RAISING OF TROOPS.

Governor Blair reached Detroit on Tuesday, April 16th, and in the afternoon, at the Michigan Exchange, met by arrangement the State Military Officers and a large number of leading citizens and capitalists of that city.

The President of the United States had called upon the State to furnish one regiment of infantry fully armed, clothed and equipped to aid the Government in suppressing the existing rebellion. It was then estimated that $100,000 would be at once required for this purpose, but the treasury was comparatively empty, and the condition of the State finances was such that this pressing call could not be immediately met. When this condition of affairs was laid before the meeting by the Hon. John Owen, State Treasurer, a resolution was unhesitatingly passed pledging Detroit to loan the State $50,000, at the same time calling upon the State generally to make a like advance. At this meeting a subscription paper was at once circulated and $23,000 pledged by those present, and to complete the whole amount committees were appointed to solicit further subscriptions in the city. Such prompt and liberal action could not fail to be successful, and furnished the sinews of war for the time being at least. Mr. Owen, with these pledges of the people in hand, coupled with his own good credit, succeeded in negotiating a loan which was mostly taken by our own citizens, sufficient to warrant the Executive to undertake uniforming and equipping troops. The amounts thus raised as well as all other indebtedness incurred in like manner were assumed by the State on the assembling of the Legislature.

A proclamation was at once issued by the Governor calling for ten companies of volunteers, and directing the Adjutant General to accept the first ten that should offer, and making it the duty of that officer to issue all necessary orders, and give such insructions in detail as might be required. The movement thus inaugurated was at once successful, the companies responding most promptly, the tender of troops far exceeding the number required by the general government, and thus all the duties of the hour were promptly met. and discharged.

The Governor also issued a proclamation on April 2d, convening the Legislature in extra session at Lansing on the 7th of May. The Legislature met

pursuant to the call, when a stirring address was delivered by the Governor, in which he gave a detail of the work already accomplished, and at the same time asked the Legislature to legalize his past action, and to invest the State authorities with sufficient power for the future.

A session of four days resulted in the passage of laws endorsing the acts of the Governor, and clothing him with full authority to raise ten regiments; also to effect a loan of one million dollars, which was speedily accomplished.

The Legislature, fully appreciating the patriotic and perilous services required of the troops, and the sacrifices which must be made by their families in their absence, especially as to a means of support, and at the same time anticipating that some might be unprovided for, or might be left in want by the contingencies or casualties of war, wisely enacted the "Soldiers' Relief Law," to contribute aid to their families by counties; this allowance to be made in the discretion of the supervisors according to circumstances, but not to exceed fifteen dollars a month, and in case of the death of a soldier, to continue one year thereafter.

This relief was unquestionably administered with that generous liberality which the law contemplated. Yet the duty was neither easy nor desirable, as it required much labor, good judgment, discrimination, and delicacy, at the same time giving opportunity for much censure. While imposition on the counties had to be guarded against, respect for the claims of applicants was demanded, and in its distribution there was a degree of delicacy requisite in barring the least idea of a charity, and in establishing one of a right.

The Quartermaster General, J. H. Fountain, a faithful and energetic officer, who had been appointed in March, was charged with clothing, equipping, and subsisting the troops on contracts made by the "Military Contract Board," organized May 15th by legislative authority, and composed of Colonels E. O. Grosvenor, Jonesville; Jerome Croul, Detroit, and William Hammond, Tekonsha. Individual ability and great energy, coupled with exemplary economy characterized this board, relieving the Quartermaster General of much labor and responsibility.

General A. S. Williams aud Colonel H. M. Whittlesey, of Detroit, Colonel A. W. Williams, of Lansing, and Colonel C. W. Leffiugwell, of Grand Rapids, constituted the State Military Board, with the Adjutant General and Quartermaster General as members ex officio.

