imes in a melee. The cavalry resorted, under some
officers, to the pistol instead of the sword. In the South, at
the opening of the wr, shot-guns and squirrel rifles were gathered
together for arms, and long files were forged in large quantities
by common blacksmiths into knives or a sort of cutlass (or machete)
for use in battle.(27) These were never used by regularly-organized
troops. Guerillas, acting in independent, small bands, were,
however, often armed with such unusual weapons. The North had no
such soldiers. The South had many bands of them, the leaders of
which gained much notoriety, but they contributed little towards
general results. Guerillas were, at best, irregular soldiers, who
in general masqueraded as peaceful citizens, only taking up arms
to make raids and to attack small, exposed parties, trains, etc.
This sort of warfare simply tended to irritate the North and
intensify hatred for the time.

Not in the matter of arms alone was there much to learn by experience.
McClellan and others had visited the armies of Europe and made
reports thereon; Halleck had written on the _Art of War;_ General
Scott and others had practical experience in active campaigns, but
nobody seemed to know what supplies an army required to render it
most effective on the march or in battle.

When the volunteers first took the field the transportation trains
occupied on the march more than four times the space covered by
the troops. Large details had, as a consequence, to be made to
manage the trains and drive the teams; large detachments, under
officers, to go with them as guards. To supply forage for the
immense number of horses and mules was not only a great tax upon
the roads but a needless expense to the government. Excessive
provision of tents for headquarters and officers as well as the
soldiers was also made. Officers as well as private soldiers
carried too much worse than useless personal clothing, including
boots (wholly worthless to a footman) and other baggage; each
officer as a rule had one or more trunks and a mess-chest, with
other supplies. McClellan, in July, 1861, had about fifteen four-
horse or six-mule teams to carry the personal outfit of the General
and his staff; brigade headquarters (there were no corps or divisions)
had only a proportionately smaller number of teams; and for the
field and staff of a regimental headquarters not less than six such
teams were required, including one each for th