The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1861-08-17
Bush IInL, Va, Aug. llth, 1861.

mel is very unpopular with the Regiment-ol-
GERS and soldiers SO much SO that can hardly
SEQ how he can, with any proprlety, be willing
to remain in command. am not unaware OF
the fact that many times soldiers, made from
volunteers who have very crude ideas of militia
ry life and military discipline, may, for time,
cnale under the necessary restraint to which
the Camp requires them to yield. But | am
certain this is not the extent of the difficulty
with Col. Whiting, Not only the men, but
the officers, almost to man, arc decidedly dis
pleased with him. Now there never was a set
of men in the world thrown together to consti,
tute Regiment, that possessed more intelll-
gence and patriotism than those comprising the
Second Vermont and | am sure that any one
who will look over the names OF the list OF gen
tlemen composing the commissioned officers OF
the Reg iment will see that they are not the men
to endanger the success or efficiency OF the Reg
iment from mere prejudice; and they are the
last men who would be disposed TO do any I'M
kind act to prejudice Col. Whiting without
cause. Now say that nine tenths of all the
men and of the officers are bitterly opposed to
him. What is the reason? VIII the people
be satisfied with the hmsy explanation that
these reports against Col. Whiting come from
only All occasional dissatisfied private? 10 show
that this is not the case, and that the complaint
is general and we'll founded, allow me to say,
(and this know that short time ago the COM
missioned ofiicers--with very rare exceptons-n
the Regiment signed % paper requesting Col.
w. to resign, and the paper is now In the
hands of one of tho Captains, ready to be pre-
scented to him. The fact that it has not yet
been presented to him, shows that the signcrs
are not inclined to make trouble, but with to
have harmony and see the Regiment prosper
The paper, on consultation, has been retained,
in hopes that he might improve, and that
we might yet avoid the necessity of 20 great a
disturbance in the Regiment. The difficulty
complained Of is his want Of Judgment, his
want Of military skill and his want of courage.
Whether he exhibits all OF these inperiectlons
is u matter that do not propose to pass upon.
do not claim to be 1t judge as to how small q
man may be in all these respects, and yet make
a good Colonel. am in possession OF iacts,
however, which | may hereafter state----tAcss
which have witnessed myself. from which better
Judges might decide the point. One thing is
generally known, and OF that propose to speak.
Much has been said of the battle at Bull run
ana the Colonel's conduct there. think | SAW
and heard all he did and said in connection
with the Regiment On that day. Indeed, have
heard the Colonel say thai the facts were AS 1
am about to state them.
" c had very tiresOme march to reach the
battle field. Col. Whiting undoubtedly was
very tired. But however this might be, the
Regiment were on the ground where the line of
battle was formed number of minutes before
the Colonel, 50 much ahead, in fact, that tho
Captains had ordered their men to rest, and
they had all sat down for moment waiting Tor
orders. Col Whiting after "a little delay came
up and We were soon ordered to advance. This
order was given by Col. Howard. We did ad.
vance and into the line of battle and commenced
firing. Col w hitting might have been with us
when we went on the field, but l did not see
him until we had been some time on the field,
when an inquiry was made by some of US for
the Colonel. This arose from the fact that we
seemed in need of direc tons and there was no
field officer at cur end of the line to give them.
A soldier said to me, }" There he is behind that
tree | looked and sure enough there he was,
keeping as cool as possible. Tic firing had now
slackencd considerably, and the Colonel came
out from his retreat but don't know why, as
| did not hear him Say anything, and he soon
walked away from US to the rear and went out
Of sight. lie was not On the field exposed to
view, to my certain knowledge, over three min
utes. | moved to the right of our glnal po-
sltion and after continuing III the con1ic, for
some time was obliged to retire, and on falling
back through the bushes | came upon the Colo,
mel below the woods sitting behind rock on
the ground. AS you may suppose. Eermonters
thought little strange of this kind of proceed
ure on the part of the Colonel, and expressed
themselves pretty freely and pretty generally
that this was cowardly, or at least that it had
that appearance. But this was probably owing
to our ignorance. After we got back from the
battle, and after some things had been said about
the Coloncl's conduct, which he had probably
heard, he drew up statement in regard to his
conduct on that day and asked Major Joyce to
sign ie, which he declined TO do, as many of the
statements contained in the paper were without
his personal knowledge.
And now comes fresh display of the Colo.
mel & valor. lie now found that he could not
wheedle every Vermonter into endorsing cow
ard as Il brave man. He was indrgnat at this,
and gave Ma or Joyce notice that he should
look after HIM or attend to his case and since
that time it has been observed that he has treated
the Ma or with marked GOODNESS, until yesterday
when the Colonel's bravery eliminated You
have all seen the article in the Burlington
Times over the signature " MAJOR When
this appeared in our camp. the Colonel put Ma
jor Joyce under arrest and is gong to have him
cour,-martlaled. This will of course bring some
sort of a crisis. The whole Regiment sustain
the Major, and believe the Colonel is actuated
by jealousy and malice. AS time progresses,
will apprso you of our standing ami how the
matter goes. AN OBSERVER.
EMpLoyMENr.-Wm.M NJ. Thayer, of the firm
of Whitley 4 Co., of Geneva, N. Y, is now at
Burnhan's Holel, wishing to engage u number
of men to do business for the Company in tie
States and Canadas. Men of tact and ability,