The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-04-01
The ISLANDERS Against Omcers
From the Army and Navy Journal.

Mr.. Lincoln's order appointing Lieuten-
ant General Grant to the command Ct the
armies in the field, and naming as lis
subordinates Halleck, Sherman and Nc
Pherson, is curious commentary upon
the reliability OF the estimate which the
daily press and the public is likely to put
upon our military men. After the battle
of.Belmont, and more particularly subse-
quent to the fearful struggle at Pittsburg
Landing, charges against the private char
acter OF General Grant were freely bruited
about, which would now blister the tongue
of the man who might have the hardihOod
to repeat them. The lapse of tive years
has not only branded these idle stories as
the basest libels, but has b ought unsolicit-
ed to the one regarding whom they were
uttered the highest military honors it is in
the power OF Congress to confer.
So with Gen. Sherman. He was posi-
lively and repeatedly declared to be in
sane not much more than two years ago,
and was temporarily without command
because he frankly declared his conviction
that at least two hundred thousand men
would be needed to clear the rebels ont of
Kentucky and Tennessee. To-day he con-
trolls the movements of more than that
number in the division of the Mississippi,
and the great West is daily sending him
reinforcements by hundreds Both these
officers have acted on the true military
principle of allowing their deeds TO speak
for them, and now they have their reward
in the gratitude and admiration of their
countrymen and the official endorsement
Of their superiors.
Major General Mcpherson, fortunately
for himself, has thus far managed to escape
hostile criticism, but tile rebels have given
their testimony to his ability, and General
Grant takes SO much pride in rewardng
those who have assisted him in achieving
his great success that he has promptly ad-
vanced this office to the position which
he believes his brilliant talents qualify
him to fill.
General W. F. Smith has also lived
down che outrageous SANDERS which reck-
less newspaper correspondents and even
United States Senators uttered against him
while the siege OF Yorktown was progress
ing; and now, at General Grants solicita-
ton, he has been nominated for promotion
to the next highest grade in the army.
The Union Men of Mississippi.
The Boston Journal has the following
letter from New Orleans, giving an inter-
esting account of the Union sentiment in
Mississippi:
81 had the pleasure this afternoon of
meeting at headquarters, Union scout
who had just returned from trip through
Hancock, Marion, Perry, Jones, and Jas
per counties, Mississippi. He had been
absent month, and as fruit of his visit
to these counties, he had recruited one
hundred and fit en- men for Union regi.
ment forming in this city. He also
brought away several women and children.
From him / gather the following informa-
ton concerning matters in the locality
which he visited. He states that the
Union sentiment now predominates, and
that the Union men have things their own
way, completely turning the tables upon
their enemies. Instead OF being driven to
the swamps and other hiding places for
shelter, they have driven the secessionists
to those places to preserve the ir lives. They
had declared war of determination and
hunted down the rebels, and shot them
wherever found. This man is native of
Mississippi, and well acquainted through
out the region through which he passed.
He states that SO relentless has been this
civil strife, that most if not quite all of the
old men of his acquaintance are in their
graves, shot in their very homes. He was
for several days within sound of Sher-
mans rifles, and saw him when on his adj
vance and retreat. He etates that on his
retreat ne took with him an immense
amount of supplies captured from the enc
my, besides large numbers of negroes.
Cotton and provisions were plenty, but as
both parties were destroying all they could
belonging to the other, the prospect was
that there would soon be scarcity Guer-
illas were prowling about the country, pro-
Tossing to burn the cotton, but in reality
getting possession of it and forwarding it
to New Orleans, where it is sold for their
benefit"