St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-08-01

tie rig Of the officers; but could not ip;-
press one Of them with the prudence It
putting on a loose over shirt IF slnoke-ct.'--
ored gray. We believe now that had or:
officers and men been dressed az we insis-
ted they should be, in gray, there would
not be so many desolate homes in Minnc-
sofa to-day. Had our men gone on in IT,,
stout gray shirts they wore at Snclliuc.
not so many bullets would have founl
their way to brave hearts. These: wou|l,
have been better than the blue surtou S
promised them. But the fault is with tic
general army regulations over which Co..
ernors and States and Colonels have 40
control. That the "epaulctcd .few" have
bravely shared the dangers and deprive;
tions of the men we know. That they
feel for them the utmost sympathy anil
respect VIC know.
We inquired of Colonel Miller. on the
morning of the embarkation, why he gave
his orders as if they were requests e. Hc
replied: "It is all that is necessary :: and
these men are my equals in everything
but army rank"
Recent events prove that the extra bed
ding we thought the men should have
would have been useless in their time Of
greatest need; but still we think the
camp sleeping arrangements ought to be
improved.
Col. Miller in private letters written in
pencil before the the great battle, says:
ON TIE RAIL ROAD
Near Manassas junction,
July II. 1861.
Just arrived here II or $4,000. strong
at 4 P. NJ. this evening, and atteu,pte
to bring on battle with the rebels
They exhibited their usual discretion;
abandoned their fortress, burned 500 Bbls
-four, fred six or eight r. R. Bridges and
left for Manassas junction just an hour
before we came.
The junction is six miles ahead Of Us,
and we expect to visit it very soon-anl
make good report.
This is the most cheerless, hopeless, wa
terless God-torsaken country ever saw.
would not give one acre Of Minncso-
ia soil for thousand acres of this land.
We have twenty or thirty struggling
prisoners picked up to day. -
Truly Yours, STEPHEN MILLER.
HEAD Ours LIST MINI Rect,
Camp near Centreville Va.
! July 10. 1861.
On yesterday at noon l was started
with Capt. Wilkins and Capt. Downie an,
their two companies to examine a rc,,v!
camp 3 Or 81 miles below "Sangstcrs
Station" where We were then. encampcl.
threw out scouts on either side Of th.
road to prevent surprise-and with! til )
reserve kept along the Rail road with spv-
glass in hand-passcd over the still slu,-
king ruins of four burnt bridges, an;i,
when about 23 miles from camp Cart
Wilkin in the advance discovered the ell
envy in force upon an elevation about ! or
one mile in advance of US. He went
ahead with few we'll chosen scouts.
concealed the main body of my men care:
fully, and then with the glass watched the
foe for an hour. They appeared to have
about the same number of men as myself
say $50 to 200-but by Watching care.
fully I soon saw that they had cannon
In a little time counted five of them-
then six-then they loaded two and point
ed them at the spot where I was STANDING:
when left; and blew the retreat for my
scouts, in obedience to Instructions. NJ,
rangers had crcpt up to within few b
dred yards of the Rebels and couns~
about 600 men, mostly behind trees.
The officers and men of both companies
behaved with tho coolness of veterans.
Near night when we got back to "sang
sters" and learned that one Of our Gener-
ais had allowed himself to rur upon a
masked battery Of Beauregards, and had
lost a good many men and was retiring
and our Reg with the entire column had
gone to his support. I started after them
upon feet pony, leaving my two com
panies in charpe of Can't, Wilkin who