Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-09-16

Man IL the most wildly and wantonlF destruc
tive Of animals. when the restraints sre taken of
OF hrs passions. and be feels safe in their ndul
genee. This is proved D, the havoc committed
By nobs. and also by a soldiery freed from the
control Of discipline. The instances OF thee VI d
ravsges since the var began are countless. Some
OF them are described in the following letter
published in the Newburyport Herald. and
which states it to nave been written by an inteli
gent young man who was with SsERMAS's column
ia its pursuit Of JOHNSTON, after the fall OF
yicksburg:
Many people of wealth. OF secesh proclivities,
left their houses and slaves behind, and folIowei
Johnston in his retreat These houses we're
visited by the Federal soldiers who, after taking
all they wanted, destroyed the rest, and some
times FIRE to the buildings themselve- and
burned 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 wood. some fifteen miles from the Big
Black. Here We enjoyed the cooling shade
made coffee. smoked our pipes and rested until
near nightfal
About halt a mile from this place lived DR.
somebody. who had an extensive plantation and
owned large number of slaves. His house
was large and costly one. in the style of our
best New England farm houses and seemed to
be but recently built. Ii vas tsstefnlly and even
splendidly furnished. and the carpets, the furni
ture the pianos. the splendid mirrors. the costly
wares, and the large collection of books in
various languages, bespoke degree of wealth
and refinement seldom surpassed even in our
own New England The out houses contained
an abundance of bacon, pork, molasses, -four and
sugar. and these stores were soon discovered AID
appropriated by the soldiers who also took or
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 canteen full OF molasses slung around his
neck a leg Of ham in one hand, sbag of four on
one shoulder, and three or four large books in
the other hand or under his arm. Again. YOU
would meet country man with a large flower
vase in one hand, or perhaps an oil painting, and
in the other bag Of beans a Dot of molasses. or
or three volumes Of McCauley sncroft.
l went over n greater part OF the house, and such
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 of, the legs all split to pieces and saw a
fellow walking across the keys. crushing them
AL To pieces with his heavy boots There were
also two mirrors in this room. extending from
floor To ceiling the cost of which must have heen
very large. soldier entered the room just alter
myself. and. going mp To one of the mirrors. sur
veyed his sunburnt textures in il "A moment; then
with laundering kick from one of Uncle I'm s
brogans. he shattered this splendid piece of furni
ture into thousand pieces. and sent its broken
fragments 10 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 Ell or carried away
the contents Of the book case and upboards were
strewn upon the floor. A soldier would go up to
chest OF drawers, emptyits whole cOntentsupon
the floor. select three little articles he
could carry in his pocket. and strew the over
the room So il was throughout the whole
house. In fifteen minutes destruction had done
its work; and, to complete and give 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 all the out buildings were
in flames, and were soon reduced TO ashes When
we left, nothing to be but 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
despoed of its contents in like manner Several
the garden, were discovered, dug I'D and destroy
ed. The owner of this house also doctor.
and saw, by his letters and some Of the books
about the house. that he had a son at Cambridge
College in 1883