Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-08-16

and efficient officer, and he has the best wishes o
nll under his command Bat as for his lcadin,
the company through the battle, hardly thinl
that Mr.. Shaw (from whom the Information pur
ports to come) will admit that any member re-
ported such a fac' to him; will Lieut. Sharp
ley desire the reputation of doing. Lieut.
Sharpley did take command Of the company when
Capt. Drew became too exhausted to proceed
farther, and led the company until rendered
senseless by the cannon ball, when he was carried
from the field by privates Merriam and J. S.
| Spaulding, and was not again by the COM
! pany until it reached Centreville. Lient. Weed
! took command after the misfortune to Lieut. s.,
and to him is due the credit of taking the com
| pany into battle and bringing it off, showing
throughout all the coolness and self possession
ascribed to Lieut.. Sharpley. He, certainly, was
| ably seconded by Orderly Balm 1t would be
unjust to Lieut. Weed not to give him the honor
which he deserves Lieut. W. is now in command
Of the company and not lst Lieutenant of
another company, another report says
We are recruiting up now, and are occupied
mostly guard duty. We have now two COM
psnies each day for guard - one for a picket
guard, and the other as guard about the camp.
Since Gen. Mcclellan has taken command, We
have been kept very close. only two being allow
ed out Of camp at time, and then only with a
written pass Officers and men are debarred from
the pleasure Of going to Washington, On this
account, intoxicating drinks have almost dis
appeared from camp. This produces a very
beneficial effect upon the health of the men. We
have but few in the hospital now
Yesterday very sad day with us, render
ed so by the death of Corporal Huntley of the
Waterbury company. His disease was diptheria.
Appropriate and very solemn exercises were held,
and the corpse was started on its homeward
journey. To-day we are called to mourn another
brother soldier private Dow, from the same
company, who died Of the same disease. Thus
have four Of our number been laid low by this
terrible disease. There are several others in the
hospital suffering from diptheris, but none which
are considered dangerous The bodies of these
young men have been sent home to their friends
by the members of the company.
Company g has FIVE men in the hospital at
present; Sergeant Stuart and E. X. Sibley are in
the camp hospital. The former was not wounded
as you reported, but was sick with the measles at
Ccnterville upon the day of the battle By al
most supcrhuman exertions be succeeded in walk
ing to Alexandria, and has since been very weak
Sibey is down with the fever but is not consi-
dered dangerously ill. Nelson is wounded in the
hospital at Washington, while VIC hear that Cor
poral Wilcox and private Bates are very badly
of in the hospital at Annapolis; with these ex-
ceptions the company are enjoying good health.
Our regiment have not yet commenced work
upon the entrenchments but we arc employed
rather as an advanced guard. Our pickets occa-
sionly get a sight at those Of the enemy, but no
ski.mjshing of importance has occurred, nor do
we anticipate any forward movement for some
time to come. Indeed we are in no condition for
such a move have half dozen different
kinds Of guns and have but one shirt and one pair
of socks apiece so that when wa hing day, comes
we are in bad fix. Oar fare is not much i'm
proved, but the boys stand up under all these diff
iculties much better than could be expected. |
How long they wH live with the miserable ra-
tons with which we supplied is more than |
can tell; yet promised better rations some
fme, perhaps when we get back to Vermont. By
the way there has been much excitement in camp
for 4 few days past owing to the rumor, that We
cannot be Lelt out Of the state moIe that three
months and that We shall then 90 home for the
purpose OF recruiting up. l think the boys are
not homosi5k ct ALL nor are they discouraged, |
but they wouldn't object to G short furlough.
All our grumblng about guns bids fair to |
cease, as We have intelligence to-day from Mr.. |
Hatch that he expects to procure riaed muskets
for Us. Gen. Davis and Lieut.. Gov. Underwood, |
visited our camp to-day, undoubtedly for the pur-
pose Of finishing our equipment.
We have heard to-day that we are to move to (
the neighborhood Of the Sd regim cnt, in few
days. At any rate you must not expect US to
move to Vermont until JEFF. Davis and his rebel |
crew are no uhere. W,