St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-09-19
Letter from Frank Staples.

81 NANP oIONE, Ocl. l, 1901.
3 DEAR BRornEo I'VE are still here
How Long we shall stay I don't KNOW
give have hid good rest We are in :
sscou"try that WAS once rich but now it is
! u Ella c-cursed, worn out land 1t is hill.
Ely country, all dotted with small lots OF
Climber, which looks as though it was once
I cleared and had come up to second
EEgrowth They raise good corn. some
wheat, and very poor oats and potatoes -
sSlt is very good fruit country. They
!: hay. some good buildings, but they don
I lock well, as they have their negro pens
kkjoining them. The darkics are doing thci,
splowing now Their team consists of
three horses which they hitch abreast, and
;;E,then it is hard work for them to plow this
sclay.
3 The "seceshcrs" are as thick here as
s6ddlers, bat they keep mum while the
xtroops are here They say now they want
fthe Union saved, not by fighting. They
want settlement made to suit themselves,
I suppose. l was talking with man the
E'other day, that has been with the enemy,
! and helped them on intrenchments across
ssthe river, little above here, near Lees
sburS. lie says that there are great man
! Union men in the Southern army that will
Eleave as soon as they can. lie was taken
) by the rebels and they wanted him to
ltaks the oath, but he wanted them to
give him few days, and that battle came
sotf at Bull Run and lie managed to get
away from them.
was afraid that our State would be
sdisgraccd by q great many Of our Regiment
ggoinS home. They thought they were
{not legally mustered in. They had a
lawyer to work for them sometime l
thought one while they would get clear.
That would have been great joke on me
sas took such pains to get into the First
i ReSiment. They have found that they
arc fast, and have settled down to their
regular business. I had rather die than
20 home aud leave my country as it is
sThey arc bringing US soldiers down to the
regular army rules and regulations. 1 tell
you that it is the best thing that has ever
been done for us. We shall get our resu.
liar grub, and we will have to keep neat
Sand clean. There is nothing worse for
soldiers; than for them to have their own
Eway too much. Some Of them will buy a
EZouave dress others get on their straw
hats and white pants, which makes Reg
siment look bad. We have our regular
drill and dress parade every evening
We have to put on our dress suit, have
our shoes BACKED, and everything, to look
!. nest; and we do look 6ne, l tell you;
Since the boys found they were fast for:
3thrce years, they take great interest in the
drill. We hive u first rate drill master :
he gives his command SO plain that the
men cannot help getting into position just
fright. a. '.&.~' b u
Col. German has command Of our re: j.!
'ment now. l thought h.: was Brigadier''
General, but it appears he is not. Colonel
Miller is with US yet. He ha* had many
chances 10 do better, but he says be will.
stay with US. l hope he will. - " d" |
In Jacobs and Mothers interesting
|letter, they asked me how I Jared in the1
way of clothes and TODD I will try to tell
you just as it is. 'hall speak for my,
self: For clothes I have good overcoat.!
dress coat, a blouse Or jacket, one pair. Of
pants that l have just drawn, three shirts, !
one gray, one red, aud light colored Eau,
mel, good pair Of shoes l got yesterday
|onc pair Of drawers, hat and; cap, two|
pairs socks, one pair, I never have worm
worn, anda blanket, which makes as much
as | want to carry around when We are on
the move. ga = q" a. '~~'
AZ for food must say that We get !.
great deal better, and more Of it, than II
expected. We have : plenty Of meat,
fresh ''5 b'ef and eorned and . plenty Of