Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-03-17
In CAMP MAR NEW MADRID, |
March g. 1861

this city:
INCAMP MAR NEW MADRID, !
March 6, 1861.
"As intimsted in my last letter, from
Commerce, we left that place Friday morn
ing the 2sth ult and after. one of the hard
est and most uncomfortable marches We have
ever been called upon to make, arrived here
Monday about noon. The roads were in
very bsd condition, owing to the frequent
rains, and, 81 times, our artillery and bag
gage wagons would get stalled, and require
the assistance Of men with long ropes to
pull them out of the mud. The first night
out the train did not get up at all, and, con-
sequently, the men had to bivouac without
their tents, and wait until morning for their
supprs. The Hospital Steward, however,
got along with his ambulance" and
managed to get a cup of coffee from him,
and slept in his tent. When about half
way here, our advanced guard of cavalry ran
across the noted rebel General JEFF Thomp-
son, and captured three small cannon he
had with him-but JEFF and his men, save
one killed, escaped them and reached New
Madrid.
Our regiment is in the lst Brigade, lst
Division, therefore when We arrived here,
we were in advance of everybody, and three
companies under Lieut.. Col. Kennett were
thrown out in line of skirmishers upon the
right of the main road leading into town,
while had the same number on the LETT
The distance thus occupied or covered, was
about mile, the men being deployed
at regular intervals, and ali advancing to-
gether. The Colonel, with the remaining
four companies, followed in the main road as
our support, while the main body were from
one to three miles in the rear. In this way
we advanced through woods, cOrn.felds, &c,
&C., until within about a mile of the river,
and lust on the outskirts of the town, when
s0his came the rebels compliments, in the
shape of a large bombshel from one Of their
gunboats, which passed over my line and
burst in the air not far in the rear. The Cen
eraI then sent forward an order for us to
halt, and remain in our position, while the
main body ss they came up were formed in
line Of battle. Shell number two soon made
its appearance, and fell slightly short of US.
l then ordered the men to lie down, in order
to present as small a mark as possible, and
dismounted myself for the purpose of taking
luncheon while awaiting further orders. 1t
being the first time our men had been under
FIRE, l was anxious to see how they would
stand it, and was glad to find them as cool
as old regulars. Some Of the shells burst
within twenty or thirty feet of the line, and
one caused my horse some discontinue by
throwing dirt on him while he was quietly
feeding on the orn-stalks around MIN. This
position we occupied some three or four hours,
the enemy continuing their fire at intervals,
and one section of our artillery was brought
TO bear on them for the purpose Of discover
ing whether their gunbosts were iron-clRd or
not.
The first shell from our guns is said to have
killed seven of the enemy, though we cannot
tell with certainty its effect.
The General being satisfied the gunboats
were too heavy for our light field artillery,
ordered us back about mile, and we all en-
camped. The only loss was one man of the
39th Chic, and two or three wounded; one
of ours slightly. No firing occurred during
the night, and but one shell in the morning,
which occasioned no damage. Tuesday night
we bombarded for about an hour, the enemy
replying several times, but without loss to us;
what damage we did is not known. Last
night everything was quiet. was brigade
officer of the day and had to visit the picket
guard twice during the night, but the rebels
do az L
understand, there is an armed reconnaissance
to be made. We are all encamped in line Of
battle, about two and half miles from the
river, and awaiting the Generals orders
What we shall do, or when, we cannot tell.
The weather isquite cold, but wood is plenty
and the men do not suffer.
March 18th, 1862.
Since concluding my last letter we have
remained pretty much in stGtu quo and
have been unable to send you a word. To-
morrow morning one Of our men leaves for
home on account of sickness, and will take
this with him.
There is nothing particular 1 can add in the
way Of news, as we are apparently just as
far from accomplishing our object in taking
New Madrid as we were few weeks ago
the gunboats being able to drive Us back
whenever we make a show of an attack
However, our communication with Cairo has
been perfected, to q certain extent BY re-
building the road from Birds Point to Skies.
town, about twenty miles from here, and
we may get heavy cannon from there, or
the gun boats under Commodore Foote may
soon arrive, now that they can pass Oolum-
bus, so that we reasonably expect to be able
70 drive the rebels from this point before
long. We are improving the time in more
thoroughly organizing and drilling our bri-
gades and divisions, and making ourselves
as comfortable as circumstances will allow.
Our boys have shown their Versatility by
building a frst-rate well, in the camp
grounds, and thereby secured our comfort
70 great extent water being quite scarce
when we first came here. It has an old
fashioned sweep to it for drawing the
water, and is quite an ingenious contrivance.
The rebels fence rails have made US good
fires, and we have lived very comfortably
since we have been here. We have made
two or three reconnoisanees in the neigh
borhoOi of the town, with about the same
snccess as at first. The rebels are always
ready with their shells, but have done Us
very little damage.
Part of our forces under Col. Plummer,
went to Point Pleasant, few miles below
here, and have succeeded in establishing |
themselves there under cover of rife pits, |
&c, &c, 60 that they worry |
the rebels about getting down the river
One steamer they used up pretty badly
Ny opiRion is that with the aid of the gun |
boats, We win soon be able to make the
traitor surrender.
Ny own health continues excellent.
Yours, &C., zEPH.