were composed exclusively of volunteers and militia. Some of the former had, on the day of the battle, been mustered into the service. less than a month; the term of service of all the regiments of militia was on the eve of expiring. These facts will explain to any military mind the loss of the battle. The plan was all that could have been anticipated from an able and judicious commander, but when he sought to execute it "to test his machinery," he found that discipline, the only sure bond of cohesion, was entirely wanting.

General Heintzelman, after having in vain sought to rally his broken regiments, spoke of their conduct as follows: "The want of discipline in these regiments was so great, that the most of the men would run from fifty to several hundred yards to the rear and continue to firefortunately for the braver ones, very high in the air, and compelling those in front to retreat."

As a skirmish line from some of the regiments of volunteers which participated in the conflict, was afterwards able to dispute the advance of the enemy in line of battle, it is plain that the loss of the battle was due more to the lack of discipline than to the want of individual courage.

The number of troops which crossed Bull Run was: Confederate forces, estimated at 29,949; Union forces, 28,568.

The Union loss in killed and wounded was 1,492, or but 5 per cent of the total force engaged.

The same regiments after a year's discipline would have scorned to retire with a loss of less than 30 to 50 per cent.

The effect of this disastrous battle, which gave the enemy all the advantages of the initiative, had he chosen to use it, was to paralyze military operations for more than six months.

Amazed and humiliated, the people bowed their heads, and confiding everything to military commanders, patiently awaited the opening of another campaign.

In contrast with the conclusions of the historian, the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, reported that the principal cause of defeat on that day was the failure of General Patterson to hold the forces of Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley.

@Official report of General Heintzelman, Frank Moore's Rebellion Record, vol. 2, p. 26, Doc. 1.

Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 2, p. 249.
Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, vol. 1.

These figures and those in the preceding paragraph of the text are in error, due to a confusion of the first and second battles of Bull Run. The best estimates of the strength of the opposing forces at the opening of the first battle indicate that they were approximately equal and of about 28,000 men each. Only about 18,000, however, on each side were actually engaged. The Union loss as reported was: Killed, 460; wounded, 1,124; missing, 1,312; total, 2,896.-M. I. D., January, 1907.

The effect of the lesson taught at Bull Run is thus described by Mr. Swinton, the historian of the Army of the Potomac: "When the army that so lately had gone forth with such high hopes returned from Manassas shattered and discomfited to the banks of the Potomac, wise men saw there that which had suffered worse defeat than the army-it was the system under which Bull Run had been fought and lost. The lesson was a severe one; but if it was needed to demonstrate the legitimate result of the crude experimentalism under which the war had been conducted, when campaigns were planned by ignorant politicians and battles precipitated by the pressure of sanguine journalists, were fought by raw three-month levies-the price paid was perhaps not too high. The Bull Run experiment taught the country it was real war it had undertaken, and that success could only be hoped for by a strict conformity to military principles." (Swinton's Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac.) f Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 2, p. 5.

OTHER MILITARY OPERATIONS IN 1861.

The victories of Rich Mountain and Carricks Ford, which resulted early in July in the capture and dispersion of the enemy's forces in western Virginia, partly relieved the gloom and depression occasioned by the defeat at Bull Run, but these victories were soon obscured by fresh tidings of disaster.

August 10, General Lyon was killed and the Union forces defeated at Wilson's Creek, Missouri; September 20, Lexington, Mo., was surrendered, followed on the 21st of October by the disastrous repulse at Balls Bluff; November 7, occurred the bold but indecisive battle of Belmont, succeeded on the 20th of December by the victory of Drainesville.

The loss in killed and wounded" at Wilsons Creek was 949, at Lexington 150, at Balls Bluff 449, at Belmont 263, at Drainesville 68. It will be seen from the above figures that with the exception of Wilson's Creek those engagements scarcely rose above the dignity of a skirmish; nevertheless so conscious was the country of being unprepared for war, that in moral effect they were all invested with the importance of great battles.

In connection with the quality and paucity of troops placed at the disposition of the Union commanders, the trifling losses in the battles and skirmishes of 1861 possess for the statesman a special significance. They attested at the beginning of the war the utter weakness of a nation, which needed only time to develop its resources, to take a foremost rank among the great powers of the world.

a Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, vol. 1, pp. xxxvii-x).

CHAPTER XVIII.

