Omaha daily bee., 1917-10-14
RECRUITS RUSHED
TO FRONT IN 1854
No Cantonments and Men Were
in Battle a Few Days AZ
ter Enlistment; Veterans
Contrasts Times.

New York, Oct. i3.-Among the
groups of veterans of the civil war,
the talk of these days is given a good
deal to the discussion of the methods
of handling recruits in the days of
1861 to 1865 and those in vogue at the
present time. There were no canton
ments in those days and the enlisted
men went to the front frequently with
in a few days of their entering the
service. The transportation in the
days of the rebellion was markedly
crude in comparison with today, when
cattle are often carried on better cars
than were furnished for the soldiers.
There was never any contention as
to who was to occupy parlor cars, for
no officer gcing to fight for his coun-
try ever had seat set apart for him,
but was glad to get seat made of
board or conhscated cracker box or
barrel in a freight car.
In Temporary Barracks.
The headquarters of a regiment in
the times of enlistment for the civil
war was in temporary barracks, usual
ly in the capital city of the state to
which the boys were accredited. and
they were sent to the front as soon as
possible. Men have been known to be
at the front and in battle in four or
five days, and there are many in
stances on record of a soldier being
killed or wounded in ten days after
he had signed the enlistment papers.
At least one instance is recorded of a
colonel being killed before he or his
regiment was mustered into service.
That was Colonel Ellsworth of the
famous Zouaves, who was killed in
Alexandria, Va, for resisting the pull
ing down of the American flag.
There are instances of men now liv-
ing in Brooklyn, members of Grand
Army posts, and who, when talked to,
preferred to have their names with
held. One man was only in the serv-
ice few days when, in battle, the
premature bursting of shell deprived
him of both his eyes.
Lived to Old Age.
He was totally blind from the time
of his seventeenth year and he lived
to be quite an old man, dying only a
few years ago. Corporal James Tan
ner, as many of his comrades know,
was but short time in the service
when he lost both legs and has walked
without crutches, using only a cane,
for considerably more =. than fifty
years. A mother who gave four sons
to the army lest one by being killed
in eight days after he enlisted and
another son was slightly wounded on
the sixth day after he was mustered
in. Another mother had one boy who
enlisted and he was killed in front of
Petersburg seven days after he en-
tered the service. Another lad from
the same town was shot in the knee
cap after he had been at the front
for fifteen days and he has had stiff
leg since, refusing to have his leg am
putated when he was wounded. IF
this leg is to come off" said he, "take
it off here" making stroke across
his neck with his finger.
Many other cases of early wounding
and killing were told by veterans at
an encampment recently and out of
the fifteen or twenty who composed
the group there were only two who
had escaped wounds during the war
and many of the wounds were re-
ceived only a short time after enlist
Hlent, while these two went through
fifteen or twenty battles and never re-
ceived a scratch. One of the group
was severely wounded in the Wilder
ness two days after his term of two
years had expired and when he recov-
cred sufficiently he re-enlisted.