of brigadier-general; a third with
the rank of captain, was killed in the second battle of Bull
Run. Vice-President Hamlin had one son who attained the rank of
brigadier-general; another who served as colonel. William H. Seward,
jun., also reached the rank of brigadier-general. William H. Harris, son
of Mr. Seward's successor in the Senate, honorably distinguished himself
in the service. Benjamin Harrison of Indiana commanded a brigade before
he was thirty, and made a military record which did honor to the
illustrious name which he inherits. Fletcher Webster lost his life
while bravely commanding a Massachusetts regiment in a war which his
illustrious father's exposition of the Constitution had served the arm
of the Government to maintain. Similar instances in the Union Army
might be cited in great number. The same disposition was manifested on
the Confederate side, and it may be said with truth that almost every
name which grew into prominence in the long political contention
between the North and the South was represented in the conflict of arms
to which it led.

That men without previous military education should prove to be
intelligent, brave, efficient, and skillful officers, was a constant
surprise to the foreign critics of our campaigns. The commanders of
batteries, of regiments, of brigades, not to speak of battalions and
companies, were almost wholly from the volunteer service. Many of the
volunteers, as already indicated, rose to the command of divisions, a
few to the command of corps, and in some marked instances to the
command of separate armies and to the military direction of vast
districts. At the same time the value of strict military training was
shown by the superior prominence attained in proportion to their
numbers by the officers who had been educated at the West Point
Military Academy. The wisdom of maintaining that institution was
abundantly vindicated by the results of the war. Its graduates worked
in harmony with the volunteers, and, as matter of fact, the field
offices they held during the war were, with few exceptions, under the
law for the organization of the volunteer forces. They imparted to the
entire army the discipline, the organization, and the efficiency of a
regular military establishment. There was naturally at the beginning
of the war a certain jealousy between the regulars and the volunteers,
but none that did not yield to the patriotism and good sense of both.
The tw