Show A soldiers letter we consider tho the following letter a remarkable kable production to come from the tent of a private soldier whose surroundings furnish no ficili facilities ties for composition and whose grasp is is more practiced to the bayonet than the pen As a new proof of tile the superior material of which tile rank and file of our our armies is composed as well as on account of its own intrinsic interest we think the letter will be perused with muce pleasure by the of the ledger N Y ledger may 28 CAMP NEAR BRANDY STATION VA annl abtil 1864 dear ledger in looking over your notices to correspondents I 1 always do when I 1 get a ledger some weeks ago I 1 noticed that you in answer to an inquiry asking houi opinion in regard to the expediency of being assisted to a commission in the army through the favor arid and influence of flie fi lends iid scouted the idea as an unworthy one and told your coi i aspon dent to go into the i lanks anks and fight liis his way up perhaps you gave that advice vice in in all believing that if a soldier only merited promotion pio motion notion he was sule suie to Z get it if that was houi ideal idea I 1 think flunk you mistaken mistake if you only wanted to rebuke inordinate ambition and teach your dent to base his manhood on oil a finer self ie liance your advice is excusable but even in that case it seems to me that it would have been better to have advised su such 1 ch a man to go into the ranks with no thought or expectation of promotion bu but t simply do his duty to his counti y as avei evcic y honest amei ican citizen should asi jiing him that the best liere here on earth the best reward that a soldier can call have lit in this tin s life is a consciousness of having to toiled ailed suffered and sacrificed for tile the 0 good of imperiled liberty lib eity in a cause so so supremely just as ours our if my experience peri ence is good for anything I 1 find that to hold out the idea to those contemplating tem plating entering the at aimy my of gaining inc 11 distinction simply by deserving 11 it is extremely visionary if not absolutely unjust I 1 have served uncle sam nearly three years as a private soldier and have halve enlisted to serve him three years I 1 longer and if the war is not closed when my text next three years ard arc out and my life is spared til till I 1 then I 1 mean to enlist for still another years whether I 1 am promoted oil or not 1 have carried a gun in the tanks lanks since file summer of 1861 excePt Six months when I 1 was sick in tile Il hospital and never was detailed to do duty away from my compi company fly a single day I 1 have fought in seven battles es and I 1 have always done what duty requited ed I 1 1 never yet have tui tinned lie d n ny back to the enemy while one was in in sig sight it the file rest of tit alie boys boya have done the bame I 1 have done my duty I 1 dont claim to have done any moie no promotion lias ever been offered we lie and I 1 have not lot sought it but I 1 have done all I 1 could do as a soldier and had promotion been my object I 1 could have done no better many C could say the same what is true of us have we not reason to pre presume sume would bo be of now sir we iva think it quite i te unfair to have capels like yours of if such wide influence give tit alie 0 impi it is an easy casy thing fo 1 any ally soldier if f lie he is anly V brabb and alid intelligent ni aad d duty auland fill and all that to fight his way up tip to eminence and distinction tile the inference of course comes that those who do riot not fight 0 their way up are not intelligent tell igent or brave or dutiful or an anything y of the kind we dislike those war stories too where the hero must always be a lieutenant a captain oi 01 some higher fiade of commissioned officer are there no heroes in the tanks rather are arc not those the greatest greatest heroes who have risked all sacrificed all with no hope of name or fanie fame knowing that if they fall they will fall unnoticed that no commendations or eulogies will likely be given their memories and who endure all the haid hardships ships of war without that moral strength which an officer has knowing that in all his movements the public eye is looking interestedly and ap on fight your way up tip I 1 how would you 0 go o out and challenge a rebel to single mortal combat kill him and then challenge t another kill the second and then challenge clial lenge again military law lav will lecog ic cognize no merit in that will you wait till a battle is fought and then load and fire faster than your comrades co A coward ni may a y be as dextrous dext ious as you will you wait till a chaice is made and then show your bravery bravely by ru rubbing hing ahead of all the rest well you may succeed in winning commendation but in a thousand instances it would only be con rash fool foolhardiness hardiness and deceive censure instead of giaise but supposing ih you 6 gained the ic ie of being braca bra veana na worthy you arc hc not stile sine that it will avail you anything to maids notion afien we charged the rebel works on st malys heights at fredericksburg the aid id of last may 1863 the new joisey regiment of our brigade the vermont ont bi brigade igaac 11 w was as put in ahead the rebel file broke them to pieces and they were of no more account than a rope of sand our regiment was ordered to take their places and continue the charge many af of the jersey boys felt ashamed aslia mcd of the 66 conduct of their regime regiment dt and joined with us usand and fought till the rebels were driven from the heights 0 they not obliged to do so but they said aid they want the Ver vermonters Vermon tors to think that thai they adre were ill all cowards out of some men our regiment lost those boys voluntarily shared the same danger with us I 1 never heard that one of tho those thoe e bravo brave boys was ever promoted promote d or that their bravery was mentioned in paint pi int autin during 0 the 41 seven severt days fight C when we were suddenly enly attacked at white oak swamp the of juno june 62 and men and horses fled in all detections our after being broken to pieces by the suddenness of the attack collected together again of its own accord under tinder a galling artillery fire and formed in line for defence many commissioned officers as well as privates supposing that their regiments wore were hopelessly scattered fled straight to harrisons landing we r night might all have done so and no court martial would ever have said why did ye so ant where would the army havo have been I 1 know of whole companies in my own regiment thai formed anito loic line without a single commissioned d officer being left to head them this company did so it was the same in several other regiments legi ments after tho the officered had bad wt teet such a cowardly example it was purer bray ory i hr w the men to behave as ag they did but the officers were not nor tile the men promoted yes sir it is a fact that we might Z as well ic ie cognize 0 as ag to ignore that a man to gain lank in the army needs the assistance of influential friends the moie the better it has haa become well nigh 0 impossible to iise without them I 1 do not wiit ethis this in tire spirit of a disappointed office seeker I 1 never sought for promotion I 1 ani am conscious of acting well my part and that is my best but my nature is riot not different from human nature in general I 1 candidly admit if circumstances cum curn stances should place me in a high position I 1 would accept the change most gladly so would you but I 1 can set ve my country acceptably liere here I 1 adopt suppose you will print this letter but I 1 hope you will read it I 1 know you will admit that my leason ing is just As a private soldier voluntarily unta rily fighting for our common country and aloi glorious ious union yours your S as we well I 1 I 1 as mine allow me to aige you to give lionor honor to whom honoris dionor is due and ci edit to whom credit for though we private soldiers eis may not wish or have the chance to defend ourselves a galust wrong wrong 0 impressions like these wo we feel them none the less keenly for all that deiy reply ply WILBUR FISK co coe E ad 21 ilent Vt VL Vols Sd brig ad div fth corps army potomac |