, 1862-02-13

s2A~ aNA1ptAAk VI Al 11VtL uAELCl1r 0fhE1Ol tt /
tic peop1c Of Leaycnworth. 1t was on The |
ccaston OF its return homo since the date of |
its mastering into service OIL the 29th of May. |
The Provost Marshal, Major Cloud OF thu |
kar6as I'd, was Murslal Of The occasion, while
come The boys. Tie modezty of The coloae1 |
received a severe blow ut The speeches which
were made ut the presentation. He wears his
honors gracefully and gratefully, and well de-
serves them all. I will forward the brigauc
organization rs soon as obtained aud formed.
The Siege Of LeXInSton--A Word for
tho First Illinois Cavalry.
1.-The subject of the following communica-
tion is rather ancient for news matter, but ltas
been kept alive by the persistent injustice
done to those wle shared with Col Mulligan
and his men the dangers and suffering of the
siege Of LeSington-l
ST Loc1s. No, February 10, 1862.
Editors Chicago Tribune:
for your paper for the last three months, and
rs now is the most propitious time, I there
fore avail myself Of little leisure time to do
so. My object in 80 doing so is to give your
numerous readers some facts in regard to the
battle end siege Of Lexington. Col Mulligan,
Of the Irish Brigade, so called (although his
command Was several hundred short Of . full
regiment), has been going around from city to
city extollipg to the skies himself and his reg
iment, to the exclusion Of all others WHO par
Mulligan has ignored entirely the existence Of
any other regiment but his although the
Yankees outnumbcrcd the Irish just two to
one. I do not wish to detract from the
}aurels Won By any Of the officers or men
under Col. Mnlligan's immediate command,
but on the contrary give them all the credit
due them US brave and gallent men. But then,
Messrs. Editors, The lst Regiment Of Illinois
Cavalry was also at Lexington, and deserve as
much, il not more, credit than the Irish Brig
ade, from this fact, that they had no arms to
fight With, except those ne captured in our
account whatever. Yet our men shou1dered
them and did their duty like men. To be sure
nc had horse pistols Which were used in the
war Of ISL, but theT would not reach
w'hn snd it x Tvs 5aees Of r sne en9my
to press his ra1nrod against q rock in order to
get the cartridge down, they (the pistols) be-
ing 60 old, rusty and almost worn out. There
was probably, all told, 200 men of the 1st
illinois Cavalry engaged all the time in the
fight, and venture the assertion, without
billed as many Of the rebels as the whole Irish
Brigade put together. It was merely by acci-
dent that MulIigan got the command of the
post at Lexington, his commission belieye
dating some few days prior to Col Marshall's,
very good generalship in Col. NJ holding on
to the post, WHEN be knew that we f,.ust even
tualty suTendcr-being surrounded as he well
knew by ten times our number. We could
have very easily retreatcd across the river, and
thus sayed to Uncle Sam at least s., ,000. 600 in
money and war equipments. Colonel
Mulljgan states in lis lecture that we
were besiegcd nine days, when in fact it was
only three. We had battle On the 18th Of
September, and from that time until the 18th
we had possession Of the city Of Lexington
nnd two Loats on the river, besides the ferry
boat. Then I say, why could not Col. ".
havc Tetrcated and saved our already almost
bankrupt Government s., 900 900, besides tic
lives Of almost 100 men. Further, why has
not Col. H. up to this time given lis official
report to the Commanding General Of this
department, Of his operations at Lexington
Simply for the reason that lie dare not. He
would be Obliged to mention the First Illinois
Cavalry in that report, and how Lieut.. Colonel
II. n. Day, Of that reg iment, conducted HIM
self. a truer Or braver man than Col Day
does not live; he not only cheered his own
men on, but was around among all the men
engaged il the fight, including the Irish Brig
adc: On the last day Of the siege he was car
rled of the ground, supposed to be n1ortally
in my hearing: "Neyer mind INC,
boys, but tSs 50 naa;ag and give - them sap H., ~,
| rebels. There were others, also, Of the LIST
| Illinois cavalry who deserved honorable men
| ton at the hands Of Col ~; but no, it was ill
| Ny brave Lieut.. Col. Quirk; my gallant Major
Moore, and my intrepid Capt. Gleason. But
| people tTll0 at first supposed the Irish Brig
| ade consisted Of at least two regiments, at
lcHngton) are beginning to find It out that
there were other regiments there, who fought
as nobly and braycly rs the Irish Brigade
Then again, if the men loved Col. II. as much
| they not flock to his standard by hundreds,
| instead Of the meagTc number recruited in a
week for his regiment? His regiment was
relnst2ted at least one month before the LIST
Eli. cavalry, and at This writing he has (as
was told by one Of his captains last weekly just
| $50 men, wlile4he Ist Ill. cavalry have nearly
500 men. Then again it must be remember,
ed that We only had seven companies at Lex
iugton, the other five never having been with
us. Two believe are in Virginia-aud three
at Cairo and Paducah Let justice bc done,
| dicr Gencralship. There is no doubt in tue
world but TINT was lis object in going around
| the country making speeches on lis brayc and
| gallant defence Of The post Of Lexington,
when he ought to have been fighting the bat.
ties Of his country with the rest Of the brave
| men which this war has developed.
Perhaps some Of your readers may say: We'll
this fellow, {mcaning your correspondent has
mentioned only the 1st Ill. cavalry in his arti
clc, when there were other regiments besides
them and theirish Brigade. My excuse is this
belong to the 1st. III. cavalry, was al
Lexington, and write only about my regiment
presuEiDg that Col. Peabody, of the 18th Mis-
souri,, Col. Grove Of the Home Guards, ant
Col. White Of forget what regiment, neithe1
Of them being full, can, with the exception O.
Col. Grover, [who has since died of his wound:
received at 1exington,) defend their ow1
cause.
The 1st Illinois Cavalry is now rendezvous
ing at Benton Barracks, the commander beint
der arrest for cowardicc, Sc, at Lexington.
Yours, &c, JONI D. JOKES,
Co. A, 1st III, Cavalry,