Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1865-08-30

SAAk khhESEk al SsasACF EA6ENA ArEs
CrCsS Lake ssatige-GeEl- HE.
GieIIaB'S Opinion GG Gen. GOy
Soldier Sentiment.
Correspondence Ohio state Journal.
ZANEsVILLE, O., Aug. 10. iSO5.
When General Cox was nominated IS
the Republican candidate for Governor,
il was of course taken for granted tIa'
there would be much aoa5c of hiu
by editors and speakers If the oPV'>iI,
party. Politicians are, perhaps used &
these things, and look upon any attack
on their caudi ate as merely one 0I Ia,
legitimate practices of political warfare.
which are always 10 be expected and nrv-
er to be heeded. looked upon 10y the can
didate himself, and bv his friends as one
would pass the barking o. "a poor iii.
cur. which is all noise and no fight ihi-
must be the case, or else why Is tine edit,
or of the Fremont Messenger allowed I,
rave on IN his slanderuus etfusiOHS, as-gil
ing General Cox as 81 soldier and ;,s a CT
ven. undisturhed by ANY contradiction
from the leading journals Of the Stale
| The local press and soldiers resident ]!
the country who know the cailber, Chal
actcr, ana who are qualified 10 prOnounce
.S To the preteusjOns Of the IEdtvIduai
originating thes- siauderous eifusious
have replied. but We soldiers ask some
thing more. These articles. harmless in
the Messenger. because in this district ths
editor is known. and his declrrltiuns
iudged accordingly, become widely circu
lated through the columns oi ihe ono
Statesman and other Democratic Journals
claiming 10 be respectable, and In this
shape excite the resentment of the old
soldiers of Gen. CoX's command, nov
scattered in every part of the State These
men, UNUSED 10 the wire pulling schemes
of politicians. chafe under the inSinua-
tIons cast against their old commander a.
against themselves, and cannot stand id
ly by and hear man, however low he be-.
make an attack without fighting back
This may not be polite, but IL Is honest
for we will not allow the impression to %
abroad that this Messenger man Is AT ali
the representative of the soldier feeling
la regard TO Gen. Cox
The editor of the Messenger says that
he knows the General toe well 10 vote iyT
him, and pretends 10 an extended kurwi
edge of his military career, as if he could
get this in three months tour of soldier
ing at Camp Dennisnn, and other points
equally as near that tremendous front
he talks so much about. 1t Is all right
that this editor should be opposed to the
General; no one viii object 70 him giving
all the hearsay evidence he can collect;
but all soldiers Of the old Kanawha Brig
ade will object most seriously TO him set
ting himself up as critic of the Virginia
campaigns. II Is amusing, 40 this time.
70 hear him talk about the ''Skirmisl aI
ScaTey," and pcmpouslv ask who was the
.'laggard there" Had the gentleman
been present during the campaign he pre-
tends to know so much about. he would
have learned that when experience had
taught the soldiers of that comm nd
what battle really was. they always were
disposed to laugh at the scare at Scarcv.
At MurfreesborO. in 1852, Posecraus sent
out a tOraging and reconnoitcring party.
which unexpectedly came upon a large
force of the enemy. and in the skirmish
that ensued was badly woIsted. No one
considered RosecTansa 'laggard" because
he did not leave his duties at headquar-
ters and rush out to take command OF his
scouting party, nor did any one consider
the sklrmish a tremendous affair. Gen.
Cox sent out a accommodating force while
marching up the Kanawha Valley. unex
pecJedly met the enemy; an awkard
skirmish ensued. and in the language of
the boys engaged, both sides We're de
feated." Ask the men vino participated
III the Scarey fight, and who afterwards.
as veteran soldiers, met firmly the heavy
battle lines of the enemy, what they
think of it, and they will tell YOU il
wasn't much Of a shower" only in the
ewes of men who were not there. This
slS'rmisb scarcely delayed at all the main
column, which almost Immediately took
possession of Wise's stronghold. Charles
Ton, and soon reclaimed the entire valley.
and held it against all the combinations
of Wise and Floyd. for many months
The editor says nothing of the manage
ment of this campaign, but harps upon
the misfortune at Cross Lanes rs If he
himself were a terribly injured party.
This event has been much discussed and
Is too well understood hv the soldiers en-
gagged for our Democratic friend 10 make
political capital out of it. Il was indeed
an unfortunate affair, and was magnified
by the rarity of such thing at that stage
of the war
Not MANY of the gallant old Tth viii
now tell you that il was such very cx-
traOrdinary affair, but they s0iH tell you
that their after experience led them into
many tight place, OUT Of which they
worked their way with better luck. be-
cause they had learned more OF soldering
Later in the war during the march upon
RinggOld, after the evacuation of Chatta-
nOoga by the rebels under Bragg. a de-
tached regiment of General Palmer's CON-
mand was suddenly attacked by an over
whelming force of cavalry, and utterly
crushed, captured or scattered. The un-
fortunate regiment was one of the hest in
The division, and bore the humiliation
and sorrow Of the defeat without think
ing once Of accusing the General aS party
to their wrong Had this happened at
the time of the Cross Lane battle il would
have been classed along side. bus after
wards soldiers learned that war was a re-
ality, that misfortuues came to the best,
ana they learned to do and dare, looking
always to meet the worst. Well acguaint-
ed with many of the old 7th Ohio, for a
long time a member of the same brigade.
| can unhesitatingly say that many of the
officers and men are the warmest person
al friends of General Cox. and that the
Gross Lane "bugaboo," regretted by him
as much as by them, but rightly under
stood by all cannot be represented as a
cause of ill-feeling. Our Democratic ed
itor has nothing to say Of the campaigns
of Eastern Virginia, where history has
marked Gen. Cox As playing an imPor
tant part, and where he earned his pro
motion, nor of the after operations Of his
corps in the grand closing campaign of
the war. The people knew too much
of these for our Don Qujrote to venture
a reference. Early imbibing a preju
dice against the General and the service,
he assumes the privilege Of saying how
soldiers feel toward commando with
whom they were ia many struggle. He
tells his readers that there was scarcely