The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1862-06-10

mining the persuasion to which these
fellows belong, or at least in which they
have been reared. Some of their oaths
derive their flavor from camp meeting
"reminiscences. Others excel as close
communion swearers, and superfuously
damn the men who wouldn't damn their
mules. Still others exotic, adorned with
any amount Of tropical verbiage, and
and rounded off into the most brilliant
periods, betokehing their parentage from
some old antiquated prayer book, while
some merely swear for the fun of the
thing, useless, Goddess, sinful wretches, a
curse to themselves, humanity and the
world in general
The quickest way in which the wagon
can be extricated, is to take off the mules
and unload the goods. Of course this
consumes much time, and will account
for the slowness Of army operations. AS
we approach Cornlh, the country as
sumes more inviting aspect. Large
fields, once well-cultivated and producing
flourishing crops Of cotton, could be seen,
with the family mansion surrounded by
groves Of locust and mulberry trees,
standing in the CENTER while in the rear
were scattered the little white washed
cottages Of the negroes. Cotton is plan.
ted in long parallel rows, about two feet
apart, and averaging from three TO four
stalks in hill. Sometimes it is sown
in drills, but not often, as i, is harder to
be picked and does not ball as readily.
After the second picking, which produ
ces the refuse cotton, and occurs in the
fall months, the stalks grow hard and
crisp, resembling somewhat the rosin
weed Of our prairies. In this state it is
gathered by the negroes into piles and
burned, the burrows are levelled down,
and preparations made for getting in an
other crop. New ground produces the
most readily, and ii is nothing strange
TO see large clearings in the forests,
! scratched here and there with the pillow,
among stumps and the debris Of fallen
trees, covered with the stalks of that pro.
duct claimed to be the king of COM
merce by Its enthusiastic devotees here,
who lord it, whip in hand, overa gang OF
negroes on their white pine plantations,
and fondly imagine that the world will
do them homage. Talk with one Of
them three minutes, and you will find
, that his soul is bound up in it. Its pro
= bable market price, whether the spring
rains will injure the tender shoots. the
foreign demand. prospects of an eastern
monopoly, all these are prolific themes
for words and anxious speculation.
; Large numbers of contrabands, and
some citizens, continue to flock to our
camps. The former class generally look
E as though they had been we'll used by
+ their masters. but are overjoyed at the
sight of federal flag, and perform i'm
poriant services in camp, which tends
greatly to tighten the many duties of the
soldier One evening just before dres:
parade, noticing something ola commo
ton near the lines, | went forward TO as
certain the cause, and found that poor
Union family had arrived with all their
! worldly goods, consisting Of a couple Of
l broken down horses, a bundle of bed
n quilts, one spinning wheel, two rheumat
= ic chairs, basket of crockery and sacl
, half full Of corn meal. All of these ar,i
Giles were strapped on one of the horses
+ while the other was ridden ala .mascu
s line by the mother, holding in her arm
# a sickly looking infant that cried ;nces
sanity, and smoking with the creates
complacency corn-cob pipe. The res
: of the children, eight in number, trudg
t, ed along afoot, while the father, who wa
\ the most dismal looking specimen OF
, hen pecked husband that it has eve
been my fortunate lot to encounter, bro
: up the rear. He was most cringing an
: obsequious, and dared not express a
:, opinion on any subject without FIRST con
h sulting Bets. The children were rag
!, ged, half-starved, frightened lookin
things, who gazed with wondering eve
Z upon the crowd OF soldiers around them
:, Kind words soon treasured the refugees
i presents Of food, clothing and none
were made, and the woman began to un
bosom their troubles, cautioning Jack
meanwhile, TO keep an eye on the things
and not be gaping round like as thougI
! he'd never seed any body before
Strengthening herself up and dealing a
{ audaclous musquitoe deadly blow, TIL
good woman addressed her admiripe au
ditory as follows:
1--WE had small place down in tn
lower part of Tuscumby County. anc
war calculatin to stay on it and mind oul
own business, but them there thieve!
r that skulk round the swamps would't lie,
T US, but kept bothern all the while steal
in our hogs and chickens and the like O.
that. They knew, too, that we was Tn.
ION folks, and that had mind of nv
; own, and tongue of my own, and knew
S how TO use it," Here she cast sipni6
+ cant look at her husband, who groaned
audibly. And SO they cleared out and
!. let us alone for while. Jack kent a
diggin away all the time, saying that we
bad better leave, that they wouldn't give
I us any peace, but knew that Jack was
D a coward and told him So l h; d heard
tell bout wimen in the old Convolution.
> how they had fought, and thinks |, I'm
! as good grit as them was. But | must
hurry with my story, as we've got twelve
9 miles TO go tonight, and Gen. Pope says
we must be there by ten O'Clock Day