The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-07-18
Correspondence Cnnoionatl CONNIE ciai
THE SIEGE or VICKSBURC.

The Cut On---VIew CT the city
what the uortars are Doing
.-HeBeI sm--SIlseelIaneOus
NEAR VIoKsBUBo, July 3, 1862.
EDS. COMMERCIAL The siege Of Vicks-
burgl Who thought such thing would
ever occru? Who either North or Sonth,
did not believe that New Orleans and
Memphis included Vicksburg and all
other intermediate points? Yet il is
fact Of which have already had verb
fication---that the siege has commenced,
and now familiar noise tells me in
thunder tones that IL is progressing rap
/ idly.
Missippians, so said mot the people,
but the military authorities Of this city,
few weeks since; do not know how 10
surrender Uncle Sam has wisely sent
q few tutors 10 give them lessons in the
art Of capitulalion, and the prospect now
is that they will be very much mortar
fed TO learn them.
Commodore Davis brought four NOR
tar boats down the river with him.
These be yesterday had placed in posi-
ton, so as to play upon the upper part Of
the city and the upper batteries. They
commenced operations at about noon, and
have been quito active since. They are
very fayo.ably located, being beyond
the range Of the rebel guns, and hidden
from their view behind thick timber
point.
rnH "Uur UFF.'
The canal Of which l spoke in my
last letter, is rapidly approaching com.
! pletion. The borrowed contrabands are
working in IL very industriOusly, and
think il will be finished in three or fonr
days The steamboat Champion was sent
up the river last evening to borrow"
another insiaiment of darkies.-Ihe
force now at work number between five
and six hundred. The planters in this
neighborhood are very indignant, Of
course, at the prospect Of having their
land overlooked, as the cut off will
undoubtedly overflow IT, They say that
it will be an injury to the State of Louis
lana, and are really astonished that the
Government should be willing to endan-
ger a mile of their sacred soil, in its de-
termination TO put down a rebellion to
which they lent aid and comfort TO the
full extent of their ability. at seems
id strange" said planter TO Gen.
Williams, yesterday, shat the Federal
Government can't whip the rebels, as they
call tehm, without hurting the State Of
Louisiana"
The negroes at work on the cut Off I'M
derstand full well what the resutof their
labor for Uncle Sam will be. have heard
many of them rejoice TO think that the
cotton field upon which they have work
cd for years will be obliterated, and
that the prospect is, their masters will
have no further use for them. / do not
believe there is one among them who
would regret 10 hear of the total annihi-
lation Of the whole Stale. Not few of
them seem to understand the provisions
of the conliscation bill, and frequently
hint to the Federal authorities that their
masters are in the rebel service.
VIEW OF THE CITY-wHAT THE MoRTARs
ARE DOING.
A splendid view ofth city of Vicks
burg can be obtained from the opposite
shore, which is reached by crossing the
peninsula from where our fleet is au-
chored--a distance of about a mile and
a half From the Louisiana side the city
can be seen quite as plainly as Cincinnati
can be seen from the ferry landing al
Covington. BY the aid Of powerful
spy glass, the movements of men in the
streets and on the house tops and piaz
zas, can be disccrned without the least
difficulty. The time of day can be read
from the dial of the Court House clock,
and every chime and stroke can be heard
rs audibly almost as if we were directly
under the hammer of the rebellious in
Dictator" This being the case, a spIen-
did opportunity is presented for witness
ing the effects of the mortar shells thrown
into this refractory burgh. In company
with a number Of gunboat officers and
others, took up "strong position in
front Of the doomed city, where Commo-
dores Davis and Porter were paying their
respects to the different parts of it. We
saw several shells fall directly in the
center Of the town. One of them landed
in the middle of the principal erect, and
made an excavation large enough for an
ordinary house. 1t did not explode, but
} buried itself deep in the earth. The
fragments of another went through the
Baptist Church in three or four different
places, making a complete wreck of it,
Another burSt in the air and unroofeC
two houses. OF course we could not see
distinctly the effects Of every shot, as the
greater number of them landed in streets
J obscured from our vision, but we saw
enough to convince us that the city coulC
not hold out long against a continued
attack by the mortars.
REBEL DARBAUIsM.