The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1863-05-01

HEAD QR's. 69rH IND. Vols,
CAMP IoS. IS MILES BELOW
VICKsB-Ra. A pril IL, 1868.

up. The monoiouy OF camp life was dis
turbed on The evening Of the 30th Of March,
bv an order from Headquarters. 10 strike
tents on the following morning. and be in
readiness 10 move at Z. A. NJ. No;hir & was
easier done, for the boys were eager for
something new.
AT the appointed hour everything was in
perfect order TO move. Our orders were to
move by land in the direction OF Richmond.
La. y miles from the Bend. Our force
consisted of the 69th, six companies of the
FL Illinois cavalry, two mountain howitezrs
and Capt. Patterson's Pioneer corps -the
whole under command of our gallant little
Colonel. Nothing of importance occurred
on our march. We arrived in sight Of Rich
mond about 3 o'clock. p. NJ. Here We had
expected smart resistance, there was
reported to be rebel force stationed there.
The name of Richmond seems 10 be mixed
in the affairs Of the 18th quite often. But
the boys were all ready for the fun. a few
of the Bu,ternu,s could be seen across the
bayou. \ considerable skirmish commenced
on both sides; but the chvalry skedaddled
in true southern style. leaving behind seve
raj Of their wounded The yawls and boats
that were brought from the river for the
purpose, were soon launched. The bayou
f. is near three hundred feet wide. and forty
/ feet deep. Companies a and F were put
on board and accompanied by the Colonel,
crossed and took possession Of the city. to
gelter with all the books and papers Of the
Parish court. and postoffice. and quite a
large mail which had the appearance ofjust
being distributed. Our entrance was very
unexpected, as they supposed We had no
means of crossing the bayou. The letters
we captured were, some of them, very inter-
esiing. Mostly from friends OF soldiers in
the rebel army, and rice versa,; but all went
to show one particular point-that The south
ern people getting very tired of the war.
! and hard up for the staff OF lie in the shape
Of grub" Some were giving in detail
how truant their servants had proven, and
I what they would do with them if they 1.-THE
owners) sho ever get them again.
Richmond, the county seat. or rather the
parish seat OF Madison Parish, La, has.
before the rebellion been a very pleasant
little village of some 500 inhabitants. They
are purely secesh. and no mixture.
Judging from the number of drinking and
billiard saloons, it has been quite noted
place for the young bloods OF the parish
Just after dusk four persons marched up to
the Orange hotel and addressing Capt. Bone
krake. wished to know if the landlord was
in. The Captain asked no they we're
They informed him they were two Off ers
and two soldiers, on their way to VIcksburg,
and wished to stay all night. They were
informed that the hotel had changed propri-
etors and that Col Bennett was now running
the machine. but would be happy 10 accom-
modate them. Their baggage. consisting of
q small mail and some clothing. was taken
care Of, and a state-room in the parish Jail
on tae opposite side OF the street procured
for the M.
Other troops being ordered up to hold
Richmond. Col. Benefits command was or
dered to push forward to New Carthage,
which is on the Mississippi. and 80 miles be
low Vicksburg. The country through
which we passed was beautiful beyond any
thing had yet seen; but there is one pecu
liar enemy to those southern homes, in the
shape of an insect called the 'butfalo gnat,"
in size near as large as grain Of wheat.
and as numerous as the sands of Arabia
| am told they often kill whole herds of
cattle.
During the day Col. Perry and l rode
forward to plantation house to procure
some water. We met about a dozen super
anuated old negroes, who had anticipated
cur wants, and had several buckets of water
waiting for the boys. As they marched up
an old lady who must have BE- Ell three score
and ten, commenced clapping her hands and
shouting, show l does love dem folks, dey
does look so purity; bless de Lord de day
OBJ deliberance hab come at last +" An old
fellow standing by, who looked as though
he could "a tale untold said he was now
nigh unto 80 years old, and dey make him
work just like he was only l ). and hadn't
give him shoe for two years. A half doz- !
en- old gray headed fellows, seated ON the I
ground. some with their feet tied up in old /
pieces OF coife sacks, rags, &c. in place of
shoes, while their clothes were patched to !.
such an extent that a writ OF habeas corpus, /
in the hands Of most skiliful detective for
the purpose of ascertaining the texture of
the original garment, would have been ut
terly futile. They all, one at a time. took
up the chorus, and said, mo. dey don't
glib US no Shoes 1t was really laugEable
to hear them talk. yet how truly they are
objects of pity.
Our rout lay along the levee of Rounda
way bayou. the same we had crossed a.
Richmond. We marched 20 miles TO Smiths
plantation, opposite which bayou Vidal. two
miles in length, running from the river, en-
sers Roundaway bayou, forming a I. A.
this place we camped few days, making
our headquarters in The we'll furnished man
Siou, iHc Wv UtStiNcN Al, aHu VIC
men feastipg on chickens, porkers, mutton.
&c. Generals McClernand and Os,erhaus
joined US at this place, and we're gloriously
entertained BY the & l. at his well furnished
table. The two Gems. concluded TO have a
little streak OF romance on their own hook.
They procured boat. and two or three men
10 pull them, and started for Carthage, a
small village OF some half dozen houses
Before getting there however they were
notified that they were not wanted there
(their rank notwithstanding by the fling Of
several muskets, the balls whzzing very near
them. They each had gun, and exchanged
several shots No one was hurt on our side.
II does our boys good TO see the leading
Generals pitch into the work; and if more
OF our Generals We're as anxious TO prosecute
this war vigorously. as these two noble and
geuerou hearted officers do this unholy re-
beliion could not long survive. Our prog
ress by land was here cut short: and how