The Buffalo (N. Y.) Commercial Advertiser publishes a letter, signed “Johnson McNeill, ” a private in the army, who enlisted at Buffalo a year ago, and who is now with Major Anderson in Fort Sumter. There is not a doubt, it is said, as to the genuineness of the letter, which, on account of the soldier’s inability to write well, was written by a sergeant and brought by a passenger to New York on the lost steamer. He says:
We have enough to eat and drink, and sufficient to keep us for four months. Our fuel is scarce, but that is nothing. The rebels think we have been idle, but they nor any one else will ever know how many men we have in this garrison. We have got sufficient to hold the fort against the whole South in a body. Major Anderson is a true soldier, and so are the other officers, and the men would die for him. I only wish we had a chance to give the rascals hell, and we can do it too. If we ever go out of this fort, it will not be the wish of our officers. As to sending us men and supplies, it is all nonsense to talk about it. It can not be done. We are all right if old Lincoln will only have the back-bone to stand by us.
Cincinnati Daily Press, Cincinnati, OH