The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-03-22
many spirits in the air seeking the peace tina. is

many spirits In the air seeking the peace that is
not Of earth.
THE THIRD BAY's BATTLE.
At O'Clock our guns opened on the enemy
and our 6re was returned from 20 pieces. The
firing did little harm. The enemys shot passed
over our heads. Our cause was growing darker
This day must win or loose the battle Al
yet the fortunes Of war incline not to our side.
We have reason to be alarmed, but hope and
courage are strong couDsellors and add strength
to weak arms.
Zen. Sigel observes rev positions for our op
erations. We plant six batteries at different
points commanding their principal forces. A fire
OF ball is siattering the space with its roar.
The enemy's list of mortality is swelling
They do not understand our great advantages
They turn pale and hesitate to advance. No time
is given them for reflection. They are siezed in
their souls perplexity, while judgment tosses
in fevered sleep.
Our army move forward.
| Our entire infantry is engaged. The rebels
| meet our dreadful voileys Of musketry for q
quarter Of an hour, and their FIRE slackens.
Still our batteries are forcing the verdict Of
the outraged nation into their startled souls.
The cannon answers the masketry-thc mus
kerry replies to the cannon.
Every iIch OF ground appears alive with
troops. Every twig1 and dry Iesf seems ablaze
The balls are falling like the large drops of 9
| summer shower. The Pentecost Of war is de-
scending.
The rebels can endure no longer the sheet oil
fame out of which go death and pain in :
thousand forms They have lost their faith in
their bad cause and themselves They ty, and
! . roar Of victory follows them as the waves oil
the river the lean and hungry shore. They turn
| not back. Two of their Generals have received
their mortal wounds, and the wcrd is: "Save
himself who can"
The Yankees have beaten them, and their star
has set over the vcrdureless ridge of this hard.
fought field.
The birds twitter over head. The sun shines
walmeE, and clearer. The atmosphere of blood
is purified by the feeling that it was shed in a
sacred cause.
The spring greets the victors, and kisses their
burning brows with the same pure lips that call
the triumph Of principle, for Nature is the or
der and the law.
The rebels are Fastening away. The Federal.
lists pursue the broken columns, and the breezes
come waiting the victorious shouts, and the in
sense Of the youthful March, revealing that all
Is well, and that the future is secure.
THE LOSS ON BOTH SIDES.
Our loss cannot be known at this time, but it
must be in the vicinity Of l 10000 killed and
some 300 wounded, most Of them slightly
Our officers, contrary to the pist experience of
this war, suffered little, though they exposed
themselves recklessly, as Americans always will
do on the battlefield.
The rebel loss will never, presume, be ac-
curate'y ascertained, as they are lying all over
the ridges, in the ravines, among the brush and
along the roads. The casualties among the enc
my, however, we're far greater than with us, and
three thousand. Of which nine or ten hundred
were in killed, am confident, would not be an
over statement Of their loss. Their officers fell
thick and fast in the engagement, and their
aud Lieutenants, were at least double ours
The Secession officers were generally brave
and dashing, and fought in so praiseworthy a
manner as to leave US no regret, so far as cour.
age goes, that they were born upon our own be-
loved soil
THE HEROES OF THE FIELD.
1t is not possible to mention all who distin.
guished themselves, or those who did not for
men and officers seemed determined to do all
that lay IN nerve and limb to shed luster on our
arms, and grid the g'ories of three illustrious
days with the lsurels the great julius so ambi
tiously, but deservedly wore beneath the eagles
of eternal Rome.
Under the circumstances, cannot forbear 10
mention as believe Gen. Curtis will, the heroic
conduct of Generals Sigel, Carr, Davis and As
both; Colonies Dodge, Osteshaus, Hendricks,
Vandevier, Gensel, Schaeifer, Benton, Ellis,
Heron, and host of Majors and Captains in
fact, have heard of no complaint in any quar-.
ter. All shone like heroes in heroic cause, and
were worthy the fame. past and future, of the
fl,o tO
her proud title Of the Model Republic.
BENIGHrED CONDITION OF ARKANSAS.
The semi-barbarous condition of Arkansas
has become proverbial in this country; and yet
no one who has not travelled in the State can
have just idea of the ignorance and immoral
ity that prevail there. II foreigner were set
down in this Patagonia OF places, aud told that
1t was one of the component parts of the Great
Republic, famous for its school houses, railways
and newspapers, he would not believe story so
apparently self.contradictory.
Here in Benton county one sees very few in.
dications of civilization, and it would seem an
anomaly if loyalty ever could have fourished on
so barren soil. The population is not now
over eighteen hundred, though it once boosted
four thousand, and the dwellings are usually
miles apart, and made of logs and mud, present
ing most cherries and squalid appearance
No one is at home save women and children,
and the old men, and very few of the last,
even those of sixty years who were not diseased
having been impressed into the rebel armv The
women are only ouch in name, and their sex, in
absence OF physiological demonstration, must
be taken Oh faith. Tall, meagre, -sal!ow, with
hard features ard large bones, they would ap.
pear masculine, if they were not too attenuated
t, suggest the possibility of health or strength.
They drink whiskey and smoke as freely as the
men, often chew tobacco, and 60 about swear.
ing in discordant tones and expectorating skill
fully, ana are as hidroes as any Topic tian troll.
lopes that the most proli6cally iepraved mind
can imagine.
Very few Of the common people-and Hcav.
en- knows they are common enough-can read or
write; and it is not usual to find but one or two
in a township so blessed beyond his kind. Ig
norance and crime are iDseperable companions,
and it is no wonder vice here assumes many of
its lowest and most disgusting forms. The life
led is one of brutalized sense and dissipation,
practical amalgamation, gambling and fighting,
are the end and aim Of Arkansas existence Not
many of the people have been out of the State
(iust think Of being that has no idea beyond
or'above this B9ta) and they live, if Imay en-
ploy so inappropriate verb, and die here, un-
penetrated by a ray OF beauty, unliited by a
hope of Advancement uudeveloped by thought
of change.
Among some of the farmers in this county are
men of considerable intelligence, but they are
generally from other States. Tie true Arkan-
sian knows nothing and learns nothing. He re-.
CARDS education in every form as Yankee in
vention that has a tendency to interfere with
the institution of Slavery, which many of the
poor whites adore, because they own no ne.
groes.
THE UNION SENTIMENT OF ARKANSAS
With several of the more intelligent people
here, and with come of the prisoners, have
cOnversed on the subject of the Union sentiment
in Arkansas, and they say the people, strange
as it may seem, would never have gone with
the Confederacy if they had been allowed to de-
termine the question for themselves.
Throughout the entire State men went as
emissaries of Secession, and told the people
they must 60 out of the Union, il they did not
want to be despoiled of their slaves, and ruled
over by the Yankees, who would compel them
to perform all mental Offices Their property,
their wives, their homes, their very children
would be taken from them; they would exchange
positions with their negroes and the latter be
made their masters.
These arguments even the Arkansans could
comprehend, and in few weeks after the diffu-
sion of such nefariOus sentiments, the State was
init o;t A