From the total white male population deduct those exempt as above and we have a remainder of 1,313,166 as the total white male population between the ages of seventeen and fifty years. From this is still to be deducted those residing in western Virginia and in those large portions of the Confederacy which were subjugated by the armies of invasion and cut off from service in the Confederate armies previous to 1864, when the age limit was extended so as to embrace those under eighteen and over forty-five. From it is still to be deducted those incapable of service by reason of physical disability or mental incapacity and other causes and those who did no service beyond guarding their own homes. This would leave practically the same result as the other figures show, and demonstrate the truth that even had every sound man between the ages named in the conscription laws been enrolled, there would have been between 600,000 and 700,000. Even these figures show a much larger proportion of enlistments than is shown by the Northern States. Those who entered the Southern armies from the Border States were more than offset by those from Southern States like Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas, who joined the armies of the North. In addition to the overwhelming power of home numbers in the North, there was a steady stream of foreign immigrants to the Union armies, drawn from abroad by the bounty offered for volunteers. The South fought without foreign aid to swell her armies. The immigration statistics of the decade between 1860 and 1870 tell a part of the story and the enormous increase in population of the northern and Northwestern States tells the rest. The foreign soldiery who settled in this country had their share in adding to the population of Missouri during those ten years 540,000; to Pennsylvania, 600,000; to New York, 500,000; to Michigan, 431,000; to Illinois, 807,000; to Iowa, 413,000; to Kansas, 230,000; to Indiana, 300,000; to Minnesota, 260,000; to Ohio, 300,000, and to Wisconsin, 230,000. Of the Southern States, only Texas, with the highest percentage of gain, 34 per cent, could show as many gained as 144,000. One Southern State, Alabama, showed a loss of population as compared with 1860, and five others showed increases ranging from .56 of one per cent to 8.19 per cent. Taking this diversity of numbers into consideration, the success which marked the early history of the Confederate arms must find its explanation in the army leaders. The North appointed in turn Generals McClellan, Pope, Burnside, and Hooker, and all met defeat by the army whose movements were directed by General Lee. It was Grant who determined upon the crushing of the Southern armies by superior numbers, and even this plan of campaign involved the loss of greater numbers of Northern men. And it was not alone those who directed operations upon the field to whom must be ascribed the efficiency of the Southern army. The military movements were directed from Richmond by President Davis, a man educated in the school of war and an able commander. And as adjutant and inspector-general, and consequently ranking officer of the Confederate army, President Davis appointed Samuel Cooper, a man who vindicated the confidence reposed in him. Cooper was born at Hackensack, New Jersey, June 12, 1798, his father being a soldier who had fought at Lexington, Bunker Hill, Monmouth, and Germantown in the Revolutionary War, gaining by his service the rank of major. The son was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1815, and served in the artillery and on garrison duty at Washington for several years. He married, in 1827, the granddaughter of George Mason, United States Senator from Virginia; was promoted to first lieutenant in 1828; served as aide to General Alexander Macomb and was then made captain on staff duty and served as assistant adjutant-general until 1841; served as chief of staff to Colonel W. J. Worth in the Seminole War, in Florida, 18361837; was in Washington on special duty 1842-1852, being brevetted colonel for meritorious services in the prosecution of his duties in the conduct of the war with Mexico; served as adjutant-general 1852-1861, with the rank of colonel of staff, and for a time was secretary of war ad interim. On the outbreak of the Civil War, Cooper resigned his commission in the United States army, in March, 1861, and President Davis, knowing his ability, appointed him to high position in the army of the new nation, which place he held until the end of the war. After the war he lived quietly in his country home near Alexandria, Virginia, and died December 3, 1876. General Cooper wrote in 1836 A Concise System of Instruction and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States. His thorough knowledge of military matters and his careful regard of detail are to be seen in the voluminous correspondence of his office as printed in the Official Records. Much of the success of the Southern arms until the latter days of the war is to be attributed to the thorough understanding at Richmond, and the accord existing between the authorities there and General Lee. The Partisan Ranger Law was passed in the spring of 1862, and authorized the president to commission officers to form bands of "Partisan Rangers," either of infantry or cavalry, but subsequently confined to cavalry alone. Under this law numerous commissions were issued by which independent companies were formed, and these independent companies did valuable service in many sections. The partisan rangers received the same pay as other soldiers, and for all arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy were paid the full value of such captures. Owing to the disposition of the Federals to treat these partisan rangers as guerrillas rather than as regular soldiers, a direct inquiry was addressed to the secretary of war by Senator John B. Clark, of Missouri, asking whether the partisan rangers were to be regarded as a part of the army of the Confederacy and protected by the government as such; and whether, in the event of capture, the Confederate . |