ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



17 



The pay of both officers and men is the same 

 as that of the volunteers, the discipline some- 

 what more strict, and' the drill generally more 

 perfect. The titles of officers are, except in the 

 >f the highest officer, lower than in the 

 volunteers colonels, lieutenant-colonels, ma- 

 jors, captains, and in one or two cases, even 

 lieutenants 'in the regular army, being brigadier- 

 generals of volunteers, and the first three, in 

 some instances major-generals in the volunteer 

 army. Promotion in the regular army is, how- 

 ever, greatly coveted by men who intend to 

 make military life a permanent profession. 



II. The Militia Force. An act was passed 

 by Congress, May 8, 1702. providing for a uni- 

 formed militia, to be raised in each State, and 

 to form the reserve force which could be called 

 out in case of invasion or rebellion ; but during 

 the long period of peace, the militia organiza- 

 tion had been almost wholly neglected. Most 

 of the States had at one time or another proper 

 laws for the State organization of the militia, 

 but these were generally but little regarded, 

 and the fines imposed for non-appearance on 

 parade were regarded as a vexatious exaction. 

 The commencement of the present war found 

 not more than two or three States with a militia 

 organization sufficiently perfect to admit of a 

 response through it to the President's proclama- 

 tion of April, 1861. In most of the States even 

 the three months' troops were volunteers. Since 

 that time nearly every State has passed a militia 

 law, which will provide against the evils of 

 being obliged to send into the field in case of 

 war entirely unorganized and undisciplined 

 troops. These laws differ somewhat in detail 

 in the different States ; but all provide for the 

 enrolment of all able-bodied white male citi- 

 zens (some, as for instance, Rhode Island and 

 Massachusetts, include colored citizens also) be- 

 tween the ages of 18 and 45. with certain speci- 

 fied exceptions, among which are usually clergy- 

 men, teachers. State and United States officers, 



VOL. II.-2 



railroad and telegraph employes, firemen, and 

 convict?, idiots, and drunkards; these are di- 

 vided into two classes, the active and inactive 

 militia, the first embracing the voluntary com- 

 panies and such other companies organized un- 

 der the law as may be necessary to make up a 

 given number of regiments and brigades, such 

 number to be completed if needful by draft 

 from the enrolled men between 18 and 30 ; the 

 others, including all between 30 and 45. to form 

 the inactive militia, and required under penalty 

 of a fine or tax of $1 per annum to appear on 

 a specified day and answer to their names. 

 The active militia have a full corps of officers. 

 and are required to be uniformed and to have 

 all the necessary arms and equipments at their 

 arsenals in condition for immediate service ; 

 they are also to be called out once or twice a 

 year for a camp drill of two or three days, and 

 are paid for their time and service. The officers 

 are drilled and instructed in their duties two, 

 three, or four times a year, and receive a mod- 

 erate compensation for their time. It has been 

 a prevalent idea among the militia, having per- 

 haps some foundation in the law of 1792, that 

 militia troops could not be required to go 

 out of their own State to fight, and could not 

 be retained in the United States service more 

 than three months ; and these ideas led more 

 than once, as the readers of the history of the 

 war of 1812 will remember, to serious and dis- 

 astrous results ; but Congress, in its session of 

 1861-'- an act (July 17, 1862) authoriz- 



ing the President to call out the militia for nine 

 months, and to use them either for the filling 

 up of old regiments or the organization of new 

 corps. It is impossible to give anything more 

 than an approximation of the number of the 

 militia enrolled or who should be enrolled in 

 the loyal States. The report of the adjutant- 

 general of the United States in I860, based, 

 however, in many of the States on returns 

 made from 7 to 15 years previous, gave the 

 number (omitting Iowa, Oregon. Xew Mexico, 

 Washington, Kansas, and Xebraska) as 3.070.- 

 987, officers and privates ; this would be very 

 nearly one tenth of the population, and adopt- 

 ing this as a basis of calculation, the number of 

 men between 18 and 45 capable of bearing arms 

 in the loyal States would be 2,242.841. This 

 estimate is probably below rather than above 

 'the truth. Of the 77.875 three months' troops, 

 a little more than one half were militia ; of the 

 30,000 or 40,000 called out in the summer of 

 1862, all or nearly all were militia. There 

 were also some militia regiments among the 

 nine months' force raised under the call of 

 August 9. 1*62. 



III. The Volunteer Army. It was evident at 

 the commencement of this war. as in every war 

 in which the nation has been engaged, that 

 though the militia of the several States might 

 render efficient service in the beginning, while 

 other forces were in the process of organiza- 

 tion, they could not be depended upon for a 

 long war ; the tenure of their service (three 



