Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-02-02
TEaE DESTRUCTION al HOLLY
hpRENGR,
HoLLT sPRIsos. January 2. pa

HOLLY SPRIses, January p, 1853.
EDITORS APPEAL; L am about to undertake q task,
FOR the accomplishment Of which, feel sadly MY utter in
competence. am past the meridian Of life, and have
been taught from my earliest youth to regard with sas-
! picion and distrust the Puritan character, 20 detsst and
dread tbs perfsious New England fanatic, but expert
ence alone could have induced ne to believe that there
existed il the free ststss, forming the once glorious
Union," an army amounting to twenty-five or thirty
Thousand msa SO devoid Of the attributes Of civilizations,
so debssed and 6endish, that the acts committed BY
them in this CRY and county, sanctioned too. BY nine-
tsnshs Of their officers, would cause a blush Of
shame to mantle the cheeks Of the Ysndals-
themselves. On the 18Th Of November, 1852 about
thirty thousand men, consisting Of infantry, cavalry and
artillery. chiefly Illinois troops-sevsra regiments how
ever, Railing from Wisconsin, Kansas and Iowa-passed
through our city on their way South thsir destination
as they syercsd, YieksbuTg, their inteHtion, to wipe
ont" Mississippi wiz : grand flourish Of trumpets'
beating Of dru,s, and i~naolent Haunting Of flags in oar
faces, they passed on, leaving about two thousand men
as gsnison IL our city, under the command Of Colonel
Murphy. Up to the morning Of the 10th Of December,
on which Gen. Van Dorm made his brilliant and success
fi dash upon them. hey hsd accumulated an immense
amount Of ordnance ana conmisssry stores which wero
deposltsd in all ths buildings at the railroad depot con-
sisting Of = large and elegant railroad hotel a round
house ef great capacity, with turning table in the
center, a -commodious depot. house, extensive
blacksmith and workshop, a building FOX the man
ufaeture Of cars and machinery, and an immense
arnory, covering eight or ten acres, belonging to the
government; in addition TO this, a large stable on the
public square was Ike The railroad buildings and srmory
filed with ordinances and eommissary stores, clothing,
arms, etc. Our merchants were turned ont Of their bus
iness houses to accommodate the suffers Of the various
regiments, whose stocks were full and complete; these
were eli destroyed by the gallant Van Dorm, unfortu-
Rstsly, in the destructiono of the ordnance stores. Every
building at tbs depot, the armory, the east side and half
Of the north side Of the public square, was destroyed
BY the explosion and the fire caused by IT, The build
ings for two hundred yards from the court house had
the glass broken ia the windows, and in the most of
them the sash were shattered to pieces. The surprise by
Gen Van Dorn occurred very early on Saturday morn
ing. The Fedsrtls maaifesting ne desire to Sight,
laid down their arms aud surrendered, except
a cavalry company, which sneaked out Of town,
e a slow paee, being ready to Ay or surrender, a. cir
cumstancus occurred. But meeting With no Confedsrates
sfer having moved slowly for half q mile west Of
ts4n, I saw lie cowardly poltroons Put spurs to their
horses and rau Tor tseir lives. Several gentlemen Of
high position were eys-witnesses to this 'skedaddle,"
which Grant in his order lsuds highly as commsndsble,
and denominatos cutting their way out" If any Fed
sral officer, on that day, drew his sword, it was to pre-
sent the hill and not the point This is strictly true,
and cannot be conroveried
On sunday moraing, the 9TH Kansas cavalry Jay
hawkerso dashed into town, firing their guns and
pistols, and yelling, "Hsre comes the blood hounds"
About midday the infantry came in, conspicuous among
which was the 3st Kansas infantry and the 18th Wiseon-
Sin, composed Of m~urderers, thieves and incendiaries
Their srss eet was to tear down fences and rlsh
49, ~.
houses, siere houses and kitchens. While t3us
engaged, others were pouring into The dwellings Of
pescesble and unofending citizens, entering by break.
iag open doors and windows ieaEing In, and by means
Of axes, breaking into wsrdrobss, bureaus, drawers and
trunks, and stealing every thing they could lay then
hands on. and smashing furniture Of every description
for pssdme using the most insulting and obscene Ian.
gage, threatening even the lives Of defenseless ladies',
and committing acts Toe m~oastrous 20 be recorded here.
Yery few dwellings escaped a complete sscking. Every
store IA the town was entered and completely rid
died; what was not stolen was entirely destroyed. Iron
chests, showcases, and fixtures all destroyed The pre-.
text for such vandalism was, thst the citizens, paricu.
lafly the ladies, manifested their Joy at the entrance Of
Van Dorm. On alluding to the Indies, they invariably
applied to them the vilest epithets. Having done
al the harm hey could, they threatened to burn
the last houss in town, How nearly they have
accomplished This diabolical design, the haggsrd
appearance Of our citizens car well attest, few, il any
Of whom have deHed their clothing for shs past month,
bot kept a yigiisnt guard Of their premises, night after
night til daW1 q day Every night we're our terrified
citizens admonishea 0f their danger, the sky being larld
with the flames Of burning buildings. Our once bsaua-
fal city row pressnts : sickeping spectacle. Besides the
number Of residences reduced to ashes, he large
and elegant hoial Of MessrS. Bradley & Phillips, On the
square, il destroyed b FIRE, together with e number Of
adjeeent ~buildings- On tho sonsaeast corner Of the
square two hne store houses were Consumed, It Wss
not their fault that the entire town was moi laid waste
ATTEST one hundred ~bnildngs were cred but eztn-
suished TO the Efforts Of Col LOOMS, conmandant Of
The post, and i sutenant-colon GHmose, both 81 the