COL. WILLIAM MUNGEN

[ CAPTOR OF THE FLAG OF CO. D, 10TH TEXAS INFANTRY ]

contributed by:

Col. Mungen's Great-Great Grandson,
ALAN MILLS
Hemet, California

compiled by:
Scott McKay

[ APRIL 17, 1863 ]

Fellow-soldiers of the 57th Ohio:

       It is with feelings of emotion that, as Colonel of this Regiment, I bid you adieu. It is one of the most trying events of my life. The breaking up of ties and associations formed in the service of our common country; the rending asunder of affections and friendships which have become deeply rooted in the best soil of the heart' ties, associations, affections and friendships, which have grown up and strengthened with our daily intercourse since the 14th day of September, A. D. 1861, and which have been sealed, cemented and made sacred by the blood of comrades under the glorius Stars and Stripes amidst the smoke and carnage of the battle-field, and the hardships and privations of war, can not be lightly and ruthlessly broken. But fate has decreed that we must sever. I am advised by gentlemen eminent in the medical profession, bot in and out of the service - by my own physical disability, and by the tenacity with which that scourge of the soldier, Chronic Dysentery, clings to me, that, in order to prolong my life, during the coming Summer I must seek relief and restoration in the cool and bracing breezes of the North. Death, with every one, is but a question of time - and we have, during the vicissitudes of war, almost learned to look upon it with indifference. Human life, here, seems very cheap - so to speak; but while my life may be of comparatively little value to myself, it is of first importance to the loved ones at home, who are dependent upon my exertions for a support. This latter thought, mor than any other, prompts and enables me to resign my position and leave you, so that I may, before it is too late, recover my health, and repair, if possible, a constitution shattered by the exposures incident to camp life.

       But, I can not, in justice to you, as well as to myself, part from you without saying a few words more. Although we all came from Ohio, many of us were strangers to each other when the Regiment was formed. I am proud to say, however, that the courtesy and consideration due from one gentleman to another, have ever characterized your intercourse; that feeling that should exist among comrades in arms, engaged, as we hope, in a high and holy cause - the maintenance of the Constitution, the enforcement of the Laws, and upholding the old Flag, has animated your busoms, and that a feeling of strong fraternal affection has prevailed at times within our ranks.

       In the discharge of my duties as your Regimental Commander, I have frequently reminded you that the first principle of a good soldier is to be a gentleman. You seem to have conducted yourselves by that rule; and by a course of conduct becoming soldiers and gentlemen, you have won a high and well-deserved reputation as such. As a Regiment, I am proud of you; as comrades and friends, I love and respect you; and although time and distance may separate us, be assured that my heart will be with you wherever you go - and until Death shall command me to "surrender" and "stack arms;" until the Almighty shall see proper to cause me to "lie down," my best wishes shall be with you and for you.

       Your military career has nod been one of ease and pleasure. You have borne the burden and heat of the day in the fullest sense of the words. You have breathed the red flame of battle, far, far from your much-loved homes, away in an enemy's country. You have borne, without murmuring, the fiery rays of a noonday sun in mid-summer, throughout the States of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi, in those heavy marches of last Summer. You have shivered under the chilly night-dews of those latitudes; struggled over burning sands and stones with blistered and bleeding feet; waded through mud and water with aching limbs; kept vigil in lonely swamps, on picket-guard in the face of the enemy. In short, you have done your duty manfully, where patriotism means blood - not idle talk; and where loyalty to the old Flag means death beneath its shadow, and not harangues of stay-at-home patriots.

       It is unpleasant to remember that injustice has been done you in some of the official reports of battles in which you have been engaged, and that a dirty, mendacious set of newspaper reporters have slandered you, and attempted to place laurels dearly bought by you on the brows of others. But so far as the official reports are concerned, your commanding General has promised both Lieut.-Col. Rice and myself that the matter should be set right. The slanders of the hired pimps of some of the diry sheets published in the Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and New York, can not do much harm - for, by your valor, you have wiped out every stain they sought to place upon your fair escutcheon; and have bound the laurel wreath firmly around your brows, where not may dare to wrest it from you.

       The bullet-rent and battle-soiled flags of the Regiment - sacred in their scarred and mutilated forms, and hallowed by glorious associations - bear testimony to the part you have played so gallantly beneath their folds. The blood and wounds, the suffering and scars of SHILOH, PEA RIDGE, RUSSEL HOUSE, CORINTH, MORNING SUN, COLD WATER, HERNANDO, WOLF RIVER BRIDGE, CHICKASAW BAYOU, POST OF ARKANSAS, CLAY FARM - or the Arkansas river - and ROLLING FORK, speak in glowing terms of your heroism. The long linse of your marches, and the places of your encampments and bivouacs, marked thickly with the graves of your comrades, give evidence of the nature of your duties and the severity of your sufferings. Your route from Pittsburgh Landing to this place, might be traced by their lonely graves, as mile stones and guide-boards mark the direction to the traveler. No costly marble, or towering monument, tells the passer-by where they slumber, or points out the last resting places of those heroes - but they sleep none the less soundly.

           "How peaceful and how powerful is the grave!"

       Like their ancestors of Revolutionary memory, they have passed away - but like them also

           "Their laurels freshen in eternal bloom."

       Under command of Lieut.-Col. Rice, who will now take command, and who will soon be your Colonel, I feel that all will be well with you - for you are brave and good soldiers, and he is a heroic, chivalric and competent officer. I have only to request one favor, which, I know, you will readily grant; Follow his advice, yield obedience to his orders, respect his authority as you have done mine, while I have had the honor to command you.

       Farewell! And may the God of battles be with you, is the sincere desire of your friend and well wisher.

[Courtesy of the Collection of Col. Mungen's Great Great Grandson, Alan Mills]