Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-08-07


other day, written by young man in the
rebel army to his sister in Eastern Virginia
saying that the hills were swarming with
Yankees, and that they were retreating to
Covington as rapidly as possible.
Another shameless piece of vandalism on
the part of Wise was the destruction of the
steamer "Kanawha Valley" The vessel was
the property of gentleman residing in the
vicinity of Point Pleasant, and had been
pressed into the Rebel service. When our
army reached Charleston, committee OF
citizens waited upon Gen. Cox, who was
anxious that the steamer should not be burn
ed; and as the committee were also solicit
GUS for its fate, one of them, an avowed Sc
cessiOnist, was deputiZed to wait upon Wise,
because it was thought he would have more
influence with the Rebel leader than a Union
man, and requested that the boat might not
be destroyed. 1t was then at the head of ma
vigation, and could not possibly have been
of any service to the Union army; but the
organ of destructiveness is so largely de.
veloped in the voluble ex Governor that he
could not resist the temptation to apply to it
the torch.
The day we arrived at Charleston, a scout
ing party of twenty or thirty men, under the
command of Lieut.. Shannon, visited a shop
which had been pointed out to him, and cap,
tured an iron six FOUNDER that the rebels had
been compelled to abandon in their flight
1t had been used against our men at the bat
tie of Scaryville, when one of the wheels
was disabled, and proved to be an excellent
gun. 1t was mounted next day, and it is
now with our train.
A mile or two below Charleston we pass
ed the camping ground of Wise's men-a
hollow square of wooden environments, SINH
lar to those of Camp Dennison, capable of
accommodating fifteen hunded or two thous-
and men. When our train came along, some
man jumped from one OF the wagons, and
swearing that the old barracks should not
stand another hour, fired them in several
places. In few minutes they were wrap
ped in a consuming fame, threatening the de-
struction of an adjoining house, occupied by
a woman whose husband was known to be in
the rebel army. When the fire broke out the
Second Kentucky (bogus) Regiment was sew
eral hundred yards in advance. Seeing the
smoke, Col. Sedgewick at once gave the or
der to halt, and said to his men: "Now, boys,
let us show these people that we can save as
well as destroy. About face-double quick
march" In few moments the gallant
fellows were on the ground working like Tro-
jams. Although it was too late to do any
thing for the barrocks-they were somewhat
like Mercutio's wound, "past all surgery"
In Justice to Colonels Woodruff, Nef and
De Villiers, as well as Gen. Cox, desire to
correct an error that one of your cotempo-
raries has fallen into. These officers did not
leave the camp contrary to the Generals Or
ders. Some time after the firing had COM
menced at Scary Creek, Col. Woodruff beg
ged the General to permit him to start to the
relief of the Ohio 18th with his command,
and finally obtained permission to draw them
up in line, preparatory to leaving, in case
they were needed. Soon after courier ar
rived from the field, announcing that the enc
my's guns were silenced, and that the en-
gagement was doubtless won by our men,
a few minutes later be was on his way up the
river, in company with the other missing Of
ficers, determined to be in at the death. The
rest you know. 1t is said here that the re-
bells displayed the stars and stripes, which
led our impetuous officers to believe the 18th
had won the field.
Another prolific source of complaint is the
want of fresh meat. The men have been
compelled to eat salt pork so long that sour
vey has at length made its appearance
among them. This evil is a serious one, and
should be promptly provided against by all
our commanding officers.
/ cannot close this letter without saying
a word or two about the slave population OF
the valley. Those who imagine that the ne
groes are ignorant of what is Transporting
around them are wofully mistaken. Wher-
ever we go, they are rejoiced to see US, and
not unfrequently we hear, sometimes from
the opposite side of the river, the most en-
thusiastic huzzas for "Massa Linkum." Said
one of group of ''contrabands," the other
day, as the army was passing, his shining
face wreathed with happy smile: "Dey say
you men would cut our hands and feet off if
you seed us, but we know'd you wasn' gwne
to hurt u.s." At another time, being some
distance in advance of the army, l stopped
at q house by the wayside, and after CONVEX
sing with its proprietor for few minutes, L
asked permission to step in and write let
ter, which was readily granted. While seat
ed at the table, an old negro cautiously ap-
preached me, and whispered in my ear; 'Be
mighty keerful what you say to dat man,
skase he'll go right off and tell the other side.
He's one OF 'em, and wants you folks all
killed."
Col Guthrie yesterday met with pain
full accident. While placing his pistol in its
case, one of the barrels was accidentally dis
charged, the ball entering the index finger
of the left hand at the first joint, and coming
out at the root of the nail.
The army will remain here some days, but
having satisfied myself that there will be no
fighting, shall lenve it at this point by the
first opportunity. M. T. NJ.
AFFAIRS IN MIssoURI.-We find the follow
ing in the st. Louis Republican of Saturday !:
The encampment at New Madrid now num-
bers about II 900 men. They are, it is said,
provided with u cannon, and abundance of
ammunition and subsistence stores. JEFF.
Thompson is reported to be near Charles
town, Mississippi county, with 5000 troops,
which we take to be part of the Tennessee
forces. Gen. Pillow is stated to be in COM
mand of this division, and a proclamation
purporting to be from him is published, in
which he says that his mission is to "place
our downtrodden sister on her feet, and en-
able her to breathe after the heavy tread of
the tryrant's foot" with much other of the
customary war eloquence of such documents.
Our last accounts of McCullOch, Price.
Rains, and Parsons left them teaching tactics
in the camp of instruction at Maysville, Ar
kansas, not far from the southwestern border.
Some sensation gentleman has telegraphed
from Nashville to the Louisville Courier that
their army has again attacked Lyon and Sic
gel, killing the moderate number of 5000
and only loosing 600 themselves. OF course
this is wholly fabulous, without even the proba-
bility of its being premature" Lyon is still
at Springfield prepared to resist any attack,
however formidable.
The St. Louis Democrat has letter from
Springfield, Mo-, dated July 9th, which says:
On our return from Forsyth last Tuesday
small body of rebels appeared upon the bluffs
and fired upon our troops, but Gen. Swee-
ney soon closed up that business by sprink-
ling some canister among them, killing
three and effectually dispensing them.
At Ozark, in this county, we were Joined
by ten citizens from Arkansas, we have en-
listed for three years. service.
The following document has been issued:
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE WEST,
SpRINaEIRIn Mo Inlu % 1861