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Camp near Otterville Missouri
Dec 9 1861
To His Excellency Governor Yates
Governor
Every day Satisfies me more and more that unless you take hold of the questions that relate to and intimately concern the honor and even the lives of our troops the lives of half and the labors of all will be thrown away Just now we have a practical illustration of this. Several Illinois regiments and others amounting to above Eighteen thousand are put into Winter quarters here This is bad enough and sufficiently – illustrates the utter imbecility and folly of the whole system upon which the affairs of this Department are managed for if troops are needed here at all five thousand federal troops are more than sufficient
But this is not the worst of this The first Division (ours) which includes the 14th 15 & 42 Ills two Indiana and one Missouri regiment are now ordered to prepare Winter quarters in a swamp a large part of which is under Water and I cannot march my men to it instead wading and when we drain it, we have to suffer from the malacious influence of large tracts of fresh drained swampland and when I lead my poor men into these quarters I shall bury many of them before spring and I say to you that no man of good sense or
common humanity would require of us to go there And there is no volunteer Officer in the service that is stupid enough to do it Now with the prospect of having men die by Scores from the folly of this Indiana Colonel who comes from the Regular Army what shall I do
In my opinion you [ought?] at once send an intelligent agent who has both sense and courage to visit these Illinois regiments before this needless but shameful sacrifice take place and then do what becomes the Chief Magistrate of a State which furnishes 80000 men to do If you do not feel at liberty to do this or something else effectual you ought in justice warn the people against entering a service so desperately managed
Again more than ten days ago your Quarter Master packed and sent forward clothing for my regiment and indeed complete equipments and from the [unwillingness?] of the Officers at St Louis (as I believe that you should furnish us not one of these things have come to hand though many of my men are going about day after day in drawers alone not having a single pair of Pantaloons
I am sorry to write in language of complaint to you but my poor men have no one else to apply to and if you shall think I have drawn the picture too strongly please order what I most [illegible] desire "an investigation
Very truly your obdt servant
J M Palmer
Palmer, Col. J M
Otterville Mo. Dec 9/61
Suffering of troops