Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1863-09-29
our Boys in East tennessee.

Through the kindness of a lady friend
we are permitted to publish the follow
ing interesting letters from one of our
officers in Gen. Burnsides' expedition,
emitting nothing except that which is of
a private character. The first letter is
dated, "Near Montgomery, Tenn, Aug
30th, 1863" After enumerating some
of the marches made by Col Fosters |
brigade, he proceeds as follows:
NEAR MONTGOMERY, Tenn,
August 30th, 1868.
But yesterday we marched to this |
place, about % miles, and here we have |
remained to-day. How long we shall |
remain l don't know, but we expect to |
march tomorrow Gen. Burnside is
about ten miles from here, | learn, and
Col. Foster sent message to him this
morning, saying our brigade had four
days ratiOns and our horses were IN good
order. Gen. Hobson has not appeared
yet, on account of sickness, and Col +.
being the senior officer, commands the
brigade He is anxious to have us IN
the advance. We are now about fifty
miles from Knoxville, and could easily
reach there IN two days, so far as dis
lance is concerned: but We will probably
have one severe battle, at least, first |
cannot learn positively that there is any
rebel force of importance this side of
Knoxville, though | have heard from cit
liens among the mountains that they
have fortified on the Tennessee river to
prevent our crossing. So far We have
met with no opposition. Our pickets
were fred upon few nights ago, and
one man was captured, bearing an i'm
portant dispatch to party Of guerrillas
among the mountains The last forty
miles of our march have been an ovation.
The people can hardly find means
enough of expressing JOY at our ar
rival They are all unconditional
Union men, and for months have lot
dared to leave their homes. Men, wo-
men and children have turned out en-
mass to see US pass, aud the demonstra-
tons of good viii and kindness which
greet us. are sometimes really affecting
/ am convinced Of the truth of an old
a-~-s@aktts1AI u a-a-s-l@-; s-----------l
the route, as well as the most thicklv set
tied country. Many houses are entirely
destroyed, while the small patches OF
grain and gardens look as if they have
lately abandoned them. They cannot do
TOO much for Us, and in many cases ]
have found they will not be satisfied I'M
less our men are allowed to help them.
selves to whatever they wish. We have
invariably placed q guard when we have
stopped, over orchards and gardens, but
the people are unwilling to have us do so
The climate, soil, and productions, re
mind me of New England. Sometimes
[ have almost fancied myself among the
pine forests of Maine, only the pines here
are Of a smaller growth We also find
the laurel abundant These people have
cleared up their homesteads, lived in
peace, and enjoyed all the liberty they
could desire, or imagine under any form
Of Government, and are satisfied with
things as they have always existed.
They live quiet, peaceful, and happy
life, and having no political aspirations,
have never been corrupted by political
designers. They own few slaves, and
have no interest in the slave oligarchy.
do not think I have seen a slave
since l started up the mountains,
thong there are some. A more sim
pie, kind-hearted and hospitable people,
it would be hard to find. They have
no fashions except what convenience
suggests and experience proves the worth
OF. The women wear no hoops nor shoes,
nor do they deem it improper if the
dress extends only to the knee. They do
not look healthy, however, but pale and
feeble. As to their virtue, cannot say,
but If so, presume it is because they
have never had any temptations to be
otherwise. This morning ] saw a scrip
tural threshing floor on the beaten
ground; the grain is threshed with a
wooden fail and winnowed on the
ground. They make their own grind
stones, and rely entirely upon their own
ingenuity for the comforts of life. have
seen an OK cart, having wheels made of
a section of large tree. The houses are
mostly built of logs. Tuesday we were
up the mountains to within a mile of
Queenstown, on the summit, but finding
q large army there and no FORAGE. we
went down the mountain again and spent
the night In the morning We come up
again with all the forage we could bring.
and passing through Queenstown. camp
ed eight miles beyond. I presume about
10000 men were at Queenstown. Their
horses have had no forage for two DAYS.
we now have to subsist them on green
corn and wheat. As for ourselves. we
forage also as much as possible, and
manage to live pretty we'll We are now
about one and half miles from Mont
gomery. Troops have been passing here
all day We have yet twelve miles more
before we get through the mountains,
though L think we have come down the
steepest slopes. l wish you could see
the scenery have for several DAYS past.
The mountains are beautiful. and the
water very clear and cool. SPRINGS are
very abundant. The order has inst come
to pack up and move Immediately. 50 7
must stop. More anon
KNOXVILLE, Tenn, Sept I'd, 1861
Well, here we are at last. We had the
honor Of being the advance-our repi-
ment being the first to enter the CITY.
We reached here last evening about four
o'clock, but had no fght-the rebels hav-
ing left in a hurry. They had about
1000 soldiers here, but as soon as they
heard of our coming they began to evacu-
ate the CITY. This is a beautiful place.
of about 10000 inhabitants AS soon as
the citizens discovered our approach they
hunted up Union flags which had been
hidden for two years Flags waved FROM
all parts Of the city, handkerchiefs waved
and every body shouted To-day nearly
all the people for miles around have come
IN to get sight Of US, and every body is
smiling The country women brought
arr,lca r.aonhnc ,,inr N L.. Il.