The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-13
PIain In br a Yeteran soIaier

/ -A-A+oAN oAAAAtNr 4AAA-s 1tls o. 1900
Editors Nasari'le Union Having, con
trary 10 my own viii, great deal Of leisure
time, I believe I will use q few Of those
wasting moments in writing a few brief
lines for your excellent paper. Will con-
fine my remarks to no particular subject.
but will talk Of matters end things in Gen
! eral. The FIRST item which ! wish TO cell
attention 10, is the fact, that there are g
! great many L. S. troops here, numbering
4 perhaps from loo 70 500, in Fthe irnmedi-
ate vicinity Of HUNTSVILLE. These troops
are Of no use 20 the Government, or to a s n
/ gle individual living within its bounds, 90
far as any man here can conceive. The
next thing I wish 20 notice is the pleasing.
| tact that the cruel war is over, l. e. accord
/ ing % the best accounts we eaa get down
here IN the woods. Well, these men enlist
/ ed, some one, some two, and some three
I years ago, with the distinct understanding
/ and agreement that when the war was en-
ded tuey should be honorably discharged,
| or mustered out Of the service. l am
/ very we'll aware that there are some men
/ who are trying to deny this, and saw that
| the Government has an indisputable
right % hold US until the expiration Of three
years from the date Of our enlistment. Now
Mr.. Editor, I wish 70 ask those recruiting
officers and stump speakers, If this was the
all thetr powers Of persuasive eloquence to
get us to enlist and 70 re-enlist. say most
emphatically that it was not. No, sirl they
i0ld as to come one, come all, aud Join this
mighty army Of freedom loving patriots,
ana sweep over the South as a bosom Of de-
sirUction, and with one mighty blow sweep
rom our land the foul stain Of treason, and
thus make il bus few mon hs' work, and
then We should 90 back to our homes and
friends, receiving at the same time our full
bouuties and ali, lust the same as though
We had served our full tn ee years. Why,
SIR, in our regiment, when the officers we,e
trying to get US to rs-enlst, they actually
tried TO make Us believe that our second
term would end in six months. Then their I
chance for Office depended on our re-enlst- |
ment; now their chance for living in idle |
ne and getting his pay, depends upon our |
retention in service.
There is another little item that I wish to |
notice, and that is, this grand idea that is 40 |
prevalent among q certain class OF men, that |
II Is better for the soldiers to REMAIN in SER /
vice at $40 per month than 70 be turned out 1
upon their own resources for a living. Turn /
ed upon our own resources Tor a living, in |
deed guess the great trouble with this 1
peculiar class OF men is that they may be I
thrown upon their own resources for their |
living. They seem to forget what the former /
occupation u great majority Of the Union 1
soldiers was be ore the war. We, the ma /
jority Of US, were farmers aud mechanics,
with now and then a professional gentle /
man. Who ever heard before Of farmers
and mechanics being thrown out Of employ
ment in the free North Why, sir, the al 4
most universal complaint in our letters from /
home is, scarcity Of hands. We can Z get our 1
crops saved, say they. One man says have |
forty, another one hundred, another FIVE /
hundred acres Of corn that should be in /
shock; / can't get hill out and So on in 1
regard to other things and still these men /
tell US that if we were at home we W0ald be 1
thrown out Of employment
Besides this, Mr.. Editor, we frequently
hear Of women being obliged to chop their
own wood, notwithstanding they have
money to pay Tor this work, but the Trouble
is the men are not here 10 be hired. What |
our N ,thers, some Of whom have lost one,
some two, and some three sons in the wsr;
having No male protection at home; chop
ping their own hire wood, and these men 4
tellinglus that it is better for us 10 be here,
where we have to spend almost evers dollar
Of our wages to get enough rough fare TO
preserve lie, than to be at home protecting
that mother, If We have to stay here and
eat wormy hard-bread and lay upon the
ground, while our mothers, wives and sisters
are doing our work at home, we hope We
viii be tsrmented no more with this damBa-
bic nonsense Of ''it's better for YOU
YKrERGN IRA LII. Cav.