Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-11-27
[ Cor. ii frem E.rs. Pa4e. ]

Coin 2 u tae ClOuntein, we PASS Tennes-
scans; some are st;l pushing on desperate
Y, Wonder Is one prone on a bed of leaves.
His head Il E9l5tered on rotten stump
Exhaustion Is graphically pictured on his
Nid complexion and IN his silent form He
fune0nsCi0us. while he. sleeps the sleep Of
istress, that the driving rain is beating
iereilessiy upon him. Ny comrade atartles
ge-'.Is he deai.' On, &c: he's only an
Exhausted soldier. He wears no shoulder
traps with 3 silver star on each But it is
yet early il the day. Surely it is rot time
for soldiers 10 yield TO fatigue. They have
marched only one night, and have slept the
whole of one CT two hours or the damp,
Frosted soft
At last the ascent Is accomplished by
fe# We look back with a sigh Of relief,
and turn ave- again with emotions Of re-
gret and disgust at the sorrowful and Eea-
~ file OF men. still toiling through the mire,
and gazing wistfully TO the top. But here
is picture. On the top OF rock on the
crest Of the bill, there sits Toledo lad,
writing Q iette-. He protects the precious
page from the rain with his hat, and the
big DROPS patter on his bare head. He looks
care WORE and way worn; but his eye is
bright, his hand steady. From head to
foot he is eacased in thick plastering of
clay. spi moisture drips from his sleeves
He replies to my comIade. ''No Colonel,
Eve not given out; I'm little tired though.
I'll make It, Colonel-Tu never give up.
Why Ia the name of humanity does not
the commander send back messengers to
halt this column Is there imminent dan
ger ahead Cannot these failing men be
hated q dap for rest? At least let messen-
gers be dispatched 10 inspire them to march,
march. march. TO resist the foe Anything
TO renew their spirit. But look at these
wagon loads of sick soldiers. See them
shivering in saturated blankets, seated in
pools of water which drip from their cloth
zng as Il p0urs from the clouds Hear their
unceasing discordant, and narrowing cho-
rus Of coughing Here are candidates for
the grave But the order is stern-''Bring
Ill your sick " On" said one of the Sur
peas to ne .'tlat vas the eruelest order
f6ce- ever give. protested in vain. l
Egei tla5 it would Kill my patients. Bnt
ome they NUT. l shall lose perhaps thir-
or fjCty Of my regin mt. and it will plant
assumption IL the lungs CT two hundred
more.
And here is another picture. We splash
along tediOusly through the mire, and
mounted officers encourage their men by
Kind words of sympathy. Nearly all
relieve feeble soldiers by carrying their,
knapsacks and muskets. Col. Steedman,
long racked with chiIls and fever, and
scarce able to sit his horse, rides with
mis- scattered columns. Col ConneIl, suf-
feriDg from illness, bears the burden of
sick soldiers knapsack. Col. Coburn
dIsmOunts, and pushes through the mud,
while feeble lad rides his charger. The
Captains CD foot emulate their superiOrs,
and clcouaage them by example.
a. E0cEcastle river the column Is vic
tOriousiy over Wildcat. The dismal
train naiis at the ferry, in the mud and
rain. The jaded men fall asleep on the
sod OF a EeighbOring meadow, waiting
the slow. process of crossing all that
column n one small float. sThe team
sters stuff their sworn out animals with
corn. 4 few, IN desperation, plunge into
she sCrd where the water is swift, and
some narrowly escape a watery grave.
The 18th Ohio loses two wagons and
contents including twenty-five or thirty
thousand rounds of ammunition. The
Nth loses = wagon and %, 900 rounds of |
ammunition at the ferry. The Tennes- |
seeans lose two wagons and contents. |
with three horses, and the 3Sth Ohio |
loses one wagon. How much more was
lost ! 10 not know.
It's was morning. but the column was |
long -&tter night IL crossing. Afterwards |
throughout the day the Genes already fee |
~ described. increased and assumed more |
ggraVating forms. The rad constantly |
ecsme more wretchel. Men flung away |
heir knapsacks and stalked onward in ut |
~ desperation, their officers refusing to see |
differentiation. Some stumbled and fell |
by the wayside. where they lay, and slept |
the sleep of exhaustion. And the sick in |
the uncover, wagons, and those accursed |
ambulsne IS. were racked and jouuced over
rocks and ruts untiltheir weak bones ached, |
their counter tnees testifying to their utter
wretchedueIs- And thus, hour after hour,
through mud. and slime. and rain, over
rocks and rails, and logs up the toughest
and steepest grades, and down the rugged
est descents, our weary. footsore, exhausted |
soldiers end jailed teams struggled AMI toll
ed in pain al that miserable day and far in |
to night; for even at midnight feeble strag-
glers staggered into Mount Vernon, where
the 4th aud l1th rested, to find their COM
rades
This nighsthe poor lads went to bed sup
PEERLESS. for fatigue was overpowering, and
sleep sweeter than meat. Some of them
marched fourteen, some sixteen miles that l.
dsy-thirteen the night and morning before.
This days work was more disastrous than
ordinary battles. God knows how many
sturdy constitutions it wrecked; how many
brave volunteers it will kill
But ] had almost forgot.the episode of the |
day. The few Tennesseeans who had man
fully breasted the tab with Ohio and Indi-
ana, we're mere straggiers. Their officers
were scattered as badly as the men. The