Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-12-14
From the National lntelligencer.l
SufferIngs of the Contrabands.

According to an official report from a commit
tee appointed BY the ehaplains' Association at
Vicksburg to ascertain the number and wants OF
the contrnbands in the Department of the Ten
nessee. there are on the banks of the Mississippi,
from Helena TO Natchez. not less than thirty five
thousand. Ofthese, about ten thous ,nd near
Vicksburg, FIVE hundred of whom only are men,
except those in the army. There are nine thous-
aud riear Goodrch's Landing in Lousitna O;h
ers are scattered about in smaller COLLECTIONS. A
few work upon the leasel plantations Tor them
selves. but most are dependent upon the Govern
ment for support. Their condition is very des
titute and almost hopeless one. The reportsays.
as to health, "That there has been fearful NOR
tality among the freedmen, both the enlisted sol
ders and the camps OF the infrm, we have ago
nzingly felt % Their prospects for the winter are
of the most gloomy character
The New Orleans correspondent of New
York paper thus speaks of the condition of af-
fairs on some of the Government plantations in
Louisiana :"
"WhiIe referring to the subject of plantations
my attention has been called to the apparently
impartial report Of Mr. W. H. Wilder, the nspec-
tor of plantations. who recently visited the plan
tations under the control of Col Hanks, superin
tendent of cOntrabands He says. in his repor;
to the proper authorities More particularly
would call your attention to the old Hickory
plantation. The mortality that has aud il occorr-
ing there is truly appalling On White Castle
plantation, out of one hundred aud forty nine ne
groes, eighty FIVE have died and twenty-five have
run away. thus leaving but forty two of the Origi
nal number. AT the Old Hickory plantation
there were four hundred and thirteen negroes; of
these two hundred and two have died since JnEe
last On my visit there found thirty-eight ne
grnes sick, without proper nurses medie,l at
tendance. The hospital is a building eighteen BY
twenty three feet in size. in which the sick re
ferred to were PACKED In the midst of this lazar
house the dead body of woman who had
died on Wednesday at three o clock A NJ At
Eve o'clock p. NJ. the following day measures
had been taken for her sculpture"
The New York Times has long letter writ
ten this month of Gooirch's Landing, in Lousi-
ana in which the writer states that the operations
on the plantations within that district are more
successful than in the vicinity of New Orleans
He states that between Lake Providence and
| MilIiken's Bend a distance of abou, fifty miles
| forty five plantations have been leasel-sOme To
resident whites. some to Northern men, and 6f
teen to negroes. Elsewhere there is lirtle doing
The negroes, we. are told. are more successful in
raising cotton than the whites. Yet on one OF
the plantations operated by two negroes employ
| ing about fifty hands. only forty bales of cotton
will be raised And this, the best, is only about
one tenth of a crop. Of the condition of the ne
groes at this point the letter says:
"There is and has been a great deal of dlscon
tent and grumb!ing among all classes. and there
has also been great deal of suffering. Scarcely
any of the negroes on The plantations hereaooufs
were raised in the Immediate part of the country.
All have come from Mississippi and from the
back country. Perhaps the most marked trait in
the negro character is his love Of hone and of
the localities to which he is accustomed. They
all pine for their homes. They long for the old
quarters they have lived in. for the old woods
they haveroamed in, and the old fields they have
TILED. The surgeons in charge OF contraband
camps tell me that great MANY Of them actu-
ally die IRON home sickness. or, in scientific Ian
guage. nostalgia They get thinking OF their old
homes. aud il they have left their families or any
part of them behind they long TO see them. and
so they become depressed in spirits and yield
readily to the first attack of disease, or sucrumb
10 the depression alone. The negroes here are
at work and earning wages. and they are not so
/ liable TO sickness. but many Of them when they
first came were compelled to lie for several days
on the levee in the cold rain. There no
shelter for them. They came by hundreds to
seek the protection Of our troops Many ofthein
necessarily died from exposure. and the memory
of those days Of suffering and death still fingers
among them Under these circumstances it is
inevitable that there should be a great deal OF
discomfort and complaint among the negroes"
But, coming nearer home, We find in the
Windsor (Vermont) Journal of the l4tl inst, a
letter from Mr.. james P. Stone, missionary a,
! Hampton. near Fortress Monroe, which shows
that the condition OF the contrabands" in South
eastern Virginia is bur little better in some re-
spects than that Of the same race the banks oil
the Mississippi. Mr., Stone. after referring TO the
reception and distribution OF aquantity of old
clothing forwarded to him in, answer to previ
Gus appeal, proceeded as follows: 4
s"But what is the little which has already
reached US among such multitude of eager ap
plicants? Yesterday some two hundred were at
our door, only part of whom, Of course could
receive any thing. To those whom we regarded
as the most needy were given wat we could,
but not By any means what they needed, or what
we desired to give. IL we had three hundred
barrels of good and warm clothing and bedding
we could soon dispose Of il all, either 10 this or
the neghboring missions, without giving any
body an article TOO much. Let NONE apprehend
that II they can send as all they can spare our
market viii soon be giutfed. We have no fears
of getting more goods thar we can dispose Of: but
we do fear and expect that many will greatly SUI
fer aud tina; some will die before spring for want
of what we are endeavoring to obtain from friends
al The North for them. Even coIored people
cannot endpre cyerything. They. as well rs
others. must die when they cannot live; and live
they cannot, when through exposure and hard
ships, cold and hunger, mortal disease Is en-.
dured. and the principle of vitality extinguished.
| Allow Us, then, again to say to the good people