The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-09-19
four War Correspondence
From the I'd Vermont Regiment,
SoIdier's Letter--No. IDS
CAMP CALIFORNIA, near Alexandra,
Sept. 9th, 1862. J

marching orders, with the prospect OF lu9S'u8
three DAYS rations, after the ubiquitous cackSUI'
II 1.-THE of the reports concerning thlS oolu'
dashing General had proven true, ne "ouiu nave
been thrice killed, chawed up" by the Union
forces, or annhilated long ago. we had MN
surrounded in the swamps on the Chlckahominy'
with his army of five, ten, or twenty thousand aS
the case might be, times innumerable. ourreh-
der or starvation, has been thrust upon him oy
our brave boys, (of the tongue) at perloulcal III
teryas, ever since his name began to attract no
tice. At the seven days fight before Rlchmoh"'
he was positively killed. This was verified Dy
such host of witnesses, that the fact was eStao-
lished beyond peradventure And what maze
their testimony the more unimpeachable, was the
fact that these knowing ones, had nearly all Vi
Them conversed with some one who knew an Oh
fcer, of high rank, that had seen or heard OF an
eve witness. which of course made his story re-
markablv weigbty. But, Notwithstanding all the
straits to which this General had been pushed,
and all the deaths to which he had been subjected,
there was still enough left of him to give zest and
spirit to our march on Bull run, last Saturday.
We then had him cornered on the old battlefield,
or near tina, place. with the whole Confederate
army of Virginia. Pope was IN his rear; NC
Clean in front and we were hurryIng up 10 VIII
ness the grand surrender, which was to entomo
the cherished anticpations and plans of our great
Rebel antagonist, and upset forever the hopes OF
our country's traitors So the boys talked and
believed, as We were hurried along that dusty
road, without stopping for intervals OF many
miles to rest our aching shoulders, or molsten our
thirsty throats with drop Of water. OF course
we believed it, for no less parsonage than our
Surgeon nae said so, and he had seen an aid,
who, of course was right from the field where the
game was beng played. CentervilIe Heights was
reached little before sundown, and here for
one would ghdly have stopped for the night, even
if in cons quence | should lose sight of the
forthcoming grand denouement. fancy was
not alone in my desires, for along those ranks
could be seen a great many thin faces, whose
bodies were weakened by exposure and conse'
ouent disease and who were poorly able to en-
dure so fatigling march. Gen. Pope in his Of
fetal report speaks of Gen. Franklin's corps
Struggling enormously, and perhaps with justice.
No doubt this state Of things in an army is de-
plorable in the extreme but it seems to me that
something besides discipline is necessary to Ell
feet remedy. When man is physically unable
to walk all the discipline in the world will Iall to
keep him in the ranks when the reg iment marches.
| have seen men follow the moving column and
keep their right place, when they were too weak
to ascend flight OF steps without supporting
themselves by their hands,and when double
quick" would have been simply impossible. How
can it be expected otherwise, than that struggling
should follow, ,Ohen an army of such men are
making forced marches in burning sun.
Our halt here like all the previous ones that
day was just long enough for US to divest our
selves of our encumbrances preparatory to sitting
down for little rest when the order, "fal in was
given, and we were on our way again. Before we
arrived at the old battlefield things began to look
suspicious. The road was full OF wounded, some
on foot, some in ambuances, hurrying as it seemed
to place of safety. Instead Of shouting Jackson
is cornered, the boys now changed their tune
and called it Bull run No. 2 And so indeed it
proved to be. Jackson had turned both TANKS,
and our army was actually retreatlng. We
ma ched on, however, beyond the source from
whence the retreaing tide seemed to emanate,
when, after some preliminary arrangements on the
part of the mounted officers who seem ed much
in earnest with their business whatever it was, ri
ding hither and thither at the swiftest gaop, and
speaking in a whlsper-we faced about and
marched back to Centrevile. The roads were
completely blocked up with teams, troops and
wounded men all ANXIOUS to get along as fast as
possible and all mutually hnderins each other.
Regiments were cut in two and sometimes divi-
ded in several places. | saw one Colonel riding
about in great anxiety and alarm inquirng for
his regiment which he had lost. We were in a
field of troops and in some careless moment be
had probably allowed himself to follow the wrong
regiment. Bad as the confusion was, there was
probably less disorder than at Bull run No. |,
though it would be hard to conceive how things
could have been much worse.
About midnight. we were back again to Cen
tervle, and when the order came to rest, YOU
may be sure we were in condition to obey it
with hearty good will. 1t was beginning to rain
and there was chilly East wind, and we were
without any wooden blankets, having come
in light marching order, but We made the best we
could of our situation. If felt any disposition
to grumble ct that time, was sincerely ashamed
of it the next morning, when heard the boys en-
gagged in the fight, speak of their comrades whom
they had been obliged to leave on the field
wounded and dying, without care or help from
any source. Monday night, and Tuesday we &C.
comphshed our retreat back to this place again
We are expecting now TO march across the Po
tomac, and up the river to some point not vel
made known to US. Jackson is getting into
another trap, and suspect wa are to surround
and annihilate him once more. | certainly hope
that after this campaign, we can write of some
thing beside disaster, slaughter, defeat, and ske
daddle. Should victory turn on our side once
more, it will give me great pleasure to dilate or
the facts in my fellcitous style, for the benefit O
! your lnquirng readers.
Meanwhile, Farewell, ANTI REBEL.