, 1856-04-18
Fort PIKE, WHITE RIVER,
n,tcr,s Prnirie. ApriL llM, 1856.

II En-. PIONEER AND DENoCRAI-D"'- III
your article Of the 4th inst, in relation to
the movements of the volunteer forces, you
state that detachment from camp Hays,
under the command of Capt. SwINDEL, made
a scout to South prairie and the head wa
ters of the Puyallup river. The statement
was wrong-your informant was either ig-
norant of the movements in the camp, or
Intentionally misrcprescnted the move
ments
The expedition was under the command
of Major Hays, comprised of detachment
from companys "B,"" c" and "F" Co.
"F" is Capt Swindeps Coz of the central
battalion, numbering, in all, ffty-two-
from that battalion. accompanied Maj.
Hays, ( by his request, taking with me
Capt. Smalley, of Co. "G," with SO men of
that Co., belonging to the northern battal-
ion.
Again, in another article in the paper Of
the same date, in relation to the death Of
~. ]. Lowell, you state that detachment
under 1t. Blankenship, consisting of twen-
ty men, found the body. In that you were
again misinformed, and no doubt by the
same party that informed you relative to
the scouting party. BY request Of Major
Hays, l instructed Capt. Smalley to detail
ten men under the command Of AdJt. Hill,
to accompany such detachment as might
be furnished from the central battalion
In this expedition, the northern battalion
furnished eleven from one company, whilst
the central, furnished but thirteen from
two companies, with four companies in
camp, against our one
Co. "G," that represents the northern
battalion in this section, are men that are
: not very desirous of newspaper notoriety,
but are, at the same time, desirous to be
properly represented in all statements that
may be made in our public journals; and
not to be used by men for their own con-
venience " that would be " but can't be
anything in the eyes Of the community
your informant must have been blind with
selfconcet, and perfectly ignorant Of milf
tary affairs, not to have known that a cap
tain cannot command Major, or lieu
tenant an Odjutant of different battalion.
would not trouble you with this com
munication, but both myself and Co, G "
is desrous to let that portion of the Sound
we represent know that we arc not wasting
our time in camp destroying provisions,
whilst the central battalion is doing all that
is to be done. m. qL.u s'. ,....
!, Co. 60" was raised expressly for tue
Geld, and expcctto do their dnty whenever
called upon, or on opportunity offers.
Respectfully yours, .,,a,
J.J. VANBoKKELEN. .if
Com'dg. N. B., W. I. VS..
The above was received through an ex.
press from White river last week, too late
for insertion in our last issue. AS we have
already stated on several occasions, we are
entirely dependent, for such information as
we give to the public, with regard to the
movements Of the volunteer forces in the
field, on such statements as we are enabled
to gather from persons, either on the ground,
or such Others as should fully know the
, facts, as to the subject matter communica-
ted. We donot pretend to speak Positirely,
concerning any action, movement or rumor
1t being impossible for us to speak fpom o
personal ktOlOIedge Of the taets, as to what
is transpiring in the different volunteer
commands, should misstatements find their
way into our columns, the fault is not our
own, but rests with those from whom our
information is obtained And this, too,
instead Of being pretheditated, or the work
OF design, may and no doubt is, in most in
stances the result of inadverteney-a care
lessness as to specific detail, in the manner
it Is furnished and given to the public.
We know not, and care as little, who
the men are that lOoHld BE-" "bHt ean't
be-. that Major VAN BoKKELEN is driving
at, and we do not believe that an intelligent
and patriotic public could be grstiaed, or
the interests Of the service advanced by a
series Of examinations and recriminations
amongst officers, field or subordinate, now
on duty. Whatever connected with army
movements may have appeared in this
paper, we have considered correct until the
contrary has been shown. We could have
no object in conniVing at misrepresenta-
tion Of such affairs, neither do we believe
that those from whom we have generally