Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-01-24
Our Army Correspondence from
Tennessee.
MEMPHIS, January II. 1868.

MEMPHIS, January IL. 1868.
If ever l wrote a line or "a word which might
by direction or indrecoh be construed into praise
OF Gen. Grant. that ia hereby revoked. recon
sidered and recalled. He may be a. wise as =
serpent, and wonderfully prudent. 50 lar as his
personal safety Is concerned | NAV regard han
model ia that strategy which keeps head
quarters we'll removed from danger. but can
not forgive his utter disregard of my wants aud
wishes in regard To transportation. Only think
OF my situation For 3 days | have wandered up
and down the landing in search ct conveyance
up the river. and received the saine answer from
every boat, Seized By Government" and the
pies i. military necessity" o most potent
pieai In thy name what wrongs have not been
commitiei! Negroes freed. mules impressed.
corn seized, and now. To cap the climax of
RACES, steamboats, turned heads down stream,
when they want TO 20 the other way. and it's my
self that wants them To. Don't tell me of free
country aud constitutional liberty. when even
steamboats, the highway OF the Mississippi
can't DO as they please
Speaking OF constitutional liberty. reminds me
of grave and learned discussion | had on that
subject the other night with a once worthy
planter some five miles out from this place
had gone to Col. Eddy's regiment on business
though kindly offered share in the blankets and
rations of the officers. preferred not subject
them To the inconv enlence which their prOilerei
hospitality would cause them. especially as il
raining very hard; hence / sought shelter in "a
splendid plantation mansion near by. The night
not such to allow n stranger. though ~
supposed enemy. to be turned out o doors; hence
| was invtei. or rather permitted. to stay. with
quite A. much cor'iiality after all. rs any Indi-
anian would likely extend To Tenncssenn, the
circumstances being vice vcrslel. We were soon
surrounding u huge fire. for that Northern NUS
ance. stove Is unknown here, except Tor cook
ing purposes and discussing matters and things
in general, and the aud negroes in particu
lar. he owned some 1900 acres OF Iaud and
had owned u hundred more negroes. just
how mihy he now owns he could not tell, but he
supposed SCI me 10 or So chiefly women aud child
rer, for the best hands had either been impressed
o they had taken their feet in their hands and
gone off on private account. And his mules.
too. he knew they had not run of, they had been
stolen; aid what made the case particularly ag-
gravating, was that about six, and his very last
except his blind mule. had been taken that day
You see my fix. TWAS raining terribly out OF
doors and growing colder. and at best it was cold
hospitality within. and rot without apei agy, for
mules aud negroes had gone, aud Thousand
men AT hat same hour were burning rails all
around the old planters house. I could not
blame him Tor thinking hard things even OF IN
innocent person like myself inasmuch as hailed
from the same hated North. | set myself 20
comfort the old man as best could and made
some alluson to a mysterious Providence but he
couldn't see it, told him that his fluctuations
were not great, after all, n jobs in old times,
but he said job wasn't a. old man as he-he
had n chance TO more than regain all he had lost:
ha, being about seventy himself. he could not
hope to live through his hardships much less get
his negroes and mules back and as for fences,
they never could be re made. for the timber
all gone; 20 job would not comfort him. But
being posted on the Constitution Everybody un
derStands that. you know | determined To draw
him out on that. for il that would not comfort
him, | knew ot nothing that would short OF
bringing back his mules. aud negroes and fences,
with ies thousand bushels of corn. and other
trfes of that kind
What DIES the President mean by exempting
Tennessee from his unconstitutional edictf' said
the old man. That was poser and had often
Hsked myself the same question. But before
hnd ch ince To answer. he continued: Does he
imagine that slave property will be worth any
thing here when slavery j. abolished IN Msss-
simply" Not being in any way identified with
thlt proclamation. nor bound TO answer for Mr.
LiucoIn. told him that supposed the President
expected them to he thankful for small lavors-
that the exemption was a tub for the Uuion
whales of the border States To play with. At
this he went off terribly winding up with the
loss OF his twenty five negroes and his good
mules. and leaving the blind mule and the negro
women and children 10 feed. and no mule 10
grind corn with, and very little corn left 10 grind
| told him that knew of no clause in that sa-
crel instrument which gave Mr.. Lincoln power
10 free the slaves except the one which allowed
him to take mules-"Tha isn't there either"
interrupted the old man-apd to burn rails" No
such clause said he--and To shoot rebels
mo such right, no such right sir,'' he said with
emphasis. .How then. said /. lean he carry
on war; II he can neither shoot rebels nor i'm
press mules rOr free negroes. there * no use OF
fighting - That il Just what think" said he
LET traitors be triel BY the Courts. and If there
are no Courts let them 20" could not see
iu~t that way. But ne assured ME that the proc
lamation would no. effect ANYTHING anvil how where
the army did not 60 Then. said /. "the
South need not make so much ado about it His
answer reminded me of one of Andy Wallace
kind of Christians who there No
hell-such a thing was unreasonable AMI unscrip
tur,l. but on being urged 10 do certain thing
which looked that way. he said. Mold better
not. for there nav he a hell after NIL y The old
mn replied but IL is unconstitutional. ard il
may amount something after all " We'll. If
il IS unconstitutional. let Us bring IL before the
Supreme Court, was my suggestion But that
was unkind. for !: implied return 70 the Union
-, thing which r;le lenths OF the South abhor
A. death itself. and was compelled 10 leave the
old IMAM uncontrolled. Neither Providence nor
job. nor nv constitutional arsuments avaled
ANYTHING while the Ash Indiana burning his
rails and his negroes AMI mules we're est.
7. A Il.
r~N- Russell relates that lust before the bat