The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-08-01
From the "Old Fourteenth. 81
AN INTERESTING LETTER.
ARMY OF THE PoToMAC, !
July 10Th, 1863. [


ED. JoURNAL-To-day is Sunday, and
the indications are that the Army of the
Potomac will rest to-day, a thing that is
eminently proper. taking into cnnsidAra--
ton the worn out condition of the men.
have thought that a review of the
labors performed by this Grand Army,
and few Of the incidents attached to
it since it left Falmouth, would not be
uninteresting to many of your Western
readers, particularly so as our Western
troops are seldom named by Eastern
newspaper correspondents, the reason of
which perhaps, is that Eastern troops do
not generally compare very favorably
with those from the West.
The Army of the Potomac left Fal-
mouth, Va, on the 18th of June, and
after forced march of over two-hun-
dred miles, reached Gettysburg, Pa, on
the morning of the I'd inst. The First
and Eleventh Corps had arrived the day
previous-had met the enemy at Gettys-
burg and had been repulsed with heavy
loss in killed, wounded and prisoners.
Here it was that the lamented General
Reynolds fell, while attempting to drive
the invaders from his own State
Gen Hancock, of the Second Corps,
was ordered forward to take command of
the forces there, and with much military
talent he selected the ground upoa achich
the great battle Of the second and third
days Of this month was fought, and to
him is due much of the credit for the
success of our arms upon that memora-
Bile occasion. In saying this, / do not
mean to cast any reflections upon Gen.
Meade, for he is undoubtedly an able
and brave commander, but it is equally
true that he did not arrive upon the field
until the second day after the position
had been selected, and most of the dis
positions made by the gallant Hancock
1t is also said that Meade wanted to fall
back on Taneytown, and fight the battle
there, but after seeing the position oc-
cupied by Hancock, he at once acquiesc-
ed lin in that that Generals selection and the
The pomp and glory of the three glo-
rious battles cannot be described; none
but those present can imagine, and
but few can appreciate, the vastness of
the terrific conflicts. But did not sit
down to describe the battles. This has
been attempted by those who have much
better descriptive powers than myself,
none of whom have come up to what the
facts would justify. ..
Soldiers who have been in active SER
vice for two years learn to love the ex-
citement of glorious battle, and the
larger its proportions, the more cool and
determined they seem to be- This was
certainly the case at Gettysburg; for
during the ever-memorable three hours
on the third day of the fight, when the
enemy had one hundred and seventy of
their cannon concentrated on one point,
pouring into our ranks, bursting she'll at
a rate of not less than two or three hun
dred per minute, not an officer or man
seemed to be the least excited, notwith-
standing the enemy were dealing out
death and destruction with a liberal
| hand all around This concentration
was made upon the point occupied by
the Second Army Corps, and it is of this
corps mostly have referred to; and il
stood the brunt of the battles on both the
second and third days. This is veteran
corps, commanded by the veteran Han
cock, and has a great many veteran
Western troops in it.
In the midst of battle, and during it;
excitement, man can see his comrade!
mown down by his side, and still rust
on without thought; but as soon as the
conflict is over, he who revisits the field
of carnage and destruction there see.
the horrors of war. The dead and dyine
are lying side by side-some with a liml
entirely taken away by she'll; -other
wounded in all conceivable places will
the fatal Mimic ball, many of whom arr
not taken from the field, in numerou
instances, for two or three days-it i
-puUugu rrot<T S' 0'-' -.-''S'
visit the hospitals, as | did at Gettys
burg. and the scene is but little changed
so far as the comfort of the poor wound
ed soldier is concerned. There they Ii
by the thousand, many of them in tn
omen air-indeed, most of them did nc
even have so much as shelter ten
with but few to wait upon them, and
|: those few it was an exception to find on
l who was willing. Many of these poo
fellows 90 for days without having the
wounds even so much as looked at. 1o
ask. where are the surgeons? Some
them are asleep in the best tent the no
pital affords, others are practicing {
$ the limb of some luckless soldier, viii
n occasionally you can find one trying
y do his duty. The latter comprises Il
= exception. At Gettysburg, the rain f'
in torrents, day and night, for some da
after the battles, and thousands mu
have died from the want of attention al
exposure to the elements. In ft
E days, however, the good people of Bal
more and other places made their q
pearance in the hospitals, and reliev
ty every want of the suffering, SO far
,R kind hearts and willing hands could do
of The meanness of the citizens of G
es es' tysburg and vicinity is beyond descr
ite ton. They sold to our wounded sold'
=, eggs at so cents per dozen, pies SO cel
Wy each. bread at Is cents to 81 per lC