The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1862-06-17

Last night Quartermaster Marshall came
back after four days ralions for the regi-
ment. He says that our advance guard,
consisting of the 39,h Ohio regiment,
had skirmish with the enemy yester
day, and that the whole of Pope's divis-
ion had been compelled to fall back three
miles, where they were waiting for rein
folcements from Buell.. The road past
our camp has been filled the whole day
with cavalry, artillery and infantry, NOV
ing southwark, and three battle lines are
now formed, the nearest of which is only
three miles from camp. Ii we have fail
ed to win an inordinate share Of glory at
Corinth, by brilliant passage at arms,
we have reaped great advantages in a
stfategica point OF view, while the evils
resulting from It's loss to the enemy must
be incalculable. They will now have to
abandon Fort Wright, Fort Pillow, Mem
phis, and allow the federal forces undis-
turbed communication Of the Mississippi
to the Gulf.
Yesterday, Surgeon After, Of the 3lst
Ohio, and your CORES pondent, went on
voyage of discovery to the deserted
camps, for the purpose of moralizing
over the emblems of departed greatness
that were everywhere visible, in the
shape OF butternut coats, pants and
threads OF blankets, and procuring relics.
After travelling for mile in southwest
direction, we reached the camping ground
lately occupied by Bragg and his irwin
chile host of veterans, mostly drawn from
the swamps Of Florida, and Alabama.
This camp stands directly on the line of
the Mobile r r., aud covered an area of
ten acres, guiltess of defences of any
kind, unless We except rude abattiS of
brush. Near the Railroad track hun
dreds of barrels of -four, meat, sugar,
moiasscs, rio7, 6yc.: had been pitched to
gether in pile, and burned Some oil
the hams were still smoking, while the
richest golden syrup run down on the
ground IN small streams. Hogsheads o
the best refined sugar were burst in. and
e their contents emF tied in the mud. Look
. IN whatever direction you please, and
: soldiers could be seen coming singy, or
i IN squads, with haversacks, camp kettles,
: boxes and old sacks, to delye into the
e mine Of sweets Prior 10 leaving, the
e rebels pitched everything that would
/ burn INTO the flames, tents, guns, blank
: cts, clothing, cartridge boxes, ammuni.
ton, wagons, harness, medical stores, all
t met the same fate AT one place eighty
| wagons were dawn together, nearly all
Y OF them new ones, but slightly burned.
+ The most ofthem can be repaired at a
5 trifilng cost. Eight corpses were found
. scattered over the camp, that the rebels
a had not taken time to bury but left ex-
4 posed, with hardly any covering As
one of the demoralizng tendencies OF
a war, let me state the fact, that one Of
: these bodies lay out in the hot rays oil
the sun, bloaed to a laothsome degree,
2 and covered with swarms of flies, and
a yet men were passing continually, laugh
+ ing and testing, with no more apparent
D concern, than as though it had been the
e carcass of horse The bodies are now
: decently inferred, and hope that | may
/ never witness such a sight again. While
tunlbhng around the debris Of some burn
, knapsacks | found a secesh letter, tho
9 original copy Of which send you, with
! but little hopes, however. that you viii
, be disposed to favor the writer's
whim. No doubt the fair readers of the
Guardian will appreciate The lady taste
From this camp we kept on towards Cor.
NTH, passing through woods that had
: been alive with squadrons of the enc
| my's cavalry and infantry. For a dis
lance of five miles below Corinth the
} ground is beaten hard, and not spear o
, grass is to be seen. None of their forti
4 ficatlons, however, were formidable
character, consisting, in the main, of low
e trenches and rifle pits, and | should
, Judge that their supply Of arli llery has
! been limited. The main point Of inter
|, est was the town Of Corinth, which
stands at the junction of the Mobile and
Ohio, and Charleston Railroads.. Ii
prosperous times it might have number.
ed thousand inhabitants. but now there
are but one or two families, too poor to
1 get away, remaining Many of the hou.
/ ses are built of brick OF inferior quality
| and beng used as they have been for the
t last four months, present anything but a
habitabe appearance. The female sem.
( mary stands in an open park in the cen
Ter of the town, and is quite an imposing
, edi6ee, built of white sandstone, and ca
, pable Of furnishing accommodations for
three hundred pupils. A suite of the
lower rooms was chosen by Beauregard
for his headquarters. The depo, is moth
ing but a miserable frame structure, with
canvas awnings, and is only kept from
falling down by The consciousness that
It is now supporting the stars and stripes,
that wave gloriously in the breeze from
the old pear shaped belirey. Numerous
tracks radiate from the depot in all di-
rections 10 the camps, enabling them to
transport a large force oftroops in a short
time. Negroes could be seen at all
points of the compass, grinning from the
deserted shop windows and doors, peer
inc curlously around the street corners.
thrustipg their heads out from behind
empty barrels, and emerging from the
stable lofts 1t is quite evident that
" massa's" fear Of the Yankees does not
extend TO the negroes. they being ready
I tn "A l..