Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1862-12-02
For the Spectator.
Madison Court House.
NOVEMBER 9TH, 1852.


NOVEMBER 9th, 1862.
EDITOR OF SPECTATOR This portion of Jack
sons corps having sschanged baseo recently'
finds itself allowed day rest at this place, O.
waiting orders, and ready to ssdescend like wolf
on the fold, = whenever and wherever ssMr. Burn
side'' may give the opportunity.
The lower Valley which we have just left will
long have cause to remember our friendly visit
It was doubtless the policy of our Generals to
leave that unfortunate section utterly unavailable
to the enemy for occupation for any purpose
Hence all the railroads leading into 1.-THE Balti-
more and Ohio-the Winchester and Potomac.
and the Manassas Gap, have been efectually de-
stroyed. All the surplus forage and provender
for man and beast have been consumed by our
army, which literally spread itself by brigades
and regiments all over the region, and subsisted
OFT 1t entirely. So the enemy will now find it a
section hard to get in, hard to stay IN, and hard
to get out of. The people deprived of every
thing else, will have the only consolation OF
enumerating the Yankees among their depriva-
tions.
The abomination of desolation seems to have
o"SPo ~ 1OuCiuS ID ALMOST ouGlIcly uCStIOyCO-
except the stonewaIt-which is invariably a
staunch institution ;houses are closed and desert
ed; forests and even orchards are demolished for
fuel, or in wantonness by the enemy bridges
burnt; the once beautifully cultivated fields are
Scared all over with the marks Of encampments,
and all so changed from the fair and fruitful APP
pearance it presented when we first marched into
it, as to recall the wall OF the song,
'sNot rose of the wilderness left on its stalk,
TO mark where the garden had been"
On the third day out, we crossed the Blue
Ridge at Milan's ~ Gap, where the turnpike
scales tee mountain by serpentine grade OF sew
en- miles to obtain a distance of only one as the
crow flies. The army was marching by brigades,
each brigade followed by its own artillery and
wagon train; they stretching for miles and miles
along the turnpike, up the mountain side, and
far across the Page Valley to the Massanutsen
range. The troops and trains winding the turns
of the grade up the mountain were at times all in
sight and seemed moving in every possible direc-
/ tion,
Gin wondering mazes lost'
| The soldiers were often in speaking distance of
each other, though really far apart, and going
in opposite directions. The jests and taunts that
passed thus at safe distances from crag to crag
served to cheer them on their toilsome tramp
The lucky wearers of high shoes were urged to
sscome out Of them shoes know you're in
thar Sc your head stickia' out.' Men in
big overcoats were assailed with-ssOvercoat, let
that man out! l know you've got him in thar
see his fingers and toes workin'.o Many witty
and contemptuous comparisons were made of
this mountain passage with Hannibal's and Bon
aparte's boosted crossing of the Alps
| Many of the men are yet without shoes in SC me
of the regiments, and it is most piteous to see
them painfully picking their way along through
frost and ice. Many are without blankets, and
how they stand it, is more than can be imagined
| by those of US VINO so fortunate as barely to
escape freezing under two blankets by lying out
in these frosty nights But sswhite folks'' don't
know what they can stand until they try it.
| Flour beef and salt constitute the daily diet
of the troops-provided it ssgets up in time, -
but in practice it generally arrives after dark, so
that the men spend the night in cooking, and
| therefore don't need blankets to sleep in-sharp
practice in ssMr. JEFF. Davis'' As to the eating,
however, the men get many luxuries from the pa
triotic people along the line-by paying for them,
e. G. honey at ST so per pound, butter at ST and
81 25 per pound chickens 81 each, apples scots to
ST 20 per dozen, and ssApple-Jack," per pint
$3.50 to SIS; and ssscarce and in demand a.
that. Some Of the sscitizens'' have volunteered
to bring in such things, at such prices to camp
but when their enterprise is found out by the
Generals, they are themselves generally brought
up at the guard house.
The soldiers, however, are wonderfully cheer
full. They live, too, in hopes of seeing an end of
the war, when they will return home with renew
ed zest for the pleasures Of peace. A party near
by was INDUCING itself to-day with essupposin
peace was declared what would you do? One said,
ssI'd get up right here, and go across that field,
over that stone fence, straight home.'' Another
said, 81 could not leave Immediately, as would
go through lot Of ground and lofty tumbing
preparatory to starting &C., &C.,
Yours &C., &c.