Staunton Spectator

Don't imagine, gentle reader, that my wife or daughter has eloped with some gentleman with bars or stars upon his collar, for I have neither. Nor that my brother or some other near relative has been missing for months, of whom nothing can be heard; but the information wanted is this: 1st, Why is it that Quartermasters and Commissaries with the rank and pay of Captain or Major can dress finer, ride finer and faster horses than company or field officers of the same rank and pay? 2d, Why is it that Commissaries can feed their horses on corn-meal at the rate of from two to three gallons per day, and themselves on ham, sweet potatoes, molasses and every other good thing that the country can afford, while a private or company officer does not know that there is such a thing in existence? 3d, Why is it that a certain gentleman who volunteered for the war in the Spring of 1862, has been at home ever since that time without doing one day's duty and without putting a man in his place, has never been reported by the officers of his company or regiment, while another member of the same company who has over a hundred thousand dollars less to fight for than the other gentleman referred to, has been reported by the same officers as a deserter, because he happened to be detained on his way to the army by Gen. Lee's order?

I do not pretend to know anything about military law, nor civil jurisprudence; but I claim to have a little common sense, which has always enabled me to distinguish right from wrong; so when I see a man with the rank of Captain or Major exposing himself to the enemy's balls as well as to the trials and perplexities of camp life, and then at the close of each year finds himself in debt from five hundred to a thousand dollars, while another man, with the same rank and pay, lives upon the fat of the land, never heard a minnie, and at the end of each year buys a farm for twenty or thirty thousand dollars cash down, when every body knows that before the war he couldn't pay his liquor bills, I am forced to conclude that all is not right. So, also, when I see a man, no difference what his age may be, volunteer for the war and then go home and remain there unmolested and unreported by the officers under whom he volunteered, while all others are reported as deserters, if they happen, from any cause whatever, to remain a day or two over their time, am I compelled to come to the same conclusion. And when I see that same man riding around through the country buying everything he can get hold of and then selling it for double what he gave, while the other man, who is no more a volunteer than he, and who stands upon precisely the same footing in his company, has to have his name banded around, not only through the army, but in his native county as a deserter, simply because he failed to report up to time owing to the fact that Gen. Lee had ordered all men to be stopped at Gordonsville, I am constrained to believe that justice has fled from her temples on earth and awaits us only on high to measure out what is right between man and man! I do not pretend to say that these things are not right in the eyes of the military, but from where I stand, beneath a musket and forty rounds of cartridges, it does not look so; consequently, any information on the subject will be gratefully received by

JUSTICE, Co. F, 5th Va. Infantry.

RICHMOND, Feb 1, 1864.

MR. EDITOR: The County Court of Augusta at the December term conferred upon me the authority to purchase a quantity of corn for the use of the families of soldiers and others, to the extent of 10,000 bushels, provided the cost and expense of transportation does not exceed $4.00 per bushel. I have made use of all the facilities which my position gives me here, to get the information needed, to enable me to carry out the wish of the Court. I regret to say that in consequence of the great demand in Virginia and North Carolina for corn, to say nothing of the wants of the army, that the price has enhanced so much in the extreme South as to render it utterly impossible to meet its wishes. Last evening, I met an intelligent Commissary of General Lee's army just from South Alabama and Georgia who informs me the price of corn there is $2.25 per bushel, to which $1.00 for transportation must be added.

Permit me to say I am gratified at the refusal of the Court to make the levy of the negroes. I learned at Drawy's Bluff, on Saturday last, from an officer high in command there, that no more negroes were wanted in that quarter, that the soldiers could do all that was necessary to be done, and that he fully concurred in General Lee's view of the matter, who said he thought the negroes had better be left on the farms to Raise corn and let the soldiers Raise the embankments.

Yours truly,
J.M. McCue.

Mr. Editor: I am under the impression that there is a law imposing a fine upon any one refusing to receive Confederate Money. Why is it that many farmers having corn for sale refuse to receive it for corn. I know many who desire to purchase corn, and other grain, for their horses and families & cannot procure it without the gold, or silver, which few can command. Confederate money has been denounced as trash, worth nothing. I refer the present generation to the good old honest days of the revolution. How about the resources of the country then, and at the present time. Are not our resources infinitely better now than then. I wish to God there was as much patriotism now, as there was then. I hope some steps will be taken by Congress to put a stop to such proceedings. A great deal of suffering will be experienced by the poor, as well as by those better off from this very cause. Many tillers of the soil need grain for their horses, who cannot procure it, for the want of gold and silver.

A FARMER

The spirits of the people have revived within the past several weeks, and a general impression seems to prevail that we will defeat the enemy in the chief engagements which will take place in the ensuing campaign. Our armies are in fine spirits and our soldiers in all of them are re-enlisting with a spirit which reflects great credit upon their bravery, fortitude and patriotism. The soldiers in the armies of the enemy are re-enlisting slowly and relnctantly [sic], whereas the noble soldiers in our armies are re-enlisting with a "perfect rush." The armies of the enemy will, it is thought, be recruited chiefly by raw levies, who will be unable to stand before our brave and tried veterans, whose flags have waved in triumph over so many bloody fields of battle. Whilst we will be stronger in the next campaign than ever before, the enemy will be weaker than at present. We cherish the hope that we will be able, in the next campaign, to recover all the territory of the South now in the possession of the enemy. If this hope be realized, the enemy will see that we will be able to continue the war for an indefinite period.

The result of this war will not be determined by numbers or bravery so much as by fortitude and persistent determination. We must be prepared to continue the war, and must submit to its evils with patient endurance. Time will crown that party with success which will exhibit the greater fortitude. We have not so much to dread from the enemy as from our own people. We can meet the enemy without dread; but the apprehension of unwise Legislation on the part of our Congress creates a feeling of alarm which the armed hosts of the enemy fail to inspire. We should not expend all of our strength [on] one desperate effort. We should not abstract too many from labor, for it is as necessary that the army should be fed as that it should be armed. We must, also, retain a reserve of men for military service to supply the places of those who may fall in battle or be disabled by disease. The next campaign may end the war, but wisdom dictates that we should make preparations to continue it for a longer time, for it is just as probable, nay more so, that the next campaign may not terminate it. When the enemy learns that we are not only disposed and willing, but prepared to continue the war for an indefinite period, they will think of stopping the further effusion of blood, but not before.

We should show the enemy that we are not relying solely upon the operations of a single campaign, but that we intend to protract the struggle, if necessary, for years, and will transmit it, if needs be, as a woful [sic] inheritance to our children and children's children to the third and fourth generation. We should show them that we have faith in the sentiment that,

"Freedom's battle, once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft,
Is ever won."