The new South. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867, 1862-09-06
A Wait from Fort Welles.
PORT ROYAL, Sept. 2, 1862.

unfinished letter, of his valuable piece ofproperty
He sh ould down his windows better, that if he
has any. However, as deem the thing "too good
. to be lost" as the papers say, send it to you.
And as possessed neither superscription nor
signature, the writer will unquestionaby feelmuch
obligedto you ifyouwill publish it-as there would
seem to be no other way for him to get copy to
forward to his friend. Yours, respectfully,
NJ. voN H., Vol. Engr. Regt
Encampment of -- Pioneers, at the inchoate
city of Hilton Head, s. c., August, 1862.
MY DEAR C.-When I say "Pioneers,"
don't understand me to mean, if you please, those
intensely bearded, bear-skinned, chamois-aproned
individuals, whom in times past we were wont to
admire, as the most conspicuous and sstallest'
adornment offered to the public syeion N. Y. Regi-
city of Hilton Head has not got along so far.
It has as yet neither Russ pS{ements nor graded.
avenues to march over, nor radmiring Broadways,
nor even an eligible Park wherein to exhibit its
troops proficiency in the difficult science of mill
tary evolutions And yet its steps in the line of
general advancement have been gigantic, immense.
Its moving sands were sodden at the first, with the
blood Of kissing and serpeDtine rebellion, and
when the nests of the reptiles hereabout were shell
leo out, anu DlOWu Ill lrdSucutSldr dCTOSs ''Shui
Creek,'' and those marvellous machines of fire and
smoke and smut, our gunboats, which have sprung
into existence like the tabled dragons teeth, just to
suit the occasion, then it was the Pioneers were
here landed-as were others ere now, hard by old
jamestown, or on Plymouth rock.
This young city Of Hilton Head, however, is
very greatly ahead, in comparison with other foun-
dational settlements, as regards its immunity from
draw backs. Its complete freedom from all unu-
sual sickness or epidemics-forw which thank God! y
and all attacks Of foes, is remarkable. New colo
nies have heretofore been proverbialy subject to
assaults of various sorts, while this has not The
sayages, or more politely, the aborigines, who
were native to the soil, and who SC willingly and so
hastily made way for us to land, have not since
made any show of returning &C to hurt or to make
us afraid And we have now, since that exciting
period Of the original chivalrys skedaddle, so well
established ourselves to be able to boast of pos
sessing camps ofwell-drilled men on every hand,
and outpost and picket arrangements the most sys-
tematic and perfect. We have indeed been bust
" engaged here as if with view to permanen-
cy. We have already, inso briefa period of time,
thrown up dwelling houses, stores and hotels and
established Printing Office, Post Office, and Gus
tom House. Have laid ont the lines ofan ordnance
yard, and have established commissary and quar-
termaster departments of the utmost efficiency,
and remarkable completeness. And have erec-
VI,
warehouses and offices. and governmental depots,
which are well filed with the easual stores, provi-
sional and military. Our rulers have also, with
kindness not overridden by keenness, vouchsafed
the means ofliying, and prepared places ofprotec-
ton freely for helpless contrabands," the aged,
the manned, the deserted. They have also con-
structed roadsand bridges, and built causeways and
wharves, some of which are of inestimable conve-
nience and vast magnitude; and have thrown up,
with rapidity and power approaching to Hercule-
an, connected and connecting series of works of
fortifcation, from point to point, which have been
and arethe admiration of Engineers of other lands.
How would the insanely besotted, weak-headed
and short-sighted offspring of the Jeff Davis heresy
stare, could they even at this early stage of our
proceedings behold what has been accomplished,
in the line Of fexaltation upon their once familiar,
utnow, forever lost &C Sea Island shores! Time
might have rolled on, and ages passed away, yet
never would the unimproving chivalry have be-
fhoupht themselves to advance q pace beyOnd the