THE AMERICAN ARMY 289 it was realised from the first that a very large proportion of the 116,000 men on the rolls of these State troops wouldnot be available. Many weretoo old,others hadnot the proper physique for soldiering in a tropical climate. The process of selection was carried out by assembling the regiments, some at their headquarters, others in local camps, or in great training camps at Chickamauga,and there weeding out the unfit, and inviting those who were capable of it to enrol themselves in the activearmy.

Thepercentageof menrejectedby the doctors difficulty arose. she plan adopted by the military authorities was not to call out the existing militiaand volunteerregiments as such, but toregard them merely as recruiting agencies for the new army, created by the President's call for a levy of 125,000 men. Thus, if all or nearly all the members of a regiment volunteeredfor service, there was a strong probability that they wouldbe sent to thefront under their own officers and grouped in the existing companies, but there was no guarantee of this. It was quite possible that where, as wasoften the COLONEL MILKS AND OFFICERS OF THE FIRST INFANTRY.

amongst both the new recruits and the already enrolledvolunteers was startlmgly high. When the men who were left were asked to volunteer for active service the response was, in most regiments, all but unanimous. The few who hesitated or refused had a bad time of it. In several cases they were nearly lynched by their moreenthusiastic comrades,the officers carefully case, ?o per cent, of the men failed to come up to the high standard exacted by the recruiting officers, the regiment would not be allowed to fill its ranks with new members, but would be fused with the membersof some other regiment to form an entirely new battalion. As soon as this was realised, there was a kind of revolt in some of the New York regiments. One of the best of them, composed chiefly of the sons of wealthy families, had by an almost unanimous vote offered its services for the campaign immediately on the declaration of war. But when the men were informed that their services could only beaccepted as individuals,subject to a new enlistment, the offer was withdrawn, and only 30 per cent, voted for enlistment under the new conditions. The Governor of the State of looking the other way while the stay-at-home soldiers were hustled and kicked out of camp. Such incidents said more for the zeal than the discipline of the militia battalions ;but after a of these little riots had enlivened the monotony of camp life, doubtful men made up their minds that,on the whole, it was safer tovolunteer at once for active service, In some regiments, however, an unexpected 19