paroled prisoners, portions of the Iowa Eight, Twelfth and Fourteenth, who have done quite as much fighting and endured more hardships perhaps than any troops in the service. As I am almost a stranger the Honorable James W. Grimes, to whom you may show this correspondence. As your position as chief executive of the State

gives you a fatherly care over all our volunteers I take this liberty of calling your attention to this case if you have not been otherwise notified of it.

I remain, yours, truly,

J. J. McMAKEN.

[Sub-inclosure.]

CAMP BENTON, July 14, 1862.

DEAR BROTHER: I received your letter of the 4th on Saturday evening, it being the first that I had received since we came in our lines. You may know that it was welcomed. I was rejoiced to hear that you were all well. We are all well at present and enjoying ourselves as well as could be expected under the circumstances. The weather is quite warm, but we do not suffer as much from it as we did at Cairo. That is one of the past places I would wish to stay. We had a heavy rain last evening. Old Camp Benton looks quite natural and much more pleasant than it did at any time last winter. The building have all been repaired and whitewashed and the grounds all cleared off and all present a healthy and beautiful appearance. I have seen no encampment in all our travels that will compare with it in beauty and convenience. There are but few troops here. It is garrisoned by but four companies of the Twenty-third Regiment Missouri. The remainder of that regiment were taken prisoners with us.

I propose to give you a few items relative to us paroled prisoners. I do not know that I am in the right mood to do so, for I am considerably out of humor as to the proceedings of the authorities here within the last twenty-four hours. For all, it is nothing more than we expected when we left Cairo in such a hurry. To begin, as soon as we reached Nashville we were ordered to organize our company and regiment for the purpose they said of drawing our clothing and rations. This we did.

On the heels of this came an order for us to do guard duty in and round our own camp. This we refused to do. The order was recalled. About that time the commandant of our camp was changed, a colonel from Indiana being put in command of us. He tried the same thing; first by calling for volunteers. No one responded. He said we must and should do duty. We paid no attention to the order more than to tell him candidly that we could not consistently do it with our oath. There the matter dropped. We were moved to Cairo. There General Strong tried the same thing, and by flattery and promise that he would stand by them through thick and thin he succeeded in getting some of the boys to promise that they would stand guard in their own camp, but in one day the whole thing fizzled and the boys went there they pleased.

The evening after we came here we were called out in line and the colonel commanding the post harangued us for half an hour telling us he had sent on for orders to know what duties man would perform those duties cheerfully. We talked the matter over and came to the conclusion that we would perform no duty, let the order come from whatever source it may. We do not feel like breaking our oath any quicker at the command of Secretary Stanton than any of his officers, but we question very much whether such an order has been issued by