Army Correspondence.
FORT MONROE, Va.,
Nov. 9th, 1864.
EDITOR INQUIRER:
The election is now over and this morning decides whether Lincoln is elected, and the Rebellion crushed, or McClellan elected and the rebels triumphant. At an early hour of yesterday morning the men of the different companies collected together and elected their Judges, Inspectors and clerks, and after taking the necessary oaths, the polls were opened and the voting began. Cook houses were mostly the Head Quarters of Boards, I suppose because they afforded good accommodation and also because of the delicacies they afforded (Uncle Sam’s beans; then came the incidents of an election in the army. The advocates of both parties were on the ground, with tickets in their hands, watching every man who came up to the polls, and sometimes entering into a warm argument, on the merits of either of the candidates, but as there were so few with the disunion party, argument was of no consequence, as the persons who voted for McClellan did so mostly because of the name-that name which his party supposed would cover up all the defects of that patriotic platform erected by a party that disfranchised the soldier who had gone forth in the defense of his home and the free institutions of the North. The officers of the regiment took no part in the formation of the boards, leaving it all to the men. After the boards were formed, the officers, with a few insignificant exceptions, cast their votes in favor of Lincoln and the Union.
There being parts of only four companies here, of course I cannot tell how the regiment will go, but
The following figures go to show how this part of the regiment has gone.
Total number of votes cast, 312.
Votes of the companies as follows:
Democrat Union
Company C 11 89
Company L 5 74
Company G 20 38
Company K 36 39
TOTAL 72 240
-72
Union Majority 168
I have no doubt the absent companies of the [3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery] Regt. have gone as fully as strong as those present. There are a great many rebel deserters in this regiment, who to my great surprise voted the disunion ticket, and being supported and defended by the present government.
Hoping to hear of the success of the Union ticket in old Bedford County, I remain Your Humble Servant.
W[ILLIAM]. F. WILKINSON1
Co. K, 3rd PA Artillery.2
SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Roy Gustrowsky.
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Source/Notes:
- SOPO Editor’s Note: See the roster for Battery K. ↩
- “Army Correspondence.” The Bedford Inquirer (Bedford, PA), November 18, 1864, p.3, c.2 to 3. ↩