The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-05-16
Gen. Dodgers Expedition.

The following letter from a Des Moines
County soldier to his parents, will show
how they feel, land falkland actin the army.
CoRINTH, Miss, May 4, 1s62.-DEAR
FATHER:-l take my pen in hand this at
ternoon, to answer your kind favor of
April 10Th, which came to hand last night.
1t found me enjoying excellent health, but
considerable worn out with our last four
days march. On our return from Town
eighty and hundred miles. We left Town
Creek on Wednesday last, and arrived at
Corinth Saturday afternoon, which is about
as good marching as is commonly done in
this wooded country. l suffered great
deal with my feet, but by washing them
every few hours, and changing socks twice
a day, came out all right. We We're out
mand of Gen. Dodge, of this place. nine
teen days, and had a first rate time of it.
The valley We passed through from Bear
Creek to Town Creek was one of the incest
I ever saw, beautiful land and splendid
plantations, with the very best kind OF i'm
provements. We did not modest anythin
as we went out, but when we came back we
destroyed everything except houses that
had families living in them. All vacant
houses, and all the corn and cotton, except
the cotton that was baled, land that we
brought with u.s. was committed to the
flames. The Tenth Missouri Cavalry, and
the Kansas Jayhawkers scattered from
one side of the valley to the other, and APP
piled the torch to everything except houses
with families. The valley was about seven
miles wide, and as far as the eve could
reach, the black smoke Of country residence
es, (such as are not to be found anywhere
in Des Moines County,) huge cotton gins,
and barns rose heavenward. 1t looked
hard, it is true, and suppose some of the
| RITZ hos IaI 10 in,
the North would throw up their hands in
holy horror, and cry, horrible, horrible bar
barities! But they should recollect that
this was the third time that our troops had
to march out there to straighten things up,
and they meant it to be the last time. II
the rebels still persist in carrying on this
war, they will find it to be no longer child's
play, and that this thing of marching
through and through their country and not
disturbing single thing, is played out.
We are in terrible earnest now and think
that beautiful valley will remember the
18th and 3Oth of April, 1863, as days when
there was war in that valley, for the next
not? I think we did, and so would any
one who had to march twenty five miles
q day through the boiling sun and dust,
one day drenched with rain, the next, per-
haps, suffocated with heat and dust. We
brought back with us between SIX and sew
en- hundred negroes, between i've and six
hundred thousand dollars worth Of cotton,
horses, carriages, mules, cattle, DC. Isn't
that the way to make it pay? Father,
must tell you little incident that occurred
while we lay on the bluff at Town Creek,
as a battery support, while the cannon balls
were whizzing over our heads.
Old Cot. Cummings, who was stretched
on his back little way from where our
company was, thought 1t a very appropri-
ate time to sing the Battle cry of Freedom,
so he called for Company to sing it, as
we are about the merriest and sing the
most of any company in the Regiment
So Jerry Clymer, myself and several 9th
ers, went at it. had it written down in
my Pass Book, andI tell you it was grand
time and grand place sing: "The Union