St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1863-03-26

81 r, =
would have stated Gas soon as Sergeant
Pratt, could extricate the Howitsers he
opened upon the enemy" 80. If Capt:
Hotchkiss has "speciality" it is confined
in the, little word "self." He is singular
ly foraetfal Of his brave aud efficient non
commissioned officers, every one Of whom
did tEeir duty, and even robs one whom
to have named in words Of highest praise
for ha;ing assisted to save our train, acting
on his own responsibility. would be but do
ing an net Of justice to Sergeant l.emuc]
8. Pratt Of Anoka, to whom all the praise
accorded, to another is due. No gun Of
our battery was on the oosasioa above re-
fsrred to, Or on any other occasion Gin po-4
session Of the enemy"
. Again: "The officers and men Of my
command behaved with exceeding cool.
ness and courage toith three exceptions"
Does Capt II. mean in this ambiguous
sentence to say that, with three erceptf ms
the men Of this battery behaved well or,
with the exception Of three men: If me"
We would question it. If times we would
like to know the occasions. If men,
when The battery conducted itself SO we'll,
it can be regarded in no other light than
as exceedingly "small' for the Capt. to
have made auy iuvidious mertion Of it,
The men of this Battery with one acclaim,
consider they have never have had justice
done them. We would ask in the mild
est manner possible, why CAPT. VIM. 'Au-
gustus Hotchkiss' Report of the battle Of
Chaplin Hills, on which occasion the Bat
terry did good service, was quietly consigr-
ed to the tomb of the Capulets, i. e., stor-
ed away among the papers Of the Adju-
tant General Of the State, or somewhere
else, and not given to the public as is usu-'
ally the case? Echo answers, Why7 We
would ask if such reports as Capt. Hotch-
kiss are calculated to produce harmony in
any company. 1t lis to be regretted that
in Official Reports full justice is hot
done all, and that the privilege Of ere
ports" should be so prostitutcd, as in the
case Of the one here in question. Every
man takes pride in having his name 60
home either as an individual or as one of
company, "who did his duty otherwise
the effect is depressing and unsatisfactory.
Surely, the changes, the privations, the
sacrifices of which our friends at home
have no adequate idea,-are quite enough
to entitle all, except in cases Of bad con-
duct, to a modicum Of praise. The ten
dency Of all, or great majority of reports
is to bring men of inferior military talent
into notice, and this on the face Of, and to
the injury of others Of real merit and
worth. I have seen all this in more than
one instance where my actual knowled &c
was quite to the contrary, and the unfortu.
nate result is seen and felt in the hun.
dreds Of incompetent officers who hold po-
sitions of great importance-very much so
in time of battle. In proof of this, I have
only to compare the bulk Of our officers
with a majority Of those in the Confeder-
ate service. While the rank and file of
our army is made up Of soldiers, than
whom there can be none better, our lead
ers in too many cases are wholly out of
place. While on the other hand the reb-
ell soldiers are not so good as ours, their
leaders are too often greatly superior to
those Of the same rank in our service
If there is defect in our armies greater
than another, it is in placing men into
high positions throug h partial reports or
political influences. The men for great
places, 1speak more particularly in MIL
itary sense, are those who themselves are
great, especially those who have shown
themselves as such, on occasions that call
forth abilities, and not those who reach
point from whence;
"Fame's proud temple shines .f.r,"
through the kindness or influence OF
friends, regardless Of merit.
i The question is asked, "Why did Capt.
Hotohkiss send report to our Brigade
Commandsr di6sriag materially from. the
one sent to Minaesota : Pertinent que
~, this. VI
As oorroberative testimony Of what I
have written, herewith append copy Of
a disapproval TO- tender Of resignation !:
""H1ApauAnrz.s, 2sp :Ba1oADs. |. -.
" 49, 80 Feb. '21st, 1858.
cannot approve this resigs.tior. M.j.
Cen. McCosk has ordered th> trial 81 this oas.