The call for volunteers.
The last Proclamation of the Governor, dispensing with the call of the militia for actual service, where ten per cent of the white population has volunteered, meets every demand of justice and necessity, and should be actively supported by the people. We are confident in the belief that a very large and effective volunteer force will in this manner be at once sent into camp.The present moment certainly appeals with peculiar eloquence and power to the patriotic spirit of our people. Our arms are victorious before repeated assaults of the enemy, and nothing is wanting but additional numbers to enable our Generals to precipitate their commands upon the enemy's lines before Washington, and drive both his army and Government from that city.
A strong volunteer force, immediately, rallied would vastly facilitate this enterprise. Those volunteer companies which are first organized will have the first chance to be supplied with the arms which have been picked up in such large numbers upon the field of battle before Manassas. Those volunteer forces which should not be able to procure such arms would be at once placed in the charge of our breastworks and batteries; and would thus leave our Generals free to move their whole present force forward against the enemy's lines. Undisciplined men, even with inferior arms, are capable of manning breastworks and serving artillery as successfully as the most veteran troops; and it is for this reason that our Generals are so eager to procure men at this particular juncture, no matter how little they may be drilled or how slightly armed.
The present call for volunteers, or, if these cannot be procured in the desired numbers, for militia, is intended to meet this particular position of affairs. Eight or ten thousand new troops, no matter how raw, thrown into our breastworks, and placed in charge of our artillery, would make everything secure in our strongholds, and would mobilize the whole of our well drilled forces for operations in the field against the enemy. The new troops need not be afraid of being put to work upon entrenchments, for these have been completed; and even if further fortifications should be needed, they could be completed much more speedily by throwing the whole force of the army upon them, than by wasting time by employing only a small portion of the force.
The occasion is therefore the most admirable one for volunteering that has occurred during the war. The first companies will be certain to be armed with the best guns in either service. All the companies will at once be put forward in places where they are sure to see heavy fighting, and where they will enjoy the protection of field works at the same time that they may have the opportunity of dealing destruction upon the enemy. Their opportunities for learning the drill and becoming acquainted with the discipline and art of camp life, will be better than has been yet enjoyed by troops newly organized; and they will learn war on its largest and most active scale by immediate participation in it.
We trust that the rally of volunteers under the ten per cent. requisition will be prompt and enthusiastic. The country needs their services to make good its designs against the enemy.--We are tired of awaiting attacks. We want to carry the war into Africa. We desire, for this purpose, to mobilize the whole of our present force, and to supply their places in the fortified camps with the new forces. Six, seven or ten thousand of these sent at once into our camps would be worth as much in the way of reinforcements as the same number of regulars and veterans. They would disengage for service in the field against the enemy the whole of our present army, and drive the invaders at once from the soil of Virginia. All alarm and apprehension would cease within our own borders, and panic would be carried into the country of the enemy.
We urge upon our citizens of all classes to bestir themselves zealously and actively in promoting the enlistment of volunteers. Those who cannot march themselves, can encourage others to go in their places; and there is not a county in North side Virginia, which cannot this very week send its quota of men into camp. We invoke the people to zeal and activity in this good work. A few thousand men added to our forces in the moment of victory, will be worth ten times as many at any other period.
