The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1886-07-29
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
One OF the Berdan shRrpshoOters Takes Up the
Cnagel.

To THE EDITOR: i have read Col. Higgins's
graphic description Of the services of the l25th
Pa. at Antietam, in The NATIONAL TRIB-
UHE Of June 3. He SAYS Many men in the
Western army, without intending TO be I'M
fair to those who served in the Army Of the
Potomac, have often questioned whether the
latter could in the open field exhibit such
bravery as was shown by the gallant men of the
West" Is it possible. Mr.. Editor, that this is
trueY That any of the men who did good
service in the East West North or South, could
have ever soberly questioned the courage or
endurance Of any other portion of our magnih-
cent army Of the Uniong i have noted with
pain the slurs cast upon the Army Of the Poto-
mac by certain comrades of the West in some
of the communications published in your col
umns. Here it is quoted by a brave soldier,
honored by his comrades as one who never
failed TO perform every duty assigned him.
With all due respect TO Col Higgins how can
this be trueY Is il possible that any consider
able number Of our comrades Of the Western
armies have any real doubt in their minds OF
the courage and soldierly qualities Of the army
which fought at Fredericksburg Antietam,
Charlottesville, Gettysburg Wilderness, Spctt-
sylvania, Cold HarbOr and Petersburg2 III so,
they viii do well to remember that the Con-
federates massed their best army, commanded
by their most distinguished leaders, TO confront
the Army Of the Potomac. We might peril
nently ask them which Of all the battles OF the
Western army was most holly contested.
Methinks j hear them answer with one &C
cord, "Chickamauga! There, comrades OF
the West, you met in addition to those you
were won't TO fight 10000 of Longstreet's vet
Grams from the Confederate army of Northern
Virginia, aud learned for the first time the
mettle Of the men whom we Of the much
maligned Army Of the Potomac had TO face on
more than three-score bloody fields. j would
not pluck one single laurel from the abundant
harvest GROWING the heads Of our Western
comrades, nor would i willingly see them again
lowering themselves by attempting to belttle,
as some Of them have done, the estimable serv-
ices Of their fraters Of the East.
i belonged TO q regiment composed of CON-
panies from both Eastern and Western States
New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Michi-
gan and Wisconsin contributed 70 its ranks,
and j can honestly say that never, nor do
believe any Others ever saw any difference in
the bearing or the faithful performance OF
duty on the part Of any Of those men. i al
lude TO the lst u. S. Sharpshooters, better
known as Berdan's SharpshOoters / remember
reporting on the morning Of May 3, 1864 AZ
officers and men fit for duty in our company.
This was on the eve of the Wilderness cam
paign. On the 23d Of June following j was
ordered 10 account for those men on what was
called field return" and the recapitulation
showed that Of the original AZ, % had been
killed or died from wounds, 16 wounded, and
five missing, supposed 10 be prisoners. Some re-
cruits had Joined as and several Of the slightly
wounded Of the first engagements, and some
men who at the start were absent in the hos
pital or ON detached service had rejoined MS, SO
that there was a small squad still on hand for
duty but the above is a correct showing Of the
original AZ. Nor was this experience an ex-
ceptional one among the units forming the
Army Of the Potomac. Their bard-foughi
campaigns have become history, and it is small
wonder that such questions as the one which
is the text for this article should arouse wonder
and sense Of wrong-L. q. ALLEN, Adjutant
Mich.