Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1863-03-16


from bic regiment, stationed 1t Vicks.
burg, thus .tates bic convictions
"Our division 10 composed Of the 4ih,
9th, 2eth, saith Iowa and 18th Illinois.
Half Of our officers arc drunk oil the
time. 80 they do not know what they
are doing. / don't know when ! .hail
get home, tor il this val IL to be set
tied BY fighting we shall never get home,
tor 10 can never whip them. They can
tight - long as We can get men to light
them. 1t has either got to be settled
by compromise or some foreign
Intervention. We can no. take V'cks-
burg if We lay here all Summer. Tn
men will die off and We sbsll accomplish
nothing. They are o dying at the
rate Of two hundred per day. They
arc talking Of attacking Vicksburg in .
few days. 1t has been very rainy and
mud 10 frequently hub deep to tho wag.
ons. wake ONT mornings and Ind
the frogs croaking under my bead. !
want 10 know how tho atc!,tlon'sts mp
there feel about the war. What lev
there are here feel down 10 the mouth
They are very scarce down here"
An otber Scott comfy boy, writing
from Lake Providence, says:
"John,I suppose you are enjoying
yourself this Winter. Well, wouldn't
mind being at homo myself. The TACT is
| am about tired OF fighting tor the
id iafernal niggers. liked soldier
ing well enough until the President -,
sued his proclamation, bat doI't care
about putting myself up AZ a target to
free the niggers, and tho soldiers are not
gong to fight as they used TO beioie.'
Ono more Scott county boy writes
from the same vicinity in this way:
"Let,crs from dear friends are very ac-
ceptable down here in this willerness-
They cheer up lonesome minds and re-
call the pleasures Of youthful days. /
hope the time will soon come when this
rebellion will end and peace and har-
mony reign again between the North
and the sodth. But l fear that time
will never come, if the war is conducted
a. it has been. 1t seems TO me as though
We src lighting to free the negroes-no,
to restore the Union. Halt OF the OF.
ticers think more Of the negro than they
do OF . soldier. On q msrch, a big, stout
negro can have a horse 10 ride, while q
tired, sick soldier will have to march in
the ranks with his ~knapsack on, and if
he stops TO res, then he gets three or
four days guard duty to do IS . punish
ment.
There are lots OF officers leaving nc !;
all Who can get ont OF the war are 60
ing home. They hate the idea of FAC.
Jog the big guns At Vlck.5ur,."
OF the canal he says:
I'VE are camping ten miles above
Vickstu rg. They are digging = biz
canal there 10 cut d the city. They
think that when the water is let in u
will wash ont. But don't, for il il
hard, blue clay, and thst kind Of soil
dent wash AWAY very fast. Not more
than u 10 . hundred think it Will do
any good. They send soldiers down to
wo,k At it, but il is very little work
they do, nov, yon may bet, a. moot Of
the boys are discouraged and say that
they did not enlist to fee the negroes,
aud they will not fight to free them and
they will not put themselves in danger
Tor all the slaves in the world. SO they
'ay. If they stick TO it there will not
be much more fighting done. l think
there will be q general skedsddle. The
officers have not got the confidence in
the men that they had. nor have the
men the confidence in the oficers.-
There are lots Of men deserving every
week also some officers, as they say
they cannot support the constitution the
way things are going. There, | guess
! bad better quit, or You will think that
] an q traitor"
The three extracts are from three
letters written by county boys Of this
county. When they enlisted one of
them was q democrat; two Of them re.
publicans. We are not aware ourselves
which Of the extracts belong 70 the
democrat or which to the republicans.
We leave that to be decided by the
Is there any Importance TO be attach.
ed to these opinions and statements -
DO you, our friend, setting comfortably
by your fire this morning, reading the
papers, do you think there 10 the least
Importance to DO attached 10
these statements? What right has a
common soldier 10 thinkl Ought they
not to accept all their opinions from the
Administration Ought not they TO say
amen to oil Mr.. Lincoln says
What a mistake. Private soldiers are
not machines; they have minds Of Their