The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-08-29
General Yeatch at Fort DOnelsOn-A
Letter from LIZ. Colonel VI. II. Nor.
gan-And the CATIi1icate OF Officers
and Men Of the Regiment.

gan-AnQ the CNFLlnCatc Vi OlnCcES
and Men Of the Regiment.
The Indianapolis Sentinel pub
fishes what it terms "a crushing
expose by Lieut.. Colonel WILLIAM
III. MORGAN, of the Twenty-Fifth In
diana, of the part borne by General
JAMES G. WATCH in the battle Of
Fort Donelson. The controversy, it
will be remembered, has grown out
of a charge made by the SentjRe1 that
the Regiment wascnot under his i'm
mediate command in that battle, and
that the Generals conduct was that
of a coward.
1t appears that Colonel MoRGAN is
yet smarting under the great injus
tice done him during and Immediately
following the battle of Fort Donel-
son." and he writes his letter to the
Copperhead editor 9 to have restored
to him the honors he fairly won, bur
which have been ungenerously worn
by another" We have not the slight
est disposition to aid in this great
wrong, under which Colonel Nor
GAN conceives he has been so long
suffering, and we'therefore publish his
letter in full. There are many things
in it which will be ae,Cs to the old
soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth who
were participants in the bloody battle &;
some things which will cause smile
at his modest pretensions; and others
which will awaken the indignation OF
the comrades who followed the leader
ship of General VEATcH in that fight.
1t may be well to preface the letter
with the statement of fact, well
known to the officers and men of the
Regiment, that Col. MORGAN, out OF
envy or malice or some other cause,
early in the service conceive0a bitter
hatred to General VEATcH, which in
creased and deepened during the war,
and which yet rankles in his breast
The following is Col. MORGAN
letter to the editor of the Sentinel:
KANSAS CITY, Mo-, Aug. 10, 1858.
RS. SproaIte, Esq.
DEAR SIR-Y our letter came duly to
hand, but from an unwillingness to
engage IN a newspaper or other con-
trovery,, particularly a controversy
Potahcdt In Its character, and more
especially where the political opinions
OF the party opposed are in harmony
with my own, | at once decided to
pass your request by In silence. A
short time ago. however, l received n
copy of the Evansville JoURNAT, nj
date July 4th, In which find the ri.
lowing, tO-wit.:
We can appeal to the oficial re-.
ports of the battle. 1t will be seen
by reference to the official records d
the battle of Fort Donelson that the
report of the movements and conduc
of the Twenty Fifth Indiana wa,
written by Col. James q. Veateh, il
which he claims to have been in i'm
mediate command. isnJ
Now, as the statements of tn,
writer, Major John w. Foster, com
menting on the article of the Sentinel
are IN many respects incorrect, and a:
l am again visited with a repetition
of the great injustice done me dur.
ing and Immediately following the
battle of Fort Donelson, it becomes, a
duty which l owe to myself to seek
from an honorable public that Justice
of which L was so unfairly deprived
at that time, and to have restored to
me the honors fairly won, but which
have been ungenerously worn by an
other.
i shall, therefore, be as brief in nv
statements as the necessity of the case
will permit. - >''se
Referring to the battle of Fort Den.
elson, the gentleman before named
makes the assertion that "CoIonal
James q. Veateh was present and in
immediate and personal commend ~
mis- regiment (the Twenty. fifth Ind.
ana during every moment of the three
days fighting that it was under the fire
OF the enemy, an assertion (unless
his memory is very defective indeed
ne knows of his own positive knowl.
edge to be FALSE; and then, as if tc
add insult to iEjury, and with a bold
ness calculated to intimidate the les;
fearless, challenges any member O.
the regiment or other person present
to deny 1t" l still feel too deenlv tbt
wrong done me on that occasion &c
quietly submit to this one additionaI
and picking up the glove thus bombas.
tically tossed at my feet, accent :.
challenge, and, regardless of whom i
may hurt, shall make an exact state
meut of the facts concerning the par
taken by the Twenty fifth Indiana il
this battle.
This regiment under the immediate
and personal command of Col. James
c. Veatch, reached the vicinity Of