The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-08-08
IN. shsnanao.h valley.


| 5.a.a-9 YJ6. J MARRIAGE. lu EGo
Rev. J. Mcmillan, chaplain of the On,
Hundred and Ninth regiment Of Pennsyl.
vania volunteers; writes from the Shenan.
doah Valley that the soldiers areall anxious
for more vigorous prosecution of the war.
he says:
Surely it has dragged its slow length fsz
enough. All attempts to sketch the viper
are failure. Let us now kill it, or, in re-
turn for ell our gentle endeavors to tame
the "accursed thing" into submission, il
may one day charm us into fatal delusion,
and rule or ruin still. think it is Macau
lay who says: Nothing is 90 cruel to a ma
ton of freemen as for it's rulers to carry on
q languid war;" Now do let us have war
in earnest if we must have it at all.
sECEss1oN1sTs IN THE VALLEY.
The progress of this department Of the
army creates no true Union sentiment as it
advances. The large majority all along our
route from Harpers Ferry, Winchester,
Strasburg, and Front Royal to Warrentown,
admit and even boast that they are I'M.
chaDgably secesh. All that we leave be-
hind are more determinedly secesh after we
have subsisted upon them, as of course we
are obliged to, than they were before we
foraged whatever they had that we had need
OF, giving them in return receipt for pro-
visions taken, to be paid when the war is
over, if they from date play the part of men
loyal to the Union.
THE BLAME LAID ON PRESIDENT BUCHANAN.
With scarcely an exception the people l
have met along the route land have talked
to many of them quietly and calmly in their
own houses) charge all these troubles with
which our country is now afflicted, upon the
administration of President Buchanan.
They say if be had done with South Caro-.
lima at the beginning of her secession procli-
vities what General jackson threatened to
do in the days of notification, few leaders
in that State hanged high as Haman,"
would haveprevented any other States from
being committed to secession. But now,
they say, contrary to our wishes at first
Virginia was carried out of the Union by
the Convention. Then were we threatened
with confscation if we did not vote to ratify
the act of secession.
Since then our young men, the flower of
our families have enlisted. have been slain in
battle, or are still fighting for southern
rights" and it would be dishonorable in US
to turn back from cause to which we are
thus of necessity committed. In short, this
is the substance of their story. "We are
Virginians, and we must stick to our state
wherever she goes"
A sCoNTRABAND" MARRIAGE.
Yesterday evening we had something of
a novelty in our camp. For the first time
since have been in the ministry was in
vited to marry colored couple.
Of course performed the ceremony with
due solemnity; after that you may iuagine
the boys must have their share of fun, even
if, within the bounds of decorum, it sb.' MOI .
be at the expense of the bride and grocI:
The circumstances of this marriage are
these the groom some months ago ran
away from his mistress (his master had gone
into the rebel army +; be became attached
to our regiment as teamster, and in the
providence of God we were marched by the
old slave home which our teamster bad left
there he met and persuaded the girl who
is now LIS bride to join him and come along
with the regiment as washer,woman for
some of the officers. The ordinance, SOL
emnized as it was, was quite new thing in
the eyes of some of our colored servants,
sore of whom thought "dis was better
wedding dan cullud folks ginerally hab in
Virginny" while others thought "dat tying
up man and wife so long as they both live,
was little longer than dey usually expect
in dis country"