, 1861-06-27

quested to leave-and proceeded to reveal to
this select crowd, in concise terms, the job
which they had on hand, and that Was the
dispersion or capture Of Claib. Jackson
camp, which Gen Prentiss had what he CON
side1ed positive knowledge. VAS located On
small stream, known by the various classic
nhmea Of Fox River Swamp, Mud River, Fox
River, DC, located, Is represented BY our
guides, ahout fourteen miles, but which
proved to be twenty-five, southwest from the
town Of Commerce, some thirty miles above
this, On the Mississippi, when we we're to de-
bark, aud BY a forced march drop In upon the
enemy before the dawn Of Sunday morn. This
general plan Of the campaign having been de-
yeloped, the details we're soon arranged.
It Immediately occurred to the subscriber,
that through the reticenee Of Gen. Prentis5,
he had embarked on this raid, totally deficient
In the necessary means for subsistence and
transportation, except In the latter caee, to
employ what Is generally known as the peo-
! p1e's line, or sometimes more vulgarly demon
| st1nted, thank's mares. This made him mel
| ancholJ-it had q deep, dark and beautifully
blue look. for man Of the fat persuasion
| one eighth OF q ton weight By the Illinois
Central scales; but that dictionary which has
disputed ownership among several great Gen
erals, ancient and nodeFn, II which it said
| times studied to find big words, and now he
determined to make 1t do good work. When
| the boat reached Commerce, he, in popular
phrase, "st1uck ont" The ilrst benevolent
looking face he encountered on Missouri soil
| VAS man having o skin not colored like his
oWn"-a cAattel-and to him be impaired his
! deficiency In the quartermaster's department.
| The said benevolent faced chattel- modern
| ized ontraband-imm edlate1y "took," and
| straightWay conducted Us, followed By several
| other correspondence, "enjo5ing the same
| blessing" to the somewhat rude, but exceed
ingly homelike domicl Of John with the
prefix OF Smith, believe, to his Christian cog
| nomen, formerly chattel, but who BY indus
| try had achieved sovereignty, snd by his neigh
| bors Of varied hues, esteemed "popular
| sovereign" John Is the possessor in bis own
| right OF brace OF animals OF diminutiye pro
| portions, but Of exceedingly generous auricu.
| lar developments.
| By dint Of persuasion, and with the promise
| Of lueToti.F acknowledgment on our part, John
yielded his pets, together with q four wheeled,
! ancient vehicle, without any resting resources
to fall back Or sit down on. to the jehnic cs-
| pacity Of this correspondent, and with the pa
triotic cons sciousness that we were in for VIC
| tori or death, =" We left the peaceful shores Of
| the Father of Waters." In the meantime
! our little army had dsbarked, taking their
| way across the mountain, ho," leaving Us
fsl m t three miles in the rsa5 This Was about
knew anything about il, ''grave yards do
yawn," and do other foolish, sleepy things,
i an example this party followed before
VIC reached the supposed haunts Of the enc
my. The night Was Serene and beautiful, aud
heart with patriotic or pleasant emotions,
than the scene before us. When the troops
| were set In motion they marched forward with
speed and impetuosity which brought CON
viction to the minds Of the older and moro
experienced soldiers, that many would prove
| expression from beautiful young lady, whom,
am sure, !" Is for all time."I Il was soon ap-
parent that many would fa1 by the wayside,
as quite number in their patriotic desire to
'o1m one Of the force, had actually escaped
from the hospital, where they lad been sent
case with Capt. Kowold's company Of Chica-
| go Turner'S, ten Of whom scaled the walls of
| the hospital, and forced themselves into the
ranks. The first eight miles Of the march to
the town Of Benton, was accomplished In less
than two hours. But after this point was
| passed, the column, which had been compact,
began to extend and dreg, but not much so, uu-
til twelve or fourteen miles had been reached,
and wheh NC supposed We we're close to tho
Quarters Of the enemy. Here 1t Was discov-
!
