The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1863-09-11
yeltcP from Cot. Henry A. Morrow
CAMP 24th nIcHIaAS VoLuSrEERs)
NEAn BEALTor, VIRGIEIA.
q ~ August 18Th, 1863

In your exeeilen. synopsis of my remarks
before the Peopla.sf- De,roit,- on the goth
ult., you have not reported me az fully as-l
wcald lave a4rd NJ two or three particu
lars. and. waS la,r permission. will ray
in the form Of letter. what / did say. OF
ought to have said, on the occasion referred
to. You will perceive that The omissions
pertain wholly to other regiments than my
own, and it is rs an act of justice to the
other egimenis Of this brigade, that 1 ash
you t. insert in your columns this com
munication.
This brigade. formerly the 4,h. now LIST,
is composed Of the 3D., 9th, and 7,h Wis
oonsin, 10th Indiana and 9Th Michigan
volunteers We found these regiments in
the brigade when we joined it. They are
. year older than US, and had distinguish
themselves at Cedar Mountain. Bull Run,
Gainesville, South Mountain and Antietam
before our connection with them. Under
the commsnd Of Gen. Gibbons these troops
we're distinguished for their bravery and en-
DURANGO. Our late popular commander.
Gen. S. Meredith. came into the service As
Colonel Of the 10Th Indiana regiment, and
it was at the head of this gallant regiment
at GAINESVILLE and South Mountain. that he
won for himself the reputation of skillful
and brave commander, reputation he has
not lost since his promotion TO the rank OF
Brigadier General. The General was wound
ed at Getty sburg. and will not, probably,
rejoin his brigade. = with which he is uni
versal favorte. Wisconsin and Indiana are
justly proud Of these brave troops. In the
several engagements in which the Gath has
participated, it has been our good fortune TO
fight side by side and shoulder to shoulder
he .aIr al chn,
December 18Th, 1862. all these regiments
were distinguished for the heroic manner
with which they withstood one of the sever
est artillery fires of the war. At Fitzhugh
Crossing, April goth. Gen. Meredith aud
his brigade were thanked in general orders
for their galIan,ry. At Getty burg these re
gimonts suffered nearly as much as the
"24th," and both officers and men behaved
in manner which won for them the respect
Of the Army of the Potomac. In your re
port Of my remarks you made me say thst
the 19;h Indiana gave way in disorder, not
though cowardce, but because they were
overpowered; but you did not report all
that said. l said they maintained their
first lie Of battle. until their dead were so
thick upon the ground that you might step
from one dead body to another, and l also
said that the regiment formed and reformed,
contestiDg every inch of ground. until il
was driven back to the Seminary building.
1t is but just to the 10 Indiana and my
self that what 1 did say concerning it should
be correctly reported. lis conduct at Get
tysburg was neither better nor worse than
the other regiments of the brigade, includ
ing the Gath Michigan.
1 am told by Capt. j. ID. Wood, Assistant
AdIutant General of this Brigade, that Gen
Meredith, and not Gen. Reynolds, as said
in my remarks. selected the cath Michigan
and 9th Wisconsin regiments to lead the
storming party at Fitzhugh Crossing. 1t is
not to be supposed that these two re, iments
did all the fighting tina. was done at that
place, not at all. Each Of the other reg |
men,s of the brigade. 1 do not speak OF
other brigades. took part and suffered Sc
vcrely, especially tho 7th Wisconsin. whose |
loss 10 commissioned officers exceeded tina,
of any other regiment.
Our division commanders have been Gen
erals Doubleday and Wadsworth. The
former commanded at Fredericksburg, and
by this personal bravery. and the skill with
which he handled his command on that oc-
casion, and by his uniform kindness to the
officers and men under him. was endeared to
every officer aud soldier in the DIVISION
He was succeeded by General Wadswo,th.
for whom the troops had the very highest
respect. His personal care of his men al
most eaualled that of father for his chill
dren. At Fi,zhugh Crossing and Gettys
burg, Gen Wadsworth exhibited the great
est bravery. Both these officers. at their
own request, are relieved from duty in this
army. and have now no connection what
ever with the division.
Any notice Of the part taken by this
brigade in the battle o. Gettysburg which
ommittcd to speak Of the gallant conduct of
Col. Stephenson, a volunteer aid on General
Meredith's staff. and Capt. Richardson. the
Inspector of the Brigade, would be defect
i've. They were both conspicuous in every
part OF the field for their galansry. Capt. |
r., here. as everywhere, was the fiery and !
dashing soldier. should have spoken of
these things when 1 spoke Of the battle of
Gettysburg. cheerfully pay my poor
homage to the brave officers and men Of the |
"Old Iron Brigade"
Nav | not say a word of the 'anented |
Reynolds? Major General John F. Rey
nolds was our Corps Commander from the
time we joined tbs army of the Potomac
until his death, July LIST. 1868. at Gettys
burg. He was graduate of West Point, |
and was thoroughly acquainted with all
the knowledge aud duties pertaining to his
profession. His rank in the Regular Army
was at the beginning of the war that of Ma |
jor, and By devotion 10 his earnest and un
patriotism. and by his gal
lantry in action, he had won his way TO the |
high rank of Major He was Ia
vorite with Mcclellan, Burnside and Hook
err. all of whom have borne their willing
testimony TO his skill and galiantry sol
der: The "e4th" saw him at Fredricks- /
burg, the incarnation of bravery, moving |
calm and unconcerned amid showers of
missiles. At Fiizhugh Cross !
ing he was the same heroic commander that !
he was a. Fredericksburg. For personal
daring, and heroic courage in action, per-
haps no officer in the Amy Of the Potomac 4
was more conspicuous than Gen. Reynolds. 4
He wss an ornament to his profession and
country. and when the history of this re- /
belion is written. the name of John f. Rey- |
nolds will BE- found high up on the roll Of