Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-09-28


Man is the most wildly and w~antonly destruc-
tive of animals, when the restraints are taken off
of bis passions. and be feels safe in their indul-
gence. This is proved BY the havoc committed
BY MODS, and also by a ~soldiery freed from the
control of discipline. The instances of these wild
ravages since the war began are countless. Some
OF them are described in the following letter
published in the Eewburyport Herald, and
which states it to have been written by an intelli.
gent young man who was with SaERxAs's column
in its pursuit of JOHNSTON, after the fall OF
Vicksburg:
Many people of wealth. of secesh proclivities,
left their houses and slaves behind, and followed
Johnston in his retreat. These houses were
visited by the Federal soldiers, who, after taking
all they wanted, destroyed the rest, and some
times set fire to the buildings themselves and
turned them to the ground. | will describe two
instances. The third day of our march. we
halted about three O'Clock in the afternoon. in the
edge of a wood, some fifteen miles from the Big
Black. Here we enjoyed the cooling shade,
made coffee. smoked our pipes and rested until
near nightfall.
About half a mile from this place lived a DR..
somebody, who had an extensive plantation and
O"ncu u large UumOtT VI oidFcc. us uOu~c
was a large and costly one, in the STYLE OF ouT
best New England farm houses, and seemed to
be but recently built. 1t was tastefully and even
splendidly furnished, and the carpets, the furni-
ture, the planes. the splendid mirrors. the costly
wares, and the large collection of books in
various languages. bespoke a degree of wealth
and refinement seldom surpassed even i'm our
own New England. The out-houses contained
an abundance of bacon, pork, molasses, dour and
sugar. and these stores were soon discovered aud
appropriated by the soldiers. who also took OF
destroyed everything OF value in the house You
would frequently meet a rusty looking old fellow
belonging to some regiment of the 9th corps
with a canteen full of molasses slung around his
neck, a leg ofham in one hand, a bag of -four on
one shoulder, and three or four large books in
the other hand or under his arm. Again, you
would meet a countryman with a large flower
vase in one hand, or perhaps an oil painting. and
in the other a bag of beans. a Dot of molasses, OF
two or three volumes of McCauley or Bancroft
| went over a greater part of the house, and such
a scene OF wanton destruction | never before
witnessed.
In one room there was a seven octave piano
made by Chickering, of Boston, most splendid
instrument. IN ten minutes the top had been
torn off, the legs all split to pieces: and saw a
fellow walking across the keys, crushing then
all to pieces with his heavy boots. There were
also two mirrors i'm this room, extending from
floor to ceiling, the cost of which must have heeu
very large. A soldier entered the room Just after
myself. and, going up to one of the mirrors. sur
veyed his sunburnt features in it a moment; then,
with a laundering kick from one of Uncle Sans
brogans, he shattered this splendid piece OF furni
ture into a thousand pieces, and sent its broken
fragments TO the furthest end of the apartment;
the other was served in the same way. The cur
tains were torn down; the paintings which had
adorned the walls we're destroy ed or carried away
strewn upon the floor. A soldier would go up TO
a chest of drawers, empty its whole contents upon
the floor, select two or three little articles he
could carry in his pocket, and strew the rest over
the room So it was throughout the whole
house. In fifteen minutes destruction had done
its work and, to complete and give a finishing
touch to the scene, some vandal had applied the
torch, and in less time than it takes me to des-
cribe il, the house and ali the out buildings were
in flames, and were soon reduced TO ashes. When
we left. nothing was to be seen but a heap of
smouldering ruins.
At La Vega, seven miles from Jackson. a
house of about the same character, which had
been abandoned by its inmates, was entered and
d~espoiled of its contents in like manner. Several
barrels of costly wares. which had been buried in
the garden. were discovered, dug up and destroy
ed. The owner Of this house was also a doctor
and | saw, by his letters and some Of the books
about the house, that he had a son at Cambridge
College in 1858.