New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-09-14


ploded aile back, near where lot of ladies'
were assembled, they having fed from town in
carriages for safety. The shattered tree s one of
the curiosities Of the place. and the fragments of
the shell are preserved as relics As the gun boats
went mp the river, the Lincolnites on the other
shore disappeared in the woods, and were last seen
few hours previous to the Arrival Of Cur gallant
Eleventh. is stated that the IsneoInites robbed
the farms freely on the other side, and that at
| farm they captured a nnmber of the negroes and
made them dance to the tune Of Yankse doodle in
presence Of their master and mistress. whom they
compelled to witness the outrage. They carried
off number Of saves.s It ia further stated that
rnarauding parties have lately beea.crossing into
Kentucky between this and Cairo, stealing and
carrying off negroes. ss,
The people Of colunabusdittle thousht what an
army of Southerners was corning. From the time
of the arrival of the Louisiana Eleventh, On We'd
nesday afternoon, the 4th, to this dsy, Sunday the
9Th, there has poured in upon Cofutnbas, like an
avalanche, an army of-well, wont say how
| many men, for that's against orders; but yen
| should see how Columbus and the surrounding
country swarms with the soldiers and their tents
infantry artillery and cavalry. The weather being
| very dry and the streets and roads ansledeep in
! dust; the town of Columbus is anything but
| pleasant town. The constant tramp Of regiments,
the rumbling of artillery, and tfe gallopfng of cav
| airy, keep it constantly in suffoeatfng cloud Of
| dust, while the digerging roads are equally bad.
| I had hot and dusty time Of it yesterday in ca
| lumbus experimenting the unloading Of our stores
| and.baggage from the cars. But I Hasrnore than
| compensated, for this hard job by the opportunity
waf1 Ft i as5asa a m nj e sssag m h5s and i
Enessee, especially the ca valry companies some
| of whom are bands of giants almost, hirsute and
handsome, with the patriotic fire bsaming in every
eye. Many of them are on bloeded horses, and
sglendidIy equipped am glad am here, to see
/ what is before and around me. a
Columbus is being well fortified. Last Wednes4
day, when our regiment enteTad the town, Major
General Polk caused the following proclamation
ITO be posted about town:
| GEN. PoEK's PROCLAMATION. M
To Te fs PapgeTs q M En f geas
Kentucky, dsre garded their neutrality, by estah-
fishing camps and depets Of arms, BY organizing
military ceEps within their territory, and by con-
| strdcting military work upon the Missouri shore.
Immediately opposite and Commanding Columbus,
evidently intended to cover the landiag of troops
| for the seizure of that town--it has become d
military necessity for the defence Of the territory
! of the Confederate States, that the Confederate
| forces occupy Columbus in advance. Sss
! The Major. General commanding has, therefore,
not felt himself at liberty to risk the loss of i'm
portant position but has decided TO OCCUPY a.
In pursuance of that decision he has thrown a
sufficient force into the town, and is now fortifying
it. 1t is gratifying to him to know that the pres
Columbus, and he asais himself of this occasion
to assure them that every precaution will be taken
to ensure their qnfet and the protection Of their
property, with their personal and civil rights.
dated at Columbus, this 4th day of September,
1861. LEearDAs POLE,
/ +" Major Generals Commanding
| Major Gen. Polk, and Generals Pillow, Me-
Gowan and Chaathsm, with many other officers Of
distinction, are here, experimenting things. The
young Missouri lion, Jef. Thompson, crossed over
from Missouri, and passed the day with Generals
Polk and Pillow It is stated that he asked Gen..
Polk's permission to go and take Birds Point with
his band of fearless horsemen. The General re-
piled that he could not issue the order yet while.
