The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1863-03-28

stood on the right n their lines, one after
another, and saw them drill and 60 thro'
their different evoiutions; in the manual
of arms, every rife flashed in the sun.
light and moved - one !; awhen they or
dered arms, il was *ordersd arms," and
nothing else, ons sosnd and no mors.--
When they charged bayonsts, in line Of
battle, the point Of every bayonet vas At
the height Of the eye. and the smsH Of the
stock rested against the hip, at the same
instant when they broke into column Of
companies, wheeling upon fixed ppivoss. it
was like clock-werk, perfect. gs-hia
In every regiment win be reen many
sarge men, but take this brigade hgeth-
er, and never saw such body of men. !.
| passed down the ranks in front and
rear: | saw every man in the brigade,
and ! can fully say thst I found no small
men, no "Pony squads" The 4th sec
tion Of every company Was jus. al large
~ ths lst ses p8 .sgft.
The guns, ammunition. accoutrcments
and equipments were in most excellent
condition: nothing was needed every
thing was complete.
/ cannot say that any one regiment in
the brigade appeared better than another
they all appeared SO well.
The llth Iowa was the strongest; Il
had 5ss enlisted men and 90 odResn
present for duty. The 18th had 470 en-
listed men and % commissioned officers.
The 10Th had 42S enlisted men and 80
commissiopsd officers. the 10th had 405
enlisted men and 33 commissioned offi-
GERS ~
In the entire brigade there was not to
exceed dozen men unable to be present
on inspection. In the different hospital
tents Of the brigade | counted ii men.
and not one Of these was confined to bis
cot, but appeared to Be having . holiday
in short, were convalescents.
In this connection there is one thing
/ wish to mention, and that is, the intel
ligence and ability of the line officers of
the Sd brigade. Every one of them was
fully posted, knew all about his company,
the number of men present for duty, the
number absent, and where they vera, the
number sick and those on detatched SER
vice. speak Of this for the reason.
that many of the commanding officers Of
companies whom / have heretofore met
on inspection, are not in the slightest de-
gree acquainted with their companies,
know nothing abost~ their commands, and
cannot account for their men Without re- |
ferring to their Orderly Sergeant Of the !
company. 's-s e 49,
The hospitals, the Commisssry and
Qxertsrmasters' departments, the compa-
NJ and regiment books, tho Transports
non, etc., it is useless for me say any
thing. Look at the Army Regulations !
and see what instructions are laid down,
and what is required Of troops in the
field, and then you will know exactly how
/ found the Sd brigade of the 9th Divis-
ion Of the 18th Army Corps.
Once more say, that tho Sd brigade
commanded BY Col. N. NJ Croker, are
an honor to tbs Division and Corps to
which they are attached, N honor t. the
army OF Tennessee, IN honor 10 their
friends at home, to their State and to
their country, and I kuoF from their rec
ord in the field that they must be ga ter
ror to the foe." hAfa .s.sf II tap' .,s.1 a
~ Lam, Colonel,
Cd sQs. Very Respectfully, a,s bu.
y 81 eal. s.., Your ob,dt Servt.,
NE .HF8 WA. K.E4HoNu.
So Insp. Geu'l nth Army co
[OfRciAl.
G. CABLE, A.aA A. Gen'l.
Official copy. ss . I'm. s g