Colonel William M. Fenton, of Flint, was in June following appointed a member of the Board in place of Colonel Williams, who had gone to the field with the Second Infantry. Soon after, Colonel Fenton entered the service as Colonel of the Eighth Infantry, and was succeeded by Colonel E. H. Thomson of Flint, who, on the 13th of August, was elected President of the Board.

Jabez H. Fountain of Manchester was commissioned Quartermaster General, April 1st, 1861, serving until March 25th, 1863, and was a faithful and energetic officer.

Friend Palmer, of Detroit, was appointed Assistant Quartermaster General in May following. His experience of several years in the Quartermaster's department of the regular army rendered him a valuable officer, and to him. the State was greatly indebted for the efficient and economical direction given to the administration of that department.

General William Hammond succeeded General Fountain March 25, 1863, and served until March 25, 1865, when he was relieved by the appointment of General O. N. Giddings, of Kalamazoo. Both these officers served with marked ability and faithfulness. General Giddings having resigned in March, 1867, was succeeded by General Palmer, who served until September, 1870.

On the 21st of May, 1861, Colonel James E. Pittman, of Detroit, was appointed State Paymaster, and served in that capacity, making large disbursements, as pay to troops while in the service of the State, a duty which he faithfully performed. He was also a member of the State Military Board from September 19, 1861, until November 1st, 1862, when he was appointed Inspector General of the State, serving until March, 1867.

At the commencement of the war General Jno. Robertson held the appointment of Adjutant General of the State, having served continuously since that time, and is now in service in that capacity.

Captain Heber LeFavour was appointed Assistant Adjutant General April 1, 1861, which appointment he held until June 15th following, when he was commissioned as a Captain in the Fifth Michigan Infantry, and took the field with that regiment. Captain DeGarmo Jones succeeded him and served until May 6th, 1862, when he resigned. Both these officers served with marked efficiency.

Colonel Frederick Morley was commissioned May 6, 1862, as Assistant Adjutant General, serving with eminent ability and distinction, until March 11, 1865, rendering arduous and valuable service to the State.

The President's call upon Michigan for troops, was promptly met by the muster in of the First Regiment and its early movement to the seat of war, in Virginia.

In the meantime, authority had been received from the War Department to raise three other regiments, but at the same time stating that it was "important to reduce rather than increase that number." This authority only covered the 2d, 3d and 4th Infantry, already in process of recruitment, while many companies throughout the State, not included in the organizations referred to, had been recruited without authority in the hope of obtaining places in those or other regiments, but were disappointed, and most of them sought and found service in the troops of other States.

This limited policy of the government was extremely at variance with the views of Governor Blair regarding the necessities of the country at the time, and deeming immediate preparation to meet emergencies necessary, he estab

lished the "Camp of Instruction" referred to in the second part of this work. The great pressure for the acceptance of companies continued unabated, while the applications for appointments as commissioned officers had reached the maximum and the Governor was continuously importuned by influential citizens of both political parties, to a most unbearable degree, while men were being forced by them upon his attention for favorable consideration, regardless of natural or acquired qualifications for the place. In fact, this continued during the entire earlier part of the war, and, although much care was uniformly exercised in making selections, both as to original appointment and promotion in the field, it is but reasonable to expect that some mistakes were made.

In his perplexing and responsible position, Governor Blair always recognized qualifications for the office, and loyalty to the cause, as the tests, more than personal friendship or political status.

Under a law of Congress of August 3d, the President was authorized to receive into service 500,000 volunteers, and while the proportion of Michigan was understood to be 19,500, the State was charged with 21,337 on an adjustment of credits.

Michigan, in response to this requisition, continued a vigorous recruitment, sending regiment after regiment to the field, and up to December, 1861, had sent to the front 13 regiments of infantry, 3 of cavalry and 5 batteries of light artillery, with a total strength of 16,475 officers and men. Ten of these regiments, one battery, and one company had been subsisted, clothed and partly armed by the State. In addition to this, 13 companies had gone into service in regiments of other States, failing, as before stated, to find service in those of their own.

