The Abingdon Virginian. [volume] (Abingdon [Va.]) 1849-1883, 1863-04-17
From the Philadelphia Press.
A Letter from Parson BrownloW. !
NAsBv1LLE, March 6, 1868.


10 the Editor of tie Press:-Sir-I have
been here and in the surrounding country tor
two weeks, and /. have by no means been an |
idle spectator of passing events. have mao
but little leisure to write, and would not now
trouble you with this communication, put lot
the fact that | have net written to you LOT
three months. ] will not dwell upon the
weather, the climate, the condition OF the
roads, ETC., though these institutions are
worthy of notice, and not exhausted, like
many other institutions of the South. Inc
machinery is in the hands Of Him who Will
run it properly. aataaiss
The Cumberland river is forty feet above
low water, and the amount, Of rain that mas !;
fallen, and the flush condition OF the creeks
and springs Of the country, will cause the
Cumberland to keep up until late IN tne
spring or early in the summer. This is fortu-
nate for the Union cause, for it will enable
the commanding general to bring on supplies,
even should the railroad again be destroyed.
| Gen. Rosencranz is availing himself Of the ad-
vantages of both institutions" the rivers and
the roads, and is filing every warehouse and
cotton shed in Nashville with army stores,
I have lust returned from Murfreesboro',
where I spent two days in riding through the
| battle ground. traversed about five miles
! in extent, first in the fields and then in the
woods, among cedars and timber, where much
hard fighting was done. No man at a dis
lance, and only receiving the newspaper ac-
counts, can form any idea of the number Of
dead horses and mules upon the ground
| Their numbers are legion. They are often
i piled up, one upon another-some shot thro'
the body, some shot through the neck, others
4 with heads and legs shot of. But all are In
wonderful state Of preservation, though ~
{. ING on the field more than two months.
The trees are peppered with bullets tol
miles, the twigs are cut of at points ranging
Il from FIVE feet to thirty feet from the ground
J, Large trees of size sufficient to make sawlogs
j where the cannon balls struck them fairly
/. they passed clear through, and daylight cal
! be seen through as one rides along. Cannon
balls are to be seen all along the line, an,
shells that failed to explode. In other instan
. ces, pieces of shell are upon the ground, am
Q among the cedars handled them. SD
: The graves of the dead are to be seen eve
S rywhere in untold numbers. The head-board
/ I Of single graves indicate who many Of tber
z are, giving names, regiments, and residences
Amene the rebel graves, / found the name {
i. q relative of nv wife, a captain of artiller,
S from Alabama, killed in the fight on the got
: December. In many instances bitches WEI
/ dug and from seventy-fve to one hundred me
$ packed into ditch. The dirt upon many
d these is only few inches deep, and in SON
instances hands and feet are sticking out
The greatest sight to be seen is that in fro.
IL Of where Gen. Rosencrans nassed his artill
J. nv, say one hundred and twenty guns. Des
ID horses and mules and an innu cradle quaint
If ty Of graves tell the effect Of these guns.