The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-11-29
Army Corfespo ndence.
ToMPKINsvILLE. Ky Nov Is lS6,

Do"iihS Ureeh the lUth inst Tor Glasgow,
thirty-six miles distant We.arrived there
about 3 o'clock p. nj, Of the 18th. The
marches were easy, and the distance made
without any difficulty by the men. The
teams, however, had all they could do to
got through. They were very heavily
laden, and the road was hilly, rough, and
dusty, with scarcity of water The horses
and mules We're quite thin, not having
yet recovered from the long march from
Frankfort to Bowling Green. =.
The country between Bowling Green
and Glasgow, is still a part of. the great
Cavern region, and is full of large sink
holes or basins, such as l described as
Astounding along the road this side OF
New Haven. Caves are SO numerous
through here that they have lost their
former interest. All along the road they
may be seen opening their huge jaws; and
many of them are said to be unexplored.
l have visited quite number Of those
subterranean regions, and find them all
bearing a great similarity to each other
They are generally divided off into large
and small apartments, decorated with sta
lactites, some of which are very beautiful,
and arranged along the vast domes that
overarch the rooms, with SO much regu>
| Iarity AID precision, that it is difficult to
believe that they are the mere freaks Of
chance. In those that have not been
smok Ell by the torches, the stalactical de
y tpn. g 4, Il,
! ter in the dim light Of few candles like
niyriads of diamonds. The walls of these
( apartments are equally unique, and fantas-
! tic in their decorations In some cases
the long eide. of the rooms seem to be
diaped with snowy-whIte curtains. hang
! ing carelessly down III heavy fold, with
! here and there an elephants head or
+ lions head protrudinr through from be-
hind Human forms, IN all conceivable
positions and ROBBED in aiabaster whiteness
can, with a little help of the imagination
be discernod in every direction, gazing at
you through, the dim light Of the candles,
arranged along the walls and Ia the hooks
OF the rooms The floors are generally
wet and more or less muddy. In but one
instance | found an apartment which
seemed to be clean and mudless This
was in a cave near Glasgow Ii had been
2 lHc
on which 1t was located (the mouth Of the
cave being small, 1t was walled up and
door put in } No one was allow Ell TO en-
ter with any other light than a lantern
Through this precaution the staiactcal
and s,aiacmItlcai formations were preserv-
ed In their primitive purity. About 800
yards from the mouth was a circular room
problbly % feet IN diameter, and from
10 10 feet high-the roof dipping to one
! side. The floor of this room. resepbled,
at a first glance, an apartment filed with
with snow balls, from the size Of a mans
fist To that of barrel On one aide was
I a beautiful pyrimidal formation, some 6
| feet high, handsomely draped with sheet
Of stalagmte, apparently hanging down
! oyer the sides like tieeces Of pure white
/ wool All around the walls OF the apart
meGt hung ileecy drapIngs Of ,hi. kind.
and 81 regular were some of them that,
had not seen similar ones IN other ca
verns. could hardly have been convinced
tina: they were solid rock. in the centre
of this room hangs one Of the finest for
nations | ever ,lw. 1t consists OF seven
pendants-six of them a-e arranged IN an
obiong; and the seventh. EnIch is much
the largest, hangs from the GENIE They
resemble group OF Immense IcIc!eS. ana
measure from three 20 eight feet in Iens' TN.
Immediately beneath them, in "A beautiful
snowy bed, rise up seven exactly similar
/ staiagnites 10 those above the TWO cen
tire ones from above ana below nearly
touch. After learing this room We pass
a narrow passage just large enough 10 let
a man pass through. This passage is
about 40 feet long. At the erd Of it is
another room. but less striking in its fea-
lures. Beyond this are nnumerable apar,.
i
/ directions but | was informed that none
OF the other looms yet explored were as
attractive the first one. aud !, therefore,
abandoned further explorations. might
give you a volume of descriptions of these
singular regions could i take time 10 ex-
piore them. But as we are hurried along
through the country 1t is impossible.
Glasgow is small town, containing in
former times about 800 inhabitants, but
at present not over 900, many of the PEG
pie having left on account of tn cir political
sympathies. The place has been in turns
held BY the rebels and by our army, and
consequently both parties have been more
or less driven out The buildings are of a
substantial character, and chiefly con
structed out OF brick and stone Our bri-
gade encamped on the east side of the
town, in a field near excellent water
Company was detailed as provost guard
aud stationed in town, where they selected
large three story building for their bar
racks, Capt Leighton acting as Provost
Mprshal and Osman and Prescott as depu-
ties Here the brigade expected to re-
main for some time, and preparations &C.
cordIngly were being made for rendering !
the camp comfortable. But alas there I
was too much comfort here to last long !
and Oh the 10th We were again under |
marching orders--our destination this
place. Glasgow is perfect hole of sece. |
sionism, and they openly avowe6 them.
selves to be of the Butternut breed. There
were, however. few good Union men
there, bat they had to keep quiet, lest
after the army left they would be roughly
handled.
We reached this place the evening of
the 10th, after day and a half S march.
The road was horrible for the teams, and
the rear guard neither day got through
until late at night We are now within
seven miles of the Tennessee line, and
within ~ miles OF Nashville. All through
here the people pretend to be Union men,
and from what | have seen of then, j
think they are more loyal than in apv
part OF the State we have yet SEEN Co. A
- again detailed as provost guard and oc-
cupy the principal hotel for barracks, and
the Court House for the Provost Martial's
headquarters. No man is allowed to travel
past our pickets without pass from the
Provost Marshal. The brigade is encamp-
ed Immediately outside the CORPORATION
limits. The water all through this section
OF the State is OF the very best quality, and
our camps have generally been supplied
from springs.
This is an old, d.lapidated, miserable
hole, cont lining at ordinary times about