The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-02-25
AurmyLetter
STAFFORD Court HOUSE,,
February 10, 1863.

le STAFFORD Court House, 4
February 10, 1868. E
Mr.. ED1ToR-Dear Si-s-As We are lay
ing idle at present, 1 have come to the eonclu
sion Of writing a few lines for your paper, as
letter from the ed will always be read with
great pleasure among those who have friends
and relatives in said regiment, and your paper
is the same resource of pleasure to US as it il
almost a weekly visitor to our camp. We have
been laying hercnow nearly two months inactive
awaiting more favorable weather and roads fol
a forward movement, which, however, appears
to keep at a distance. The roads have beer
in a terrible condition fer some time past, a.
much so as to almost render it impossible fol
soldiers to leave their quarters. The hills and
valleys of Stafford County once enshrouded in
n vast thicket of pine and cedar, have almost
become a desert, and places that were recently
almost impenetrable even by ~footmen, are now
timberless, and in fts.plaees log huts arc erect
ed by the soldiers for -wintor quarters. But
h9w long We will be permitted to remain in
these huts is unknown to as. Probably be-
fore this reaches you we may be ordered to
march to Fredericksburg, again to meet the
enemy face to face, and make another desper-
ate effort to subdue our so formidable adver-
sary; but a question arises here, viii our pa
triotic soldiers stand up again to fight for the
nigger?" Will the army of the
Potomac throw away their blood for no other
purpose but to emancipate the slave2 never,
no neverl We have come to the field of bat
tie for no such a purpose. We have: come to
fight for the rights secured to us by our faith
ers to fight for the Union ard the Constitu-
ton. I shall regretcYery ball that I have.
shot from my rife, (and there are thousands
with me) if itlshouId tendIin the least to any
other purpose. shys isEit that cur arms have
been disgraced by one disaster after another?
It is not because We have not. got the mcn to-
cope with so formidable a foe, for our number
will out reach theirs by htndredsDf thousands.
The reason is because We have a set Of pollti-
cal stumbling blocks at Washington of which
President Lincoln is the ringlcader. This
war. mighthatefbeeh over long ago. had the
right course been pursued by Lincoln and his
traitorous and Abolition Cabinet. The Emsaln-- Z
cipation Proclamation of Sept. 22d, 1862, has
been the instruments of eErasing our.eneny
and adding thousands to their ranks.
The removal of Mcclellan has been the
means of hundreds of daily dessrtions from
the army of the Potomac. thereby weakening
force. How can we expect a victory under
such a state Of affairs, how Gao we look to sue
cess of our arms and the restoration of our
once glorious but now disrupted Union. The
cry of the people, Is. clean out that filthy
Cabinet and put in men that will exert their
influence to labo. for the reconstruction of the
old union, men that will not brood over mig
gerism all the days of their. lives, and work
the hands ofsthe enemy. give Us back
Mcclellan, give US back Mcclellan ; he and
he alone is the choice,of the army of the Po-
omac he is the man that we viii stand by,
that we will fight with, and he is the man that
clrry the banner of triumph and victory
through the streets efY Richmond-hc is
of the Federal army, and he alone can
cad US to a final conquest. Such are not
alone my sentiments, but they are the senti
ments of hundreds and thousands of my fel
low soldiers. Over 200, 200 of our fellew mcu
are now bleaching their bones on southern
soil. their blood crying to heaven for ven
eeance u2on those in the North might
EEaye prevented their untimely death, had they
been a mind to do so. but of retribu-
justice will overtake. them, when they
will be Judged according to their deeds done
In the body. The only hope that is left us
now is the result of Northern elections, the
hope of cnce more having the halls of Con-
gress occupied by constitutional men, by
Democrats, Yhich-wer have no aoaht will result
in the speedy conclusion of this war.
szshasr s=sF o.. E. dENGLE, 80
R7sF Co K, SD Res't, 0.&V.'