The Grand Haven news. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1858-18??, 1862-08-20
Correspondence of the Detroit Free Press.
FROM REV. JOSEPH ANDERSON
s CAMP ON JAMES RIVER,
Virginia, August 8. {


is a good deal of sickness in camp, the
seeds of which ! believe to have been sown
amid the swamps of the Chickahominy-
the miasma and water Of which were
impregnated with death; here the water
of the wells is good, and the air, when we
have any, appears salubrious. In the
neighborhood of our division there is
mill-pond which affords the pleasures of
bath and invites to frequent additions,
after rain it overfows, and to stand under
the dam and receive the falling flood is
an enjoyment in the way Of shower
bath the like of which 1 never expert
enced.- 1t is luxury imparting not
merely cleanliness but health and vigor.
The banks of the pond are strewed with
garments of all kinds, thrown away by
our men, and many of them good ones
too, which would be a godsend to the
rebel soldiers, could they get them, even
although they be peopled by peculiar
specimen of animalcule, too vulgar to
mention to ears polite. 1t is to the
shame Of our men that they do not OBJ
serve personal cleanliness sufficiently.
When in the trenches, on march, or amid
the deadly or active struggle of war, this
may be difficult, if not impossible, but
there is no excuse for the want of il in
camp. You can easily perceive how
wooden garments, saturated with fetid
matter, exhaled from the body, and worn
night and day, need frequent cleansing,
and yet this is so neglected that many Of
the men wear them until they become so
filthy or infested with vermin that they
are compelled to cast them away entirely.
A word about Chaplains. The cores
respondent Of the N. Y. Times, in COM
munication from Harrison's Landing, gives
some tough stories about Chaplains. He
says he heard of some of them sped
ding socks at thirty-five cents apiece, and
lemons at five CENTS" but the account
bears its own refutation on the face of il,
for 1 never could buy a lemon for less
than ten cents, and l have travelled miles
and miles through camp at times to get
them even at that price. And in the
same passage he quotes, or, rather, mis-
quotes, the text of q certain Chaplain's
sermon, showing at once that whatever
value he may have as newspaper cores
pondent, his biblical scholarship is not Of
high order. Now it is fact that our
army Chaplains comprise many men Of
the ripest scholarship and highest order Of
intellect and purity in the ministerial
ranks Of our country; and at the same
time it is also to be deplored that some
have been employed who either were not
ministers at all, or, being unified for it.
had retired from the ranks TO pursue some
more congenial or lucrative employment,
and sought the Chaplaincy, therefore, OF
were chosen to it, from interested or party
motives, and their character casts n dark
shadow over them. Some, again, appear
cd very well in the pulpit at home, amid
the surroundings of quiet, respectable
parish, convenient church, and nicely
cushioned pulpit, but when called to exc
cute the duties of their office, amid the
roughness and hardships of camp life, the
clash of arms, the deadly strife of battle,
or the difficulties and dangers of a retreat,
Ythey were recreant to their trust neglect
ed their duties entirely, and at length re-
turned to the ease and quiet of home life.
One Of these last inserts in the Adrian
EIpoSitor, of July 25, rs reasons for his
resigning, among others, that "he was
doing nothing" This testimony, as CON-
ing from his own lips, must be owned to
be true, but then aquestion arises wheth-
or his "doipg nothing" arose from his
own wishes, or that he had nothing to do
No one who knows anything Of our army
will assert the latter. Another reason
was, he had conscientious scruples about
receiving pay for imaginary service:
which he did not and could not render
Now it is rather remarkable that it took
him near a whole year to find this out
and yet he received the pay for that time
without any scruple. The fact is, Chap
lains, like other men, have their heart il
their work, or they have not, and, if not
they will act out their nature like othe
men.