The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-05-09

enough to know that, without foreign in
reference, it never can cease until the old
national flag floats undisturbed from the
Lakes to the Gulf; and that this foreign in
reference has now become moral impos-
sibility. The only chance the rebellion
ever had has not been realized; it has van
ished forever. Nothing but pure despera-
ton keeps up the struggle.-N. Y. Times.
A SOLDIERS VIEW OF A SOLDIERS LIFE.
In strong contrast with the grumbling
spirit Of some men is the following manly
and cheerful picture of a soldiers life, re-
celved from young man who has been
more than year in the 1st Minnesota Bat.
terry. The letter is dated Scamp near Lake
providence, La, April 9Th" 81
"For my part have no fault to find with
our treatment. We have enough to eat
gle case of suffering or restitution in the
army but what the fault was more their
own than the Governments. And my only
wonder is that the Government has done
SO well as it has with such gigantic amt
of business on hand. For nation that has
peace to raise, equip and feed million of
men as swell as it has done, is doing remark
ably well, and there is no occasion for fault
finding. tft1g
Last December, when this army was in
Central Mississippi, our communications
were entirely cut off from the North for
some weeks. During that time there were
no mails, and we did not draw a dollars
worth of supplies from Government for
man or beast, but we did not suffer at all.
On the contrary we never lived better than
we did then, but the papers were full of ac-
counts of the sufferings of Grants army,
W lille we were getting fat on secesh cattle,
sheep, hogs and fowl and sweet potatoes.
Some Of the men have suffered for clothing,
but that, too, was their own fault. I have
always had plenty, because took good
care of them, and others conld do the same.
There are few soldiers who have not thrown
away. clothing enough to last them six
months. aft [l#a g .. H..
Strictly speaking, the soldiers day of rest
never comes; there is no such thing as Sun
day in the artuy. We have as much to do
on that day as on any other. Yet, with all
this, the soldier is the happiest man alive.
His life is full of excitement, and it has
charms which none but soldier can un-
derstand or appreciate. Even as write,
ing, in true Methodist style, "There's rest
for the weary, there's rest for you," while
others, of less devotional turn, are sing
ing, "Jordan is a hard road to travel" 1t
is astonishing what resources soldier has
to fall back upon in an emergency. A rub
Der blanket keeps off the rain when march
ing, and is good to lie down on in the mud
at night; two of them together make shell
ter under which two men can sleep at night
and laugh at the storm. Ea
You have no idea how quick our men
will dress a goose or a chicken, or skin Q
hog or beef; a ball from arevolver brings
him down, and the boys will have him
skinned, dressed, and pieces of him roast
ing on the sticks before the fire before the
animal is fairly done kicking. In our COM
pany we have dozen mess kettles, in
which the men make their coffee, boil their
meat, heat water to wash their clothes,
hands, and sometimes their feet, bake
beans, and mix bread-the mud from the
nearest ditch furnishing the material for q
bake oven. The unsoldered half of . tin
canteen is converted into a frying pan, q
pint tin cup does duty for coffee or tea
pot, cup and saucer and soup dish. In
short, you cannot corner a soldier so tight
but that he will always have good house,
well furnished, wherever there is mud and
wood to be found, If there are any girls
in your village who want husband, my
advice to them is to wait and get soldier,
for they can always depend on him to get
dinner on washing days, and q good one,
too, and can trust him to mend his own
clothes and darn his own stockings, besides
many other things not provided for in
housekeeping tactics. E.ai,wa
A GALLANT STAND BY A COMPANY OF IL
LIMOS TRooPs.-We are allowed to print
the following extract of private letter
from an officer in Baltimore, relating to an
event in the late rebel raid in Western Vir-
ginia:
; Captain Wallace with eighty men, occu-
pied church at the mouth of Greenland
Gap, so advantageously placed as to COM
mand the whole pass, and compel the enc
my to capture it before they could advance.
From morning until dark they withstooda
rebel force of fifteen hundred men. Three
times the enemy charged up to the church,
and were repulsed. Five out of eight Of
the officers of their first battalion were
killed or wounded in the first charge The
number of the enemy's slainwas more than
the whole number opposed to them: Brave 4
ly they fought-long and well, but, sor-
rowftll to relate, as night came on, the enc
my took advantage Of its shade to ire the
building. Even then the undaunted irish
boys refused to give up, and u was not un-
til the blazing roof fell in that they surren-
dered. Glory to the fallen braves. The
Secretary of War will be urged to give
medaI to each of those who participated in
the affair. Captain Wallace, Company G.,
Odd illinois. commanded the little force,
which consisted of detachment of his
company and detachment OF Company A,
14th Virginia Infantry, commanded by
Cantain Smith. Gen. Kelley pronounces
it one OF the nios' saiiaas seahus Oh the
war. ss.Es.s v +.
STRUCK DUMB IN HIS SIN: We learn that
a man named William F. Campbell, form
erly Representative in the Legislature
from Wapello county, was making Cop
perhead speech at Bladesburg, in thatcoun-
ty, on Saturday last. When he had pro-
ceeded for about half an hour in his detam-
alton of the government, and those who are
upholding it, hewas struck speechless and
fell to the floor. He fingered in that con-
dition until Monday morning when he
breathed his last. We did not learn his
age; he was spare built man and not a fit
subject for apoplexy. Might not such an
occurance be regarded as an interposition
of Divine Providence in favor of the best
government on earth, and might not the
Copperheads consider it an "arbitrary ar
rests' We do not wish the Copperhead or
ators to be struck dead in their reasonable
guilt, but they would be able to leave glo-
rious heritage to their children if they were
struck dumb for about six months. IF the
measure had gone into operation several
months ago it would have been q greater
cause for their children to rejoice hereafter.
Farfeld Ledger.