Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1863-01-19
The Condltlon ol the ArmY.

The Newark AdpertiseY SAYS: v
The following Il Anyextraet from a ptivate
letter written by non.commissoned officer
IN one OF the regiments OF New York volun-
teers to n relative in this city We venture
TO say that the sentiments of the writer are
those OF "a large majority of the army:
| PoTOMAC RIVER Va, Dec. n, 1862
Friend -: Your idea of the conduct
Of the war is exactly my own, and also that
oil every other soldier who is not rank black
RepH6Afai Or a nigger ,Aboiiti9sistsss My
term of service vi eifd on the BIN bfs MAY.
and that day pledge you my word will end
my soldering. If cannot live in America,
| can at least go to Canada The people of
the North may talk and praise up their brave
troops who are in the field, bat little do they
know what we suffer. Thank God, it is kept
| from our wives and mothers, for they would
shed tears Of blood loould tell you of,sceIes
That we have been thtnugh 'uhHecessatily.
that would make your blood ran cold. Bul
Of what use would it be 1t would not better
my condition. On the contrary, it it were
known 1t would be worse for me But az the
boys sny never mind, we have stood it tweu.
ty months we can stand il four more; then
the Government can 90 to that hot place, for
all Of US
often, in reading the papers, see articles
something like the following: THE army is iu
good spirits and eager for an advance The
army could not be in better condition lhan
they are at present They only wait for the
order to advance on the enemy, they are san
gune OF success &c, sc Now, sir, allow
me to say that the man who writes such ara
cles for the papers knows no more about The |
condition Of the army than you do who are
sitting quietly at home lnuticed several
such articles ~ the papers shortly after The \
battle Of AntietGm, aud ! know that, they |
either told a wiful lie, or knew nothing about !
us; for, sir, at that time hardly "a man in this |
regiment had a change OF clothing Every |
thing was lost We bad but fifteen oyereoats |
in the whole regiment, and it was common
thing to see man barefooted And then |
doing the severe duty we had done for the
last five weeks Out ia all kinds of weather
without any kind of shelter not even an over
coat or blanket One third of our regiment
had become sick-not so as to be laid up bu,
weak and totally unfit for any kind of duty.
Still the papers would croak Tor an advance
And the above condition was not only ours l'
but OF every regiment that had been through /
Tint long, iatgulng five weeks march The
who writes as | have quoted
above, may be resident OF Washington If
So there Il some excuse for him for what
troops he sees are polished up and fed up to
all that is allowed But if any man wants a
true statement or the condition of the troops
let him come out here This is the placa
where he can see soldering as it is In a /
great many Instances We would be "A dlspraca
10 "A county pOor-house 1t is no uncommon
Thing to see man with his feet ont of his
shoes or the seat out Of his pantaoons: vet
the army never was in better spirits, and
are eager for fight" | tell you this eager
ness for fight ID played out The Ameri
can army are an army who think ana read for
themselves. They include some Of the first
young men OF the country, aud cannot be
made to believe the moon is made of green
cheese f..rIa .tt"t. ..t
When we enlisted, it was done under the
impulse OF the moment. Fort Sumter had
been attacked our glorious old flag had been
fired upon and insulted by people who should
have been first to protect il Washington, our
Capital, was in danger We, looking only to
the present, rushed to our country 5 call 10 /
support the laws and the Constitution. But
is that what we are fighting for now No.
slrl Il we are, why was Gen Mcclellan re-
move? the only man that the troops had full
confidence in. If he was not removed for.I,
political purposes, why was it not done before
the State elections took place. That is "A
question would like to have the War Depart.
meut answer, hut which they never will to our
satisfaction There are many, reasons that
could give for the great falling of Of patri.
otism in the army, but time aud space wi i nal
admit It.
hope you will write me again as soon as
you conveniently can it does me good to re,
ceive letters from a man that is free-who is
out in the world. | say free" because there
is no slavery like this While on this subject
allow me few words more and will stop.-
The Niger, the Abolitonists pet, we have
plenty Of them here acting as servants for
our officers have known Instances where
soldiers were sick they could not ride in an
ambulance, neither could their knupsacks be
carried but the cursed niggers VITO we're
servants for the DOCTOR could ride Others
would be stuck upon the back of some spare
horse When get out of this look for me
IN Fort Lafayette, or some other safe place,
for shall blow my horn we'll The saying
in the army is, 'soldier on foot negro on
horsebaek But ] must stop
Yours &c C. L
Negro Paupertsm--UncIe snIn,
L n