NEW MEXICO TERRITORY. Cavalry, 2 regiments and 5 independent companies; infantry, 6 regiments and 11 independent companies. Total, 8 regiments and 16 companies. nebraska territory. Cavalry, 2 regiments and 4 independent companies; infantry, 2 companies. colorado territory. Cavalry, 3 regiments; light artillery, 1 battery; infantry, 2 companies. Cavalry, 2 companies. DAKOTA TERRITORY. In addition to these organizations from States and Territories there were in the service of the United States: UNITED STATES VETERAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. (FIRST ARMY CORPS, HANCOCK.) Engineers, 1 regiment; infantry, 9 regiments. Total, 10 regiments. united states volunteer infantry. Six regiments and 1 company. united states colored troops. There were in all 167 organizations, but 31 of these were included in State organizations, and are therefore omitted in this enumeration. The remainder were distributed among the different branches of the service, as follows: Cavalry, 6 regiments; heavy artillery, I regiments and 4 independent companies; light artillery, 1o batteries; infantry, 102 regiments and 18 independent companies. Total, 119 regiments, 22 companies, 10 batteries. veteran reserve corps. In this corps there were 24 regiments and 187 independent companies, but they were composed of men credited to volunteer organizations. regular army. In the Regular Army, or permanent establishment of the military forces, of the United States there were : Cavalry, 6 regiments; artillery, 5 regiments; infantry, 19 regiments. Total, 30 regiments. California in the War. In the late Civil War California was peculiarly situated. Though the loyalty of the larger portion of the population was unquestioned, there was a condition of affairs entirely different from that of any other State in the Union. The residents were composed of immigrants from all portions of the United States. They brought with them, very naturally, their local traditions and political prejudices. The children born on the soil had not as yet attained to manhood, and there was, therefore. no influential class entirely disabused of opinions formed by the earlier associations of the Atlantic slope. Men were Northern or Southern in their political views, according as to which section was the place of their birth. There were, it is true, instances in which residents of the Pacific coast, who had been born South, took high patriotic ground in favor of the preservation of the Union, and grand credit did they deserve for this; but for the truth of history it must be acknowledged that the great majority of the Southern population were strongly on the side of the place of their nativity. Those who were not avowed sympathizers with the secession movement were opposed to any attempt by force of arms to coerce the rebellious States. There was strong talk of an independent Pacific republic, and the reports received by the Administration as to what would be the stand taken by California were so conflicting as to cause great anxiety. General Edwin V. Sumner, an old officer of the Army and of known loyalty, was hastily and secretly sent from Washington to relieve General Albert Sidney Johnston, who was of Southern birth and affiliations, from command of the Military Division of the Pacific and the command of the Department of California. It is but an act of justice to the memory of a general, who afterwards became very distinguished in the Confederate cause, to say, that no one who knew General Johnston now doubts that, whatever might have been his personal feelings, he would have been true to the flag as long as he retained his commission as an officer of the United States Army. His reputation in the old service was that of unquestioned ability, the highest integrity, and the keenest sense of honor. But the times were stormy, and those in authority, realizing the wide-spread disaffection among officers of the army and navy, scarce knew who to trust, and where there was the shadow of a doubt deemed that the occasion demanded prompt action of removal, and entrusting power to those whose fealty was beyond question. General Sumner brought with him full authority to raise and equip volunteer regiments, and to place California in a complete state of defense. The ease with which regiments were raised, and the numerous and enthusiastic Union meetings in all sections of the State soon established the fact that California was overwhelmingly a Union State. The officers and men of the California volunteer regiments were all in hopes that they would be sent East to participate in the war. A large majority asserted that, believing there was no fear of an outbreak at home, they had been induced to enlist 614 from this expectation. The officers and men even offered to contribute largely towards the expense of transportation, one notable instance of this, elsewhere also alluded to in the records, is that of Corporal Goldthait, 3d California Infantry, who for this purpose tendered the colonel of his regiment a certified check of five thousand dollars. He was a man of considerable means at the time of his enlistment, which he had done solely for the reason before stated. The War Department thought it better policy to keep the California volunteers on duty nearer home. The distance across the plains was so great, and would require such length of time as to place that route out of consideration, and the other by mail steamer to Panama and via the isthmus, involved immense expense for any considerable body of troops. Besides which the Indians were restless, and in many cases openly hostile; then, too, the Mormons had to be watched. Brigham Young’s followers, under his teachings, were all at heart traitors, and it was not doubted, if a favorable opportunity presented itself, would do all the mischief they could. So the California troops were distributed in Utah and the adjoining territories; a California column operating in Arizona, New Mexico, and even as far east as Northwestern Texas. They had arduous marches over torrid plains, endured much suffering from exposure, were constantly engaged on scouting parties, and frequently in Indian fights. Those with the Kiowas and Camanches in Texas, with the Navajoes in New Mexico, the Apaches in Arizona, and the battle at Bear River, are unsurpassed in the annals of Indian warfare. Unlike their Eastern comrades, they had no opportunity to participate in any great battles, but they did their duty, unpleasant though it was, in a soldierly and highly creditable manner. A part of the volunteer force was retained in the vicinity of San Francisco, because the forts in the harbor had been stripped of their regular garrisons, who had been sent East to join their respective regiments, and the volunteers were necessary, therefore, to meet any emergency that might arise. In addition to the ten regiments, one battalion, and four companies of California volunteers, there were the California Hundred and Battalion, which went East and became part of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. They participated in over fifty engagements, commencing at South Ana bridge, Va., and ending at Appomattox. There were also many representatives of California in Eastern regiments; in fact, one regiment, raised through the exertions of Senator Edward Baker, of Oregon, at Philadelphia, Pa., was largely composed of old Californians, and was generally known as the First California." Then, too, there is to be remembered the immense contributions, counting up into the millions of dollars, sent to the Sanitary Fund from California. Altogether, it must be conceded that California did what she could towards assisting in the preservation of the Union. These remarks, it is to be hoped, will be considered entirely appropriate in a work which, though containing an account of matters relating generally to affairs of the Grand Army, is also a California book, and its editor desires distant comrades to understand the peculiar situation in which they were placed, and the services of the California volunteers. |