Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-08-03
"B. F MULLEN.
"Col. 6lst Regt Ind. Vols


the assertion that the four hundred men the gal
LIANT Colonel expected recruit. and place in the
field, in four weeks would Le remarkably ,cell
drilled"(l) will add the following extract from
Mullens published letter Of the 18th inst, which.
placed in juxtaposition with the above. must prove
refreshing. Referring to his trip to Tennessee.
made to propose consolidation of bis regiment
with mine. he says:
81 proceeded on my msson-had on my part.
frank and free consultation with Col. Walker.
| informed him | had about two hundred men;
that. it il met his appreciation, would consent to
join his regiment. &c"
The time when he proceeded on his mission. "
and informed me he had fro hundred men, was
several months subsequent to the llth of Feb
ruary. when he stated to me. by letter, in effect.
that be had four hundred men, in addition to
company rendered by Captain Kane, which, of
course, would have made his regiment at that
time contain FIVE hundred men. Yet, after his
stating to me officially that his regiment contain
ed four hundred men. and that he had an addi-
tional company rendered which would swell It's
number to FIVE hundred. he publicly acknowl-
edges that. several months subsequently his regi-
ment contained but two hundred men. What
became the other two, or three hundred1 Did
they desert-although at the time no consolida-
ton with my regiment was contemplated? Or
did Col. Mullen simply make an official state
ment to me. in writing. on the ilth of February,
1862, which he knew to be falsei Either from
two to three hundred men did desert him. before
they dreamed Of going into the 35th regiment, or
else the statement he made to me in writing
was utterly untrue II what he said was
true, and two or three hundred of his men de
serted. without the fear Of the 35th regiment be-
fore their eyes, is it likely that one hundred and
thirty four afterwards deserted because they were
unwilling TO come into my command? When
Col. Mullen arrived at my camp with orders for
consolidation, his REGIMENT consisted OF SIXTY
SIX MEN and thirteen to fifteen commissioned off
cersi He has not forgotten that the sixty-six
men he succeeded. after six months recruiting. in
getting into the field. clothed armed and re-
mark0bly ueH drilled! urged me not to receive
him into the corps. All this is a matter of but
little consequence. but it shows plainly that Col.
Mullen lacked the capacity to hold a
spectacle number OF men together. that he is an
a;rocious liar and, that his 6lst regiment was a
csricature at best. BY this it may be Judged too,
whether his teaching and discipline" to which
he boastngy refers. has been particularly bene
fetal to the 35th regiment. He may have been,
as he says he was. "a soldier when" the writer of
this "was boy" His tactics gave evidence of
origin in the higher genius of a former gener-
alton. The regiment thought go when he com
manded them. while moving by the faux, to
Form piatOons-fornard march," Gen Mel
son thought so when, by way of complim ent and
as tribute to merit, he addressed him as can old
woman on horseback" and kindly directed him
to take position At the rear of the column. The
Generals Aid de Camp was of the same opinion
when he relieved Col Mullen of his sword. lest
its weight, on so long march, might fatigue
the old hero of some war unfortunately not vet
chroncled on the pages of history The effect,
too. of Col. Mullen's eloquence-tbe moral infiu
ence which "creates an esprit de corps that will
carry them. bayonet in hand into the very teeth
of the enemy"-is terrible to behold. That the
regiment appreciates Col. Mulen's powers is
ranks have been depleted, by desertions alone,
abont half their former dimensions That he
appreciates his own influence is equally manifest
in the fact that. under one pretext another he
absents himself continuously from the corps, and
devotes his talent. which none are less likely to
underrate than he. 20 the service of his master
and the Great Black Republican Party of In
diana. In outgush OF eloquence ne exclaims:
Long after dismissed officers and political
demagogues of the present age shall have been
forgotten. the noble energies, the self-sacrifcing
spirit aud even handel Justice of Governor Nor
ton will sparkle upon the pages of our country's
history? Let us add
"Oh, for forty -parson power
To chant thy praise, hypocrisy!''
The "even. handed justice" which His Excel
ency possesses is exhibited in his efforts to de-
grade the soldier to the level of the negro and in
his success in reducing officers to the position of
pitable menials or the sub-ervient tools of polit
ical prostitutes. Has B T. Mullen, who calls
himself Democrat, the name of MoRroS en-
graved upon the collar which he wears? 1t 10
humiliating, l confess it. to be compelled, in
treating with the Governor. to kick away the
hounds who form his body guard We should
learn, however, not TO be annoyed. as we some
times are, by the yelpng on our tracks of the
dogs with which His ExcelIency has lately, at
small price, supplied his kennel. must, there
fore. beg pardon for having referred, at some
length. to one OF the vest of the pack-a crea-
ture who has the hardihood to boast that he still
wears the badges of his servitude. the represent.
atives of the price his master paid for wiling
instrument 10 do tho dirty work of ;raduction and
villainy.
In these latter DAYS scoundrelism is at a pre-
MUM. and the creatures of despotism. who bend
the plant hinges OF the knee that thrift may fol-
low fawning," are constantly employed The
worst sign OF the times is. that these menials are
encouraged to assume that the public mind is so
totally debauched that their ISLANDERS will be re
ceived or their perfdy tolerated among the peo-
pie. That such things can be. and pass by US
without our special wonder. is one of the saddest
evidences of the demoralizing influence Of istes-
tine war. The mysterious agencies of this infu-
ence become a contagion, and its mill dews per-
meAte through almost every fibre of the social
fabric The waste Of wealth, the destruction Of