The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-12-10

i SoidieTs 20 coOteno win ana gveduA9y con
tquer armies nearly Is strong IS their own
when We have the ability 10 hurl such ar
avalanche Of men upon them rs shall in on.
short winters campaign drive their leader.
from the land, and their soldiers into sub
mission to the Constitution and laws of the
country : These Mr.. Editor, are questi on.
which we prisoners-as we lay here mon III
after month, wearing out our lives in these
wretchcd prisons-ask ourselve daily. I,
may be said that II is too late now to oper.
ate in the field this winter. Let me say !
was in the Reld last winter, and would ask
for no better weather for field operations
than we had in December and January in
Tennessee and Mississippi. It is mistake
to suppose that armies cannot operate in
this country in the winter. know by ex-
perience that the open field is q much bet.
ter place for a soldier. both as regards his
comfort, his health and fare, than the best
of the rebel prisons.
have now been here four menths, and
there has not been time during those
months but what an army Of 30, 900 men,
or less-well commanded, could have landed
on the York river, moved over the peninsu-
Ia, taken Richmond, xnd held It. This
statement is not made unadvisedly. It is
objected that Lee would prevented any such
movement on the peninsula. Could we ask
anything better than that Lee could be
drawn from his present strongholds, If that
could be done without red ncing the present
strength of General Meads umyf
Illinois can throw into the feld-with-
out the least detriment to her agricultural,
manufacturing or commercial interests
30, 900 men within the next thirty days.
No man who is worthy Of the proud name
Of Illinoisan will deny this. Other States
doing their duty, the first day Of January
next would see our armies increased by 400, /.
600 men. With this increase to our ar
mics, our Generals would, ere the bad roads
Of February and March interfared with &C.
i've operations, garrison Richmond and
every principal city in the rebe. States and
rescue the $4,000 prisoners now laying idle
in theii prisons. Another and great rea.
son why our people should flock to the stan
dard nop and ovsrwhelm this insurrectiou
is, these 10000 prisoners are many Of
them s.f1ing for food. I speak now Of
the privates, for the officers are receiving
provisions BY the boat load from our Low.
ed ones at home, and as long as we are sup.
piled, can bear our close confinement in thse
filthy dens as long q the good Of our cause
demands It. But these privates, brave fel-
lows who have left homes of comfort and
plenty, the loving care Of gentle wife or
anxious mother and the sunny smiles Of
happy little ones, to bear the privations and
hardships Of the camp and march, and
brave the awful thunders Of the rebel can
non. are many ofthem this day starving
slossly to death. s2
Can any well-fed alderman, merchant or
banker Of Chicago ait down with q good
appetite to his sirloin of beef and its rich
accoupaniaents. and think of this fact .
Can any farmer in Illinois enjoy the food
with which his well heaped board is sup
piled, while he sees in his minds eye his
neighhor's son, his nephew, or pcrchance
his own brave boy, standing on that filthy
spot misna,ned " Belle" island, with his
tattered shirt, his soleless shoes and unshel.
tered head, eagerly watching the gate Of his
den for the approach Of his hrea kfast.
And there he watches until the last tints
Of the golden Indian summer" evening
are giving way to the raw chilling wind
ofa November night, when the gate opens
and ale of sloveniy negroes, carrying
dirty wooden buckets filled with cold boil
ed rice, come in. He gets one pint Of this
for his breakfast, dinner. supper, his al Of
food for twenty -four hours. do not pre-.
tend that this happens every day, Avt Il
Happens. And when this is not the portion,
the moiety Of bread Of unsiNed corn meal
and tough poor beet is no great improves
ment.
0 God can any man who can carry .
musket, ride horse Or wield sabre, sit At
home quietly and know tAsse tAings. hope
not. Let the cry 90 forth, let il roll over
every prairie and shake every hilltop in the
West, To arms to arms rescue .
Fescnc !! until our brave boys ara deliver
cd from their semi .barbarous captors, who
are numbering them by the slow torture Of
starvation. oEsoLn.