The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-03-19

members of + nj regiment, in my posi-
session. 1 Val only give the letters
of the most prominent among them.
And | commence with the Glowing
letter, Of Col. K. II. G. Cayius. then,
as now, a strong and decided Repub-
lican:
Hon. ~. 2. WrshbUrn, Washington, d. c..
DEAR SIR:-I have q matter OF consider
able Importance To a Captain OF my old
{ regiment, (l4th Ind o. submit to you, and
/ while 10 may be long and somewhat
troublesome to YOU 1 hone you will attend
/ 70 the matter, and see that Justice is done
Capt Nathan willard served the full
/ term Of the l4th Indiana Regiment. His
/ services were gallant, meritOriOus and em-
+ LLeu1ly worthy 81 cohsluer4tloh' nat
against him in the regiment. nothing
/ could be alleged against him derOgatory
4 10 his character as a soldier
I On the exp ration OF his term OF service,
/ by the reeOmmendaUt1 OF Gov. Morton,
/ Gen. Harrow, Col Coons and others, he
was appointed Captain aud Comm ssary
I OF Subsistence. and continued tu that see
/ vice until June 9th, 1868 after his brigade
had been mustered out Of service. on the
9TH OF June he received an official COPY OF
an extract from special orders No. 49,
copy Of which is herewith sent marked
A" This was done without any notice
to Captain Willard, without "a trial, and
form a conclusion as to its origin The
order states that ~ was 10 take effect Janu-
airy 81, 1863, but tt did not reach him till
June 9th following.
TIE Captain Immediately took steps to
relieve himself from the charge. through
MS member Of Congress. Hon. W. r.. Nib
lack, but was unable 20 procure a copy OF
the charges against him. Mr. Niblack pre-
4th 1866. and gu the 8lst OF May lac receiv-
ed an answer. Copies of the Captains
statement, Mr. Nf6Iacx's letter. and the
answer Of j. q. Kelton A. A. g., are here
with sent, marked b, g and ID. From the
answer Of the Assistant AdJutant General,
- seems the charges we're not the same as
Indicated IN the special orders but were
for conduct while a Captain In the lf,h
Indiana Volunteers, and that ne was
proper authorities" DO not understand
what Is meant by report from the proper
authorities" but 20 would seem % indicate
That il was report from the commanding
officer in the 18th Indiana Volunteers. /
was the last commanding officer ia the
regiment, and nothing OF the sort ever
eIniuated from me, nor have I heard OF
such a thing from other commanding ofh-
GERS Of the regiment Colonel Coons COM
mandcd the regiment before i did. ! do
not bel eve that he ever IA lde any such
report, II herewith send you copy OF his
letter, recommending Captain willard,
marked " Ell Gen. Harrow commanded
The regiment before Q Dlonel COOns. i send
copy oI ms letter OF recommendation,
marked f."
CThe originals OF these letters are on file
IN WashingtOn) may also say that Col.
COOns r. dead aud his letter cannot be pro-
cured: but. il 1t is necessary Gen Harrow
VIII give a letter, In substance, as am giv-
You viii observe that the Assistant Adj
jutant General states that full relief IS
plpNlueu lot All ollceFs ueeIhlug lneIn-
selves unJustly dismissed by the provisions
OF the ACT OF March 3D.. chapter 10. section
y. II 1 am not mistaken as 20 rs pro-
visions, T. requires copy Of the charges
to be sent with the application fer relief.
In this case Captain Willard cannot set
out copy Of the charges. for the reason
that be has been unable 10 procure H.
He Informs me that he has made every
Ell ut hat could 10 procure copy, and
TIE Assistant Adiutant General states
that he was di~m ssed ON report that his
character was bad; that WHlle Captain
OF the lilu / diana, he habitually gam-
bed vi % enlisted men tina hc was nObo-
ttot5.s 'L' '9 ~ stl' l.'ti DotA7 ea lual 1T
he ceiif.i get nm #pppluthenl as t'fnLlla~
s5ry o. .3ui'9i rtence. ue would make money
have no hes fancy In saying that every
one of thee charges Hfe false. Ny means
OF knowing are perhaps better than any
living man. { was seldom away from the
tam. Major and Lieutenant colonel for a
period longer than any other man, and
without coming TO my knowledge. The
charge that his character Is bad IS slm-
ment he was recommended for pro-
motion by nearly all Of the off
GERS VINO were present; ne was RECON-
ton, Ex-Ciov. Wright, Senators Lane.
Colmx Julian, Porter, " or
hees, and Law, Or Indiana, aud such men
as Richardson. Powell, Faulke, Robinson,
Knapp, L0vejoy, and many others OF
other states, many Of whom recommends
ed ira from personal acquaintance before
and during the war. That he habitually
gamDted with enlisted men cannot be true,
because such conduct, n habituai, could
not have escaped my attention. That ue
was VIGOROUSLY disloyal IS charge
that is certainly not very compllmen-
tary TO the field officers Of thelilh fudi-
ana, for II true they were very mach
40 ftuit i'm not reporting the fact
~ = aHazing 90 me that thFee years
service In the front is not sufficient % es-
ttblish character To- loyalty and espe-
clally when the man stlll earries the marks
cannot understand the philosophy OF the
mind OF that mau VINO expose his person
and uHdermines mis- hea th f9F more than
four years, fora cause that he Is dtstJJIk 20,
where NJ IFS Wlthin hts power % resign.
Captain willard was "a Democrat, aud diff
rered with the m8fOri.y Or tine officers Of
Ms rpri mont on the wisdom of some war
but being a Democrat doe not
always n 1kg man dtslDyal, and I an
sure ina whsle In the 18th indiana ReZl-
n-nt he never maui ested any di-lOydlty,
either in act or word.
As 10 the charge that he bOasteI That he
would make money out Of his position As
JOmmissarv 81 Subsistence, 4 can only say
hat do no believe It, Toe thief, when
le resolves to steal does not hOa.h OF 90 Ina
% vance 10 honest men. such "a charge Is
7ery unreasonable. and ought % be rem
Tered with great caution. It Il contrary
. he UNIFORM action of men. You viii
that these charges are all 50 general
nat &c is difficult 70 meet them BIZ argue
nenf. There ought % be tome specIhca-
-ney ouz d To show wherein his character
vas bad what act OF dfslOyaIty, and 70
gh Jm he boosted that he would make
money. and above all he ought 10 have an
pporJuulty Of meeting his accufers face
Now. General. You understand the situa-
ion. You know that a so dier estimates
us character above all other things, and
GU understand how the Captain feels un-
er the circumstance. BE certainly ought
D nave "a copy Of the charges, and be AL