The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1863-01-07

wharf. The city looks as though it was
finished hundred years ago Scarcely
a white man appeared except soldiers, and
| had passed nearly through the city be
fore | saw a white woman Immense
numbers of blacks came out on every cor
ner to see US and offer various commodi.
ties to sell, but like the yankees they
knew well enough how to charge the
highest price for everything. 5The gov.
ernment finds them, aud for ought /
know fnds enough for them to do, bat it
seems TO me as though they had better
be IN our places, carrying the knapsack
and musket, than be living at govern
ment charge and doing nothing, while
thousands Of US have left dependent fam
lies at home and been forced to come
out here and fight lit may be only Incl
dentally) for the advantage of these
blacks. This is the opinion of every SOL
dier Of the militia, and of the volunteers
here, so far as | have heard it expressed,
| have spoken to great many; and the
blacks too, arc willing to fight. [ have
talked with good many of them and
they all say, "Give US guns and train US
and we will do our best to viodicate our
freedom and free you from the hazards
and privatIons of a war for US and the
I Union" We expected to stay n Norfolk,
but here again We were disappointed, and
we came to the conclusion that in war es-
pecial'y, "all that we know is nothing
can be known" 1t had Iained all the
forenoon and still rained hard when we
were ordered to diSemb bark and march to
the cars for Suffolk. These were plat.
form lumber cars; no protection against
the storm which had become very cold.
We unslung our knapsacks, and seating
ourselves upon them were whirlcd rapidly
away through the great Dismal Swamp to
camp Suffolk. There was but little thrift
shown upou the farms around that must
have appeared when Norfolk was the gar
den of the northern cities. A few acres
Of cabbage, beets and turni ps was all that
the season had left. or the hand of war
spared. The country all along the road
looks rich but rather low aud marshv. and
we DOW and then catch a glimpse of the
great swamp, and of the bitches and fur.
rows on what had been once cultivated
fields, bat now was extensive forests, with
trees from ten to twenty inches in diam
eter. The tide water sets back across the
roads for miles in some places forming
quite extensive bays, creeks and lagoons,
all full of oysters. The margin of every
pool showed where they had been raked
from the mud and sand. and often great
quantities of them lay strewn upon the
shores. We now crossed the Dismal
Swamp Canal, whose waters, as
black as ink, are, in hot weather loaded
with pestilenco and death The ground
now became higher and dryer, old, level
forest grown plantations appeared on eli
ther hand, and the railroad, as stsaight as
the road to the celestial city, ''as straight
as line could make it " runs on for miles
without other sign that man had e, er
been there We were just thinking that
the forest was interminable when the
screech of the engine announced that we
were coming out somewhere we looked
forward and a strong fort with thousands
of soldiers, -"horse, foot und dracoon"
burst on our sight. Ten thousand hats
were waved, ten thousand throats were
split With hurrah's for the l7lst. The
train stopped for few minutes, and "wh
are you where are you from 3? how many
Of you are there are there any more
coming! hurrah for the old keystone ?"
echoed on every side. We proceeded on
a nile or two through one continuous camp,
and then set our feet in the mud of the
ancient ana a9gling town of. Suffolk
"tali in there. fall in,--right face-for
ward arch,-by the file right-march-
arms at ease and march at will, and
about a mile took US to our camping
ground, where we were complacentlV told
to make ourselves as comfortable as pos
sible which we did, wet and shivering
as we were, by stacking our guns, string
lng the bayonets with hayersack and can
teens, building fires with the intermina
bic pitch pine, laying poles across our
gun stacks, and stacking pine brush on
them for wind breakers. Then picking
some brush for our beds, we lunched on
three or four of Uncle Sans tombstones.
alias crackers, laid down and slept sound,
ly for the night Thursday morning, the
4th of Dec. broke bright and clear, aod
we awoke to find ourselves established i. |
S soldiers in the land of Dixie. Il
rubbed my eyes and mentally exclaimed, |
What beautiful land and how cursed n
The robins were singing as sweetly as ID
May morning in Potter, the fresh morn !
ing steamed up to our grateful senses as
reviving as when Oh some sunny morn
ing, with eur wives and children. we went
out into the pastures to count the lambs.
[ fell hmm aalnk and ruor,lH hnro .;uor