The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-02-11

Especial Correspondence Of the Missouri Dcmocrat.l
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss, Jan. g. 1863
Except Mexico, Spain and some remote
districts OF the Roman States, know of
no country whose desolate appearance
and lawless condition is . parallel to
the present condition and appearance of
Northern Mississippi. To realize this,
one must ride out eight or ten miles be-
yond the pickets of the army. Not with
the army ON its march, nor with squads
of cavalry, nor forsging parties--for
then the foragers and stragglers that dart
in and out of by roads, and in advance of
you, 70 every farm, impart some lift to the
scene; but like the famous horseman of
James's, alone. Then, and only then, do
you realize the effects of the war, and of
that peculiar feature which distinguishes
this from all the wars of late days-guor.
rilla warfare.
First you notice how silent the coun-
try is, though you ride for miles past
fenced fields, and catch glimpses Of
houses now and then, you hear none Of
the usual sounds Of country life; no low
ing of cattle, nor neighing of horses, nor
braying of mules, nor bleating Of sheep,
nor shout or song Of laborers in the fields.
Every thing Of the animal kind has long
since been driven Off to the camps Of one
army or the other. You ride to the sum-
NIT of the highest hill and survey the
country far aud wide, but in all the
broad fields you see no human being I;
the white men are probably in their
houses, sleeping off the effects of their
last nights ride with their guerrilla
friends, and the blacks have gone TO find
Uncle Abraham" and freedom,
The roads are as silent and deserted
rs the fields. Mile after mile you ride
and neither meet nor care to meet any
one on these solitary roads. On four
fifths of the plantations you pass, you
see no living soul. On some the doors
and windows of the deserted houses
stand open wide, but there is nothing but
emptiness within; and on others nothing
but the tall chimn0ys, whitened by the
flames, remain. As you go further and
further over the billy roads, you glance
suspiciously backward and forward from
every rise in the road You fancy you
caught a glimpse of something moving
there, far across the fields, and you pause
in some place out of view to recOnnoiter
A squirrel leaps through the dry leaves
in the woods on the other side, and your
revolver is in your hand in an instant.
In times of peace every traveller il
glad to pick up company on the road
but now, the sound Of horses feet, tn,
breaking OF twig, the rustling Of /,
leaf are signs of danger. Such is th,
effect upon the country of "guerrilll
warfare" for this desolatiOn and silene,
is not wholly attributable to the presene,
of the Federal army. 1t is the people O.
the South that suffer from guerrilas, no
the Federal army. Under the delusioI
that the whole North is about to tumble
into anarchy for want Of cotton, tn,
guerrillas burn the cotton, aud ruin thu
planter TO prevent some Northern mar
from risking his money in a precarioul
speculation, this aud the capture of al
occasional struggling soldier, is the only
harm they do the North.
The pay Of the guerrillas is what theJ
plumber, and so they get il they are no
very particular who is the paymaster.
Now tho old grudges between neigh
bors, the family feuds for which the Soutl
has always been notorious, are beinl
settled, and every farmer is as Apprehen
siye Of his neighbors as he is Of the Fed
eral troops
The people Of the South have already
discovered that they got more than thsJ
bargained for in initiating the guerrilla
mode Of warfare. In adopting the OLE
Spanish name of "guerrillas," they nos
see that they also adopted the lawless
ness, anarchy and brigandage Of Mexie'
and old Spain. This is tho serpent So
cessiOn biting itself with its own poison
ed fangs.
II you 90 into one Of the few house
which are yet occupied, you find larg
landed proprietors who have nothing LEI
10 eat but little corn bread, aud who's
threadbare apparel indicates that mer
chants and dealers ia clothes have Lon
since become an extinct class.