The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1862-03-15
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From the Frat Iowa Cavalry.
SEBALIA, Mo-, March 10. '62.

4 hhASs&IL
From the Firsa IeSva Cavalry.
SEBALIA, Mo-, March 10, 81.
DEAR GATE: TO go or not TO 90, that
the question. Whether to suffer the I'LL
we have in hunting butternut traitor
through fFest and wind. through rain aae
mud, or fee to "Old Kentuck" to suf1e,
ills We know not of. Such may be The
quandary Of some seeking the genera
good, but not SO Of us. We have had oul
minds made up long since, and thas beer
expressed in respectful terms 70 the Gen
eni u Headquarters Of the Department,
of the Missouri but all to no purpose -
We are doomed 70 hunt and scout, TO Skin.
uish and search for the Low, treaehsrous
striking, contemplate butternut traitor,
OF Pakedon.
Had there been any honor in taking
over 500 of these scamps prisoners, which
We Lave done since / last wrote you,
should have notified you of the fact, q
among our achievements, but We have fel.
that the least said about it the better. for
to swear them we're to acknowledge their
moral accountability-to keep them pris-
oners, we're to bug contamination, and to
kill them would be considered . shame.
With few exceptions more ignorant.
shabby, degraded, treacherous, lying gang
Of villains cannot be found even among
semi civilized or semi -barbarous tribes OF
the earth. 1t were a compliment to them
to say that they would compare fayorably
with the scourings of Northen peniten-
tlaries.
Since tho battle OF Silver Greek it has
been their policy 10 skulk in the brush,
murder the unsuspecting traveller, and
then hasten out of reach, or perhaps 90
home, and when taken, declare most posi-
lively that they ''never done nothing. -
We have been constantly engaged 10
scouting for these fiends and invariably
return with more or less prisoners. The
general programme of jail delivery adopted
BY the authorities will, fear, lead the
lst Iowa to adopt the Lane-J ennison prin-
ciple -of always losing prisoners beft
reaching camp. The fact is, the military
authorities are in dilemma as to the
treatment of these wretchss. IS they wish
to conduct the war upon known rules of
enlightened warfare. and this fendish
conduct was unlocked for by u.s. Scarcely
a day passes that does not bring accounts
of some Of their atrocities, numbering
defencelcss citizens or old men. Lest
your readers may think that am dealing
in figures and tropes and ignoring facts, l
viii give an account Of our last scout as
specimen of what we are doing, or rather
how We are wearing out man and horse.
and to what purpose.
On the 1St instant Ne we're notified "a
be ready at an hours notice to move with
all the able-bodied men of our command
with transportation and ten days ra.ions,
three days rations cooked. A busy hour
succeeded, and We waited further orders
till late in the night, when orders came to
march precisely at I o'clock a. M. on the
Sd inst. 1t appears that one Capt. Jack.
man and Capt. Marchbanks and Capt.
Net were committing depredations in
Bates, Henry and adjoining countiea-
Union men and plsnderiDg
them Of all they had Of value, and large
number of refugees fed under cover Of
night, and arriving at Sedalia, implorsd
aid of Gen. Halleck. and be ordered out
this expedition under Col. Geddes, of the
9Th Iowa. Their fofee was represented at
1000 to 1900 strong, and they had muir
dered in one or two instances men over 70
years old The expedition consisted ce
tour companies Of the 9th Iowa, portion
Of the Goth Indiana, section Of artillery
d the 1st Missouri, and four com panies Of
the lst Iowa cavalry. The infantry moved
in wagons.
Allbeing in readiness We marched from
camp At the hour designated, and the
frost, which filled the air. soon covered us
as i IN mid winter. A cold days march
Of 20 miles brought us to camp, having
walked about one half the distance on 40