The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1862-04-04
Col. moors,s Regiment.

L
March cath, 1863. ]
MEssRs. EDrToRs wrote to you from
Cairo, lii, amidst much confusiot,, and il
is not much better now. We left Cairo
: on the evening Of the z2d, ut dark, and
a reached Paducah, Ky, just Mt the dawn
, of day, and after some two hours delay
j we started up the Tennessee river on Sun
day morning.
AT Paducah | saw large amount of
cannon balls, shells. shot, telegraph wires
and other things, including some cotton
bales that had received many shots--al1
Of them trophies from the late battles of
Forts Henry and Donelson. Here my
self and others received some useful and
quite scientific explanations from some
coal-black negroes that were standing by.
| And | thought to myself, "A. w. Har-
Ian receiving knowledge from negro =
Great God
/ I spent most of the Sabbath on the hur-
ricane deck, viewing the surrounding
county, Notwithstanding it was showing
lightly good share Of the time. have
not had fair view of the sun since we
left Hannibal, No., and from the contin-
ual dampness of the weather and our
crowded situation, some forty soldiers
are now lying in the hospital, with
some so more complaining. Truly, whis-
ky and large amounts of fruit with which
some of the men gorge themselves, are
worse than the secesh in the open field.
| Now, Mr.. Editor, let me try my hand
at description of the Tennessee River
and the surrounding country. The river
is generally twice as vide as the Dcs
Moines that is, ! mean to say from six to
eight hundred yards, remarkably straight,
and ! know by the shape of the willows
on the banks that the shores do not wash
much. At present it is very high, being
from three 10 four feet over the banks
| Tn bottoms are narrow, say from quar-
tes ~ e q MI mile wide, but seldom more
As ron ascend the river from Paducah, or
/ the right shore, the land rises very gently
from the river back, with no very high
land in sight, but on the left the hills
soon make their appearance, generally
from $50 to $50 feet high, resembling
very much the southern portions of Ohio
and Indiana. The timber on the hills IS
generally oak, aud looks finely. On the
J bottoms there is sweet gum, gray ash,
hickory aud beech, all interspersed.
! We arrived at Fort Henry just after
, DARK, and it was dark ID reality we could
see nothing. We, however, went ahead
some miles further up, and lay by until
morning in order to be sure Of safe pass.
, age BIZ the remains of the railroad bridge
that General Grant had destroyed before
he attacked Fort Donelson. Here the
highlands impinge more closely on the
i river, and are considerably higher, say
some 800 to 400 feet, generally clothed
Wi a eas1 with occasional patches of pitch
] pine. TO an admrer Of nature, as | am
: they look handsome indeed, and to the
, speculative mind that looks to the future
those hills are really enchanting. Time
will make this one of the finest countries
in the world, for those hill-sides shall vel
DO clothed with vineyards far more fruit
full than those in the vicinity Of Cincin.
f natl, or even the Rhine itself, and zach
of these beautiful conc-shaped hills shall
} have cottage perched upon its summit
! and occasionally more pretending man
sion in some conspicuous place.
, The settlements are sparse, the improve
ments rough and uncouth, but can vel
remember when the whole country fol
. miles above st. Louis, and even what nov
. constitutes a large portion Of thai city
was no better improved. And, in short
t Cop Almighty has preserved this country
: almost in a state Of nature Tor another
race to inhabit OF course we will nil
up to some extent and in time become q
homogeneous people.
] had stopped writing to walk on deck
: to take some fresh air, and see prepare
lions for another railroad, that is, high
embankments ready for the iron rail. but
know not the name of the projected road
: The river is said to be 40 feet above low
: water mark, and just three feet higher
4 than ever it has been known to be before