eal to us for help against an
invasion more unjustifiable and barbarous.

"Letters can be addressed to me, marked 'Free,' at Mansfield, Ohio.

"John Sherman.
"Mansfield, Ohio, September 28, 1861."

The matter thus rested until after the election on the 9th of
October, when squads rapidly formed into companies, and within
twenty days Camp Buckingham was opened near Mansfield.

In the performance of this self-imposed duty, I encountered but
one difficulty, and at one time a very serious one, the selection
of regimental officers, and especially of commanders of regiments.
I knew that military warfare was an art, a trade, an occupation,
where education, experience and preparation are absolutely essential
to effective service. The materials for soldiers abound everywhere,
but without discipline, order, obedience, and severe drilling men
are not soldiers. It was my desire to secure for the commanders
of regiments two graduates of West Point. I made application direct
to Washington for various details of officers of the regular army,
so that the soldiers in Camp Buckingham might have experienced
drill masters from the beginning. I failed to receive an answer,
and went to Washington, earnestly impressed with the importance of
my mission, and determined, if possible, that these men enlisted
by me should not be placed in the front of the enemy until they
had had all the benefit they could derive from military discipline
and drilling. When I arrived I found that Secretary Cameron was
indisposed to interfere with the purely military details of the
army, while General Scott, a brave old soldier whom I always loved
and admired, was firmly of the opinion that the favorable result
of the war depended upon strengthening the regular army, maintaining
its force and discipline, and especially retaining its valuable
officers. The regular army, almost disbanded at the beginning of
the war, was gradually filling up upon the basis of a new organization
and long enlistments, but it was idle, it seemed to me, to expect
that the young men of the country would enlist in the regular
service. While ready to respond to the call of their country in
its actual peril, they had no purpose to become regular soldiers
for life. It appeared to me, therefore, that the manifest policy
of the government should be to allow the regular army to be gradually
absorbed into the volunteer service, where the young officers
educated at the expense of the