'I saw how we came to be at war with the Russians, and as much of a mess that was, but there was a reason for it: the Russian threat to the Mediterranean. It was a mess, and we had to try and recruit Germans and Italians and Swiss to keep the Army at strength'
From elsewhere on the boards:
From Henry S. Sanford, US consul at Belgium, to William H. Seward, Secretary of State, 25 May 1861:
'They struggled, in fact, to the extent the British were recruiting German, Swiss, and Italian mercenaries in 1855-56 (not that any of them actually made it to the Crimea)' (link)
'The issues brought out by the mercenary "legions" of 1854-56 are that is [sic] shows how brittle the regular army was' (link)
‘I observe that the President is about to increase very largely the number of men in the standing or Regular Army. It has occurred to me that in view of the preference likely to be given to the volunteer service, and the consequent difficulty of procuring a sufficient number of army recruits through the ordinary channels at home, it might be advisable to seek them elsewhere. The German Legion of 10,000 men for the Crimean war was recruited by England in Hamburg, and were excellent soldiers. I have no doubt the same number of able-bodied men who have been in the army could be obtained there now in a few weeks for the bounty of steerage passage to the United States.'
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