Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-07-29
UNITED STATES STEAMER RICHMOND,

! UNITED STATES STEAMER RrcHMoyD, I
BELOW FIcKsBURe, July q, 1902
1 sent letter yesterday up tine river, and trus
| it is or its way to you, and this morning severa
/ letters were received by officers and men of a,
late date as July 9Eh, from Philadelphia, and BY
my not receiving any, I think you must be Il
! the country eating strawberries We are still
at anchor below FicksbuTy, and Davis squadron
is above with the ram Arkansas bstween, and
we are almost in as bad fix as the Squadron IN
the Chesapeake, with the M5Timsc threat ming
them all the time. The enemy are forilyiag, OF
else moving guns from one position to another
snd are prepared to give the different squadrons
a warm reception, as the Commanding officers
say the ram mus. be destrcye3-a thing easier
said than dole. It is confidently asserted, and
believe it true, that Flag Oficsr Farragut was
informed by deseTteTs that the ram was coming
down the morning she did, and he did not
believe it, and said nothing about it even to Flag
Officer Davis-aud there we All ay, especially Y
without having steam up, and she passed uu-
harmed; aud now there must be great exBendi-
ture OF life 20 destroy or capture a vessel which
might have been done hsd we all been under
steam We knew the vessel was up the YazOo,
whore We first went up, and Capt. Alden earn
estly desired force Of gunbOats sent up to cap
tura and destroy anything we might Ind there,
uLAL QeirNr Gt-lI. ana now IL utk5 pEOFEQ Q&lgeT-
Gus I do not know how others feel but / am
anxious and nervous, and wish was oct of this
hornets nest we seem to have got inJo. Oar
flag has not the head to command a squadron,
but would make a first rate captain of a ship,
and is always ready for a fight, and talks about
stirring them up and giving them fits, etc We
want IN army, and can do nothing without one,
snd we can run up and down here, losing a man
or two each time, and waste ammunition and
accomplish nothing.
Since Porter left we have lost the ruling
spirit, for ne combined judgment with his
daring. We have many on the list from lever
and disrrhea, the list changing daily, and I sup
pose it viii go through the ship. The officers,
having more comforts, are taking care of them
selves, and are comparatively well, but do not
think any OF Us will grow stout or cheerful IN
der the discipline we are subject to. We had
heavy rain yesterday nearly all day, and I
pitied our poor soldiers who were elcsmDed
nearly abreast Of it, without any shelter other
than the lsafy tents they had made; but they
are moving along briskly this morning and the
band played their most cheerful strains. The
rain made il cool al day yesterday, bus it was
very warm below, and 70 day, although there is
& fresh breeze, still it is on the wrong side Of
the house, and my ro0En is very warm. / an
pretty well broken out with priclzly heat, but it
does net sesIn TO trouble me as much IS it used
to, and cannot complain Of my health and as
long as ] an well IS I an now, and am not in
jurrd. 1 shonld be very content.
July i8.b-5Iy letters end abruptly, ny own
one, bus we live Ia such constant state Of ex-
citeneut tdss one is called off from q pleasant
c7rrssplndencs to do something or see some
thing. One Of our acting masters has parmis-
sion TO return home (AIr Coggshall) on account
of il-health. He is 2 broken down man, and
was one when he entered the service, and 1
think the ship is rid of an incubus He is a
brother Of bIr. Co~gsh8ll. who married George
Jones' sister. Mr. Cummings letter from home
Yesterday informs him that the naval grade bill
has passed, and that he is OF viii be Heuten-
ant commanding. So suppose there must be
many changes in ihe squadron. Mr. Dunn
seemed to have the idea there was to be grads
of feet pHyTnasters, and if so, suppose l must
be one, but if am to do the duty Of paymaster
Of ship and feet too, l hope the bin hss not
passed.
The Ran was moving round yesterday, move
to get out Of the way Of tie bomb shells fred
from Davis squadron, but she moved up that
way, AMI we expected to hear Of an engage
ment, but she quietly returned to her old an
choTage under the guns Of the tort. Some de-
serters came on board the Hartford last night,
and report that our shot went through and
through the Rsm, and she had many men in
jured so that now we do not anticipate any at
tack on our hest, but / wish she was destroyed
and out Of the way, for we w5uld all be less
anxious and sleep soundeT.
Two of the gunboats have goae down the
river, one towing the other. The latter one is
Nichols vessel which was badly injured by shot
in passing the batteries, although | believe no
one was hurt She goes to New Orleans, think
"a ror,air Ta hayro tho yoirtfrl rr1r1or fhat
ton Rouge has been recaptured and some of
the army officers believe it. We begin to think
it true, for none of our transports come up aud
it was known that there was quite a camp some
forty miles back with troops estimated from
$4,000 down to 5000, and there were not left
more than II or 1400 men TO hold il. Every
thing az home is csntering on Richmond and
the West is pretty nearly left to take care Of it.
self We have dropped down the river clear Of
all batteries prepared to take in printing, and
Just as we reached the st0re-sbip, she was Or
dered % alorgside the Gag, and here we are.
It was only last night he gave the order for Us
to drop down, and this moraing he must have
changed his mind. So matters seem to 20 in |
the squadron. We missed the ice we had been
obtaining daily, while we were above Yicksburg,
very much indeed all day yesterday, but last
night there was some carted over for rs, and
we luxuriate again, besides the army drove in
some beet cattle, and we are to nave some OF
that today, and, as it cost nothing, saves our
other provisions, we are content. The mail goes
up to-day and one we hope, arrives to morrow.
I shall expec, a line from you. We viii prob
ably remain here until the ram is destroyed or
captured and msy remain until Vicksburg IS
taken, but thss place cannot be held without an
amy so that We may 60 down and clear the
river once more l an raid we viii have to
do it wherever there are any bluffs ! have had
breakfast. my dearest, and such good one, thai
1 feel in remarkably good humor, but we are
again hurried with our mail as the courier has
some distance to walk over to the other side
We have dropped so far down the river. We
are about moving further still, as we sre going
to coal from coal vessel up here and [ am glad
of it, always liking to have the ship full, saving
our machinery from being damaged by any
chance shot coming through the side. We have
heard more of the deserteI's story, and more
damage Wzs done than we had any reason 70
expect, our shot going through the ram, and,
what we thought was our shot flying up in the
air ike marbles, must lave been spliutsrs from
the iron-clad roof and sides. You must give
much love to mother aud all at Southboro and
60 all at yoar pleasant home at Kellys, to Father
and ell at S ,tneIville, and to John and Caroline
aud 70 ali our dear friends in Charlestown.
am very anxious to hear from you nv darling
70 know what you are doing, where you are and
what You have heard from Washington, and
the news from Charles Send much love when
you write. Ny letters are rather tame, and one
would mink there would be much to write about,
but there is very little. Accept my devoted