Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-09-12

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HD. Has. 18th REs'r ", VA. Vo1s INFr'Y,1
One mile North of BeFryville, Va,
September 9th, 1854. }
Editors Lntezligeneer:
We left camp / mile south of Charleston,
Saturday, Sept. Sd, at daybreak, and about
liza. n. reached BerryVille, where we
csmped. About 4 in the afternoon the en-
envy came down in force and began driving
our pickets on the Winchester pike. Our
forces we're Immediately drawn up in line
on the rise of that road beyond BerryFiIIe.
On the left they had a severe fight in which
Col. Duv&ps Division captured about go,
rebels, driving the enemy to his breast
works. The 18th, while the diminishing
WAS progressing, piled,up rail breastwork
to cover its front. Soon the regiments on
our immediate left broke and fed in disor-
der. Our regiment and the 4th Va. on our
right remained steady until Col. Ely, com.
handing Brigade, ordered US to fail back,
in order to prevent the enemy enfilad-
ing US on the left as they pursued our
broken regiments. We, fell back some 200
yards to the next ridge-top and maintained
that position under cannonade and mus
kerry two hours, till after dark, the regiments
which had been broken rallying on our
left. Here we remained all night. 1t rain.
ed and having nothing to eat from dinner
till breakfast, the situation wss.unpleashnt.
The rain was about jas wet as any l ever
saw. All was dark, damp aud uncomforta-
BILE, aud the whole regiment made more
teeth chatter than parcel of young squir-
rels At daylight we Withdrew to our
present camp for the sake of position, and
are ready for them in my opinion. it'd
OUR LOSS. ...r .....
IL p L. r
paDy A. ..... .-,a
Wounded Corporal and color guard, W.
l.. Harvey, co. q, left breast, mortally.
wound, left thigh; F. F. johnson, private
company E, left side, severe confusion; j.
]. Morgan, private company B, left shin,
severe confusion.
Our pickets have some pretty sharp pas
ssges in wordy war when both parties lay
near one another. In reconnaissance one
afternoon DuvsPs men took a lot of rebel
cattle. Next day Johnny halloos over,
"Yenk wouldn't you like to have some
more Lynchburgh tobacco2" Reply
Wouldn't you like some beef 2n Result.
Rebel profanity.
Again, says Johnny, "When are you go
ing to Lynchburgh again 2" Reply. "Wby
don't you cross into Pennsylvania ?" So
the verbal tournament goes on. ..-
1t gives me no mean degree of pleasure
to announce that not an officer in this reg
imentis Mcclellan man, and don't know
of more than three enlisted who will vote
for him. lam pretty sure he will not aver.
age vote to a company in the 18th. d. @
You hear much of the great losses in
numbers in our armies, losses which the
killed, wounded and missing ofbattle do not
account for. Perhaps one who sees the in
ternal workings of this mighty machine,
our volunteer army, would explain some
things about this to one not behind the
scenes. More than by all the tremendous
battles in the Wilderness, than by all the
slaughter of the bloodiest campaign of the
war, our armies are depleted by TWO causes
1st. Bumming. .....
The soldiers sometimes call it "playiup
off," but the above is the favorite techni
cal. This practice of getting into hos.
pital somehow, by malingering or legiti
mately, then staying there till the fighting
season is over, is carried now to an extern
truly lamentable. No one not conversan
with the facts would believe that out o
regiments averaging 500, full 800 odd are
in General Hospital, often 500. can yer.
ify these figures by the official reports al
any time. knoW that of the regiments il
the field half their number are in Post hos.
pitfalls. A man goes into the field, and he
is put through fatigue and battle for weeks
without cessation. He is sick of the eV-
erIasting fighting, and perhaps physically
sick. He goes to hospital or a GONZALES.
cent camp, and that is the last of him for
six months, a year, or during his term o.
service. Ask any company commander
you please, whose company is in real ser.
vice, and he will tell you he has in hospi
tai at least ten or twenty stouter men thar
be is, and some more in convalescent
camps from Dan to Bersheba. 1t is al
legged that the surgeons want to keep them
as the ration Communication fund will thus
be Increased. Anyhow let a man once
get into hospital, and it is long before he
gets out. Nor will any effort of his Cap.
tain get him away. The Surgeon in charge
meets him or his General who inquiries why
the man is not returned to his company,
thus: 'Sir, the man is only fit for lighl
duty, such as nursing or cooking for the
sick, or other hospital duty" Such duty
is sometimes gardening for said Surgeon
Often the Doctor says, ~ know, Sir
when a man is fit to be discharged; you
don't" When men have recovered and
expressed wish TO go to their companies
they were peremptorily shut up, closed
quenched. Often they are detailed as cooks
and nurses. Good men go in, and know
ing soldiers lot to be pretty hard one
at fighting times, and getting we'll, and a
detail as nurses or cooks being offered
them, they conclude, very well, will serve
my country thus until next winter, when
all is quiet. To their credit be it said, ]
have known many, when discharge was
refused by the Surgeon, desert to their
companies. But here is about half our
fighting force in hospital. A profitable
lesson might be learned by our Generals
from General Hood, at Atlanta. His per-
aonal inspection of the Atlanta hospitals
alone returned $4,000 rebels to the front.