The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-12-11
Brigadier General Commanding.

| am with great respect. your obt serv't.
JOSHUA 7. OWEN.
Brigadier General Commanding.
MAJOR DOwNIE TO THE PHILADELPHIA IN
QUlRER.
HEApe'Rs Flusr RlsuMENr MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS, }
CAMP NEAR BRANDY STATION, VIRGINIA.
November 9, 1868. }
| EDITOR PHILADELPHIA INeuIRER:-In an article
| headed Owens Brigade contained in your issue
of the 1st nstan, you state that the First Minnie
| sota and Seventh Michigan, having strayed from
their position, taben in hand by General owen,
formed in line, and so handled as to do effective
| service" The ground upO which you base this
statement is to me unknown: it is however aston
! i-hing how such sa ement not containing the
shadow of tr tn should find room in your columns;
bat since you have fit to give public ty to the
e, respectful request that the following ex-
planaion be published in your paper Tor its cor
| rsction:
Upon the first appearance of that article, I adj
drs ed letter to Brigadier General Owen concern
ing the matter, and requesting him to int est him.
self SD much in the reputation OF an organization,
| the charac er of which he knew so well, as to OF
ciay contradict much OF said article as reflects
on my coma and 1t is difficult to conceive b w
such opportunity for display OF d sinterestedncss
and willingue to do stice could be neglected but
| his reply 10 Brigad9r General Webb. commanding
Second Division "a copy of which is inclOsedl will
| perhaps partially explain
desire to state for the information Of your read
ers that the First Regiment Minnesota Volunteers
Ol1 not rom pOSltlon at e:
| did not receive any orders of brigader General
Owen at any time, and more particularly pending the
battle of BrstOw Station but was at all times COM
| mandtd by its own officers. Further. that as the
Second Corps IprOached BristOw >tatiOn, the Sec
Ond Division was leading with the First Minnesota
at the head of the columns that said regiment was
designated by General Webb to dep!Oy as skrmsh-
with instructions to move forward into certain
pine wood: that it deplOyed and moved forward as
riirected; that it found the enemy occupying said
| inc wood and immediately became engaged which
tact was ut once reported to General Webb.
Further, that l, the commanding. officer OF s.!
regiment, received orders to and did check the
enemys advance until Dur column could form be-
hiud the railroad at which tine the whole line be-
came engaged, and the enemy's line of battle had
advanced to within half musket range OF our column.
As soon as saw that our troops had gained the
railroad ordered the regiment to fall back behind
said railroad which WAS accomplished under heavy
fire from the en- my and scattering fire in our rear
from our own troops in which position the regi-
ment remained during the engagement fighting
under the command of its own officers
That after the enemy was repussd the regiment
again advanced this time capturing three hundred
and twenty-five prisoners of war and discovering
Elk aband med gums Of MclntOshs Battery Cor
poral Needham OF company g. mounted one of the
battery horses and proceeded to report to Captain
Maginns that they were not strong enough to re-
move them, wEereupon Captain Maginnis stated the
| facts to an officer apparently commanding Thisd
| hIgade Third division mot General Ovenl. who
Immediately detailed ten men of each Of his regi-
ments for the psrpose of removing the guns at the
! credit for the capture Of the guns; the men OF my
| command however, removed two OF said guns to
| within our lines
The part taken by my command ut the battle Of
| Br:sow Station 10 fully known to General Webb,
whose official report l trust, viii substantially cor
| roborate my sta. eneats.
This justification has necessarily been extended to
some length, while enc word from the proper quarter
would have righted The whole matter: that word.
however, was withheld. from what motive L. un-
known.
General Owen ia his rsp saws that he will not
rect the Of others He to have profted
BY them. and the opportunity to make the correction
attack upon the ridiculous article referred to- il in
any way unkind uncslsd for, although regret Its
necessity. MARK W. DOW MI;
Major Commanding First Regt MINI Vol
The above ends this matter for the pres
ent. 1t will be perceived that General
WxBB commanding the Division, pro-
nounces the statement, which elected the
above correspondence, incorrect We
learn further, that General WEBB and
General WARREN, commander of the corps,
sustain the claim Of the First Minnesota
! to the honor Of capturing six guns OF the
rebel MoINrosH battery, although they
were not strong enough to drag them from
the field. So the attempt to rob the reg
iment Of the fruits Of gallantry, has utterly
failed The regimen. went into battle at
Bristow with only two hundred and fifty
men-it was far enough in the advance to
capture six r. bel cannOn-and we have
seen receipt from the Provost Marshal
of the Second Division, Second Army
Corps, for three hundred and tDenty-taco
| prisoners of war, captured by the First
Minnesota, and delivered to him hy Major
DowNlE. Ii there is regiment iD the
service that has ever done more on one
occasion, with the same number of men,
we should like to have it named.
Gen. Rosecran's Views of the VOlun-
teer Army.
In response to the toast of "The army
and navy of the United States" at the
Railroad banquet in Cleveland, on We'd
nesday, Gen. RosECRANs made few re-
marks in relation to the efficacy of the
volunteer army:
| In reference to the volunteer army be said
that he would just pay high tribute to their
! yalOr and courage In that they were rot ex-
! celed by any people. They were also full of
patriotism, and at the same time free from the
feeling of hatred and revenge. They did not
hate their enemies, nor did they seek to re-
venge themselves on them on the battle field.
They fought out of pure patriotism.
1t was perhaps true that the discipline OF the
volunteer army was not as good as to satisfy all
the strict requirements, but this was owing to
the material composing the army Men Of all
classes were in all ranks in the volunteer army.
Ordinary distinctions of class or position were
swept away, and the officer everywhere found
himself commanding his most intimate asso-
ciate in the ranks Under such circumstances
it was impossible to keep up the distinction of
rank such as obtains in regular armies. and the
discipline therefore was not SO perfect. But on
the battle field everything was merged in the
business of fighting. Every man was fighting
individually, and was his own captain, if he
could not find captain to fight under.
AS an evidence of this he mentioned little
incident that occurred at the battle of Chicka
manga. An officer ran %away from the field,
when private of his company snatched up q
musket ran after him, h lifted him, and brought
him back, saying he would be id if he would
ne deserted by his officers.
The mother of Mrs. President Lincoln, who
was lately mentioned as going South on visit,
III