What It Is To Be A Soldier

Friexi) Bailey: I was glad lo see, in the Era of August 12, a short notiee of the American soldiere' treatment, by your New York correspondent. Ever since the commencement of the unrighteous wnr that we are engaged in, I have been desirous lo see that subject brought before the people. As I presume your correspondent is not petsonally acquainted with the subject, with your permission, I will state a few farts, from personal experience and observation, during five years' service in the fourtH bnttallion dnïtéd States heavy artillery, under the commnnd óf Brevet Major Thomas Stockton - one-half of the time on Governor's and Bedlow-s islamls, in tbc harbor of New York ; the other nt Detroit. The treatnent of ihe two Germán recruits menoned by your correspondent i a mere rifle to whal thcy wül have to undergo. The statement obout ihe store is Irue to he letter. As to tiieir suffsring from hunger, it is what might have been expected. Young men, in the prime of life, leavinga farmer's wel!-spread table, or a good boa:-ding-house, and put on army állowance, must feel the pinching of hunger J bnt when their stomnchs become contracted, and brought wilhm proper bound--, men can live on 1 pound of bread and í pound of pork. In my time, we were nof only learned the art of var, but the art to work also. There were a number of carts on the island, to which eight ton men were attachod, with leather harness, and in them they hauled wood, brick, stone, and did all ;he otTrer work incident to a garrison. But the soldier is better.piT on an island than on the main lar.d. They generally have the privilege of the island from sun to sun, whereas, on the main land, they are shut up in srmill forts, perhaps three or four liundred in an enelosure of ten or fifteen fods square, never permilted to go oulside without a written pass Trom an office r, except wheo they are taken oul to work, and then under t!ie command of a noncommissioned offieerand a guard. When lliey have a pass, and"; stav out a liltle over the time nlloited for their return, the guard-housc, for eypionth or more, is tbeir portion at - n4pR, and hard iabot through the day, with a ball weighing eighteen or twenly-ibur pounds fastened to the leg with a chain, and a part of their rations are stopped. 1 have seen men, tor a trifling offence, made to knoei in front of the line, their heads shaved, thcir clothes patched with all kinds of colors, a ball and chain on their leg, part of their rations stopped, ond then sent to work out the remamder of their time on the fortifications, at Mobile, New Orleans, or some other sickly place, without pav. In 1820, when I was ut Detroit, a detachment of prisoners fiom Plnttsburg.Greenbush, and other places, was brought tliere, on thoir way to St. Joseph's. Each man had a collar of ron around the neck, and they were uniled two and two by a chain, and the thurnb of the i-ight hnnd of one was made fast to the thumb of the left hand of the other, and in this manner t'ney were marched f rom ihe boat to the fort. I never knew a man of the rank nnd file to hnve e bed in thebarrack. There aré bunks, ihree storiea high, cae!) buok holding two men. Thoy have board Ijuttorns, so that they have one blankct lindar and one over, summcr and winter. While on Governor's Island, a man in tlie same company willi myínlf, got somo cloth and made a sack, and filled t with the falling leavcs Of the Lombardy popIars, which grow on the island, n order to have n hcd. He snjoyed It one night ; the next day lio was made '.o throw it away, and take n flogging with tírawhide, o pay for the luxury. 1 think thé cause of so many deserüons from the American army is the rigid and cruel treatment the men receive while on tho lines. Thcre were fifty thaf left us for Canada, for one Ihat lek the Bfffuft'. Thé lile of the slave on tho plantation, or the convict in the penitcntiary, for ihe time being, is preferable to the life of the American soldier. I might fill a volume with what my eyes have seen of such tieatment in the army, but, not knowing whether this is a fit subject for the columns of the Era, I will stop, remnining a fribnd to the slave and n free press. Poland, Mahoning Co., O.