MILITARY POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE REBELLION (CONTINUED).

MILITARY LEGISLATION IN 1861.

The military system under which, in two campaigns of seven weeks each, Prussia humiliated Austria, in 1866, and subverted the French Empire in 1870, was the joint product of soldiers and statesmen, who began their laborers (in 1806) immediately after the disastrous battle of Jena. The military system under which we subdued the Rebellion was established by Congress in less than four weeks.

The energy and haste with which the new Congress set to work to repair the neglect of its predecessors, may be inferred from the number and character of the bills and the joint resolution introduced in the Senate on the 6th of July, two days after the opening of the session, which bills were as follows: A bill to authorize the employment of volunteers to aid in enforcing the laws and protecting public property; a bill to increase the present military establishment of the United States; a bill providing for the better organization of the military establishment; a bill for the organization of a volunteer militia force, to be called the National Guard of the United States; also a joint resolution to ratify and confirm certain acts of the President for the suppression of insurrection and rebellion."

In providing for the national defense, no false notions of economy a political virtue paraded only in time of peace-were permitted to delay Congressional action. The first bill, in conformity with the recommendation of the President, proposed to authorize a force of 400,000 volunteers, and to appropriate $400,000,000, a sum greater than the total cost of the wars of the Revolution and 1812. Prodigal as these propositions may appear, the number of men was increased by 100,000 and the appropriation by $100,000,000. The bill as thus amended the appropriation was stricken out and reserved for separate consideration-passed the Senate on the 10th day of July, and was sent to the House. On the 11th it was recalled by resolution of the Senate, and after several important amendments was again sent to the House. On the 16th the bill with amendments passed the House. The Senate non-concurring, it was referred on the 17th to a committee of conference, passed both Houses on the 18th, and on the 22d received the President's signature.

The same day that the first bill to authorize the employment of half a million of men became a law, another bill was introduced in the Sen

a Frank Moore's Rebellion Record, vol. 10, p. 1, Doc. 1.

ate to remove all restriction upon the President, by permitting him to accept the services of volunteers in such numbers as the exigencies of the public service might require. On the 23d the bill passed the Senate with the proviso added to the first section, "That the number of troops hereby authorized should not exceed five hundred thousand." The next day the bill passed the House without a division, and on the 25th was approved by the President. The second bill, which appears to have slipped through Congress amid the whirl and excitement produced by the defeat at Bull Run, was not intended to increase the total number of volunteers above 500,000, yet under an improvident system, it was afterwards construed to sanction the employment of more than a million."

Pending the enactment of the above laws, the bill to increase the Regular Army also came up for discussion. The Senate satisfied itself with giving legal effect to the proclamation of the President of May 3; but in the House the proposed increase, feeble as it was, again raised the specter of a standing army.

It mattered not that without the previous sanction of Congress, a quarter of a million of men were already in the field. Such a breach of the Constitution was lost sight of, when compared with the danger of a few disciplined soldiers. To allay the specter, the House therefore voted that the eleven new regiments should be converted into a force of volunteers. This action was apparently based on the report submitted by Mr. Blair, who stated:

That the Military Committee of the House unanimously dissented from the recommendation of the Secretary of War; they did not consider that there was any occasion to increase the military establishment, but as something had been done to organize the new regiments, the committee had stripped the organization of that feature which alone made it repugnant to a free people-that of establishing a large standing army.b

On the 24th of July, the bill was referred to a committee of conference, when the House receded from its position on the condition that at the end of the war, the Army should be reduced to a number not exceeding 25,000 men.

The bill received the President's approval on the 29th of July. A clear comprehension of the many needless sacrifices imposed on the people in subduing the Rebellion, requires that the three acts of July 22, 25, and 29 be quoted entire.

Act of July 22:

Whereas certain of the forts, arsenals, custom-houses, navy-yards, and other property of the United States have been seized, and other violations of law have been committed, and are threatened by organized bodies of men in several of the States, and a conspiracy has been entered into to overthrow the Government of the United States: Therefore,

Resolved, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to accept the services of volunteers, either as cavalry, infantry, or artillery, in such numbers, not exceeding five hundred thousand, as he may deem necessary, for the purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, enforcing the law, and preserving and protecting the public property: Provided, That the services of the volunteers shall be for such time as the President may direct, not exceeding three years nor less than six months, and

a See Note 2, Callan's Military Laws of the United States, p. 472:

"I remember that the construction placed upon those acts by the President and Secretary of War, was that only 500,000 men should be called out under oath, and practically I think they were so treated by all the Departments. My attention was called to it, of course, in fixing the quota of this State." (Letter from Hon. Austin Blair, ex-Governor of Michigan, dated December 19, 1878.)

