According To Mr. Olmstead Two-Thirds Of The Men Were Native Born,
And One-Third Was Composed Of Foreigners.
These foreigners are
either Irish or German.
Had a similar report been made of the
armies in the West, I think it would have been seen that the
proportion of foreigners was still greater. The average age of the
privates was something under twenty-five, and that of the officers
thirty-four. I may here add, from my own observation, that an
officer's rank could in no degree be predicated from his age.
Generals, colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants had been all
appointed at the same time, and without reference to age or
qualification. Political influence, or the power of raising
recruits, had been the standard by which military rank was
distributed. The old West Point officers had generally been chosen
for high commands, but beyond this everything was necessarily new.
Young colonels and ancient captains abounded without any harsh
feeling as to the matter on either side. Indeed, in this respect,
the practice of the country generally was simply carried out.
Fathers and mothers in America seem to obey their sons and daughters
naturally, and as they grow old become the slaves of their
grandchildren.
Mr. Olmstead says that food was found to be universally good and
abundant. On this matter Mr. Olmstead might have spoken in stronger
language without exaggeration. The food supplied to the American
armies has been extravagantly good, and certainly has been
wastefully abundant. Very much has been said of the cost of the
American army, and it has been made a matter of boasting that no
army so costly has ever been put into the field by any other nation.
The assertion is, I believe, at any rate true. I have found it
impossible to ascertain what has hitherto been expended on the army.
I much doubt whether even Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury,
or Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, know themselves, and I do not
suppose that Mr. Stanton's predecessor much cared. Some approach,
however, may be reached to the amount actually paid in wages and for
clothes and diet; and I give below a statement which I have seen of
the actual annual sum proposed to be expended on these heads,
presuming the army to consist of 500,000 men. The army is stated to
contain 660,000 men, but the former numbers given would probably be
found to be nearer the mark: -
Wages of privates, including sergeants and
corporals $86,640,000
Salaries of regimental officers 23,784,000
Extra wages of privates; extra pay to
mounted officers, and salary to
officers above the rank of colonel l7,000,000
- - - - - -
$127,424,000
or
25,484,000 pounds sterling.
To this must be added the cost of diet and clothing. The food of
the men, I was informed, was supplied at an average cost of l7 cents
a day, which, for an army of 500,000 men, would amount to 6,200,000
pounds per annum.
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