at all times--just such troops seem least able to
resist the temptation of electing some good-natured fellow, whom they
will never respect, and will, perhaps, grow ashamed of, rather than men
who will enforce their obedience, but promote alike their efficiency and
their comfort. At all times they will look to and rely upon the good
officer, but when they come to elect, the love of doing as they please,
unchecked by the irksome restraints of discipline, is apt to make them
vote for the man who will indulge them. But I believe that all those who
observed these matters carefully will agree, that there was far less of
this sort of feeling among the men who volunteered at the outbreak of
the war than there was later.

The officers elected by the regiments first raised were, generally,
about the best men that could have been selected. The men, at that time,
in good faith, chose those they believed best qualified for the duties
of command, and elected individuals who had manifested, or were thought
to possess, courage, energy, and good sense. Of course some mistakes
were made, and experience disclosed the fact, now well-established, that
many men who figured respectably in times of peace, are unfitted for
military responsibility, and weaken in the ordeal of military life.

No opportunity had been afforded then, for testing and discovering
those qualified for positions of trust and importance--it was all a
matter of experiment. Many injudicious selections were made, but it
quite as often happened that the appointing system (as it was exercised
at the beginning of the war) gave incompetent officers to the army. The
graduates of West Point themselves, and even those officers who had
served for years in the "Old Army," knew little or nothing of actual
war. Their studies at the academy, and the reading appropriate to their
profession, had instructed them in the theory of war.

They had the knowledge which the routine of camp and garrison duty
teaches. Most of them had seen service in expeditions against the
Indians on the Western plains. Some of them had served with distinction
and benefit to themselves in Mexico, but this was an experience which
they shared with many civilians. They had soldierly habits. They were
well acquainted with, and knew the importance of the military etiquette
and ceremonial so conducive to proper subordination and discipline, and
without which neither can be maintained in an army. But beyond the
necess