Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1863-01-22
LETTER FROM THE TWENTIETH.
FAYRTTyILLK, Ark, Sd.

| without experiencing ieeNng oil dis
appointment at the meagreness of it's
description Of scenes and struggles which
| had always supposed needed only to
be witnessed to inspire one with an
unexsmpIed eloqucnce in recital.
These letters are all of them very ''iiat
stale and Improbable" besides being La
BE to be tull of errors unless one is very
: careful TO sift bis false facts from bis
true ones.
have learned the reason.-ln bat
tie there arc hut few who see the whole
field, still fewer who learn all the facts
ofthe case from reliable authority, and
these never write letters. Those who
g 40 write are able only to talk about 'he
things which come under Their own
pers5nsl observation, and those about
which their only authority Is that worst
af all authority. 4" Camp rumor, ana
tlere i an absolute certainty that what
ever i told il camp hy "a ffi'hd o.
! ,,t,.,', who ssu" o. eoun!ea rt'y
woaaerf- things has never ~".a VI
.Iulb for rs ieando'ion.
lfnsln some I'd The published &C
-. Il the bsttle al Pare Grove,
,bera are iaaanerable errors based upon
snsh baseless foundation, as the
reoort Of this "l.ieni II mine, who
sas and made some people believe
that he saw at distance oi less than
miles from the fed heap Of dead re-
\ bcls'aid up ike 50 much cordwood. IN
= pile fifty feet long aua ak feet high
/ Tbs fumor was 50 prevalent Ia camp
that At last tha officer IN whose charge
tie business Of searching for the dead
was placed tel, himself obliged TO at
tend 10 il, and he told me that ate;
securing the woods all one day With =
iarge party in search Of this !" heap,
lie then searched through all the camps
for the /" freud Of mine who made this
discovery, and could not find hi'n =.
course, the heaps wan'. there.
: The simple truth is that We nay hare
: killed between three and four hundred.
! | went over the fell aud saw aud count
{ "a. and DO no, believe there was a
Q man over lie lat number killed, unoih-
cial or other reports 10 the contrary not
1 Outstanding. There were great
! uaay wounded. almost had 10
askt because | wonli not agree
that there was ten acre lot COW
: cred with wounded rebels, but there
wasn't. They lost largely by doserticn,
I ana threw away a great many guns,
which We continued to find up to the last
4 fra 10
that their loss was large-yery large.
Bat don't think that II more than ex-
ceelei doubt the number OF troops
which they had OH the held-realy.
Ba, sat down TO write about some
thing else.
Last saturday morning the whole
army OF the Frontier started for Van
Buren,. The weather was splendid, a.
indeed it has been for the last Elk or
eight weeks, with the exception OF three
OF tour rainy days, and the boys were
IN the best OF spirits, at the prospect Of
meeting the rebels again. Besidea We
were about to show them that Union
Amy could cross the Boston Noun
iains. We left All our tents and camp
qulpsge behind Us, which were put on
two teams for each regiment. Thus,
you see, we are 10 the highest march
ing order.
At the outset We took the wrong
road, which DELAYED us an hour or two.
Z but it was soon rectlhed and on We
went as merrlly as to sleighing party.
/ For about three miles the road passes
/ over level plain, aud il was very mud.
~, but once over the bottoms, we began
TO see the kind OF job which we had uG-
dertaken. The road began TO assume a
rocky 81 aracter, and was strcwed Nth
pieces Of the blankets which li,nlman
/ had used to matile his cannon wheels
With when he retreated from the fed
three weeks before. After While bean
the business OF climbing hills, and such
hills and such roads. Well, there il no
use Of trying, ! can't do itjustice. \ OF
travel along sometimes for consldera-
bic distance over very good, DRY road,
and just a little sandy on a Sudden you
|nd yourself over She in mud !; rod
irriher AMI yon are eiambering over
rocks the rcxt minute You ford CT, elk,
and before You know II yon ave stuck
last in soft clay night on tac top or steep
side OF mountain The sicw is most
naen i cn', but you dare not 10 * At it,
because yonr next step may be off a
rock three feet high. by aud by yeu
come 10 bit corduroy road,n which
is extremely pie salt to travel over. The
whole surface OF the country is covered
with rocks of immense sza, and sprir
OF water oezng out fiom bereatL almost
every other ore of them. The noun.
tans are heavily wooded with big oak
troes,upou whose otherwise bare branch
Is the misetoe hourishes IN all It's beau.
tfui greenuess Taxing it all in al,
It is curious country, and in any
OF her al ace an imnassal Ia Rad