for authority to raise companies, and as fast as a sufficient number was secured for a regiment it was organized and marched to the front. Early in February it was feared that recruiting was going on so rapidly that more volunteers would offer than could possibly enter the 10 regiments, and the draft was temporarily postponed. These regiments were soon completed, and it was directed that the remaining companies arriving under voluntary enlistments should be disposed of in filling up old regiments. This course was continued till the 13th of April, 1865, when, by an order of the war department, recruiting ceased throughout the U. S. The State now only lacked 4,896 of completing her quota. These would have been speedily obtained had not the termination of the war reudered it unnecessary.

Toward the close of the war, in consequence of an imperfect enrollment of those subject to military duty, it became evident that the State was furnishing thousands in excess of what a correct estimate would have required. So glaring had this disproportion become, that under the last call the quota in a number of sub-districts exceeded the number of able-bodied men. Yet the people, when it was found inexpedient to correct the enrollment, determined to raise the number required, believing that in the extraordinary exigencies of the times the safety of the country demanded the sacrifice. Let the thousands of brave men which the State thus voluntarily laid on the altar of the country forever remain a proud monument of the patriotism which so triumphantly sustained it in the hour of danger.

The office of the Adjutant General, which played such an important part in the organization of the troops, was occupied at the commencement of the war by Thomas S. Mather. The duties of the office were then executed by virtue of the militia law of 1845, and acts amendatory thereof. Mr. Mather held the office till November, 1861, when Gen. Allen C. Fuller assumed control. The latter incumbent, possessing superior qualifications, soon reduced the military records of the State, hitherto sparse and confused, to order, and systematized the business of the office. A fruitful source of disorder grew out of the acceptance by the war department of what were termed independent regiments. The correspondence of the first 22 regiments of infantry and 4 of cavalry were addressed directly to the war department, and for a time their officers were disinclined to furnish the adjutant general with muster rolls, and other official information. To remedy this evil and promote

Warren Stewart... July, 1861.

org'd Dec25'63 Camp Butler,

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John L. Beveridge. 1863..

Joseph W. Bell......... Auth'd Nov. 27, 1861..
Horace Capron July, 1862..

Jan. 7, 1863 Peoria

Christian Thielman April, 1861, July, 1862. Jan. Apl, 1863. Camp Butler..

Jan. 28, 1964. St. Charles...

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harmony between the federal and State authorities, the secretary of war promulgated order 18, which contains the following provision: The governors of the States are legally the authorities for raising volunteer regiments and commissioning their officers. Accordingly no independent organizations, as such, will hereafter be recognized in the U. S. service. Copies of the rolls of muster into service will be sent as soon as practicable to the governors of the States to which they belong by the commanders of brigades, regiment or corps, heretofore recognized as independent of State organizations, and all vacancies of commissions in such regiments and corps will be hereafter filled by the respective governors according to law." Mr. Fuller retained possession of the office till January 1, 1863. Thence to the installation of Gen. I. N. Haynie, January 14, 1865, the duties of the office were discharged by Lieut.-Col. Edward P. Niles, who, from the commencement of the war, had been intimately connected with its routine. By the provisions of an act to provide for the appointment, and to prescribe the duties of, the adjutant general, approved Fobruary 24, 1865, the office became an organized department of the State government. In accordance with the law

Gen. Haynie provided a seal of office. Previously, to give validity to commissions and other official instruments, it was necessary to procure the seal and signature of the secretary of State. After a suitable imprint was provided, this indirect method of transacting the business of the office was discontinued. The extensive reports, issued under the supervision of Gen. Haynie, contain all the military information that can be interesting to the reader or useful in the organization of future armies, and may justly be regarded as a monument of industry, of which the State should be proud.

From data thus furnished, the whole number of enlistments during the war was 256,000, average strength 299,963, number killed in action, 5,888; died of wounds, 3,032; of disease, 19,496, in prison, 967; lost at sea, 205; aggregate, 29,588.*

Medical Department.—At the instance of the Secretary of War, the governor appointed a board of medical examiners consisting of A. H. Johnson, president, and O. M. Ryan, secretary. The medical profession sharing the enthusiasm that animated the masses, tendered their services to the government with a zeal which, in many instances, surpassed their qualifications for the work they were required to perform. They went forth in large numbers from the prairie, the village and country where their undiversified practice little qualified them for the more arduous and extensive duties of the army.

The board met on the 18th of June, 1861, in Springfleld, and in accordance with the army regulations they proceeded to "inves tigate carefully the physical ability, moral character and professional attainments of each candidate. To accommodate the large number who applied for positions, sessions were held in Chicago, Alton, Cairo and the field. The importance of the work which they performed may be inferred from the fact that much the larger part of the mortality connected with armies results from diseases instead of the sword, and that many of those who proposed to assume the responsibilities of physicians had never received the first rudiments of a medical education. It is but justice to state that the selections made by the board were judicious, and that the medical treatment enjoyed by our volunteers was efficient. Many not only evinced a high order of skill in the practice of surgery and therapeutics, but what was of more importance, with a paternal solicitude instituted the most rigid sanitary regulations for the prevention of disease.

