The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-03-17
rOnr War Correspondence.
From Berdan's Sharp Shooters
AsulSoroN, March 18th, looZ'

" .suINGTDN, Aafcu loVn' Ao
En,,o, FugtuAS Il nave heretofore a'oloe' !,
J.. nn,.;, 49, p,Nsthle al! conn ants on account -
.,nyth,ny winch we have suffered either Wy ms r
msn4,e,nenf ot officers, OF neglect on 'hc i'' -
Governments also all personal matters u oo.l
troversv: but feel as If 1t m!Sht o0 il oueS ~.
me now, in Justice to some OF our own Ol"o
and men, and in order 10 keep you anu w.
friends at holne, posted on the FORTUNES u Wv
Vermont soldiers, to allude to an unpleasant
circumstance in connection with Company 4, "a
the First Regiment Of Sharp-ohooters. lnsre
has bepn a growing dissatisfaction Tor some tiliic
with our Captain, (E. Weston, Jr.,) the causes
of which, it would be against the rules fefnAps,
far me to state Well, about month slhce' IL
resulted in a petition to the Captain, slsneo ny
nearly all OF the non commissioned olhceiS anu
privates in the Company, respectfully request
mo him to resign. AT the same time announcer
paner was sent to Col. Berdan, stating some OF
the reasons for such d request 10 this request
the Captain made no response, except to say 1ha'
he wished to know the reason why such IL r.
quest was made, when ''perhaps there would De
some action in the case and perhaps there would
Mt" But as no more was said about 1t, ana the
Captain seemed to try to be more dillgen1 III
the performance of his duties, and to pay more
attention to the wants of the men, we concluded
that the effects of the petition were even peVter
than could have been expected. But 1t now Ap
pears that the Captain Immediately called sort
of Court of Inquiry, composed OF two Or three
officers of the Second Regiment, one OF whom
has just been publicly reprimanded by Gen Nc
Clellan for misconduct, by sentence OF Court
Martial who sat on his case, and made up a
report which we were struck all n, heap at
hearin.: read Saturday night ut dress parade :;
the purpor5 of which was that Capt Weston
might have been Il trfe too enient, but that the
principal origin of the difficulty was personal
ambition on the part Of LIST Lieut. Seaton, and
that he and I'd Lieut.. Bronson had not aided
tho Captain in the discharge Of his arduous du-
lies, but had been connivlng with the men tor
the purpose of removing the Captain from his
Office | understand that the Adjutant had kept
this document in his pocket fortnight, because
lc dsliked SO much to read it. One more thing
| will say, not IL private in the Company was
c Tiled as il witness in this so-called Court VI In
quiry.
Nvw | do not wish to say anything against
any officer but AS for the two Lieutenants Of
Company F., can say confidently, that they
are above anything of the kind, that have not
been able TO detect Il particle OF ambition III
either of them, except 10 do the duties Of their
oilce faithfully and lmpar'ially, and that there
are not two officers on the ground that are more
beloved and respected by their own men, or the
regiment generally, than they are. The men
had right 20 petition the Captain respectfully
to resign, aud he had right to refuse to do 50,
but why two worthy and faithful officers, who.
AN sure, have nothing to do with the matter,
should be so unjustly slandered, leave 10 9TH
ers to decide.
Our rifles have not yet arrived, but we are
still promised them III the course of IL week
| The Colts in the hands of the End Reg ment
have begun to show their " character" One
man has had his thumb and fore finger torn of
by the discharge of three barrels OF the cylinder
at once. Another cylinder burst in the hand.
of the Major, and other guns have showed ether
bad points. The Second have been ordered over
the Ilyer once, and by the intervention Of some
OF the members Of Congress, the order was
countermanded till the Sharp's rifles were ready
The wca thor for lwo or three days has beer
like June The parade ground has got quite
dry, and the mud is fast disappearing in Other
places. We drill now in battalion three times d
day. Yesterday all the tents in our camp were
taken down and thoroughly aired and cleaned
The news from the South continues to be cheer
ing victories on victories, and some of then
not the less cheering if, like the capture Of Ma
nassas, they are achieved without bloodshed.
hope the cause will not suffer for want of oul
services while we are waiting for arms. Their,
are no new cases Of small pox.
Yours, w. W.