New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-02-09

yourse In the mids. of blank and tenantless desoa-
ton The floors are BARE the inches are statueless
the marble iire-places are cold. Tho echo OF your
own footsteps startles the universal siience MOL
hold life is left. The family board, grooming with
Saxon profuson the gathering OF glasses the music
of human voices, the social gatherings, the song
and dance and wine," the courtsbips, the weddings
the holiday carouse, where are they THOSE iines
Of Longfellow seem TO have been written unoes 'no
inspiration Of such scene
"In that mansion used DO
liz great ares up The chimney reared,
Ana Strangers isa',ed =. his o0Hd
All are scattered now and hed;
Some married, SON, are dead
Through the upper chamber where Childhood
had been hushed 10 sleep by the lullaby OF the nur-
.syv no bombshel lad cut lie terrible way, sweep,
inx through window-blind. door-frnIne and soma
walls ~ through an egg.sholl, without diminishing
or swervipg a hair In ito progress. Fragments OF
vlass and splinsers were strewn about the floor.
The woodwork Of tho door was riddled and torn
into shapeless wreck. Through TIE same window
the Gun had dsrted his rays in the earliest aud stest
hours Of the morning. and this Kissing bolt Of war.
blazing with other fires had passed In ito terrible
progress, Such awful contracts are these In the
progress Of a few months Leaving the house in
a melancholy and moralizing frame OF mind you
pick your way through ono or Two gates ana angus
passages in the direction Of the African quarters The
much talked of 4" neat whitewash" looks attractive
In the distance. But upon o nearer acquaintance
the romantic illusion vanishes. Refuse household
truck and vsrmin are the only furniture and oc'
cupants. There are no relics or hints OF former
comfort. You naturally arrive at the conclusion
that tho story Of the happiness OF slave life as re-
counted by its Southern champions is somewhat
imaginary. -,
manor.house above Mikins Bend Is ono Of the
most pleasing and one u the most saddest eplsodss
In, Soush her
| JAN. 26.-You are by this time apprised that We
are again lighting with the spade. We are In ful
sight OF Vcksburg. It's towers, and domes, and
spires It's indis,nguishabe masses Oh red brlok; ite
stately villas embosomed IN foliage; its wide ana
airy sretches Of greensward from It's lofty summit
mock NJ us poor ampbibious wretches, bedded in
mud lagoons aud miasmas, and half sheltered by the
canvas from the peltings Of the storm, to whom
wonder city stands "as TO the jews old CaDaan
stood; while Jordan rolled between. we are nv
frogs and lizards. The famous ditch upon which the
great North West is concentrating its hopes is ut
present about ten feet wde and nearly full OF water
| The great artery through which the commerce OF
the Mississippi Valley 10 TO send its mighty life.
throbs To the Gulf is an embryonic thread Of liquid
mud, whose progress 10 as sluggish and hue as foul
| AZ Styx, or sad Acheron OF Sorrow" Tho CAM
paign NO far IL of the moet peaceful character i'm.
aginable. "Our inspiration Is OF the mole, and not
OF the eagle" The reduction OF Vicksburgh is
likely 10 be by the sweat, uu nV' tho Dloou, ol tue
soldier Our deadliest enemies are not Rebel bay
opets and cannon-bsls, but tho fevers and consump
tions that Turk 10 ambush in the fogs and noxlo1s
airs Of these alluvial forests.
We often hear disparaging comparisons drawn be-
tween the campaigns OF the present war and those
If the Continent Now the truth is that while re-
doub,s batteries railroad communications and diff.
cnltios of "A kindred nature are continually bazoned
through the papers " to make the groundlings
stare" our worst obstacles are passed over in COM
narrative silence. The European soldier hardly ever
meets our most formidable enemy. The trans-At-
ian,c army marches over territory stripped Of its
forests and traversed by thousands of tunpkes
Nature throws very few impediments ia Its way.
La this country encounter ut every step the i'm
mense ps inertia OF forest and marsh. The soil and
timber are the most potent allies OF the South and
our most dangerous antagonists. In this ago. when
artillery is the principal order OF the day. that arm
of the service is crippled and frequently useless
The South has entrenched herself In vaet moats and
stockades.
word IN reference communication which appeared
some time since in your columns, dated Helena, and
norton of which was devoted 10 Gen. Steele, aud
| bis expulsion Of negro woman from bis camp,
| while lie held command Of that post. am not n
champion of any officer in the army. The name Of
the author of that article Is unknown to me. But
the account OF that transaction is much perverted
that il calls for some attention. as matter of COM
mon Justice to Gen. Steele.
The facts as l learn them from that officer, are
that four negro women were banshed from the lines,
no, as slaves, but as common prostitutes. An act
which, under other circumstances would have been
violation Of the Presidents order in reference to
slaves. as the stood, became the manifest and
imperative duty Of any commander who cared Tor
the morals of his soldiers. The personal attack upon
the character and capacity OF the General are tia,
gnntly untrue. Gen. Steele is one Of the most loyal
and eficient officers Of army, and gentleman
.ttn nd fina hell
The charge Of cotton speculation never heard ad'