, 1862-04-17
HOH IEE. =
I hare the honor 10 be, your ob'd't serE't,
Brig. Gen. ". 7. SHERMAN,
Commanding Division.


GEN. uCRLBCT DOES WELL.
My duties threw me near Gen. Hurlbut's d.
vision, and hence mention what most per-
tains to them. Some Of the officers and men
had cherished prejudices against him from the
Missouri eamPagn but they E,s He nS a95
division (e7oneously stated By the Gin
e1unati Times, and quoted BY the
Missouri iRtpubliean- I need not repeat
their blunder in order to correct them, con
sisted Of the Twenty eighth Illinois, Forty
first Illinois, Forty second Illinois. and Third
Iowa regiments, the Fourteenth Illinois, Flf-
tecnth illinois, Forty Illinois, and Twen-
ty-ffth Indiana regiments. These formed the
first and second brigades. As do not remem:
ber the precise regiments forming the third
brigade, T will not Try to state them here; The
first BRIGADE vas commanded BY Col Williams
of the Third Iowa; but as he WAS wounded
at an early hour, Col. johnson, Of the Illinois
Twenty eighth was appointed to command;
and then, as his Lieut.. Colonel, fitzpatrick,
vas killed, and Major Gillian, Of Rushyille,
Ill, shot through the left shoulder, Col john
son Was compelled to resume command OF his
brigade was commanded BY Col Veach, of tue
Twenty fifth Indiana, and aB there seemed no
general order issued until the hardest fight OF
Sunday was past, each regiment, brigade and
division was thrown on its own resources, and
each in turn did nobly. :;
under command Of Col Hall, had about 600
men engaged cf these were killed and
wounded in the first fatal tRo hours. Strange
enough, Col. Hall, Lieut.. Col Cain, aud Maj.
Morris, all faithful to their duty, escaped IN
hurt. But near me while I write lies Capt.
! the same leg. Capt. Simpson, Of Taylorville,
| Ill, with Two fingers shot of, hand shot
! through, and the right arm Sadly bruised By 8
| spent ball. He was also so stunned by the cx-
| plosion Of 9 shell, Us to be insensible for
awhile Next lies Lieut.. Opets, Of Boards
| Capt. D. c. Smith and Lieut., Poteet, both shot
| throuh the thigh Lieut.. Wright, shot in the
right arm Sergeant Hines shot through the
foot, and Corporal Sinclair shot through the
leg. Captain Meachem, Of Wayerly, ~, had
his head terribly gashed by a ball, but his skull
| is not broken and scattered along the dech
| on mattresses and in the cabin lie onr brave
men, some but slightly wounded, some NOR
| tally, and some in the yigoT Of youth manned
| for life. But you would grow weary with tht
detail Of single regiment:
| They piled the ground with rebels slain.
They conquered, but their comrades fell
Bleeding at every retn.'
SOME ONE BLUEDRRED.
propose now to a1lude to two cfrcum
stances which require very delicate handling
as the causes are not fully explained, and in
nocent persons may be censufed.
All hare, no doubt, asked the question hoV
it WAS possible thai, in heimmedfate vicinity Q
an enemy SO powerful and wary, when sue
enormous issues were at stake, our. arm
should have been surprised, that sixty thou
sand troops should have moved upon our nd
vance go that they we're upon US, and capture
three regiments, as appears IN many cases, OF
fore their guns we're loaded?
ssSoue one had blundered."
One statement Is that the captain Of th
picket guard Of Gen. Prentlss' brigade va
SO drunk us to be totally unfit for duty. Thl
may be only report. Possibly the picket
were captured.
u THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.
Another circumstance, which, whether oV
ing to mismanagement or negligence, or Waa
Of material and men, is 1nutterably meia'
stumbled into tent not fifty yards from tt
: hospital, where lay one Of the rebel wounde'
: | O Young man apparently not over elghtee
,, years Of age, who said he had received no s!
! tention for two days, except what the unsRtl
ed hands OF kind hearted soldiers could a!
minister. He said that he had been force
into the rebel service This morning. Whe
I tried to find him he was gone, wheth,
TO the boat or the grave I know not
! another tent lay two OF the dead On II
! evening Of the battle. directly in the path va
! lying in the mud with nothing but a blank
: beneath him, and surrounded By curious loo
:. CTS on, was Confederate officer, groanir
: and apparently dying. Two OF three hou
afterwards the same scene was being e
. cted. related these circumstances to @
{ order and confusion; that there had bean
: organization or system. This, perhaps, =
: unavoidable, in view Of a demand so sudd'
and tremendous, But would itnot be huma
> ity and economy Of life, if our medical cor
4 we're doubled, IN anticipation Of such calls
!