Franklin May 18^th 1862

 

            No letters from you dear wife for some time although our mails have arrived. Today we had a small mail and I hoped to get a letter from you but was disappointed. Since our arrival here however everything has been out of sorts. Our provisions have been short so that our men have not even at times had half rations. Last night they went supperless to bed and today the only bread they have had has been one cracker of hard bread to a man. We have had fresh beef and part of the time coffee and sugar, and to day there is hominy and bacon. The living is hard and the work hard, so that soldiering here is no recreation. This is Sunday and this morning our Chaplain had service, but an order came from headquarters (Gen^l Fremont) to have battalion drill at three oclock at which time Fremont would be present, and have the regiment execute such maneuvers as / he might desire. I had just ordered the men out when an order came postponing the visit of Gen^l Fremont until ten oclock tomorrow morning. My men were ready & I proceeded with the drill, as I was glad of the opportunity of brushing them up a little before we were put upon trial, as I suppose we are to be at ten in the morning. We are surrounded by an army of dutch composing Blenkers division with whom we do not have the slightest intercourse because we cannot understand each other. The dutch have the credit of stealing everything they can lay their hands upon from a board to a horse. It is really very distressing to hear of the manner in which they have swept everything from the face of the earth in the course of their march. No doubt the stories told of their depredations are in many cases exaggerated but even the half is outrageous. They have no regular tents like ours, but protect themselves by their india rubber blankets. They tie a number of them together and make / a sort of tent under which they creep as a shelter both from the rain and the hot sunshine. How they manage I cannot imagine, but they seem to thrive and so far as I have heard desire no other kind of tents.

 

There is an evil which has come with the army of Gen^l Fremont which if all accounts are true can be traced directly to the General himself. You are aware that he has a large number of foreigners upon his staff, and it is said that in order to accommodate these gentlemen he permits the sutlers to bring hungarian wines with their stores. These wines are said to be heavy and strong and are very plenty. Of course the dam thus opened by the introduction of wine, it is easy to bring in whiskey, and I am safe to say that today I have seen drunken men in every direction over the town. For this I blame the commanding general, as he has the remedy in his own power. Why these foreigners should be placed in positions over americans I cannot see and for one I am inclined to rebel against it. / Gen^l Fremont has officers here as aids upon his staff who cannot speak english and he seems to be entirely surrounded by his own staff officers to such a degree that no one outside can approach without seeming to intrude. Gen^l Schenck is the ranking brigadier, and of course was in command of our forces before Fremonts arrival. When Fremont arrived Gen^l Schenck in his first interview on horseback asked when he should call for orders & the General replied, "I will send for you when I have any orders for you". Not a single question in regard to the position or strength of the enemy, or the nature of the country was asked or any information required to be given which might aid Gen^l Fremont in his future movements. This was exceedingly strange, but Genl Schenck was made to step back, and has remained quietly waiting orders ever since, the great commanding general keeping his own counsel, and apparently consulting with no one being sufficient within himself for every emergency. You will see from the manner in which I write that matters / are not going to suit me, and such is indeed the case. The enemy to be seen have retracted so far that we are in no danger of an attack for the present, and I presume there will be no more fighting until we make an advance, for our position here is too strong to be attacked by any force that we are informed the enemy have in our front. You will perhaps wonder when I tell you that I am anxious to get into Schencks brigade. Our late experience with Gen^l Milroy has satisfied us that Schenck is the better general of the two and every officer in the regiment desires a change. Col Smith of the 73^rd Ohio also desires the same thing. Whether the matter can be accomplished or not I cannot tell, but Gen^l Schenck is as anxious to have us as we are to go, and has made a request of Gen^l Fremont to have the 75^th placed in his brigade. The 75^th has become a popular regiment both with the Brigadier Generals / and with the Colonels of other regiments, and therefore every one is willing to have us and to be with us. Our very good name I am afraid may keep us where we are, for Gen^l Milroy will probably object to parting with us. There is one thing certain, Gen^l Fremont must reorganize his army so as to give appropriate commands to his Brigadier Generals according to their rank, and in doing this it would seem proper to give to our Ohio General the Ohio regiments. In a day or two I will probably be able to write you more positively as to our position, and will do so as soon as I can.

 

            I asked you some time ago to tell me exactly when you expected to be sick in the fall, but you have not replied to me, so that I will begin to say you do reply to my questions oftener than I do to yours. Please do not forget to answer this question, as I desire particularly to know now. I trust you fully about that rascal Cooper and I hope you may be able to defeat him. Have absolutely no news here excepting that the paymaster has come & that I can send you a little money in a few days. Love to Lindy & the children & warm loving good night kisses to dear little wife--N. C. M^cL

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