On Wednesday we published a letter which we received from a soldier of the Steuben Regiment. It is evident from this letter that the stories which appear in newspapers which sponsored and which favor McClellan, stating that German soldiers are enthusiastic about the General, are not true. What intelligent German soldiers think of him may be learned from a letter written by a well-trained artilleryman of the Potomac Army to his father, whose home is in Chicago, and who gladly sent the son to fight for the cause of liberty. For obvious reasons, we withhold the name of the writer. We submit the following excerpt from this letter:

"Harrison's Landing,

"July 12, 1862.

"It is sad, it is dreadful, but it is true! General McClellan, or as he styles himself, the 'Second Napoleon,' was defeated decisively after 2sustaining a heavy loss of men, and was forced to retreat to the James River. The slaughter lasted for seven long days. The losses of the Rebels are reported to be even greater than ours. By the way, one must admit that the Rebels conducted themselves creditably on the battlefield; they fought like men. We fairly rained shot and bombs upon them, but they retreated not one inch. Shouting as they did at Bull Run, they advanced upon us and captured one battery after another. I cannot describe to you what the battlefield looked like. It was a horrible sight; thousands of men lay in the swamp, some without arms or legs, and all of them utterly helpless. The cavalry and artillery of the enemy rushed over our wounded, and those who were still living were trampled to death or smothered in the swamp.

"But now let us get to the bottom of things. Who is to blame for our defeat and our losses? Where were our generals, these brave heros, when our right wing was attacked? Why did McClellan give so little support to our right wing where our boys fought in the heat of the sun all day, without anything to eat or drink? Why were the wounded and exhausted troops not relieved? 3Why did our smart leader blow up the bridges and leave our wounded at the mercy of the enemy?

"To me it appears as though our officers do not wish to end the war at once; for the longer it lasts, the more money they receive. There are a great number of spies and secessionists in our army, and they lead our soldiers to the slaughter. Since leaving Washington, we have lost at least fifty thousand men. Our soldiers are very angry; many of them do not wish to fight against the Rebels any longer, because all their efforts are futile--a result of the ignorance and in-ability of our commanders. And now the 'Second Napoleon' is at his wit's end--and that is not very distant. He does not like to advance, and he cannot retreat.

"President Lincoln visited us several times. His army is not what it was when it was in quarters near Washington. We have lost about fifty-three cannon, many horses and wagons, and, above all, many men.

"I have spoken to a number of prisoners whom we captured on the second day 4of the battle. These men do a lot of bragging. They say that we will have to climb over mountains of dead comrades if we wish to reach Richmond. There is not a farmer in Virginia who has not one or more sons in the army.

"No doubt you have read about the Seven Days' Battle; but you were not informed how we were led to slaughter. I have seen with my own eyes what I have written about our defeat and about all the attendant circumstances. I do not care if this letter is opened by the censor; all they can do is shoot me.

"A soldier under the command of the 'Great Napoleon'."

From this letter one can get an idea of the discontent which now prevails among our soldiers, not only among the Germans but also among many American soldiers in the Potomac Army. Only by a change in the command, only by replacing McClellan with a man like Sigel, whose very name electrifies soldiers, can this discontent be converted into new enthusiasm and eagerness to do great things, although the stanch fortitude of our soldiers will never degenerate to 5cowardice.

The father of the author of the letter from which we have quoted has four sons in the Union Army; thus he has full right to express his opinion about the way the war is being carried on. Therefore, we submit a few lines written by the parent.

"I am enclosing a letter which was written by one of my sons who is serving under the command of that wretch, McClellan, and who has just done his share of fighting in a bloody battle lasting seven days. Anyone who deserves to be called 'father' can readily imagine how I feel when I think of my three sons who are on the battlefield and of a fourth son who was forced to leave the army because of sickness which he contracted while in service.

"That big windbag McClellan who surrendered the greater part of his fine army to destruction without gaining the least advantage for his country! He is indeed a sorry excuse for a general! Under French law he would have to die. 6And he deserves that punishment!

"By the way, we plebeians have done our share. The patricians who live on Michigan Avenue need not think that only the sons of plebeians are fit and worthy to be slaughtered; and that the wealthy can sidestep their obligations as citizens of the United States and evade the rigors and hardships of military life, the dangers of combat, the bullets, bombs, and swords of the enemy, by using their filthy lucre to persuade the sons of the poor to subtitute for them [the wealthy]. What good is a hundred or even a thousand dollars, when poor men's sons must sacrifice life and limb under the leadership of those ignorant patrician generals?

"It is high time that the rich, too, are forced to enter the army. Then things will change, for if the sons of the patricians are compelled to render military service, the latter will use all their influence to bring about a revolution in the conduct of the war, since only then will hostilities be concluded soon and the army demobilized. The honesty and uprightness of Lincoln alone are 7not sufficient to save this country from its present adverse situation. What we need is a thorough reorganization in the leadership of our army; we need a general who rules by force, if necessary, who is not afraid to apply any and every means to quell the Rebellion, not hesitating even to raze every Southern city to accomplish that end."