Frank Moore's Rebellion Record, vol. 10, p. 7, Doc. 1.

they shall be disbanded at the end of the war. And all provisions of law applicable to three years' volunteers shall apply to two years' volunteers, and to all volunteers who have been or may be accepted into the service of the United States for a period not less than six months, in the same manner as if such volunteers were specially named. Before receiving into service any number of volunteers exceeding those now called and accepted, the President shall, from time to time, issue his proclamation stating the number desired, either as cavalry, infantry, or artillery, and the States from which they are to be furnished, having reference in any such requisition to the number then in service from the several States, and to the exigencies of the service at the time, and equalizing, as far as practicable, the number furnished by the several States, according to Federal population.

SEC. 2. That the said volunteers shall be subject to the rules and regulations governing the Army of the United States, and that they shall be formed by the President into regiments of infantry, with the exception of such numbers for cavalry and artillery as he may direct, not to exceed the proportion of one company of each of those arms to every regiment of infantry, and to be organized as in the regular service. Each regiment of infantry shall have one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, one adjutant (a lieutenant), one quartermaster (a lieutenant), one surgeon, and one assistant surgeon, one sergeant-major, one regimental quartermaster-sergeant, one regimental commissary-sergeant, one hospital steward, two principal musicians, and twenty-four musicians for a band, and shall be composed of ten companies, each company to consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one first sergeant, four sergeants, eight corporals, two musicians, one wagoner, and from sixty-four to eighty-two privates.

SEC. 3. That these forces when accepted as herein authorized shall be organized into divisions of three or more brigades each; and each division shall have a majorgeneral, three aids-de-camp, and one assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of major. Each brigade shall be composed of four or more regiments, and shall have one brigadier-general, two aids-de-camp, one assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, one surgeon, one assistant quartermaster, and one commissary of subsistence.

SEC. 4. That the President shall be authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the command of forces provided for in this act, a number of major-generals, not exceeding six, and a number of brigadier-generals, not exceeding eighteen, and other division and brigade officers, required for the organization of these forces, except the aids-de-camp, who shall be selected by their respective generals from the officers of the Army or volunteer corps: Provided, That the President may select the major-generals and brigadier-generals provided for in this act from the line or staff of the Regular Army, and the officers so selected shall be permitted to retain their rank therein. The governors of the States furnishing volunteers under this act shall commission the field, staff, and company officers requisite for the said volunteers; but in cases where the State authorities refuse or omit to furnish volunteers at the call or on the proclamation of the President, and volunteers from such States offer their services under such call or proclamation, the President shall have power to accept such services and to commission the proper field, staff, and company officers.

SEC. 5. That the officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates, organized as above set forth, shall in all respects be placed on the footing, as to pay and allowance, of similar corps of the Regular Army: Provided, That the allowances of noncommissioned officers and privates for clothing, when not furnished in kind, shall be paid three dollars and fifty cents per month, and that each company officer, noncommissioned officer, private, musician, and artificer of cavalry, shall furnish his own horse and horse equipments, and shall receive forty cents per day for their use and risk, except that in case the horse shall become disabled, or shall die, the allowance shall cease until the disability be removed or another horse be supplied. Every volunteer noncommissioned officer, private, musician, and artificer who enters the service of the United States under this act, shall be paid at the rate of fifty cents in lieu of subsistence, and if a cavalry volunteer, twenty-five cents additional in lieu of forage, for every twenty miles of travel from his place of enrollment to the place of muster, the distance to be measured by the shortest usually travelled route; and when honorably discharged an allowance at the same rate from the place of his discharge to his place of enrollment, and, in addition thereto, if he shall have served for a period of two years or during the war, if sooner ended, the sum of one hundred dollars: Provided, That such of the companies of cavalry herein provided for as may require it, may be furnished with horses and horse equipments in the same manner as in the United States Army.

SEC. 6. That any volunteer who may be received into the service of the United States under this act, and who may be wounded or otherwise disabled in the service,