I remember that Wisconsin kept her

regiments filled with recruits, whereas other States generally

filled their quotas by new regiments, and the result was that we

estimated a Wisconsin regiment equal to an ordinary brigade.

the old blue army regulations,  which  tied our hands, and that to 

do any thing positive and necessary we had to tear it all to pieces--

cut the red-tape, as it was called, a dangerous thing for an army to 

do, for it was calculated to bring the law and authority into contempt

So that, when war does come, we may not again be compelled to suffer 

the disgrace, confusion, and disorder of 1861.

The company is the true unit of discipline, and the captain is the

company.  A good captain makes a good company, and he should have

the power to reward as well as punish.  The fact that soldiers

world naturally like to have a good fellow for their captain is the

best reason why he should be appointed by the colonel, or by some

superior authority, instead of being elected by the men.

In the United States the people are the "sovereign," all power

originally proceeds from them, and therefore the election of

officers by the men is the common rule.  This is wrong, because an

army is not a popular organization, but an animated machine, an

instrument in the hands of the Executive for enforcing the law

A of rumors, especially the worst, float back to the rear. Old

troops invariably deem it a special privilege to be in the front-

-to be at the "head of column"--because experience has taught them

that it is the easiest and most comfortable place, and danger only

adds zest and stimulus to this fact.

The hardest task in war is to lie in support of some position or

battery, under fire without the privilege of returning it; or to

guard some train left in the rear, within hearing but out of

danger; or to provide for the wounded and dead of some corps which

is too busy ahead to care for its own.

To be at the head of a strong column of troops, in the execution of

some task that requires brain, is the highest pleasure of war--a

grim one and terrible, but which leaves on the mind and memory the

strongest mark; to detect the weak point of an enemy's line; to

break through with vehemence and thus lead to victory; or to

discover some key-point and hold it with tenacity; or to do some

other distinct act which is afterward recognized as the real cause

of success.

Mail facilities should be kept up with an army if possible,

that officers and men may receive and send letters to their

friends, thus maintaining the home influence of infinite assistance

to discipline. 

Newspaper correspondents with an army, as a rule,

are mischievous. They are the world's gossips, pick up and retail

the camp scandal, and gradually drift to the headquarters of some

general, who finds it easier to make reputation at home than with

his own corps or division.

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