Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1862-03-07
OUR ARMY CORRESPONDENCE
CAxP DEFIANCE, Kansas, !
Eebruarv / 9th. 1869, {

UUk ARMY CUkktSPUNUt NCt
CAxP DEFIANCE, Kansas,
February 18th. 1869.
FlIsND MAHu: At last the mastering and
paying officers have appeared among ~; have
done their work, said their say, and went on
their way rejoicing, leaving behind them many
pleasant tokens Of remembrance, in the form
Of green backed notes, upon the face Of which
we find the handsome countenance Of our
father Abraham, looking out upon US ~ calm
ly rs if he had no special cause of trouble
Handsome as it is, 1t may be question
whether it can safely be accepted ~ fair SUBJ
stitutc for the old-f.shioncd face that appears
upon the good old American coin, upon whose
brow is inscribed the word Liberty" But
handsome is a. handsome does" you know.
The countenance of Old Abe, himself, with
that word upon his brow, so that all might
see it, would be ''purty as 4 peter" Our
friend, Sedgewick, Of West Liberty, couldn't
hold . candle to him.
The mastering officer has mustered out"
quite number of the officers, commencing
with the Colonel and Major, and going down
through the list of company officers, many OF
whose heads have been Topped off with Is lit
tie ceremony as q butcher uses in killing
sheep. The captains and Cd lieutenants have
sufferei severely. The parts Of companies, it
is said are to be consolidated, which arrange
ment will leave four full companies of infant.
ry, four Of cavalry, and one light artillery At
| tached.
This leaves two vacancies which it is un-
derstooa can At once be filed by two compa-
MES of cavalry, already organized. We will
then be entitled to full set ofregimental Off
GERS, and in all probability the former inoun-
bent will be reinstated; We hope SO. at least.
They are both excellent men and officers.
By general order from Hunters headquar
tiers at Leayenworth, the State Of Kansas is
placed under martial law. The object of this
is to put stop to the depredations of rowing
army, who infest the borders, robbing indis-
criminatsly friend and foe.
General order No. II, relating to the inten-
ded expedition southwark, gives directions IS
to what the men will be allowed to carry.
Each man is to carry in bis knapsack al the
bedding and extra clothing he is allowed-the
surplus room to be allotted to provisions and
ammunition.
Some will have il that we Al to carry three
months provisions and eighty rounds Of car
fridge. This may seem little extravagant
to outsiders, but to Kansas men it il nothing.
Last summer, while in Missouri, the Italian
orgau.grinders that Jim Lane called his
staff" carried with them huge cooking
stove, which some rascally jay Hawkers'
stole one night and hid in some bushes.
Nothing would satisfy the talow-faced walk
ing sticks" IS the boys called the staff, but
the examination Of every mans haversack
and knspsack for the missing stove, They
did not find it, Of course, but it serves to
show that men are expected to carry any
thing on the march. asi'
Tue rest of the stove story showeth that q
poor Union family living near where We were
then encamped, had been robbed and re-
robbed by the secesh until scarcely . vestige
Of household stuff was left them. The fam
lily found themselves most mysteriously in
possession Of good cooking stove and Elk
ems" necessary to run it. This addition to
their property might have been the same
stove that our walking sticks" lost for aught
l know. Your readers can judge for them
selves further this dcponcnt saith not.
The last excitement in camp arose from the
fogging of citizen for selling liquors to SOL
diers. 1t was proven that he sold liquor to a
soldier of Go. !, who lost his way in return
ing to camp, and, after four:day's search, was
found fl oxen on the prairie. .r. ..
A few days later soldier of Jennison's
regiment, ia drunken fiolc, shot man Of
Co. g without shadow Of provocation. Col.
Montgomery used every effort to arrest the
sold er, but he got off tina. night. The liquor
seller was arr sted and brought into camp.
After due trial and conviction he was tied up
to a cannon and treated to ten lashes ON his
back, and was then drummed out Of camp to
the tune of the Rougc's March. Verdict Of
tn people, "Seryed him right" So be it with
all his tribe.
The JOURNAL Of Jan. 81 came to hand yes
tcrday. notice therein a paragraph headed
"What ais Jennison and montgomery ?"
have it from Col. Mon,gomery's own lips
that the statement concerning "what ails
him." is utterly false, and doubt not Jenn'-
son will say the same in his case. That part
of the statement descriptive of Col. N. him
self is true, as many can testify.
Yours truly, +. II. u.