The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-12-05
General Mcclellan and Ithe Regular
Army.

General Mcclellan and Ithe Regular
Army.
CAMP SECOND BRIGADE, SYKEs's DIvIsioS,l
NEAR WARRENrowN, (VA.,) Nov. ID. )
To the Editor Of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
In letter signed IN. p" published in
the New York Tribune of the 18th, dated
"Franklins Headquarters, Nov. 11th,"
giving an account Of the review on the 0c-
sion of the departure of Gen. Mcclellan
from the army of the Potomac, the follow
ing occurs:
A few regiments of regulars stood in dumb
silence not because they were not willing to
cheer for Mcclellan, but because they had been
led by their officers to believe that if he was
removed they would be instructed by them to
lay down their arms, or in other words to mu-
tiny, and had been disappointed, not having
received such orders.
AS there are but few regiments of regu-
lars in the Army of the Potomac, the
charge is sweeping, and involves them all.
The Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Sew
enth, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth,
Fourteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth
are in whole and in part in this army, and
the First, Second, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth,
Eleventh, and Seventeenth, constituting
the Second Brigade of Sykes Division, are
those of which l shall more particularly
speak, since was an eyewitness of their
conduct on the occasion of Gen. McClel-
lan's farewell
The brigade was drawn up under COM
mand of Major @. S. Lowell, Tenth Infan-
try, in line of double columns at half dis
lance, so that the color of each was in
front. At the approach of Gen. Mcclellan
the usual hOnors were given, after mo-
| ment's steadiness at 'present arms" the
air was rent with heartfelt, lusty shouts,
and colors that had been in every fight
from Palo Alto to Antietam waved and
dropped in token of our devotion to the
General himself. l saw myself many in
the ranks affected to tears, and I know
that among the officers the attachment to
the General is universal.
So much for the facts of the case, and l
now approach the charge that the men ex-
pected orders from their officers to mutiny.
The source from which it comes would
render it unnecessary to notice any ordi-
nary accusation, but this, think, requires
to be refuted, and I ask the press, on be-
half of my brother officers, to publish this
feeble effort to relieve them from the
charge of even the intention of a crime
the most heinous in the military code
mutiny.
The true account of the reception of
Gen. Mcclellan by Porter's corps, which
includes all the regulars, has been given in
| many of the papers, and it is absolutely
false that they stood in dumb silence"
This being false, the conclusion which
N. P. comes to logically falls to the ground,
and it only remains to add few remarks
relative to what the feelings of the officers
of the regular army are.
/ feel authorized to say that they are de-
voted to General cClellan, personally and
officially, recognizing him as so to speak,
the type OF their ideas of military genius.
BY every tie is he bound to them, and it is
scarcely to be conceived how strong be-
come the ties which bind men under cir
cumstances similar to those which have
connected Gen. Mcclellan with the officers
of the regular army. The strongest of
them, however, and the one which the
General himself more particularly inculca-
ted, was a common devotion to the cause
in which we are engaged, and to which we
will devote our lives and energies as cheer
fully under Gen. Burnside as under Gen.
Mcclellan, when the authority we all re-
cognise as supreme requires us to do it.
In the regular army to hear is to obey;
and while we demand the poor privilege of
expressing our natural feelings, in common
with our comrades in arms, we cannot bear
that partisan feeling should be attributed
to it, even if the charge be altogether un-
founded. Our wives and friends read
these charges, and they go before the
world, inflicting incalculable injuries upon
class of men second to none, and supe-
to the whole Tribune establishment-ed-
itors, correspondents, and all-in patriot
ism and devotion to the cause of our ceun-
try.
These lines are penned huriedly, and
it is likely on the eve of battle, and per-
haps many of us may be called upon to be
martyr witnesses to what / have written
above. Let us, then, be credited with the
common virtues of patriotism and subordi-
nation which actuate our brothers in the
volunteer service, and, in the language of
our late leader, I'VE shall ever be COM
rades in supporting the Constitution of our
country and the nationality of its people,"
Very respectfully,
Captain Tenth United States Infantry.
The Indians of Minnesota.