"The term of service of six of the eight Regiments forming my Division is about to expire. In the midst of the pressing duties of an active Campaign there is but little time for leave-taking, yet I cannot part from the brave officers and men of my command without expressing to them the satisfaction and pride I have felt at their conduct, from the time when I a.s.sumed command, as they marched through Washington, in September last, to join the Army of the Potomac, then about to meet the Enemy, up to the present eventful period.
"The cheerfulness with which they have borne the unaccustomed fatigues and hardships which it is the lot of the soldier to endure; their zealous efforts to learn the multifarious duties of the soldier; the high spirit they have exhibited when called on to make long and painful marches to meet the enemy, and their bravery in the field of battle have won my regard and affection. I shall part from them with deep regret, and wish them, as the time of each regiment expires, a happy return to their families and friends.
"---- ----, "Brig. Gen"l Com"g Division."
However profound the _regret_ of the General at parting, he must, from the phraseology of the above Order, have been conscious, that in his own conduct was to be found the reason that such regret was not in the least reciprocated by his command. So completely had he aliened the affections of officers and men that the ordinary salute in recognition of his rank was given grudgingly, if at all. When there is no gold in the character, men are not backward in proclaiming that they consider
"The rank is but the guinea"s stamp."
As their campaign approached its close, he added studied insult to long continued injury. His inconsistency, and willingness to make use of a quibble for the accomplishment of tyrannical purposes were shown by his non-approval of the requisition for dress coats, when it was handed in by the officer in command of the Regiment, a short time after the removal of the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel for refusing to obey the order requiring it. Charges had been preferred against his Adjutant-General for repeated instances of "Drunkenness upon Duty,"
"Disgraceful Conduct," and "Conduct unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman." They were returned to the Brigadier, through whom they had been submitted, with an insulting note, in which the General took occasion to state, by way of pre-judgment, that the charges were malicious and false, notwithstanding the scores of names appended as witnesses;--and that no _Volunteer Captain_ had a right to prefer charges against one of his Staff; and that it was the duty of the Brigadier to discountenance any charges of the kind. They were again forwarded, with the statement of the Brigadier, that the charges were eminently proper, and that he himself would prefer them, should objection be taken to the rank of the officer whose signature was attached. But pigeon-holing was a favorite smothering process at Division Head-Quarters, and the drunken and disgraceful conduct of the Adjutant-General remains unpunished.
Charges supported by a large array of reputable witnesses, ranking from Brigadier to Privates, were preferred against the General himself, for "Drunkenness," "Un-officerlike conduct," "Conduct tending to mutiny,"
and the utterance of the following treasonable and disloyal sentiments:--
"That he wished some one would ask the army to follow General McClellan to Washington, and hurl the whole d----d pack into the Potomac, and place General McClellan at the head of the Government,--that the removal of the said General McClellan was a political move to kill the said General; and that the army had better be taken to Washington, and turned over to Lincoln."
The charges and specifications, of one of the latter of which the above is an extract, alleged that the offence was committed at Camp near Warrenton, about the time of McClellan"s removal. Whether they too have been pigeon-holed at Division Head-Quarters is not known. Attention to their merit was promised by superior officers. The patriotic sacrifices of our citizen soldiery are surely worthy of an unceasing and unsparing effort to procure loyal, temperate, and capable commanders. A timely trial, besides affording a salutary example, might have done much in preventing the disgraceful Rebel escape at Williamsport, which alone dims the glory of Gettysburg.
The last that was seen of the exhorting Colonel and his Adjutant, was their sudden exit from the wood at Chancellorsville, in an early stage of Sunday"s fight,--the one with a slight wound, and the other with a headache caused by the cannonading, as alleged. A performance which has not, thus far, brought the coveted star.
"I propose the health of the a.s.sistant Surgeon," said the Chaplain, at a supper given by the Sutler on the day of our muster out, and the occasion of the presentation of a costly sword to our worthy Colonel,--proposing thereby to make an advance towards healing their differences. The Doctor could not escape; and winking, as usual with him during excitement, he rose to his feet.
"My ver goot kind friend, the English language he am a shtranger to me.
No shpeak so goot as Shaplain, but py tam," and the Doctor struck the table until the plates rattled--"was py the Shaplain over six month, and my opinion is, Shaplains, women, and whiskey not goot for soldiers."
The Doctor"s look and tones were irresistibly ludicrous, and a roar of laughter at the expense of the Chaplain ran round the board.
The Regiment returned with ranks sadly thinned. Many of the survivors; among them, most of the Field and Staff, the poetical and the preacher Lieutenants, and privates Tom and Harry,--have re-entered service. The two latter now carry swords.
Bill the cook is the presiding genius of a restaurant; his face, in the way of reminding one of hot stews and pepper-pot, his best sign.
Charlie, his a.s.sistant, was last noticed in a photographic establishment in Philadelphia; inclosing a full length card portrait of himself in uniform, as a Corporal in a Black Regiment, for the benefit of his master"s family in Dixie.
The little Irish Corporal was heard to tell a brawling peace man,--as he menaced with the stump of an arm,--lost at Chancellorsville--in a saloon a short time after his return, to "hould his tongue; that the boys who had lost limbs in defence of the country were the chappies to stump for freedom, and that they would keep down all fires in the rear, while our brave boys are fighting in front."
A late mail brings the news that our Western Virginia Captain is soon to take the field at the head of a Black Regiment, and that the happiest results are antic.i.p.ated from his enforcement of military law and tactics, as learned by him under "Old Rosy," in Western Virginia.
Thus we go on. Necessity hastens the progress of civilization and freedom. Desolating war--protracted by mistaken leniency--has educated the nation to a proper sense of the treason, and nerved it to the determination to crush it by all possible means and at every hazard. The man who has heretofore objected to Negro enlistments, acquiesces when his own name appears upon the list of the Enrolling Officer. The day that saw the change in the miserable, not to say treasonable, policy of alienating the only real friends we have had in the South, and their successful employment as soldiers, stands first in the decline of the Rebellion. Its suppression is fixed, and is to be measured by the vigor with which we press the war.
"Vengeance is secure to him Who doth arm himself with right."
THE END.