Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1862-02-28
IuuR ARMV1clo JURISPRUDENCE
CAMP DEFIANCE, KANSAS, J

| lOrtS (I camp ll!e H0Ve VlSItcu Us SOillSWLlis
heavily of late. In this delightful c'imat
we have rain, snow, and sleet, freezes an,
thaws, following each other in quick success
sion, making 1t far more disa rcable than tn
colder region of Iowa. Fora week past W,
have had unusually severe weather. Las
Monday night violont storm of wind ant
rain prevailed, accompanied by heqvy thun
der. Orders were given after lda, to with
draw the guards from all the posts bat two
but by some. means two of those ordered t
be vacated were mis- cd by the Sergc ant, and
two Of the Spsingdale boys were left on post
from seven iMthe evening till after one in the
morning, and would have remained there all
night had We net heard one of them, whose
post was near our tent, calling Justify for the
Corporal. Some specimens. of ,Springdale
swearing were, shown US that were highly
creditatle to the place, but the boys were
iorced to acknowledge their inability to do
the subject justice. ,.s
can say but little in reference to our fu-
ture movements. We have lsarned that
Lane is to be placed at the head Of 10000
men; that he is empowered to carry on the
war IN his own way that he has the prvi-
lege Of making his own selections from the
rcgiments Of the Western States that he is
to be we'll supplied with artillery, &C., &C.,
but farther than this we are all in the dark.
Rumor still has it that this regiment is to be
left behind as part Of the force necessary to
keep the line Of communication open between
tho advati6e ilcelamnn and Gl leaveifwo; th. =
However this may be, it is well understood
that strong effJrts are being made in certain
quarters to disband us and break up the reg
iment entirely. I & 3H ~ tss ~
A portion of the forces raised in Kansas
were mustered in as."IIome Guards" for the
term of SIX months, and as their time has
now about expired, their officers are working
to preserve their posi itlonSin the Unises States
service, as Home Guards, for the full term of
three years. The Sd regiment was acccptc
and placed in the field before its ranks were
full. There was an obvious Necessity for
such course, as Kansas was at that time
threatened with Invasion from Missouri, and
t is conceded that the forces known as Lanes
Brigade were thrown upon the border just in
he nick of tine to prevent such invasion
Dur ranks are not yet filled to the nr,xilt,rn
number, and consequently there is an nten-
ion on the part Of others to force US out of
he service ,'We'shall see what we shall
zee.
There is nothing doing however, in tic way
# active operations against the enemy. Ihc !
ebel gang that infested the border herea-
'outs before our coming have either disband-
ID or removed to other localities.
Our teams so a d. Us uIivc into Missouri, |
Dragging, with no other escort than squad of
avalry, and return without nolestatlon. lhe
III william Hartman, oi whom spoke III i
oimer letter, has been brought to trial, and
is understood was sentenced to die. He, |
owever, has managed to make his esca .Je, |
hough it seems somewhat uncertain whether |
e got off alive. The guard who had him in |
barge has since said that the prisoner was
G cloy take from him 10y party of oui
wn men, who threatened hun with death il
le betrayed them. This seems somewha |
impossible, but may yet be true, as a long
st Of dark deeds had bean laid Up against |
he old wretch, reaching as far back as the
lays Of Sc.
Picking up scrap Ct an old newspaper the
;hcr day, | saw therein notice Of Gen.
.ane's speech to the Indiana 24t.,, d d.livered
t the house Of M2jor Berry, (secesh,) at
springfield, and stlaightway was reminded
i some funny thiags that happened at that
ame house upon ths. same occasion. Major
Berry had betaken himself to the ranks of
'lice's army, lcavirg lis family, hi, D anita
;ons, and portion OF his negroes and other
took to the tender Tercies ut the Northern
andlts. The Kansas regiments had fixed
heir camp in meadow belonging to the
Iajor, Immediately across the r0ad from his
plcndid residence, and Lane had chosen the
ouse as his headquarters. One evening the
indiana oath CAME down from their camp
ear by with their fine band, to give the Gen
raj friendly greeting. appeared upon
be balcony in front, and began one of his
hunder and Lightning speeches. concerning
he rebellion and it's cause, and the way to
rush it, &C., the ladies of the household be-
3s present on the platform. The boys con-
luded that il their General could thus pub
ely preach abol;tionism, it might give point
0 his remarks if they would at the same
ime privately practice it. So while the
ieneral held the Hoosiers spell-bound by
lis denunciations Of the wicked system, every
emaining negro on the premises, save one,
child, silly took up quarters in camp. This
proceeding aroused the feelings of Mrs. B. to
terrible ptch, ana early IN tie morning she
ppeared in camp in search Of the runaways.
he mother Of he Child that was left behind,
ras easily pcrsu ,d9,! to return. She told the
Mistress to get her baggage and she would go
loue with fler. Accordingly the mistress got
he baggage together and came back to get
he gal, bat found her missing. Then follow
d hunt for the gal during which the bag,
age disappeared. Another look for the bag
age. anu the gal was gone again. While
his Interesting game OF hiue and seek. was
,eng played, q squad of the "boys" repaired
O tho, Berry mansion, from whence they
hortly returned, bringing with them the
hild, which was given at once to its mother.
Unnatural as it may appear, the woman now
Utterly refused to go with the Il istress, who
vas necessarily obliged to return with nary |
.igger left. Poor old woman, what pity!-I
The boys enjoyed a hearty laugh at tn. Gen
rails expense, who by this affair was obliged |
o leave his pleasant quarters and return to
amp. 1t may appear little singular that
ii the slaves at the hotel in the town dsap- |
,eared during the same night, and thus Lane |
md Hunter were both left minus breakfast |
t Is said that the hotel keeper came to Hun
er in a towering passion, stating his loss and !
lskiF permission to search Lanes camp for
he missing chattels. / have no means of
lnowing the truth OF thls, Dut IL Is certain
hat the slaves in question came to Kansas, |,
safely, accompanying the army as "a as La
mar, where they, wit, some hundreds OF
'copu abands,' were sent ahead under the
!, 2derShip of Major General H.. II. Moore,
Chaplain Of the Sd Regimen, who brought
mis- black brigade safely to Lawrence. t,.a!
In a convers ation with James, one of the
aotel slaves above alluded to, he informed me
he had for mon hs been preparing for an es-
cape. While his master and other slave hold
is in that 4yiqinity were shipping their ne
groes South, James begged hard to be lef. be
hind to serve "massa,". which request was
finally granted, and James, with his family
and a sister, we're allowed to remain, Who
v xould rot ), ,rve "massa" in the same way /?