Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-09-11

The Wretched Condition of the Rebel Army.
The Richmond Examiner, in an article
upon the Commissary department of the
Southern army, gives the following dis
couraging picture of the condition of some
portions oft. Any of our volunteers who
may have been inclined to grumble will do
well to read this, and thank their good fortune
that they are not in the rebel army;
A company of volunteers, encamped with
in q few hours journey Of their respective
homes, during period of six weeks in mid
summer, had never fresL meat or vegetables
allowed them. They had but one axe in
camp, and one old hatchet-no hammer,
saws or other necessary tools, not even nails
not pot in which to boil or stew, until
the writer borrowed one for them of his own
motion from a neighboring farmer. They
bad not single large fork, spoon or ladle,
but one common meat kniie-no chopper, no
FIRE tongs or shovel, no pan hook-only four
wooden trays OF the smallest size-of buckets,
about one of the common size, painted inside,
to q dozen men-and of basins still fewer
about half IS many tin cups and plates,
knives and forks as there are men in the
Company. Many were without a change of
clothes for weeks together. They had not a
matcbsafe or tinderbox, no serviceable lant-
ern, or lamps. Not ovens or pans enough
to cook whole meal at q time-no washer
women, as allowed by the Regulations"
nor other servants whatsoever. Their meat
was nearly all fried, and their rations, waste
fully prepared and Wrstehedly cooked, hardly
ever went round without some ones being
shared out. No wood was every brought
but such as the cooks dragged from the fjrest
near By. The only time the men were al
! lowed to bathe was immediately after sup
per. They were differed by West Point
Captain, and all their officers were gentle
men OF refined culture, who kept their own
servants, their own table, and ignored as
much as possible the existence OF the men
when of duty. Their Quartermaster and
Commissary, who, for the company, are one
person, was as usual q sergeant who, as in
customary, evRded as much as possible the
duties of the commissariat. This state of
things occasioned great discontent-the
camp was always grumbling, but no member
of the company ever took upon himself to
obtain, or even demanded redress of grievan-
ces. A few deserted-more would, had they
dared-disafectio with the service was
general. Treated 0orse than any negro SLAVES,
they said among themselves What IF the
South l0hips de the noH-slGUehold oldin0 0hites
,OilI get nothing by IL They said much OOrss
than this, for they iOeTe virtually Gbolitonizsd
By their position, and they had not culture
or reason enough to understand the COM
paIative advantages which even the poorest
white man in the South enjoys, in conse-
quence Of system which checks foreign
emigration and keeps arabic lands always
open to his industry. This company, which
contained a fair proportion of intelligence
and manhood, submitted passively to the
priVations above mentioned within hail Of
their own homes. What, then, can be ex-
peCted Of soldiers far away from home and
placed under physical as well as moral dis
abilities2 Here they were camped in very
healthy location, and 700 few in number to
vitiate the air. The waters within shot
abounded in fish. There was everything to
tantalize, to provoke the explosion of in
dividzal energies; but the very idea that they
were soldiers paralyzed them.
When the writer, visiting the camp. re-
presented its wants to its Captain, he was
told that the Commissary Department had
refused TO furnish more than we have men
toned, snd afterwards, at another place, the
only additions were Of rice ana molasses,
some sheet iron camp kettles half full Of
holes, and some little axes, besides what the
Captain purchased for the company out of
his own pocket.
The experience Of this company is still
very favorable, on the whole, as compared
with great many others we could name.