Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1864-11-30
A Remarkable Letter.

h'h"of
We copy from tho Now Yor, Times the follow
ing "war paper" addressed 10 Gen, Thomas, conf
manding tho Army of the Cumberland, by IN Or
derby Sergeant of Tennessee regiment The first
paragraphs of the letter indicate that the letter was
intended rs burcsquoi but upon close inspection
IL will be- seen that the writer Is in 'deud earnest
and tccis greatly upon the question Of boarding
OUT
NASHVILLE Tenn October, 1854
Major Gncra Tomwj
| DEAR SIR Whore Il company boards ut half
dozen different plNccs, ranging from one hundred
yards TO quarter of u mile from headquarters, Is
the orderly sergeant bound to make out regular and
! irregular details, notify the men, and have them
ready to start on u scout or other duty vat moments
| uotce2
Where there is no roll-call in company that
"boards out is the orderly sergeant Of such COM
pany bound to make out correct morning report
and sick report, and take It TO the adjutants head
quarters by eight o'clock A. NJ
If the orderly sergeant tries TO get the prlyncs to
fall into ro-call, and pryatos tell him to go to hell
is the orderly sergeant bound to go thcre2
All the parties present, who Is responsible for the
conduct of the mcnthc captain or the orderly ser
geant If the orderly sergeant is responsible for
the conduct of pryates ought the captain so inter
fcre and turn the private loose who has been put
under arrest for disobcying orders
Where II company of men 'board out and the
captain knows it, and boards with some Of them, II
quarter Of mile off from company headquarters,
ought thecaptan to complain if the orderly sergeant
fails to come TO time two or three times n week or
ofencr2
In cavalry service, how often must the orderly
sergeant notify private to 90 on duty before he is
clear of any wrong HIMSELF And after notifying
private soldiers the proper number of times to go
on duty, is the sergeant bound to catch and saddle
all their horses And, after putting on all their
equipments, and furnishing those who by care
lessness or otherwise, have no arms with the nee
cssary weapons, to take said private soldiers by the
nape of their necks and the seats of their brooches
and put them in their saddles? Where there are
one captain and two eutenants present, seeing how
things 60, and they being stout able-bedied men,
don't you think they ought TO put some of the men
in the saddes-say half or a quarter of them, es-
pecially if it is a damp day?
When the colonel commanding regiment sees
and knows that the under his command are un-
ruly how often ought the order sergeant to report
TO the colonel men who fail to go on duty at their
regular time? And how often ought the orderly
sergeant to report the same thing to their captain
n the captain being preset and seeing and knowing
n that they refuse TO 90 duty he frequently excus.
ing them from such performance of duty Just at the
time when it is impossible to notify another to I'll
the vacancy say how often ought the sergeant tC
- complain to such captain?
! After serving rs orderly sergeant in II company
over thirteen months the company being disor
! derly unruly, contentious, "boalding out at rs
c many different points of the compass from company
j. headquarters as they could find places to board at
IN and being troublesome generally, and using every
eXertiOn TO get the orderly sergeant TO resign anC
o retire to private life in order that Of then
n might get the "high position Of orderly sergeant
e the company-is it treating said orderly sergean
- with Justice to take private from the ranks--on
of the most contrary men, too, (and | know who i
:, contrary put him said sergeant as seconc
&c lieutenant, Just because the colonel of the regimen
yt is afraid of his men, and is afraid TO take control
u, and govern them?
IL If the colonel of regiment tells the commission
ed officers of his command that he is afraid of hi
men, and that is the cause of his not trying to gov
=, rrn them, don't you think that such colonel ough
. to resign and let take his place who is no
so fearful of his life?
= If there is pressing and killing day or tw
after they surrender carried on by the men of reg
iment, whose duty is it to put stop to such conduc
! mean if such conduct is wrong? If it is al
u right no one ought to put stop to it.
> Have commissioned officers non-commlssonc
e officers and privatcs in the United States service an
y right to take horses from the enemy and sell then
lc and apply the proceeds of such sales to their ow
use? If so, an affirmative answer to that question
may be of great benefit to my wife and sick boy a
! nv present wages lSIO Il month"; Is not sullclent
10 pay five dollars house rent, dollars per cor
for wood, water tax, clothing f.od-and the Lor
= knows how much the doctor will charge me, for
, dont-as my little boy has not been able to NOV
&c for more than Il year, and don't know how muc
In longer it will be before he is able to- the doctor say
not for month or two yet, perhaps longer; hi
sickness has already cost me five hundred dollars
Besides, / am in debit owe fifty dollars borrowc
money-So, by all mc0HS, GC9erai let me kHoiC db0t
this horse question. If such horse-trading is Lawful
lie l am willing to resign my position ms sergeant, an
. go to trading in them, | can make it pay bette
" especially if you will order our regiment into som
or But General if such horsc-radng is not accordin
& to "Army Regulations beg of you to, as soon
4 you can do consistently, make me 'shouldC
strap it pays better and SO far as my observatio
y goes, it is great deal less trouble-cspecaiy if N
ID men "board oH.'
/ | say General, an idea has just come into m
+. head-a novel one, | admit; but / would like to Sc
" it tried on in some company that "bourds out
)i Could you not effect the following change bctwec
a captain and sergeant for six months--let the car
tain act as sergeant and the sergeant act ms capital
not in my company but in some other mans.
u would very much like to see such trial
General, if this letter is too long, take some Sun
, day for it, and put in the whole day. | have col
7 densed the subject all | know how, but am inter
r csted in some, if not ALL have writtcn-so is tn
ID Army of the Cumberland.
= AMOS l.. GRIFFITH,
to Orderly Sergeant Co. F. 9TH Tenn. Cavalry
o | think by all odds that this is the queercst wa
= IL