Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 2.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

The “war with England,” which was to give Uncle Sam trouble and the South an ally, never came.

Those immense balloons which some body was always inventing, and which were to sail over the enemy's camps dropping whole cargoes of explosives, never “tugged” at their anchors or “sailed majestically away.”

As discipline improved and the men began to feel no longer simply volunteers, but enlisted volunteers, the romantic devotion which they had felt was succeeded by a feeling of constraint and necessity, and while the army was in reality very much improved and strengthened by the change, the soldiers imagined the contrary to be the case. And if discipline had been pushed to too great an extent, the army would have been deprived of the very essence of its life and power.

When the officers began to assert superiority by withdrawing from the messes and organizing “officer's messes,” the bond of brotherhood was weakened; and who will say that the dignity which was thus maintained was compensation for the loss of personal devotion as between comrades?

At the outset the fact that men were in the same company put them somewhat on the same level and produced an almost perfect bond of sympathy, but as time wore on the various peculiarities and weaknesses of the men would show themselves, and each company, as a community, would seperate into distinct circles as indifferent to each other, save in the common cause, as though they had never met as friends.

The pride of the volunteers was sorely tried by the incoming of conscripts — the most despised class in the army — and their devotion to company and regiment was visibly lessened. They could not bear the thought of having these men for comrades, and felt the flag insulted when claimed by one of them as “his flag.” It was a great source of annoyance to the true men, but was a necessity. Conscripts crowded together in companies, regiments and brigades would have been useless — but scattered here and and there among the good men, were utilized. And so, gradually, the pleasure that men had in being associated with others whom they respected as equals, was taken away and the social aspect of army life seriously marred.

The next serious blow to romance was the abolishment of election and the appointment of officers. Instead of the privilege and pleasure of picking out some good-hearted, brave comrade and