The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1863-06-20
Army Correspondence.
NASHVILLE, Tenn, June 9Th, 1868.


him. Why he should entertain so much
nal .ce towards ME Is certainly myster,
to me- | do not remember that | evel
did anything or said anything to or O
Mr.. Hampton, which was in any way dis.
respectful or even unkind In al my ia
tercouse with him, ! have always sough,
to treat him IN u sentlemanly way. Be
fcre the outsreakiEg OF this war-durinG
local political contests, ! believe Mr.. ii
and were generally attached to opposite
parties, he being very radical abolition
iss and l a stauHch democrat. And as po
/ ltical excitement frequently ran high il
! is quite natural that our efforts ia b-hal!
of our favOrIte candidates should collide
| But have always been willing to lay al
differences Of opinion or harsh feelings
aside, after the election was over; and
! supposed that he understood political eti
quette well enough to do the same
/ Since have entered the army, my main
object has been, in the humble position
/ hold, to save my country, 10 The very best
, OF my ability. have not missed day $
1 duty since the regiment left Ottawa, and
! frequently had to take turns in doing the
duty OF otficers-political friends of Iir
llampton-whO spent weeks a. home al
tending to their own private business and
visiting their friends and families, at OYER
! a hundred dollars mouth from the Cow
/ ernment. ! never complained OF doing Iu-
/ " for absent ohicers--neither 90 now
T coIapla H. but if Mr.. y! is So ratchful over
everything | do in our regiment, ! cannot
4 see why he does not also watch some
others | have laid polit,cs aside; aad
having the restoration Of or good Union
more at heart than anything else. have
made il my study to tmd out the be.t way
of accomplishing that end. ! know Mr
: II used TO G:noInce me for being tHt0n
1arr, and perhaps that l. why he is down
, on NE now. Here ! am surrounded by
democrats, republicans, Union men, cop
per heads, abOlitIouiSts, negroes and rebels
! have therefore - good opportunity 10
study the influences which these several
classes exert IN TIE present great struggle
between the North and South. The con
illusions arrive al III watching these va
rious classes are nay own. Nhen ! give
them 10 the public in M letters, ! attach
no more wei 9hi 10 thesl,, than any other
man has perfect right - attach To his.
If then have stated any thing III any Si
my letters, which Nr. II may have tho t
! iucorlect, II ccg,.iuly could not afford q
reasonable excuse Tor him to assail nIe
, WIKI such low bilIingsEate as he Is in the
Aa6i. o. dOiug III his paper. ! have never
written anything about hiU II my letters,
either good or Uad ! never saw anything
about him worthy OF favorable notice
and h. capacity Of doln. harm : so limit
ci that hay. never found any evil cou-
sequences from what lie might either say
OF ~, anu hence Lavc had no occI.!oa TO
notice him uLfAvorably. | should not
now take I.uiI g O: his shallow Drained loa
ierisrns did they not reflect upon the
whole c"mpany TO wGivh / am attached.
IL, sei.-s upon the fact that we had pub
.!sh-i lit oi some J. or l. absentee.
and desrrlcrs from the com paEv a"d I!tI-
;Hstcs t!;.t the company ~ not too moral
- Ge suspected or stealing the watches
, ...,.iet. - l.: me ia a former letter. Now
. L.. have To say la this mean s!ur at The
men vi ouV company II. the regiment, that
II t,.. apply w!th equal force 10 every com
Uaay in the regiment, iDr &c. 4. las >It
f-rcd 80 moro from tlIe drocrton than
any other company IL he regiment -N
c-pt ca. d which, | believe has soIDe hall
dozen u!ule men ;haa ws haze. The
"hOle regiment has been much reduced
--i,arly one halt. We OF course suffered
; with the rest OF the COMPANIES, bat no
more than they did. This reduction in
4 numbers does certainly not prove that
, those who still remain are thieves. J am
/ confident that had the atiempt been
/ made TO search the whole regiment for the
stolen property. the proposition would
have met with no more favor 10y tho other
officers than it did with me. | do no. be-
! lieve there is as mean a man IN a.! the re:
ment a. Hampton isl know there is
none in Co. \, and do not believe Co
\. Is any more moral than any other com
Il Ton
( been here at the time the theft was com
uii,ted, | hardly would have suspected
him OF it, Then why mo,iity the feelings
! or our :a.n. when such = thing Hamp
I ton might nave passed through the camp
: unSuspected Why we pride ourselves in
having in the lO4th the very flower OF the
! youth OF La Sale County. regarded the
proposition, therefore, to search the regi
nleut not only IN Insult TO the men, but
also 10 their parents. and should have ~
sisted it 10 the last with all my feeble au
ihori,y. and am sony that Nr pusEese
Ilani,nu should fud fault with me for
entertaining so good an opinion OF the
soldiers in our regiment. Had the theft
not been charged upon negroes, Hampton
would never have thought of taking no
tice Of it But bein. nononanIac on
the subject OF regroeS, BE flies into a par
oXism yhene ,er lie heats them mentioned
! 1t is singular how much sympathy some
men hay- for negroes remember when
We got to Frankfort, Ky. last summer, q
number OF soldier, from one of the OHIO
regiments, went 10 the house OF noturi
Gus secessioE;-t and took therefrom a
number or valuable articles. \ search
was instituted and the culprits detected
They werc ordered TO back heavy rails iOi
six hours in full view OF THE Whole U!ig
ade. ! heard no one express any symIa
thy for them. Those same men who
would have gone into conniPtions over 1t
had they been negroes, seemed to be de
lighted at seeing the poor fellows suffer
so severely for their Otence. A few days
afterwards, while we were at Lawrence
burg, Ky, negro robbed soldier OF con
siderable sum of money and blanket
/ lie was detected and the money and blan-
ket found on his person. The only thing
proposed to be done with tue negro was
| that he should be made to leave the camp.
| Was it done? By no means lot OF
! this set of negro worslIippeIs gathered
around lini-declared that he should not
be driven out of the camp. The thing
I was dropped. They kept him! in their en-
ploy and he escaped without any punish
ment at all. At Camp Douglas two men
cf the 65th III. Reg, FOR getting drunk and
noisy-no criminal otfence-were taken by
the guard-bucked and gagged, and then
! tied to tree near the gate where every
! body in camp passed They were kept
there over three hours-their hands be.
numned and black from the pressure OF
the cords, and the blood streamin: down
| from the corners Of their mouths, in
dreadful agony, begging for relief But
none of these tender hearted, negro low
ing souls, had any sympathy to offer them
They passed by and derisively laughed at
their sufierinss. At Camp Brentwood,
Tenn. two negroes. through the comics
| sion Of ono Of them, are tied up by me
| ,,,,,rd for ont ,ricp mans lodging at tho