The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-08-22
.NAsHVLLLE- TENnEssEE SATURDAY. AUGUST q I863

Affairs on the missIssIppi--The
Trip 90 VIoksburg--Sight at the
LandIng-.The Town Generally
Expenses OF LivIng, etc.
VrcKsBURa, July 81, 1868
Within short time the route from
Memphis 20 this point has been divested
of much Of the danger that attended il
before the fall Of Vicksburg. This is
practically the case, although to the new
v5yageur the moral effect is as great as
though the wild banks Of the ArkanBas
shore were lined with guerrillss from
Helena TO Louisiana Not knowing at
what moment the lull may be broken by
a volley from the shore, that peculiar
appearance Of American gentlemen sit
ting on the small of their backs and en-
joying the scenery with their feet
perched comfortably upon the guards,
has not yet been fully reinstated; but
instead, men keep well aft in the cabin,
and confne their observations of the
country TO occasional glances Of the most
limited duration, It is some time since
the shores Of the Mississippi have been
viewed by the traveller through a lane
bounded on ei her side by his boots; but
as on the. last trip | saw some dozen or
more gentlemen taking observations in
this manner, il is a fair presumption that
the Mississippi is open, and that the fear
which not long since attended journey
along the Father of Waters is fast dying
out.
The first thing tina, strikes an observer
who approaches this place from the riv-
er, as he sees its deep ravines and its in
accessible bluffs, crowded with heavy
cannon, is the enormous capacity OF
Vicksburg for defence; if he lands, the
next impression he receives will be of its i
intoleTabe nastiness. Piles of filth,
crowds of the dirtiest of Africans, and
an unbearable, strOcious stencil will
meet him at the landing, on the bluffs,
and at every step of his progress about
the pl lace, differing only in the chsrac-
ter of the refuse, the dirtiness of the
negroes, or the quality Of the odOr It
cost us many lives to overcome the
| things embodied in our first impression,
and | much fear that those contained in
the next will be scarcely less deadly.
Behind the defences lay the rebels,
whose rifles and artillery poured tenn
| pests of death into our ranks, while in
the piles of filth that barricaded the
| streets, in the sewers, oozing and fester-
ing with green decay, and in the houses,
croGded from basement TO garret with
negroes, ragged and filthy beyond con-
eeption, there turks another foe that soon,
I under the fiery rays of scorching sum-
will spring into activity, and prove far
more deadly than the one whom we
have just dispossessed of this strong
hold.
In fact my impression of the place,
upon travelling around it, was far from
plessant-rather suggestive of grave
yards and other kindred subjects. At
the landing boat was taking on thous-
| and sick rebels, who had come up TO
| Vicksburg 10 get "their rights" and were
| going back again with about as heavy q
load of bullet wounds, typhoid fever,
diarrhUa, aud things of the sort, as q
human constitution can we'll carry.
Their emsciated appearance made them
look like a weak, tottering procession of
skeletons, while their dirty white uni
forms assisted materially in adding to
the ghsstliness of the pallor that over
spread each cOuntenance. A cOnyersa-
tion with a few satisfied me that looking
for their "rights" had been a costly
business, and one in which many would
never again engage.
My next impressions were Of the same
sort. On the left a cemetery that appa-
rently has latterly been well patrOnized
from its heaps o. unsodded earth--then
a hospital in a square, filed with fever
smitten, emaciated rebels-then a house
before which squatted and lounged a
crowd of stOlid, despairing, sickly ne
groes, then more hospitals, more graves,
new stenches, new objects of disgust TO
the senses, till in despair of finding one
thing TO relieve the universal lazaar-
house appearance of the place, return
ed TO the boat and determined TO make
my explorations by degrees. Even Ma
ture seemingly aympathises with the
general aspect of the town, for in the
streets, and for miles around, the light
enings of the tempest that lately ragged
over the place, have scOrched and shriv-
eled the trees into blaokness, until they
were like grim mourners over the desc
latiOn around them.
The sidewalks are Uttered, at short
intervals, with piles of rubbish, which
some monster shell has blown from the
walls of buildings; at points along the
route are unsightly gaps in the conti-
= nuity Of the houses, whose charred
beams and tOttering remnants Of walls
show the rAYages of hre almost every
building has its windows blown out
while on the root or the side Of the edi'
fee appears q vast irregular hole, which
: shows where entered the instrumen
which did the mischief
From the statement of correspondent
who came in at tbs time of the surren
der, | was led to believe that the BON
bardment of the place had inflicted bu
little damage This is tar from beinl
: the case. Many Of the finest blocks il
. town, aud many dwelling houses, hav
been fred by shells aud consumed. II
p find a house that has not been hit al leas
o once is difficult The majority have a
% least one shot hole through them, man
three, five or a dozen; others, near th
outskirts, have been riddled till they re
Is semble piles of broken lumber. Ia th
p, house where | am stopping, and whic
Is owned and occupied by a Souther
widow, (uearly everybody Of the "Ie
Al male persuasion" is a widow here) muc
N OF the light and ventilation are receive
IA through a vast opening In one OF ID
walls, aud which was unceTemoniousl
ID constructed one day by thirteen-ine
ce shell, while the family was occupyin
.s. the room. Only day later and ano'h'
Of these two hundred pound messenger
j. dropped into tho kitchen aud explode
no To-day the only resemb ance 10 kitche