448 surgeons' uepokts — Illinois — seventh district. 



fbifs, as he wuiihl nucl.v ba\c the time, the mau baviag to be exatnineil, and, il' acce[)teil, sent for- 

 ward without delay. # # * 



I am requested to give my opinion as to what nationality piesents the greatest physieal aptitude 

 for military service. I have some misgivings as to my eoinpeteney to answer this interrogatory, as 

 it is not strietly within the i)rovinee of my medical and surgical studies, and I cannot say that my 

 late medical examinations have east much light on it. My examinations were nearly conlined to 

 our own nationality, with the addition ot a few Germans, about as many Irish, and a few individu- 

 als of other nationalities. I will, therefore, only venture an opinion as to thes(i three nationalities; 

 my observations and experience are too limited to authorize an opinion as to any othef's. Wlien I 

 award a pretereuce to our own people, as I feel bound to do, it may b(! thought that I am insensibly 

 influenced to this preference fiom being myself an American. However, I think I am free from 

 any bias in this respect. I cannot say that the i)hysical development of the system for strength 

 and endurance gives the American the advantage, for the muscular development in the case of the 

 German and Irish is luUy equal, if not superior to his. In this respect, I incline to the belief tbat 

 the German has the advantage of the others ; but when other circumstances and facts are consid- 

 ered, I think it is not diflicult to perceive why the German and Irish should not be expected to 

 possess as great a natural or ();iysical aptitude tor military service as the xVmericans. 



lu the first place, the Americans are privileged to keep and use fire-arms. The most of them, 

 consequently, avail themselves of this privilege, and habitually use them iii hunting and sliooting 

 game, and olten in sporting witli them by shooting at a mark for amusement. They have, there- 

 tore, become almost as familiar with them as with their implements of trade and husbandry. The 

 Germans and Irish, as I understand, have not in their native country been permitted the enjoy- 

 ment of these privileges, at least to any considerable extent. In the second place, farming and 

 agricultural pursuits are carried on much more extensively by a very large proportion of the Ameri- 

 can people and to much greater extent than either in Germany or Ii'eland, particularly in the 

 latter country. This is a business requiring great physical exercise and exposure to hardships, as 

 much as, or more than, almost any other occupation. The farmer's life, it seems to me, more 

 nearly approximates that of the soldier in the campaign than any other occupation. The American 

 is cool, deliberate, and calculating, and possessed of great firmness and determination, and, I think, 

 certainly possessed of as much courage and bravery as the people of any other nationality. He is 

 probably jjossessed of as much national pride, self respect, and admiration for heroism as the pe()i)le 

 of any other riation ; and having been taught, from the time of the declaration of American inde- 

 ])endeuce up to the present time, that he is a citizen of the best and freest Government in the world, 

 he is patriotic to a high degree. I, of course, except in this respect traitors and their sympathizers, 

 who have a greater admiration for slavery than for freedom and country. The German resembles the 

 American in many of the above characteristics. He is cool, determined, calculating, iiiid possessed 

 of considerable firmness and bravery, though it may be doubtful whether he is fully equal to the 

 American in these rejects. 1 should think him not greatly his inferior, but, until he came to this 

 country, he was not permitted the use of fire-arms so as to become familiarized with them as our 

 own people are. The Germans are somewhat of an agricultural people, but not to the same extent 

 as the Americans. 1 should, upon the whole, consider them not generally inferior to the Americans 

 in their physical aptitude for military service. The Irish are, no doubt, brave and daring to a 

 fault, but they are impulsive, impetuous, and rash. They are i cssessed also of great confidence 

 and self-reliance, all of which may well fit them for a charge upon the enemy, but would not capaci- 

 tate them for open-field fighting, where not bravery but judgment, coolness, and determination 

 arc the great pi erequisites. They lack these characteristics, in my opinion. * * # 



I am- asked my " experience as to the physical qualifications of the colored race for military 

 service." I examined but few colored men, but in them I found the physical development excellent. 

 The development of the muscular system was decidedly sujjerior for physical force and power to 

 that of either of the nationalities above named. And, when we consider this superior muscular 

 development, in i)art the result of a life of hard labor, drudgery, and privation, which the negro 

 has been compelled to perform and endure, it would indeed seem that no better preparatory train- 

 ing for campaign-life could have beea given him. He has been raised in huts not superior to the 

 soldier.s' tents and barracks, and, in fact, very similar to them. His food is of the coarsest kind, and 



