, 1862-12-31
OUR WISCONSIN LETTER.
Conditsea or old 1s1.aeats-ThelE
q 6aD1eY3 % the Ael&serA, Rte., Ete,

c9ns!xss9 9ea4ets4ss ea 11e fsseass aa@
8l1aaF5e tke Bele esssrs, Rte., Etc.
(6secla1 Correspondence Of tts Chitaso Tribunal /
xApasoH, Wis, Dsc; ~, 1at3. t
There Is quite general impression abroad !
that some Of the older regiments from this
State, decinated by disease and battle, are
nearly annihilated. It Was reported Of our
old ID regiment, after one Of the battles in
the vicinity Of Washington, lastsummer, that
1t had but afty-four men left; and the state
ment haa gone the rounds az an Illustration 4
Of the terrible ravages Of war. Recruiting
officers from the old Iron Brigade Qate Glib
bon'a, now Meridith's 81 and including our Cd,
9Th and 7th regiments, soy that, notwithstand-
ing the glorioua name those regiments have
won, the excellence Of their officers and the
advantages Of belonging to the army Of the
Potomac, they find it almost impossible to
obtain any recruits for them from among the
drafted men, mainly because they were fully
persuaded that these regiments always were
put in the post Of danger-thst neafy all
their old members had been killed, and that
If they Joined, the same fate awaited them.
Thus these crack regiments have failsd Of get
ting the needed recruits to ell up their ranks.
On examining the returns IL the Adjutant
Generals Office, it is gratifying to find that
these ideas are very erroneous. It is true
that these regiments have borne the brunt Of
many hght--that they hare endured long
marches and sharp conflicts IN which many
brave men have yielded their lives for their
country, but they have not suffered as much IS
is generally supposed For example, the I'd
regiment, which has beEn in service about
twenty months, and taken an active part IN
half dozen hattles, including both Bull
Bun fights, South Mountain and Antietan,
reports for November, under date Of
December 18th, 280 men and officers present
for duty, only eight Of whom were SICK, and
318 officers and men absent, Of whom E01
were sick OF wounded and three absent with
ment thus being 5a5, OF whom 565 are enlist
| cd men. Of the losses Of the regiment, less
than half are deaths, the remainder being
from the discharge Of P&roled prisoners o.
| for disabilities, many Of which have Proved
temporary in their character, promotion fol
merit, &c. As indicating tie good order Of
this veteran body Of men, it is worthy Of note
that but one officer and one private we're re-
Eored as under arrest.
The 7th regimeat, in the same brigade
! shows by the last report received, that fol
| October twenty -three officers and 343 mer
were present, twenty five Of whom were SICK
| and AIS absent, 345 Of whom we're sick o.
| wounded, making an aggregate of TO- Since
| the date OF this report, many OF thost
| wounded In the Virginia and Maryland bat
| tics have returned to duty
Of the 9Th regiment could find no late re
! turns.
| Tie Sd regiment, Which has been in th'
t Shenande ah valley or In the vicinity OF th'
! Potomac most OF the time, and Hhich bore :
conspicuous part IN the battles Of Wincheste
and Cedar Mountain, besides skirmishin<
considerably elsewhere, reported for Noyem
her 431 officers and men present, Of whom
/ forty were sick, and 297 officers and men alb
| sent, Of whom go were sick or wounded.
The 4tn regiment at New Orleans, whice
had trying expeTince at Ship Island and toos
| part in the battle OF Baton Rouge, repoFte'
| for November 631 present, Of whom 165 wer
sick and l26 abesent, making its aggregat
| 797.
The 10th regiment, which weat with Gen
| Mitchell to Huntsville, Alabama, and has bee
all through Buell's Tennessee and hentuck
campaign, suffering severely At the battie Q
Pe1Tyvi1le, reports an aggregate Of 706 men.
l have sought for the figures Of the 10Th an
t 18th regiments, which were at the battle {
Shiloh, and have suffered the most Of any c
| our Western regiments, but find no late RI
ports.
Our LIST cavalry, which, though not in an
general engagement, has done great deal {
harrassing service in scouting and gueri1l
| fighting, and suffered much from bad mai
agement, was supposed to be fused up,> bt
It reports some 900 men, and shout 600 pre-
ent for duty.
statistics from other regiments might /
, given, but the above figures Of our olde
regiments and those which have lost the mo
heavily, show that the loss Of life has not bet
SO great as many have feared
Christmas here, passed of cheerily. II
= little folks belonging to o9r Sabbath schoo
. had good time With xgift-laden trees Il
, evening before, and the University was fine
g. Illuminated. Under the auspices
: the Ladies' Aid Society, a Christm;
dinner Was furnished to the soldie
: Of the 25th, 30th and 3lst regiment
. convalesccntsa and the Ozaukee rioters at Can
. Randall There was lavish supply Of tn
keys, chickens sandwiches, cakes, apple
+ mince pies enough to allow one to every thr
;. soldiers, and other Eicet1es, with special de
d cacies for the hospitals. The people Of Y
country round about contributed largely. T
: soldiers we're delighted, and received the go
b things gladly, and returned thanks to the
> dies in loud hurrahs at the time, and an 8
propriate card the next day.
J Our Aid Society has done good work Il
.S year. 1nlu1sler1I4 u l1t uEceSslttes HAN u
fort Of the soldiers here, especially those
hospital, and sending away large number
T. boxes and barrels where needed. Its Pre-
!. dent, Mrs. B. F. Hopkins, aud those who ha
~ labored with her, deserve great praise for th
is nnostentatious and indefatigable efforts to
al 1ievc and comfort those who fight for us. :.
~ Gottschalk and Patti gave concert on
- day evening, which was largely attended
II IN appreciatiFe audience.
i'd The fine skating on sronr lakes is well
e. proFed daily and nightly by pleasure seek
= Of both sexes.
O. a band for Meredith's brigade, mainly M
1r up from the band Of our old I'd regiment
as about starting to join the army Of the Pa
mac It's music will he worth all It costs.
The annual reports of most Of the State
~ icers are printed, but must defer to anot
" time extracting some Of their more inter-
~ | ing items, PHLos