The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1863-04-23

iby his own ofiicerslor Col. Rich.
mond. ! had charge Of the Ooml
pany and Of the picket guard that
night by special order of Colonel
Richmond and know that he was
not on picket. Capt. Minor had
charge ofall the cavalry; he was in
the fort, and no details of cavalry
were made except by his order, Che
getting his orders from Col. Rich
mond) All men not on duty were
ordered to stay in the fort, and
there was at that time at least half
of Co. "F" in the fort, the balance
being on picket duty. lie says that
none Of the Campany could be
found, and they were ordered to
their duty by an officer. Another
Item is that Miles had not been de-
tailed on picket for he was at that
time reported sick, and was also
diSmounted. Slippy and his part
ner, (who is still here doing duty
like man. os he states, were ex-
cused from duty by the Captain
In the afternoon Slippy and Miles
rode away without orders from any
one; Miles riding another mans
horse. They returned before dark,
Miles very much intoxicated. Slip
py was also under the influence of
whiskcy, but knew perfectly we'll
what lie was doing, They were
seen near the fort about 0 O'clock
P. NJ. Slippy was seen to have
large sums Of money which he said
had been sent to him by his BROTH
er. The night that lie left there
were two horses missing besides
tic ones they rode. One belonged
to Capt. Quinilan of Co. A, and
one to Eli Minor of my Company.
During the forepart of the night
Quartermaster We had taken our
sapply train out on the Memphis
road which was in the opposite dil
rection from where we expected an
attack. Some time in the night
the train was ordered into camp,
and as it came in some of our dis
mounted men who were with the
train testify that they met two men
each leading an extra horse, and
that they recognized one as being
j. L. Slippy, who was leading a
gray horse. This was outside of
the guard lines. A citizen who
recognized Slippy, says they were
at his house 3 miles from the lines,
about midnight, and that in the
fore part of the night the Union
men had been at his house, and in
the after part the rebels had been
there. 1t was a clearcase of deser-
tion and of the most aggravating
kind, as the enemy was threatenG
ing us at the time, and there is not
a man in this Company or in the
Reg. that | know Of but believes
it to be such. In regard to his Off
GERS promising him a promotion
at Metamora, the term officers is
rather broad. / ncUcr made any
such promise. If captain Minor or
the I'd Lieutenant did, / am not a.
ware Of it. l do not think under
the circumstances he deserved it as
much as some of the others; for out
of Is months, he present with the
Company about 4, and did active
duty in Tenn. with his Company
about one month and a half, while
there were others as good men as
he in this army who have served
faithfully with the Company since
its organization up to the present
time. These are the men in my
opinion, who deserve promotion,
and the men that will get it under,
me. | have one question to ask
those men, When they were pa
rolled within o few miles of our
camp and had no desire to leave us,
why did they lot return to camp,
report their ease and get transport
tation instead of risking their lives
for forty or fifty miles through the
enemy's lines in order to reach
Memphis? I have no doubt they
were parolled, but I believe they
deserted for the express purpose
of being paroled in order to get
home. Samuel Miles had always
been a good soldier and did his dur
ty well, and it was a matter of great
surprise and regret to me as we'll
as to all the Company, when they
know Sam had left in this way