July 2, 1863, Daily Citizen (Vicksburg, Mississippi)
We have heretofore refrained from alluding to a matter which has been a source of extreme annoyance and loss our citizens. We refer to the lax discipline of some of our company officers in allowing their men to prowl around, day and night, and purloin fruit, vegetables, chickens, etc., from our denizens, and, in the majority of cases, from those whose chief subsistence is derived therefrom. This charge is not confined solely to those at the works, but is equally, if not mainly, attributable to the wagoners and others in charge of animals. Several cases have come to our knowledge wherein the offenders have, in o pen daylight, entered premises, seized cattle and other things, and defied the owners to their teeth. We are pained to learn that an esteemed citizen of our Vicksburg, Wm. Porterfield, was under the necessity, in protecting his property, to wound one or two soldiers and deprive another of his life. We fully appreciate the fatigue, hardships and privation to which our men are subjected; but upon inquiry it may be ascertained that our city is second to none in contributing to the welfare of those gallant spirits who risk their life and limb for the achievement of an end which will make us one of the most honored people of the earth, and such conduct of which we complain is but base ingratitude. A soldier has his honor as much at stake as when a civilian; then let him preserve his good name and reputation with the same jealous care as before he entered his country’s ranks. But so long as this end is lost sight of, so long may we expect to chronicle scenes of bloodshed among those of our own people. We make this public exposure, mortifying as it is]to us, with the hope that a salutary improvement in matters will be made by our military authorities.