Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-06-16
For the Indiana State Sentinel
Letter from an Army officer Desert.
bling what he Saw in Washington.
WASHINGTON, ID. O., June IL, 1862

AShlNOTON, ~. ", June Is IcO%-
DEAR JOE: l left your goodly city at s P. Nj.
on Friday last, and by the aid of a slip of paper,
which | paid SIT 80 for, | found myself at this
place on Sunday morning. You, of course, know
that | am an officer of the grand Union army,
and wear shoulder straps, and as such should have
had due respect shown me; nor can | complain,
for when / left the cars, at the Washington De-
pot, | met a great string of the politest gentle
men of the city, each anxious that | should
take a seat in his carriage and ride down
to my hotel. This was a distinction that
l did not look for, but / attributed it all to
the shoulder-straps and my good looks. l finally
selected one of the finest carriages, and the gen
tleman who drove asked me what hotel | desired
to 60 to. This was a stumper, for | did not know
myself. Indeed, after receiving so much atten-
ton at the depot, / thought it possible that | was
to be made the guest of the city, and a hotel
already in waiting to receive me- The gentle
man, however, not understanding the matter in
that light, repeated the names of a large number
of hotels, and among the number was the cave
nue. House." to which place he soon drove me,
dismounted, and very politely opened the door of
the carriage, and assisted me in getting out. and
just as / was going to thank him for his kindness,
he says"A dollar, sir, please" "What?" says |.
ga dollar, sir" So / Just pulled out very nearly
the last unicorn" that / had about me and gave
it to him. He thanked me with a gracious smile.
which faJuer pleased me. ana away ne went. Il
then went up into the loft of the Avenue House,
where | found a very dirty little Office, with a nice
young man behind the counter, and niger sitting
by. L registered my name, and inquired of the
niger where | could get a drink. The Niger
said that it was Sunday, and none could be had
nearer than Willard's Hotel, to which place he
directed me, and away l went. The streets were
crowded with soldiers and niggers. Many of the
soldiers were very polite, saluting me in true mil
| ifaru ~ oil on onnp ~ my cfraDc "a
found Willard's, got my drink, and started back
l had not got far, before L met a squad of the
incest looking soldiers l ever saw, under the
command of an equally nice looking Sergeant,
who, upon approaching, halted his men, gave me
the military salute, and / thought he was going
to have bis men present arms while | passed.
The streets were full, and | felt proud of the dis
tinction about to be conferred. So just as / was
going to make my most polite salute to the men,
the nice little Sergeant says, ga pass. sir; a pass,
STRIP 1.-THE DEVIL" says /, al have no pass; ! am
officer of the army-don't you see my shoulder
straps?" The nice little officer informed me
that he was officer of the Provost Guard, and
charged with the duty of arresting all officers
and soldiers found in the city without a pass. By
this time quite a crowd of ringers and white men
had come up, many of whom | noticed were very
much amused, and | suspected that it might be at
my expense. So you see that | did not feel quite
~ bAoAS &c u Aaa - ASW OhACAA Wv
However, by dint of hard persuasion, | got the
officer to let me off, under the promise that |
would join my regiment forthwith. This, how
ever, / did not intend to do, for my leave of ab
sence had three days to run, and | intended to
make the most Of it.
l returned to she hotel rather crest fallen, and
fully of the opinion that | was not near so great
a parsonage as l at first imagined.
In the evening L visited the "secesh" members
of Congress, Col. Dick Richardson's rooms,
where | found several other "secesh" Represent
atives. Among the number were Robinson, OF
Illinois, Dan. VOORHEES, of Indiana, Vallandig-
ham of Ohio, and many others. These rebels
talked "secesh" right out, and. in my opinion,
they ought to be expelled from the House. They
are opposing all the measures of the Administra
ton which tend to the freeing and equalizing the
negro of the South with the whites of the North
They oppose the organization of a regiment Of
runaway negroes, their being armed and uni
formed, as Is being done by one of our Generals
in the South, in order that they may stand shoul
der TO shoulder, and assist our brave boys of the
North in putting Town this rebellion. They oppose
the stealing ola few million of dollars by men who
have assisted in placing the present Administrator
in power. They oppose the last 'slide" of Gen
Banks from Strasburg, Va, across the Potomac
They oppose the policy of the General being
three miles in advance of his wagon train, anC
being the first to cross the Potomac, leaving hi:
officers and men in the rear to protect themselve;
as best they could. They oppose the principle Of
Banks's taking more runaway negroes with him
on his retreat than he had white soldiers, and also
they oppose his permitting negroes to ride in the
ambulances and wagons, while sick and wounded
soldiers were forced to walk. They oppose the
freeing of negroes in the District of Columbia
They oppose contracting with the slave States
and ~pledging the faith of the Government to as
sist in buying the slaves of the several States al
least while our expenses are three millions of dol
lars per day.
All these "secesh" members insist on prosecuting
this tcar until ace can establish a peace upon tho
principles of the Constitution as 1t is, aRdMe Coz
eTnment as IL Ioas.
Such men, representing a free and Independent
Western constituency, in the opinion of many
and indeed all, who desire to see the great anC
glorious principle of the equalization of all hu
man beings, without regard to color, adopted as
Government policy, should be expelled from then
position.
After ascertaining the views of these officials
/ concluded to look around town a little, and al
Indiana rebel member offered to accompany me
which poIiteness refused my declining. We h@c
not gone far before he pointed out to me some
large brick buildings, and informed me that they
contained eleven hundred negroes. who had re
Gently obtained their freedom, and come to thi:
city for the purpose of making it their home
These poor people had no money, nor nothing tc
live upon, having all their lives been in bondage
con e~quently the Government had rented these
buildings for them, and is now, and has been, IS
suing eleven hundred rations TO them each day
from the United States Commissary Department
These people look well, as a general thing, anc
will soon make gool citizens. 1t is expected thai
at the next city election there will be more votei
cast than ever was before in the city of Washing
ton.
| was much gratifed to learn that these pool
people were as healthy as could be expected. Ye
there was a considerable amount of sickness:
among them, and our surgeons from the hospl
tails, who have the care of our sick aud wounded
soldiers, often have to neglect the duties assign
ed them, in order that they may relieve the dis
tresses of these poor "fellow citizens" of ours.
BY this time it was getting quite late in thu
evening, and | concluded to retire. / babe goot
night to Mr.. Congressman, went to the hotel
and was shown a room about half u mile high
with a kind of a bed in it, and turned in.
The next morning after breakfast, | starteC
out to see what | could see / found a grea
many very polite men, who would call out to me
Have q hack, sirl" "Have a carriage, sir" &c.
but | concluded to walk. / could occasional,
see my nice little Sergeant with his equally nic'
squad of men, coming down the street, but as
am a very polite man, and never having had
formal introduction to them, l always change'
my course. During my perambulations, l wa
often asked by very polite little gentlemen, wh'
seemed to be OF foreign descent, II i did not wan
to buy some. 'cloding;" but being in an unfor
tunate condition, i made no purchases. | ais
visited the House Of Representatives, and wakes
right in, and sat down between two Western mem
bers. ] bad not remained there long, before al
impairment little fellow, neatly dressed, came
along and told me that j mnst leave. Says l
sEWhar9' He axpiained that STRANGERS were no