The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1868-08-13


cy. say this not on account of any pub
lie or private grievance Of a personal ma
ture ] 60 not know Gen. Grant, have
never met him at any time. and could,
therefore, have DO personal grief to re-
dress. Nor have L any complaint to make
Of the manner in which he or other gen
erals have mentioned the coDduc. Of the
Iowa troops in the field. As far as |
have noticed, justice has been done them
by their commanding generals and By the
public. In some cases it has been very
tardy justi;e; but when the facts have
come to light con 1ected with their bear
ing in the presence Of the enemy, none
have withheld just com mer dation, or been
disposed to deprive them of their hard
earned Iaurels. They have commanded
the respect Of the enemy on every battle
field where they have appeared. as well
as the applause of their friends. As a
sample Of the manner in which their
friends speak of them, request the sec
retary to read the following paragraph
from leading Journal published in the
city Of st. Louis:
The secretary read as follows:
''TnE GALLANT IoWANs-Iowa is a
young state, out It is the h ONE of heroes.
With the recent war she has begun war
history that yields in splendor and honor
to that Of no state in the union and No
country on the globe Ter soil is the
birthplace Of a new chivalry, and she has
become the mother IF q new race Of he-
roes. Her soldiers boast little, and she
has 10 industrious penny-a-liucr to boast
for them. Her soldiers are as modest as
they are brave. They are not fierce brac-
CARTS. They are as gentle aud tractab!e
as children. But when the storm OF
blood begins they are the guiding and
governing heroes Of the tempest
where the harvest OF death is to BE reap
ed, they are the foremost Of the reapers
Where periious assault is TO be made
somehow or other there is alaays al low;
regiment to lead it. It was SO at Wilson
Greek; 1t wss so at Belmont it was so a
Fort Donelson /; it was. SO at Shiloh i
viii ever be so during the war. All oul
western troops have been heroes, but The
Iowa troops have been heroes among he
roes. The Iowa First, Iowa Second, low;
Fourth, and Iowa Seventh are bodies o
men who would have given an additiona
lustre ever to Thermopyl@, Marathon
Austerits, Or Wagram, and all Americans
may be proud of Iowa.-St Loais Nc'es,
The president pro tempore--The chai
thinks it proper to remind the senator
that debate on the resolution is continued
only by the unanimous consent Of the sen
ate, to tie exclusion Of the special orde
of the day The senator from Iowa vii
proceed.
Nh. HARLAN-I shall detan the sen
ate for but a moment longer. Gen. Hal
leck, in an official communication address
ed to the adjutant general of the state 0
Iowa, has mentioned the Iowa troops 4
the battle Of Fort Donelson as the braves
of the brave. Nor Go | know that Gen
Grant. or any other general, has ever with
held just conmendation. | therefore re
peat that have no personal grievance +
redress for myself or for the troops Of n,
state. And [ would have remained si!en
on this subject to the senate. if the spcecl
Of the senator from Ohio had not made
necessary for ne to speak; for | do no
deem the senate chamber the proper piac
for cr.tcims on the conduct Of a genera
, in the ficlu. l think it much better t
preselt our personal convictions in rela
ton to the character OF our generals to til
secretary Of var and to the presden
For myself I uniformly pursue this course
and regret that it has, in my jud gment
become necessary tc depart from it in thi
case. But, sir, it is often as dangerou
and as wicked to praise the unworthy an
incompetent as to detract from the meritC
: rious. If my convictions are correct,
would be crime for me to remain silen
l and suffer influences 10 originate in th
senate chamber which may result in restt
, ring a general to an active comman
, whom l, and the people l in part rcpr,
7 sent, deem unworthy Of such trust Il
= wa has sent to the field about 20, 90
troops. They have behaved, | think, we
: in every battle field where they have a,
r peared. As far as / know, no Iowa reg
: ment has ever (atered in the discharge
0 its duty, however perlous. Their nun
: bers have been reduced by the casualti,
e of the field and camp nearly oue-fourtl
e They gave their lives with firmness to al
J in restoring the supremacy of the law