Camps. The two principal camps in the State were Camp Butler, at Springfield, and Camp Douglas, at Chicago. The immediate location of the former was near where the Toledo, Wabash & Western railroad crosses the Sangamon river, and that of the latter just by the last resting place of the great statesman after whom it was named. Each was provided with commissary and ordnance warehouses, general prison and small pox hospitals, company and prison barracks, officers' quarters and other structures necessary for the outfit of an extensive encampment. Both places-especially Camp Butler-became the principal points for the rendez

*Computation by Adjutant General E. L. Higgins.

vous and instruction of volunteers and mustering them out of service after the war.

As the result of the battle of Fort Donelson some 10,000 prisoners were sent to these camps, and thereafter they became places of custody for other prisoners captured in the war. Their treatment by the officers in charge was always humane, though if the statements of rebel writers could be credited, they suffered more hellish barbarities than were perpetrated in the prison pens of the South. Of the 30,000 prisoners received at different times at Camp Douglas 3,500 died, about 10 per cent., while of the number of prisoners received at Belle Isle more than 50 per cent. died from exposure, starvation and brutality. The site of Camp Butler is still preserved as a national cemetery, in which many of the gallant sons of Illinois sleep in honored graves. Other camps were formed in different parts of the State, but they in general subserved only temporary purposes.

Women of Illinois. We have spoken of the patriotic sons of Illinois, her daughters must not be omitted. Perhaps the brightest page in the history of the State is that which records their efforts in behalf of the soldier. Their devotion to the national cause was rather the promptings of inspiration than the ordinary impulse of patriotism, and its defenders were objects of their deepest sympathy. Women in all ages have prompted men to deeds of noble daring, while with the progress of civilization in modern times her influence has become more potent than presidents, cabinets or crowns. It is a true adage that she who rocks the cradle rules the world. In the hallowed associations of home are born and nurtured the great intellects, large hearts and the staunch integrity which has accomplished all that is noble in the history of the race.

The women of Illinois, in common with others all over the land, were the first to commiserate the sufferings of the soldier, and the first to make efforts to afford relief. In this they were actuated not only by a heroic love of country, but their kindred were enduring the privations of war, and who like them could feel for their distress? Though physically incapacitated to share with them the toil and perils of battle, yet before its smoke and the echoes of its artillery passed away they could bind up their wounds, and by their self-denial inspire them with a holier ardor for the cause they were defending. How many weary sufferers on the field of carnage, in the lonely hospital relieved by their bounty and cheered by their presence, none but the recording angel can tell.

Their labors soon assumed an organized form; hundreds of relief societies sprang up all over the State, and proportionately as the terrible effects of the war increased, the warm current of their sympathies and charities augmented. These consisted of food, clothing, medicine, hospital delicacies, reading matter and thousands of other articles in such quantities as to necessitate the chartering of cars, and in some instances steamboats to carry them to their destination.

The counties of the State next became enlisted in the work of benevolence. In the 69 where records were made and reported, the sums donated as bounties to volunteers for the support of sol

diers' families and other objects amounted to more than $1,500,000. In this estimate the donations of 33 counties, and the recorded benevolence of thousands of individuals all over the State, is not included.

Another form which the work assumed was the establishment of soldiers' homes in the principal cities. In these places of ref uge the traveling soldier, when he had no one else to care for him, was provided with board and lodging free of cost. During the war the several homes in Illinois and other parts af the West furnished lodging for 600,000 men and meals valued at $2,500,000. The relief thus afforded was not intended as a substitute but as supplemental to that of the government. The troops of Illinois participated in some of the most gigantic struggles of the war, in which no government system, however provident or elastic, can do more than mitigate the suffering. In these bloody conflicts the private benevolence of the people nobly seconded the efforts of the government, and could the relief afforded by both have been tenfold more effective, the wounded would still have suffered unspeakable privations and agony.

The sanitary commission greatly assisted in arousing and giv ing direction to the benevolent enterprise of the State. The first members of the society were appointed on the 9th of June, 1861, by the Secretary of War. They met and organized in Washing ton the same month, and in the autumn of the same year Dr. Newberry, one of the most efficient members, organized the Northwestern branch at Chicago.

"This was one of the most efficient of all its auxilaries in collecting supplies, and its various tributaries scattered throughout the States of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, did more for the relief of the soldier probably in proportion to their means, than those of any other section of the country. No where had the commission warmer or more enthusias tic friends than at Chicago. It was most fortunate in enlisting at an early period the active sympathy of some of the most influential and trusted men of that important place. The names of the gentlemen who conducted its operations, Judge Skinner, E. B. McCagg and E. W. Blatchford were alone a tower of strength to its cause throughout the Northwest and the commission reaped the benefit in the vast contributions of that region of their wide spread reputation and active exertions."*

The most successful effort in turning the great tide of popular sympathy into the channel of the commission, occurred at Chicago in May, 1865. The means employed was a fair in which not only Illinois, but her sister States of the West, were largely represented. Though all gave it a hearty support the conception of its plan and the success with which it was carried out was mostly due to the efforts of Madams Hoge and Livermore. These ladies who are the personification of benevolence and energy wrote appeals, distributed circulars, and addressed public meetings till the great heart of the Northwest was moved to its utmost depths. Union Hall, the principal building, occupied the whole of Dearborn Park and was brilliantly illuminated with gas from floor to apex. In the centre were tastefully arranged in booths and on tables the consecrated offerings of churches, and rare and beautiful contributions from the nations of Europe. In the two wings business and industry were represented by goods and machinery, less ornamental but more useful.. Eastward a whole History of the Sanitary Commission.