George H. Gordon, From Brook Farm to Cedar Mountain

“ [33] the result of accident or necessity. Some have purposely disguised their feelings from their friends as long as possible, and none would wish to make their complaints public. They say they are willing to submit to strict discipline, to fight, and die if need be; but they can't starve, and not complain, when the Government is able to feed them. They all speak in the highest terms of yourself, and generally of their company officers. They say, however, that some of the officers in the regiment swear at the men in giving their orders; use harsh, insulting, and abusive language; and while they have seen men punished severely for tasting liquor given to them, or taking a single glass from over the fence, some of the officers are too drunk to ‘perform their duty.’ We have heard, in confirmation of the above, that while some of the retiring regiments cheered the men of the Second Regiment, they groaned the officers. It may not be true. These things distress our people much, and I have been almost constantly besought by those whose friends are in the regiment, to write you in relation to them” The writer closes with an admission that civilians understand but little about military affairs, and should be very careful not to interfere too much, but excuses himself because he has written “at the request of wives and mothers deeply feeling for their husbands and sons.”

I have described the returning regiments who groaned our officers, and set forth such a divergence of opinion as to the conduct and government of a regiment, that I thought it but natural my course should have displeased the Pennsylvania volunteers for three months, who, when they groaned, were absolutely marching to their homes with the sound of the enemy's guns in their ears, turning their faces homeward against the entreaties and supplications of their commander, General Patterson, that