Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1863-02-12
Army correspondence.
For the GallipOlis Journal.
MuRFREEsB6Ro, TENsEssEE,
January so, 1863.

DKtR HARPER:-To undertake Y
vrits a letter from the army which vii
uroye interesting to your readers, sol
anv other mar, ;" is no easy task. Tht
very information they desire is Of course
contrsband. A thousand questions are
mentally asked and remain unanswered
They want to know Gen. Rosecrans'
position; is il strong one? how many
men (effective) has he? have we en-.
trenchments, and Notifications, and how
and where are they located?-how much
Cavalry. how many pieces Of Artillery
and what is their calibre? when will we
move forward, &c, &c. 1t is natural
for men and women to ask these ques.
tions, but improper to give a reply
Your readers must be content to be-
lieve that all goes well, and that GEN.
Rosecrans will move forward as soor
as he gets ready. II the rebels are
bold enough to attack us, you will then
know whether or not the position is
strong one. At any rate we shall stay
here awhile.
l reached here on the 98th, sound In
body, and without seeing reb. Nor
gan. was reported to be on one side ot
the pike between here and Nashville,
and Forrest on the other side, but they
have not as yet been bold enough to
attempt the capture of our trains. They
have done such things heretofore and
doubtless will attempt it again, with
what success remains to be seen. We
need cavalry. The Government should
authorize the Northwest to put into
the field at least fifty thousand noun
ted infantry, with the understanding
that they are TO chase Morgan, Forrest,
and others; cut rebel railroads; capture
rebel trains; harrass the enemy, and
live off the country. When a horse
breaks down and gives out, swap him
for fresh one; destroy all trains cap
tured, and make it unsafe for the enc
my to send out even forage trains. The
North west could turn out $4,000 men
for such duty as this in short time.
Let the men furnish their own horses,
turning them over to the Government
at their true value. Do this and you
would never hear OF the rebels inter-
rupting our lines of communication, or
riding around our army. 1t will have
to be done sooner or later, and the
sooner the better.
/ paid visit this afternoon to Col.
T. R. Stanley's brigade, and found the
Colonel absent on visit home. i saw
and conversed with several Of the Gallia
county boys belonging to the 18th
regiment. The field officers of the 9th,
are all absent, and Capt. Ross, is in
command of the regiment, having fully
recovered from his wound. Lieut.. Car
ter, wounded in the back by the ex-
plosion ofa shell, has been pronounced
fit for duty, and has again resumed his
duties. / believe he is son Of Isaac
Carter. The rest Of the boys wounded
in the battle of Stone River are doing
as well as could be expected, and all
will probably recover. George W.
Angel, was wounded in the foot, and
has since had it smputsted just above
the ankle; after the foot had been taken
off he was taken with erysipelas in the
stump, and fears were entertained of
his recovery, but Dr. johnson informed
me to-day he was improving with the
chances strongly in his favor. | went
to the hospital to see him, but he had
been removed, and / failed to find him.
Lewis F. Berthe is well, and I was told
"hearty as a buck" He was out on
fatigue duty, and / did not see him.
He and young Angel are members Of
Co. K, which was raised in the neigh
borhood of Racine, o. / had list of
all the Gallia boys which / had inten-
ded inserting in this letter, giving
their present condition and Whereabouts,
but it has unfortunately got misplaced.
I will obtain another in few days and
forward to you. Enough to say for the
present that all are well, excepting the
wounded in the late battle. l found
DR.. Mills, iu excellent health and spirits.
1t is generally believed BY Surgeons
that wounded men do better in tents
than in houses. The wounded of GEM
Crittenden's corps we're mostly put in
tents and fewer deaths have occurred
among these than among those placed
in houses. The reason / do not pre-.
tend to know. Igiye you the facts and
you can ask some physician for an ex'
PLANTATION. Nearly all the houses il
tbIs place are used for hospitals; the
rebel wounded occupying twenty-five
buildings. Large numbers OF the rebels
have died. Our wounded are generally
doing well and are well cared for.
Murfreesboro is a place Of 8, 800 ol
1000 population, or, rather has been
for most of the citizens left with Brage
(men. women and childten.) The towr
is well laid out and the buildings are o
a better character, than have noticed
in other Southern towns. They lool
neat and clean. and the dwellings gen
orally set back from the street, leaving
ayard in front, many Of them adorneI
with shrabbery. @
The place is thoroughly secesh, ant
the entire male population is eyidentl,
in the rebel army, as l see none abou
the place. One thing Ihave failed {,
find and that is the shoeless, hatless
coatless, half starved, ragged rebels ou
Northern papers tell us SO much about
All the rebels l have seen look as
they Jared well, had plenty to eat an,
.I-1l