St. Cloud Democrat., 1863-04-09

Il speaks disparagingly Of but 1few" Of
the member Of Company II, pays acom-
pliment to CAPT Mccoy himself, and re-
marks avorably concerning great major
ity Of the Company. We fail to see any
thing justifying the acrimonious spirit il,
which the lettersof ~. H. s." vas writ
ten.
Further, this correspondent complains
of an article in the DEMOCRAT written
when the company first came to st. Cloud
Cor opposise1 while proceeding tothe relief
of Fort Abercrombie, and says1:s
"Xfter surmounting oil these obstacles, and
reaching St.. Cloud by forced e. marches, the
only welcome that greeted our ears, Easa IT,
rade of abuse covering column OF The DEN
ocRAr, and dictated, Is not by spirit Of most
wanton malice, at least by recklessness Of.
truth, ignoring all the, facts Of the case, and
characterizing Capt. Mccoy in terms comport==
ing with the same capticus spirit which perva-
ded the entire article"
We copy from our issue of September
18th, 1862, this terrible "column'' article
"CArr. McCoy.-This man was sent, with
two companies, to Sauk Centre and spent FIVE
days getting from Fort Smelling to East St.
Cloud, 80 miles. There he lay 36 hours to rest,
keeping the Mississippi between him and the
foe he was sent to hunt, and the people he was
! sent to protect, when the river was at such
stage he could not have gotten over in three
hours, if an attack had been made here. He
knew that Fort Aberc, ombie was in imminent
peril and had orders to 60 on there if not need
ed at Sauk Centre. Capt. Barrett, second in
commend, begged to be allowed to 60 forward
with his company, to- Join the few horsemen sent
from here to their relief, and Gen. Mitchell
ana other citizens joined in this entreaty, but
the valiant Capt. was afraid to be left with
only his own company to protect him and lay
over here SO hours. He did this knowing that
women and children in the last extremity
stretched their hands to him to save them from
falling into the hands of our American Sc
poys. Let every woman who meets him spit
upon him, and every man turn his back"
Any person who was here st the time
the events spoken of transpired, will vouch
that the statements contained in the quo
ted article are perfectly true Fort Aber-
; crombie was in the most imminent danger;
Capt. Freeman's Company of Cavalry had
started, but had not sufficient force to 90
through alone, aud only asked for one COM
pany OF Infantry to join them. The even
ing Capt. Mccoy arrived on the opposite
side of the river, a number of our citizens
called on him and begged that he would
allow one Of the two companies under his
command to proceed at once and unite with
Capt. Freeman, that Fort Abercrombic
might be succored without delay. Capt
| Barrett Joined most urgently in this re-
quest, and asked to he allowed t0 take his
own company aud hasten on. The dough-
ty Captain took until the next morning to
consider the question, and then refused
1t was not until many days afterward that
Capt. Berger's expedition passed through
to the relief of the bcleagured Fort; and
the sentiment was universal that had Capt.
Mccoy permitted Capt. Barrett to proceed
with his company and join Capt Free
man, that several lives at the Fort might
have been saved, and very many; hours of
weary waiting, anxious watching, and an
untold amount Of mental suffering avoid
ed. There is nothing in the article COM
planned Of, speaking unfavorably of the
men Of Company H but we think that
for their own credit they would have been
10th to drag up the question Of the timid-
ity and hesitancy of their commanding Of
6cer. 4-....,.......
AS to those F'subsequent articles" which
"have appeared in the DEMOCRAT from
time to tine, manifestlng the same acrimo-
nious spirit against Co: H, and its officers" !"
We would be pleased to have ~. H. S."
point them out. They have certainly
passed our recollection. But when Capt.
Mccoy was assailed last winter for trading
the Chippewa Indian for an otter skin, we
did defend him, as we would any other
man, believing him to have done right.
And now We would beg leave to assure
our tartish correspondent that no one con-
nected with this Office has any ill-feelnE
against Company H or its officers, and
but slight personal acquaintance with one
or two of their latter. We would gladly
record deeds Of daring, should any occur ;
and yield with reluctance to the necessity
which compels US, o. has compelled US, or.
ourcorrespoudent, ,'fP. tospeakin unfavor-:
able terms Of few Of the members Of the
Company. 80. t .... ~ .,...>le S.}.1E' 49,. =. =
A Coop PApER.-As the 6ne story Of
"Colonel FIoyd's Wards" published in the
PHILADELPHIA t07tur,2nu Eyou;pnof l3,s,; 10