The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-08-24
AUGUST "a, 1863.

cities. They make news and give great
names to great men as having fought
great battles, who never smelt gunpow-
der
General Grant long tried to assail
Vicksburg in front, but found it invinci-
bic, and he was hound to abandon that
scheme. He next resorted to every
means to get to the rear of FickSburg.
For this purpose he cut q canal, which
proved a failure. Then he tried to go
down the Yazoo River through the Pass,
but the enemy blockaded the river, and
erected batteries and forced his army
back. Several ineffective attempts to
reach the rear by different routes proved
abortive, till at length another scheme
was devised. A route was surveyed on
the Louisiana side so as to reach the
Mississippi river below the city of Vicks-
burg. At this time the river was ex-
ceedingly high the water being ct least
ten feet above the common level OF the
land, and thus kept up by the levees.
Through this marshy, muddy country,
Gen. Grant pressed the army, over bay
GUS of running water almost as swift as
mill tails. At least thousand feet of
q bridges were made in an incredible short
time, and military roads cut through the
woods, and so the army re-entered the
Mississippi in safety.
The design then was to take Grand
Gulf, as a basis of future operations.
Our troops were thus embarked upon the
transports ready for the assault, and for
long hours the gun boats gallantly as
sailed the batteries, receiving from them
missiles, the smallest of which was sixty
four Founders. The contest was very
spirited, and the army felt proud of the
Iron clad navy. The effort was in vain.
The batteries were invincible, and our
transports were again compelled to run
a second blockade After this was run
our troops again embarked and landed
at Bruinsburg on the Mississippi shore.
From this point our army marched to-
wards the interior Of Mississippi, and
here brigade and regimental officers, in
Guiding Brigadier Generals, Colonels,
Majors and medical officers, were com
PEELED to march on foot Not single
wagon had crossed the river.
Here the men were compelled to live
ing this march the battles of Port Glib
son, Raymond, Jackson and Champion
Hills and Big Black were successfully
fought On the 18th of May our army
had commenced the investment of Vicks-
burg. The approaches to tie enemy S
works were very slow. We commenced
our work like moles and continued to la
Dor through each successive nigh. till
the 3rd of July, when the offer to capit-
ulate was made. At this time our works
were within thirty yards of the enemy s
lines They knew that it was either
death or victory and surrendered. Ger.
Grant has been blamed for allowing
them to keep their side arms. Gen
Pemberton offered to surrender on con-
dition that the officers kept their side
arms and the privates paroled. Gen.
Grant consulted his Generals as to the
policy. The general feeling was against
it, though the judgment was for it, for
we knew that they would destroy all
their arms, all their stores; that we should
have to bring them North and pay the
transportation, and to feed them here al
cost of three or four millions and then
to take them back. Or, in other words,
to fatten them for their deneft. Loud
Cheers. These facts led to the determ.
ination to accept Pemberton's propo-
sails.
On the 5th ofJuly my division march
ed on Jackson All round the city oi
/ jackson Johnston bad poisoned the water
by having dead mules thrown into it. We
had to drag them out and drink the wa
ter. When we went back we found the
prisoners scattered like the leaves of Au-
tumn. The soldiers had gone home;
/ they said il was rich mans war and a
poor mans battle. When the rebels
reached Camp Enterprise, out of the
10000, Pemberton had scarcely 1000
| left, and to conceal his condition he pa
rolled the m for ninety days.
The rebel army is conquered in the
Southwest There is no food there
| they are starving to death and you vii
| have to feed them from your own bread.
| A voice we won't do it, sir. Though
your fathers have died upon the battle.
field yet your Christianity must rise and
| say, we will not see even dog starve to
death. No man is more bitter than
am, yet have fought them one day and
the next fed them out of my own pocket.
l can hate the whole of rebeldom with
its leaders but can't hate them individu-
ally. You will not find any more big
battles fought in the Southwest.
So the rebel army of the Potomac is
destitute as learn from Gen. Harrow
They will soon have to surrender or to
abandon those sections and concentrate
in northern Alabama, Tennessee and
Kentucky. If they do this, they viii
make Louisville or Cincinnati one of
their objective points, and then you will
know what war means. When you see
your dearest friends torn into fragments,
limb from hmb-when you walk over the
battlefield and see them writhing-torn
with every wound the mind can con
ceive of-then you will know something
of battle. l have walked into hospital
in the South, and | am not ashamed te
say | blubbered like a child. There
saw men who had served with m me-mer
in whom had every con6dence-dying
dead and mutilated, for upholding the
Government their fathers gave them
When you see helpless mothers with theil
little ones imploring you for help anC
protection from outrage, begging fo
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