Governor Blair, on January 2d, 1862, delivered his message to the Legislature, then in extra session, from which the following extract is made, and which was accepted at the time as an expression of the people of the State on the war question:

"I cannot close this brief address without an allusion to the great object that occupies all men's minds. The Southern rebellion still maintains a bold front against the Union armies. That is the cause of all our complications abroad and our troubles at home. To deal wisely with it is to find a short and easy deliverance from them all. The people of Michigan are no idle spectators of this great contest. They have furnished all the troops required of them, and are preparing to pay the taxes and to submit to the most onerous burdens without a murmur. They are ready to increase their sacrifices, if need be, to require impossibilities of no man, but to be patient and wait. But to see the vast armies of the Republic, and all its pecuniary resources used to protect and sustain the accursed system which has been a perpetual and tyrannical disturber, and which now makes sanguinary war upon the Union and the Constitution, is precisely what they will never submit to tamely. The loyal States having furnished adequate means, both of men and money to crush the rebellion, have a right to expect those men to be used with the utmost vigor to

accomplish the object, and that without any mawkish sympathy for the interest of traitors in arms. Upon those who caused the war, and now maintain it, its chief burdens ought to fall. No property of a rebel ought to be free from confiscation-not even the sacred slave. The object of war is to destroy the power of the enemy, and whatever measures are calculated to accomplish that object, and are in accordance with the usages of civilized nations, ought to be employed. To undertake to put down a powerful rebellion, and, at the same time, to save and protect all the chief sources of the power of that rebellion, seems to common minds but a short remove from simple folly. He who is not for the Union, unconditionally, in this mortal struggle, is against it. The highest dictates of patriotism, justice, and humanity combine to demand that the war should be conducted to a speedy close upon principles of the most heroic energy and retributive power. The time for gentle dalliance has long since passed away. We meet an enemy, vindictive, bloodthirsty, and cruel, profoundly in earnest, inspired with an energy and self-sacrifice which would honor a good cause, respecting neither laws, constitutions, nor historic memories, fanatically devoted only to his one wicked purpose to destroy the Government and establish his slaveholding oligarchy in its stead. To treat this enemy gently is to excite his derision. To protect his slave property is to help him to butcher our people and burn our houses. No. He must be met with an activity and a purpose equal to his own. Hurl the Union forces, which outnumber him two to one, upon his whole line like a thunderbolt; pay them out of his property, feed them from his granaries, mount them upon his horses, and carry them in his wagons, if he has any, and let him feel the full force of the storm of war which he has raised. I would apologize neither to Kentucky nor anybody else for these measures, but quickly range all neutrals either on the one side or the other. Just a little of the courage and ability which carried Napoleon over the Alps, dragging his cannon through the snow, would quickly settle this contest, and settle it right. If our soldiers must die, do not let it be of the inactivity and diseases of camps, but let them at least have the satisfaction of falling like soldiers, amid the roar of battle, and hearing the shouts of victory; then will they welcome it as the tired laborer welcomes sleep. Let us hope that we have not much longer to wait."

Equally estimating with the Governor the great emergencies and necessities of the country, the Legislature, with firmness and pluck worthy of the people which they represented, passed with much unanimity the following well-timed and eminently proper joint resolution in reference to the rebellion:

"WHEREAS, The Government of the United States is engaged in putting down a causeless and wicked rebellion against its authority and sovereignty, inaugurated by ambitious men to obtain political power,-a Government, the safety and perpetuity of which must ever rest upon the loyalty of its citizens and an adherence to the constitution;

"AND WHEREAS, The welfare of mankind, the usefulness and power of the Nation, are involved in the events and issues of the present conflict; therefore, be it

"Resolved, (the House concurring), That Michigan, loyal to herself and to the Federal Government, reaffirms her undying hostility to traitors, her abiding love for freedom, and her confidence in the wisdom and patriotism of the National administration.

"Resolved, (the House concurring), That the people of Michigan deem it the