Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1845-10-03

/ embarked and found myself enrolled in
tho same company with Alvan Stewart ] |
was only a private, he a Corporal. On, on
we sped, day and night as fast as steam could
carry US. We journeyed with the north star
looking down coldly upon us, for we had
turned our faces from it, as though we heed
ed not the fixed principle Of eternal justice
Of which that star is the emblem.
On the afternoon of the second day we
reached our place of destination where we
found encamped a large number Of men, most
of whom were from the North. Among the
Michigan troops, and bearing the rank Of
Sergeant, was James G. Birney. The in
terview between him and Corporal Stewart
was exceedingly affecting. By the time we
had pitched our tents and set our guards, it
wanted but an hour of shutdown. l strolied
through the encanpment and was very much
struck by the difference in appearance be-
tween the northern and southern troops, for a
more ungodly and ruff lnly set of men than
the latter, | never behold. Their countenan-
ces were as dark as the complexion Of a mu-
latto, and a constant scowl rested upon them.
They were continually quarrelling, gambling
and drinking, and every sentence they utter
ed confined a horrid oath. The northern
troops, the regiment to which | was attached
in particular, were on the contrary very reli-
gious. Our Chaplain was a man of remark
able pietv, a distinguished member of the
Northern Methodist Episcopal Conference
Our first evening in Carolina was closed by
a regimental prayer meeting, at the conclu-
sion of which a portion Of US sang that beau
tiful hymn commencing
ALAS, and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my sovereign diet
Did he devote his sacred head
For such a wretch as II"
The evening was perfectly calm; and we
were encamped directly on the borders of a
swamp where a body of the insurgents were
slid to be coRcealed. ! have no doubt they
heard and Were benefited by hearing a por-
ton of our Christian worship, for although |
felt as if shooting negroes was not the right
kind OF business in which to be engaged, it
would have been still worse if while engage
ed in it we had neglected the performance of
any of our leligious duties.
The following morning the troops were or
dered to penetrate the swamp, and kill or
capture all the negroes they met with. Gov
ernment was particularly anxious this should
be done, for it was rumored that the wife and
children of the Commander in Chief of the
! negro forces, Henry Clay Jackson-who, by
the way, is a lineal descendant of the wor-
thies whose name he bears-were there con-
cealed, and it was thought that if our troops
could obtlin possession Of them we might
compel favorable terms from the rebels
Unpleasant as was the duty, it had to be per-
formed. As the swamp was of considerable
extent, and in many places the mud from
two to foul feet deep we made but slow prog
ress. About l o'clock p. M. we reached the
| centre of the swamp without seeing any signs
of a negro, when our commander called a
halt, for we were all completely exhausted.
The depth of the mud, and its remarkably
Shiny and adhesive character had made our
Journey a very toilsome one; then there was
a continual exhalation arising from the great
abundance of decayed vegetable matter, which
| eaveloped US like a cloud, so that | could
tlste infection in every breath l inhaled. and
no very pleasant visions of a broken consti-
ton, OF lingering disease. and a painful death
passed before me. | looked upon nay COM
p~anious, and found their appearance had very
much changed since the hour of morning pa
rade. Alvan Stewart stood near me; not far
from him was a Georgia slave-trader noted
for his cruelty, and a Texian who had robbed
a bank in Kentucky and murdered a man in
Tennessee. They seemed disposed to make
! luI vi lilt SOlDOldls " 4 Cdl tAlO etOiSlub
say 'Hah, my old buck! | guess you find this
a lille bit worse than the Seminole war you
used to talk about" As Alvan Stewart t1rn.
ed away from the insulting fellow, the Text.
an impudently called out Are ye made
Governor of that island yetl-wont you sell
your chance for a good dinnerl" But Mr..
Birney was there to sympathise with his
friend, and | saw his look of coincidence a;
the Corporal thus addressed him: "Sergean
Birney, | never expected this; it is far wors(
than being in the forests of Maine. Suppose
we construe our orders as we choose to un
derstand them. and go home and have on
tickets printed, and circulate our handbill.
for the fall election!" Had | not been my
self in so deplorable a condition, | SHOULD
have pitied him. There he was, three fee
deep in mud, and his beautiful uniform be
smeared with swamp slime; the day was sui
try, and the Precipitation was streaming il
torrents down his face; it was the Dime
hour, but no dinner was to be had; the mus
ouitoes were many and fierce, and there wa
no escape from them, but then there was
glorious consolation which belonged to III
alive were in a Carolina swamp fighting
or ready to fight for the Union, and perhap!
some of us would nave the satisfaction o
leaving our bodies TO sink and rot beneath
its mud,
Just then a volley was fred by the insurg
ent slaves, who had come upon us unawares
Corporal Stewart and Sergeant Birney boil
fell, the former was shot through the stom
ach, the latter through the head. / saw then
but a moment, and then the green Shiny mu,
closed over them. Alas! thought /, not
stone en- be erected here to tell that the,
persisted in defence of the Union, and wer
slain by the insergent slaves of America. !
second volley was fired which restored m
TO consciousness. My vision had departed
md l stnnl nnrn mnrn nnnn OHM soil