Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-11-28
Army correspondence.
CAMP EwING, Faycttc Co., Va.

thottuh i'm my letter, may relate some things
that to experience, will decidedly take all ro
mantle nations ont of the heads of those wh,
entertain e,tch foolish ideas of ''thc ponp an,
crcu,na,onces of nlorious war" that the ina ain
alton of romalastic scribblcrs have painted -
IIiol. wrought pictures of dreadful su}Ierin, o,r
demorazation among the troops. such as tb,
bothered "our special correspondentsn for son,c
time past, shall not be nv theme as nv desr,
and design always il IN oive n truthful stStomont
"plain and unvarnished talo !" md NOT IN Ira,,
out the Imagination, where / know tbo intsrcs
felt in our welfare by hundreds and thousands of
sincere and dear friends. and what onxietv and
beating OF heart Is expcrienccd when those niecos
of ssreliablc infornaiion.u 6nd thoir voy into
their homes Without he;nr nros,,,ntuors /
think my reputation for yeracty' will Obtain duo
credcnce But. without occunyino too mucL s,,co
in useless and unnecessary nrcminories lot ma
write what will honing n NAV ho a souroo NJ
satisfaction TO interested persons.
As Won are aware. this command of tho army
has for some time bcen lvin, nj is n,oco inactive
The last marchin, nerf6rned Inv tbe o3d rngin,ont
wns ON thc Sth OF Octohor yhon rollin9 Locl,
from Nount Scwoll since ,ben tbc tin7o Los
been occnncd In standino ouard worl,ino and an
occasiouol scout. although not attended with suc
cess nor with onv loss
When last wrote Won. I had but a limitcd OK.
pcrienee of "A sollieris lifn. olihouoh had done
considerable marching vet il was left for The fnturc
c ~ t i,i 'I Wv u''i ~
I vo, rrotcrd tn ho a., 91racIo olthou5h 7 bo,,o
seen some things, and passed through some scenes
which, under ordinary circumstances | would
complain of gricvouslv, but have this far enioyed
myself reasonably we'll, and this can attest to,
that TIE troops have, with cheerfulness unac
countnble. unde,tokon and rerfnr,noJ d,,tios 81
most impossibilities and under the most odverse
circumstances. Consi,lnroblr morchin, wos nor.
formed in the Interim between thc oOtb of AuGust
and 10Th of September when the battle of Car.
nfeax Ferry was fought but, much to the discon.
future of the 23d regiment, we were Obliged to
stand back as a reserve, not even enioying sight
although within plain hearing distance. After
20 days of almost continued walking, climbing
of mountains wading streams, sleeping in the
open air, enduring privatons, exposure, and ia.
tgue, then coming so close to the "Scccsl," and
obliged to remain back, was not according to the
disposition of the boys in general, and the pro.
gramme they had laid down. Nevertheless
knowing themselves bound to obey their officers
they, of course submitted to proner commando
We remained in the neghborhood of the Carn e.
fax Ferry battle ground for two weeks and then
moved ON in the direction of the enemy on the 5ith
Of September and arrived at Seyall Mountain on
the 20th. But in the march, we got some pract: ,al
knowledge of soldiers hartlsbips On the e, en-.
ing of the Doth, we were ordered in half an hour
after notice was given to march; and at that time
it was raining, the sky was lowering, everything
had dismal appearance ond every moment the
rain increased; vet, at the appointed time we
started and marched four miles through rain, ,
storm and mud, and then, ut the close of our
tramp, the prospect of staying out was favorable:
until we were ordered To occupy some buildings
short distance ahead, an order Which We were b y
no means reluctant or dilatory in obeyng For
the two following nights and days, |, with some
six or eight companions was the dignfcd occu.
paut of a corn crib: for which we were truly
thankful, IL, bv little labor, we succeeded in
making it comfortable protector from the storm
which continued undated for twenty four hours
and such storm too, as from its fury continuance
and severity will likely be remembered for time
to come. But at last the storm turminated, as
all storms must but not until we were thoroughly
disguised with such proceedings and the more
thankful for change, Our subsequent march
to, and occupation OF IL position at Sewell Noun.
tain, whether General Cox mad proceeded up and
was now IA nearer neiellbur TO our lebellious
brethren, and also our falling back from that
position, because il appeared under the circum-
stances to be Il 'militarv necesstv,' have become
matters of comment and criticism with the press
the particulars of which you are undoubtedly
familiar with, and is now stale news, but these
two events that is, our forward and rctrograde
movement, were both done on Sunday; and, to
tell the truth. the recurrence Of this sacred day
throughout this campaign, has been the Cause of
speculation as to where We would go, not doubt.
ing but that we would 60 somewhere. The first
ten weeks was in Virginia. | was not in one
place two different Sundays, and with The except
ion of three or four, we We're on the march. OF
course, this is unavoidable. We cannot sit down
and lay down course Of proceedings, we can