A more correct conception of the real magnitude of the Union Army can be reached by measuring the proportions of the several branches of the service, than by simply stating the aggregate number of men.

There were in all some seventeen hundred regiments of infantry, over two hundred and seventy regiments of cavalry, and more than nine hundred batteries of artillery.

These numbers are without parallel in the military history of the world.
There was a very strong and patriotic disposition to engage in the war, on the part of the sons of the Northern statesmen who had been prominent during the generation preceding the outbreak of hostilities.
It was no doubt felt by the juniors to be a chivalric duty to defend on the field what had been advanced by the seniors in Congress and in Cabinet.

A very notable instance was that of the brothers Ewing,--Hugh, Thomas, and Charles, sons of the eminent Thomas Ewing of Ohio,--each of which attained through gradual promotion, fairly earned by meritorious service in the field, the rank of brigadier-general.

They were all young, the eldest not being over thirty-five when he received his commission, the youngest under thirty.