The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1862-10-08

weather Is very warm during the day. the
beat Of the sun being more intepse than is us
taHy experienced in Maine in July, and the
nights are very cold / rendering the, contrast
50 great between day and night, as to affect
the unacclmated quite. pnfavorably; and, be-
sides this, there are so many troops constantly
arriving that it isi impossible to have proper
provision made for their comfort After they
are compelled toiay one or two nights upon
the bare ground in the open air, often without
rations for from sixteen to twenty-four hours,
which, to the new recruit just from the comforts
of home, unused to the privations and hardships
of camp life, is anything but conducive to gen.
eral health, and gives not very iattering idea
of military regulation. Yet, in spite of all
this, our boys bear up well; few complaints
are heard, and should give it as my deliber-
ate opinion, that the number of volunteers is
very small that would return home were adj
restrictions removed, until their mission is ac-
compished, and this internal rebellion is so
deeply buried beneath the mighty power of
the Federal Government that for it there will
be no resurrection. l have conversed freely
with many returned prisoners, and the tales
of privation and suffering with which they en-
tertained me were truly heart-rending; and
for the honor OF humanity l would to God
that it might not be true but the weight of
testimony is such that it cannot be set aside
From the same source we learn much of the
situation of affairs down in Jef-s dominions;
and after making due allowance for exaggera-
ton, It cannot be winked out Of sight that reb-
eldom is in Almost deplorabe condition; their
cities are vast hospitals for sick and wounded
soldiers; the very atmosphere reeking with
the malaria of death, and starvation, dark,
grin-ysaged starvation, stares. not only the
army, but the citizens, full in the face, with no
possible chance Of escape from his terrible pow
er. Gaunt famine even now walks the streets
of Richmond, and the maddening cry of
bread, goes forth nightly from the hoarse
throat of the hali-starved throng, more por-
tentious Of the fate of JEFF Davis and his guilty
crew, than the roar of cannon in the streets of
the Confederate Capital. Thus, if all this be
true, which none conversant with the whole
state Of the case have seemed to doubt fam
inc, ere another May, win have accomplished
for the Government what our ablest Generals,
backed by the mightiest army that the world
ever saw, have thus far failed TO accomplish
for it.
You are probably better posted in military
matters than we possibly can be here. 1t is
almost laughable to go out and learn the rll-
mors that are afioat in the vicinity of the Cap
ital, where one would naturally suppose all
would be conyersant with the facts relative to
army movements, while the reverse is true.
have ceased to wonder why the dispatches
in our dailies at home are so contradictory and
unreliable. Reporters for sensation papers,
and rumor seekers, find an abundance of fash
food for the gullbles. l have learned to place
no confidence in rumors; did /, | could fll
column in your paper with matter of rare in
terest il it were only true. GLIB.