The Colonel replied: just give me the order,4
and I'll do it; believe my men can take any
thing.n Still the General declined the offer. The
/, ia and sDrh force. that
nothing rash can be sanctioned. e''7
l. There was a rare and exciting scene yesterday
afternoon, on the road which leads up from Colum
bus to the top OF our butfs whare other regiments
Ethan ours are now stationed. The loaded wagons
coming up hill and the empty ones going down got
glutted, in the narrow road, into an ineXtrieable
mass which it took several hours to unraVel. The
pitching and kicking of horses and mules. the
Eplunging of oxen, the crash of coliiing wagons,
the swearing and quarreling of teamsters AIneri1'
can, Irish Dutch and niggers. presented a scene
considerably ahead of any Tchouptoulas street.
blockade ever saw.
Whilst all this was going on, a cavalryman, on a
splendid charger, being unable to pass up through
the wagon blockade, took side path which winds
steepy up the hill, by the side Of the main road,
which runs through a deep cut Everybody was
astonished to the rider spur his horse up such
anascent; but The noble animal losing his footing
and slipping back several times, gradually worked
bis way up, and had nearly reached the top, when
he began kicking and attempting to throw his
rider, in the most extraordinary manner The
rider showed himself to be a splendid horseman,
aud held his seat like an Alexander; but the horse
growing more desperate. kicked higher than ever,
, and at last sent his ride: whrliLg over his head.
The soldier fell within three feet OF the edge OF the
, deep cut. Had he gone over he would have landed
in the wagons, some forty feet below. The horse
kept on kicking, worked around the side of the
hill, falling into rain gulleys, coming out again.
and ca7orting generally, gradually slipping nearer
and nearer to precipiee some twenty-five feet
> high. At last he reached the brink, and over he
went still kicking. He landed on his feet unhurt,
J-,,,+ aV1 inl- N
, | ravine he was at last headed and captured bysa
mob of excited men. As soon as his saddle was
removed he became docile as lamb, and looked
, | rather foolish. His frantic behavior had been
caused by the girth slipping as he toied up the
HILL the weight of his rider causing the girth to cat
his fauks, and the saddle continuing to gall him
until it was removed. The rider speedily appeared
and mounted him, but did not attempt TO go up the
steep path again. twas 9 highly exciting scene
far more magnificent than anything to pc seen in 4
circus. s.ss
hear of funny thing that happened at New
Madrid last week. Some members of picket
guard, being fatgued and very sleepy, accepted
the offer of q patriotic nigger who accompanied
Them to stand guard whilst they slept. One of the
! guard woke up and found the Niger sleeping as
, souudly as any. They took, him into camp and
handed him over to the other nggers to deal with
him as they might think proper. The darkeys
held court martial sentenced sleepy head to re-
ceve thirty-nine lashea well laid on, and them
selves executed the sentence in the presence OF the
, , camp. -
! Alter the faSGion Oh hdy eLtef-Wtllets Preserve
the most interesting part of my letter for the last !;
that is, Z, think it the most interesting part Shortly
after sunrise this morning whilst our boys were
: cooking breakfast, one of the Lincoln gunboats
- came cautiously down the river on reeonnoiteF-
! ing expedition. OF course, all eyes were fixed
upon her, and the bluff batteries got ready. When
y the boat (Which recognized as the A. o. Ty,
lor9 reached the lower point Of the island, abont
y two miles and a half from the bluff where we are
! stationed, but not in sight of Columbus she turned
! broadsde to and challenged our fire. After little
U while, Stewards Louisiana battery, to our left
opened upon her aud another battery to our right
. followed suit The craft returned the fire. Our
, batteries fred ten or twelve shots, and the boat
fred four, one Of which shell that exploded
! almost as soon as fired. The first shots on both
: : sides did not reach than half way. The
: i. enemys best shots lacked quarter OF a mile OF
reaching the bluff, while our best shot were well
in line, and several of them fell pretty close to the
steamer; upon which she heeled about and putofi
up the river Our gunboat, the Jackson, (tormerly
: the towboat Yankee) getup steam and chased her
- some distance up the river, but returned without
engaging her. Our regiment being stationed be-
d u tween the two batteries engaged, had the best
sight of the affair; and though it was insignificant
to those who had seen hot work, it was sufficiently
{ interesting to myself and others who had never
y before witnessed q hostile exchange of cannon
0 balls. The cannonading created prodgious ex