being fourteen miles from the point of de-
| barkation 1t Was actualIy twenty five, and that
| hardly one half the distance had been accom-
plished- This information had a most depress-
Ing effect upon the men and greatly retarded
their progress; but they bore up heroleally,
| the strength they could bring into service, en-.
couraged by the fond anticipation that the
| camp of the rebels would be finally reached,
and that when they DID get there, the fun
route Was through dense forest, aud when
| Aurora revealed her countenance in the east,
| her oppressive beams fell not On the aching
heads and tired bodies Of the soldiers, aad By
this proyidentil provision, one Of the hottest
days failed to add the impaired yigor Of the
men; and thus they went On there way, terri
| bly, tired and footsore, almost entirely without
| Tattr, except what could be drained from
stagnnnt pools, but full Of patriotic determine
ton, until finally, at little past eight o'clock,
heart Of IN immense forest. where the Sound
OF the church~gofng-bell Is never heard, we
| reached point, On pleasant stream Of water
| within mile Of the supposed camp Of the re-
bells, variously stated in number from eight to
sixteen hundred Scouts were Immediately
dispatched in the direction Of the supposed
enemy; but they aoon returned Of
EofroTe-With the Information that the rasca1s
| bad fled from camp two days previous, they
having received information that it WAS dan
gerons place to stop at-and taken up their
| quarters at Bloomfield, 3 town some twenty
miles distant. Our men having but one days
| provisions, 1t WAS determined not to follow,
but to return Immediately to Camp Defauce.
| need hardly say it was grievous dsap-
pointment to officers and men, that after such
. tedious march they were deprived the priv
negc OF gratifying their burning desire to win
lsurels for themselves and our glorious old
| flag. / am eorry to say that very many cursed
both loud and deep ut their disappointment,
| and thus greatly disturbed the quiet peace
and harmony which on This ra:red day ought
Great Mediator, who said "Father, forgive
them; they know not what they do." LII all
] pray that the hour maJ soon come when "no
! var or battle sound' shall be heard, hut that
"Peace on earth, and good will to men" shall
be the rallyiDg cry Of all nations,
els gathered here was greatly exaggerated, as
| usual. The whole force did not exceed one
hundred and fifty, and with tho accesalons
made at Bloomfield Wherc they now are, and
which comprise all they can gather IN two or
three counties, the entire camp numbers less
than two hundred and afty.
Our troops remained at Fox River, resting
themselves, until about 12 o'clock noon,
when they were again ordered to !" fall I'M to
retraee Cur steps. This Was severe test Of
the Stamina of the men, but IS they had but
one days provisions, and that allowance Was
about exhausted, 1t was deemed an actual ne
ceesity to return without delay, especially as
nothing In the provision line could be OBJ
tanned In the vicinity. At sir o'clock thay had
Eetraced sixteen miles Of the distance, and
were then at the little secession town Of Ben
ton, eight miles from the steamer. For two
hours previous it had rained In torrents, and
the men were not only tired out, but drenched
with rain. Under these circumstances, Col
Morgan deemed 1t positively necessary to
make hnlt, and remain there until morning,
accepting such quarters as could be obtained,
and running the risk Of getting provisions
sufficient to supply the almost fam1shed mon
Il was known to our guides that the lit.1a
town Of Hamburgh, about four miles distant.
was unanimous Union town, It being settled
almost entirely By Germans. To Hambusgn
QuarteTmaster Hatch Immediately repaired,
and returned in less than an hour and half
with twelve wagon loads Of proyieions, which
had been freely and toyously contributed BY
the noble hearted Germans. and for which they
refused to accept any compensation Whatever,
either for the provisions or for the use Of the
teams to hanl them not only this, but they
rendered the Use Of their teams, the next
morning, to bring the disabled soldiers down
to Commerce. II there arc any good, chris
tian, patriotic men in the world, they are the
German citizens Of Hamburger, every man Of
| whom is for the Union, now and forever.
At about 10 O'Clock, A n, all were sgain on
board the steamer, after having been supplied
| with m excellent breakfast bv thA pf.r1eroug