Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-01-31
FROM MURFREEsBORO'.
sl.etehes 90 the BattIe.FieId.

and upon the battlefield.
On the sixth Of January left Louisville
in company with another gentleman, COM
nissiOned by Dr. Newberry, your fellow
tOwnsmsn, (seeretary Of the United States
Sanitary Commission to go to Nashville
and ssBIurfreesboro', and obtain, SO far as
possible, complete lists Of all the sick and
wounded Federal soldiers at and about
those points the object being to perfect the
books in the Hospital Directory recently
opened in connection with DR.. Newberry' 3
Office at Louisville; and right here let me
say a word explanatory of the aim and
scope Of this project as It is important
that the people Of Ohio, as we'll as Of all
the Northern States who have soldiers in
this Department, should be posted there
upon. The object is to furnish infOrma-
tiOn to all having friends or relatives in
this Department who are sick or wounded
in the hospital, the great desiderstum in
such. cases being to ascertain ghers the
soldier is. For the want Of this infoFms-
ton much time and money is wasted in
fruitless search The proposition is, to
have entered upon the books Of the Hospi-
tai Directory IN Louisville the name rank
company and regiment Of every soldier in
hospital in the Department, and to keep
record therein of the changes in each hos
pital from day to day, obtaining the facts
from the morning reports Of the hospitals,
made daily to the Medical Director. It
will be seen at once that the undertaking
is one involving great labor and no little
expense, and it will also be obvious that if
successfully put into operation it will be
productive of incalcnlable good. The
work is already in a good state of pro-
gress, and information is being now fur
nished ct the Office in Louisville fSanitary
Rooms, Walnut street, between Fourth
and Fifth to hundreds to whom it is in
valuable
But to return, after this somewhat i'm
portant depression. We left Louisville on
the 9Th, on the little steamer /" Undine,n
via the Ohio and Cumberland rivers, for
Nashville, the Nashville Railroad having
been cut by that dashing brigand, John
Morgan. AS it Bss not unlikely that the
Rebs" might undertake to stop US on our
passage up the Cumberland, we took on a
guard Of come thirty men and 8 small field
piece. The Undine was chartered by Gov
ernor Morton for the express purpose of
taking down stores and q delegation of
some thirty odd surgeons and twenty-five
female nurses, and a largo number Of
~ fsthers, brothers, &c, going to search for
sons and brothers who were in the battles
before Murfreesboro. Although we kept
somewhat sharp lookout, after getting
into the Cumberland, we saw nothing Of
the 4" secesh." Between Clarksville and
Hsrpeth shoals we met two steamers going
down, crowded with our wounded, being
transferred from Nashville north. AsEe
passed one Of them, the shout went out
from our deck-crowded with anxious men
and women" Have you any Indiana men
on board p Immediately answered by the
eager cry Of Yesl Yesp "Any of such
or such q regiment2 ~ "Yes-lots of
them" "Stop the boat The boat
rounded to, and the guards were brought
together, when a scene occurred which
beggars description. Hurried enquiries
after friends and relatives,-replies, some
times with glad tidings of safety, but often
alas with grieE-flled the air with an in
describable excitement. Tears of Joy and
grief flowed down many a cheek, and it
WAS impossible TO look on without being
deeply affected. As an instance out Of
many Of those tragedies which are con-
Btsntly occurring in this terrible war, l
entered the pilots cabin on the upper deck
after the boats had separated, and we had
resumed our way, and sat down near the
closed door Of 8 state-room, from which is
sued sounds, the character Of which could
not for a moment be mistaken. They were
the broken and uncomfortable utterances
Of great and terrible ageny. On inquiry,
learned the cause Of them. An old gen
tieman, who was passenger on our boat,
had two sons IN the fight, and he was 60
ing to see what had become Of them. Six
words had told him al. 0ne was shot
dead upon the battlefield, and the other
was lying in the hospital in Nashville
badly wounded. As 1 sat and listened to
the sobs and heart-rending cries of the
poor bereaved father, cursed again and
again in my heart the human demons who
have forced our nation into this fratri-
eidal war.
But must not dwell here, although I
could write a volume upon the cases Of this
kind which have come to my knowledge
since that time. We found only 80 feet
Of water on the shoals, and had to take off
q large portion Of om freight in order to
get over. Weariived at Nashville Sun
day night. Monday and Tuesday were
occupied in making necessary arrange
ments for getting what we wanted from
the regular hospitals in Nashville As
certaining that somewhere from one to
two thousand wounded we're still in hos
pitals in MurfreesborO', and, in private
~ u
Of battle, 1t became clear that our sbject
could not be accomplished without some
one going forward and personally obtain
ing the required information on the spot.
1t was accordingly decided that my friend
and myself should 60 on and undertake
the by-no-means trihing task Wednes-
day, the l4th, it rained all day, but the
business if done az ali must be done at
once. After spending all the forenoon in
the vain attempt to get conveyanceto to Muir
freesboro! by ambulance, we were obliged
70 hire 6 horse and buggy ct the moderate
price Of $3.50 per day, and deposit $500
as security in case the property should fall
into the hands Of the "secesh," or other
wise come up minus.
At last wo got under way about clock
P. n. in a pouring rain. We soon ascer-
tanned that although the price which we
had paid for cur horse was good one, the
horse was not With the fact staring us
in the face that it was 80 miles to Mur-
freesboro and "a to the nearest hospital,
and no place to stop on the way unless we
camped out, the lookout was not particu-
lsrly cheering. Determined, however, to
make the best Of it, and not to turn back
unless obliged to, we pushed as fast as the
quality Of eur horse and the condition Of
the road, crowded as it was for miles with
endless trains Of government wagons and
soldiers marching forward to Murfress-
boro', would permit. At 5o'clock the rain