Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1864-07-06
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE JOURNAL,
Letter from Philipsburg, Pa.
PHILIPsBURG, Pa, July 4th, 1864.
DEAR JOURNAL This is the ever me,

] A(i-<hAh OChN<tL - HIS lc lllC ever mH
orable fourth of July, the day that closes
| dence: Glorious fourth of July, In DAYS
gone by, it was the pride of every true A
merlcan to hail thy annual return with emo
| uons of joy and thrill of patriotism that
made the welkin ring with song and shout.
But alas how changed the scene, where
| once was heard the busy hum of industry,
peace, happiness, and prosperity, smiling
on every hand, is now changed to the roar
OF hostile cannon, the clash of arms, and
the desolation of a civil war. OH once hap
py America
Land Of the free and home of the brave, :"
may the day be not far distant. when we
will again enjoy the blessings of peace. our
Unlcn restored, and the Star Spangled ban
ner floating in the pure air Of liberty, with
out stripe erased or star obscured
The Sunday Schools, the greatest refor-
mers OF the nineteenth century, of our town
are gong to celebrate the day, and already
Dung America is on the qui' rtce, usher
ing IN the morn in his fire cracker style.
hope they may all have a good time, and as
1t Is not come-ata-ble to delay my letter un-
I'll Tomorrow, l cannot report the way we
celebrated the fourth until my next, which
Will do, God sparing me-
have neglected to notice the death of
our townsman, William Myers, ir He
was killed instantly at the battle of
Spottsylvania. There was no braver or truer
soldier than iWilliam Myers, jr. He was
true to his trust His comrades adored
him, and lament his death, as much as they
would that of a brother He was member
of Co. d. 9Th, P r, V. V.-had served
his time and re-enlisted. At the time they
were home on furlough, his father told him,
when taking his leave to return to his regi-
ment, not to expose himself to danger, more
than his duty and honor would require. He
replied, enlisted to fight, L am going for that
purpose and | will do my whole duty That
he done So there is no doubt, and the hard
fought battle of Spottsylvania fully attests
his heroism, for he now fills soldiers grave
beneath the branches of an aged oak tree on
that bloody field, and there let him rest a.
mong the bravest of the brave And may
He who rules on high temper the sorrows
Of his father, brothers and sisters, thus sud
denly brought upon them ] learn that
Matthias Plank and Henry Heeman both
of Co. ID. 53rd Regt. p v, each lost an
arm at the siege Of Petersburg This regi-
ment is one Of the fighting kind, there is
seldom q battle in which the army of the
Potomac is engaged, but what the 53rd has
hand in. The men of Co. c. are as band
OF brothers, as the following incident will
show. When Sergt Daley was wounded,
on the 2dof June, they were making a charge
the Sergeant was shot between the knee
and ankle, and so badly did the shot effect
him that he fell forward, and, just as he
was falling, he was shot again through the
hips, the ball going clear through The bull
| lets We're flying thick and fast, he could not
move, there was no way to get to him, but
| to crawl along on their bellies. Lieut.. Rob
ert McMusser and Hiram Radebach took a
gum-blanket, craled to where the Sergeant
lay, spread out the blanket, rolled the Ser
| geant on 1t then one getting on each side and
| taking the blanket by the corner, pulled him,
crawling on their bellies out of reach of the
| bullets, and then got a stretcher and carried
| him to their quarters. If that is not 1.-THE
pure oil OF brotherly kindness, | do not
know where 1t Is to be found in this selfish
world
| And yet, we have men in our midst that
do all they can TO discourage the soldiers
| ridicule them, call them cut throats, villains
and all the epithets they can possibly think
| of. Here they are meeting regularly every
week, two or three times, to administer the
| oath of treason to such as are low, mean,
and degraded enough to become members.
Still these very members will contend that
/ they are TOR the government, will stand by
the country to put down the rebellion. A
/ pretty way indeed, to put down the war to
| uphold the government, when really they
are doing all they possibly can to stop the
machine by killing the engineer and fireman
1t was only last Saturday night, that !
heard young men promenading up and
down our streets singing treasonable songs.
| True, they are few, and their heads of the cal
/ abash order, but it shows where they stand,
and what they are made of
s. Your compositor made my letter, of last
week read that ''Moshanon" had DONE in
| justice to our town, this is mistake, it
should be Justice LERo1.