Shreveport daily news., 1861-05-11
Private Letter from the Seat of
War.
QUARTERS AT PENSACOLA. Fla. !
New 1851

day, the first Of the most pleasant
month Of all the year, it is my desire
to commune with youin a short letter.
I ought to have written to you sooner,
but my duties have been so exceed
ingly arduous that it has been Il mat
ter of almost utter impossibility, and
even now / am stcuiing short time
for this purpose.
Twas much astonished the other
morning at the arrival of Jno. Nc
Gaughy, DIR. Gray, and three others,
to Join the company. John stands it
first rate: makes Il good soldier, and
is cheerful aud lively We are ell
camped just above Pensacola, on a
beautiful green, about 100 yards from
the Bay.
We are in tents; and for men who
have been accustomed to soft couches
and feathery pillows, you would be
astonished to find how cheerfully they
appropriate the ground for beds and
knapsacks for pillows. We have II
or Is on the sick list out Of 1876
None are dangerous; but are down
more from imprudence in diet, than
anything else; it is /; hard matter to
keep the men from eating trash of all
sorts, such as fruit. crabs, oysters,
fish. &c. In fact, in this respect,
they seem more like untaught chill
dren than men with minds to reflect.
l succeeded in getting Dr. Gray de-
tached from duty to act as our Sur
geon. He is Just the right man in the
right place. He is untiring in his
attention to the men; is as kind
! hearted as a woman, and possesses
the confidence Of our men and the
New Orleans troops. Mr.. William
son and myself occupy the same tent,
and are very comfortably situated,
taking every thing into consideration
| AlonZo and Abram Bonner are inval-
uable to us; they are trusty and vigi
liant; and in truth, l never saw two
more devoted servants. We are now
engaged at the hard work of prepar.
ing two sand batteries to protect this
place from an attack by men of-war
| Ned is standing the hard duties O,
| a common soldier with noble fortitude
in fact, the young men who stand tn,
fatigue and discipline best, are those
who have been least accustomed to it
and if. occasionally, we find Il srum
bier, it is sure to be one who was usec
to hard fare at home. I took a par
of the company to Chnrch on Sunday
last, and listened to a powerful ant
affecting sermon addressed almost en-
tirely to the soldiery. l visited tn,
Navy Yard day before yesterday, ant
saw just opposite J mile the frownins
walls and batterit of the renowned
fort Pickens. 1t is certainly for
midable fortress, and will, fear, cos
q great loss Of life on our side. Th.
impression is, that we will have {
fight in a week or less. Gen. Bragg
told me that lie would have work fol
us in a very few days, aud that of II,
easy kind. The Navy Yard will nc
doubt be completely destroyed by til,
tile from fort Pickens, .s the build
ings are entirely exposed to the sho
and shell thrown from it. 1t will b.
an immense loss to us, for the prop
erty is worth 10 millions. I nevel
saw prettier place in my life. 1t is
situated on q level beach, running
back half mile enclosed in brick
wall. 1t is laid off in paved streets
and the ground ornamented will
beautiful live. oak trees; in the from
is the dockyard and public buildings
for various departments of tho gov
ern-ment, such as Quarter Master an6
ordnance stores, work shops, &c.