A regiment of Greybeards.
The Thirty-seventh regiment of
Iowa volunteers (known as the “Greybeard regiment” ) left
St. Louis on Monday for the
South.
A striking peculiarity of this regiment is, that nearly all its members, officers and men, are over forty-five years of age. Three fourths of them are grey-headed, and many have long white beards, giving them a venerable appearance.
Many have sent their sons to the field, and are now following them.
One of the arts by which the
Southern heart is fired is this: Soon after the
battle of Murfreesboro, the rebel
General Bragg caused to be printed and widely circulated in the army counterfeits of the
Nashville Union, in which was conspicuously displayed “Startling News!
Four States Seceded from the Old Government!
Missouri,
Indiana,
Illinois, and
Kentucky!”
This was followed by an editorial bewailing the loss of these States.
Of course the whole affair was a forgery, but the illiterate soldiery of the
South, a large proportion of whom cannot read at all, could not detect it. While
Buckner was in
Kentucky, bogus copies of the
Louisville Journal were freely circulated by the rebels, filled with all kinds of matter adapted to inflame and encourage the rebels, and discourage the loyal.
