY YEARS ago
IN THE STAR

AAV AA~ ~ - 40 y
During the civil war many interesting
around the railroad sta
Station tion in Washington on
e. the arrival and departure
0ccncs' OF the troops. In The
Star of August IL, 1861, is a description
Of happening of the day previous:
Three regiments arrived at the depot
yesterday. The 14th Massachusetts,
| numbering 1.046 men, came in at a very
early hour in the morning. The corps is
composed OF companies belonging. for the
most part. to Essex county. and is COM
manded by Col. William b. Greene. Previ-
Gus to leaving the city OF Boston the
soldiers received their state pay. amount
ing to about $4,000. the process of paying
them Off occupying the whole OF Tuesday
and a considerable portion of the follow
ing day. The men had been all supplied
| with smooth-bore muskets, of the Spring
| field pattern, and some of the soldiery ex-
pressed great dissatisfaction. as they had
expected to be armed with the Enfield
rifle. Some of the men carried their
dissatisfaction so far as to destroy sew
eral OF the muskets. rendering them en-
tirely unfit for active use. 1t was rumor-
ed that the men acted thus under direc-
tionS OF some of their officers. but this
| has since been emphatically denied. The
colonel of the regiment is said to have
been quite satisfied with the Springfield
! musket. especially as it was well known
that the authorities could not, at the
moment, supply any other description of
| arms.
While most of the troops on arriving in
Washington were sent directly to the
camps and Notifications
white around the city, provt-
uy sions were made near the
o0S' station for the temporary
convenience and comfort of the soldiers.
In The Star of August IA, 1881. is para
graph descriptive of building called the
white house, used for this purpose:
This title has been applied to the large
building recently erected at the depot
for the accommodation of arriving troops
and has already become an institution
| in that vicinity. This building was con-
structed of the Inauguration ballroom
material and is well adapted to its in
tended use. The entrances are large
and almost innumerable, the floor is OF
planed pine well jointed, and the gravel
roof constructed in the best manner. The
building is nearly 300 feet in length and
about forty feet wide, and well lighted
with gas. In one end three baths, twelve
| feet wide and four feet deep, have been
| constructed, into which Potomac water
| is introduced. and the manner in which
| the dusty volunteers splash about there
in, after a long ride over the road, is
In the Mount Vernon cane factory. i'm
mediatelS adjoining, long rows Of tables
| have been put up and everything ar
ranged SO as to make 1t q complete dining
room. large enough to seat whole regi-
| ment.
! 4 +
| Considerable confusion prevailed early
in the campaign owing to the fact that
many men were original
Three-MOnth ly enlisted for short pc
| c.,1: RODS, the expiration of
| 0oAuACAS' which necessitated many
| changes in personnel and occasionally
| some trouble. as evidenced by the follow
| ing printed in The Star of August 10,
| 1861:
THE firmness and emphasis with which
Maj Mcclellan is rapidly disciplining the
| tested day by day in the camps of differ
ent regiments embracing men impatient
of necessary military control Thus, yes
| terday a portion of the ID Maine Regi-
| ment, pleading that they could not be
held in the service more than three
months under the terms of their enlist
| ment, refused for some hours to do duty.
A strong force was instantly detailed to
reduce them to proper subordination, and
| on its appearance before their camp the
obstreperous at once came to terms, obey
| ing the orders they had previously resist
ed, with apparent alacrity. Nevertheless.
| sixtytwO Of the most noted disorganiz-
| ers among them were selected out of the.r
! ranks and marched under a guard to a
| different point. to be sent to the Tortu-
gas, where they will serve for the balance
| Of their term, unarmed Men are requir-
| ed there for military labor, and as a mat
ter Of course those should be sent there
| to that end who cannot be trusted in the
| face of the enemy because they lack the
| subordination necessary to render soldiers
| effective in the field. The three months
| plea is based upon the idea that all vol
unteers are militia and that being militia
they cannot lawfully be compelled to
serve longer than three months at a
| time No argument Is needed to show Its
| futility. In this case the best argument
was certainly resorted to in the shape OF
| force, which the previously uncomfortable
saw at a glance must be obeyed without
question"
One of the anxieties of the federal ad-
! ministration, not shared by the public
because in the main un-
Sinews known beyond small
= W. circle, was caused by the
u wal necessity to raise an inn
| mense sum of money quickly. In The
! Star Of August II, 1861. is a paragraph
noting the negotiation Of a loan:
| Secretary Chase has succeeded In ne
| gotiating loan to the. government OF
| $50. .OOO, 600 on the terms offered by Con-
gress. 1t is to bear interest at 7.3 per
cent per annum. The takers are the
| bankers of New York, Philadelphia and
Boston. Fifty millions are to be ad-
| vanced now and an equal amount on the
1st of October and again on the LIST OF
December, at the .aker's option. The sue
cess of his negotiations cannot fail to
operate beneficially upon the value Of all
| the securities in the market. So far the
public have sustained the government
| financially as well as can possibly be de-
sired. We have no doubt Of the contin-
uance Of the manifestation of this COM
mendabIe spirit of llberality and sound
patriotism on the part of the capitalists
of the country, IL due energy Joined with