endeavoring to persuade a party of Irishmen to enlist, by representing that if they would do so, the Federal governmennt, after it had got through with putting down the rebellion, intended to declare war with England, and to undertake the liberation of Ireland. He said that the conduct of England in the Trent affair was an insult, for which redress would be demanded; but that the government, before declaring war, was anxious to have as many Irishmen as possible in the army, feeling assured that they would fight against their old enemy with even greater ferocity than the Americans.
The Irishmen, all of whom seemed to have more or less whiskey in them, became very much excited, and went off with the runner to attend a meeting, which he told them was being held for the purpose of taking measures for the liberation of Ireland. The place of meeting was a recruiting office, and the liberation of Ireland, or any other good work, was the last thing thought of by the people whom the unlucky foreigners found there.
The wives of these men many of them poor, thinly-clad creatures were eager for them to go, especially when they heard that such large sums were being paid, cash down, for bounties, and were beguiled by all sorts of promises with regard to being taken care of by the government, and given so many acres of land when the war was over.
The government was probably as little responsible for the frauds perpetrated upon these poor, ignorant foreigners, as it was for the many other rascalities that were going on. It is a fact, however, that the Federal armies, during the last eighteen months of the war,—and probably during a much longer time, for I am referring only to matters that came under my own observation,—were mainly recruited from these foreigners, who had nothing to do with the quarrel between the South and the North, and who were induced to become food for powder under all manner of false and fraudulent pretexts.
An Inefficient System of Recruiting.
The amount of money that was squandered, through the system of recruiting adopted by the Federal government, cannot be estimate o^ while evils far worse than the waste of money were encouraged. Playing the part I was, I had every reason to be satisfied with the way things were being managed, but now that the war is over, 1 suppose I have the
