The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-01-28
Letter from the Seat of War.

tOur readers will recognize the initials appended
to the following communication, as those Of one of
our former residents, from whom We hope 10 hear
again.l
5. steamer :" Peosta," Passport, Miss, $50 miles from Pa
Tt ducah, KY, mouth of the Tennessee River, Dec. Is, 1865.
Mr. EDITOR Thinking a space in your columns
might possibly be found for an old subscriber. who
sends q waif across the continent, and over the bosom
of the mild Pacific, 1 will indite a few lines from this
desoated region of the Upper Tennessee.
Shortly after my return TO this country, | received
an appointment in the naval service, and became one
u = E~ta~. -A"r-IaHH'-" "eUoe', uHd = --o-sh
soon discovered the truth of his remark, so felicitous,
and so 'apropos' TO my situation, as having ben
appointed 20 the steamer Pa1sp11U (Which is the cog
nomeu of a fruit resembling n . Fsnana," rs Steve
Bailey's oil Janitor, a native yclept g John Bull"
not forgotten 10 the old acquaintance of Il. c. s Co,
used to intonate the pronunciation of your tropic
BaDana,) and that luckless vessel having after q
short cruise TO Helena, Arkanas, during which she
twice caught FIRE, wound up her career for the nonce
by being ~snagged, and afterwards sunk. thereby
enabling us TO wade ashore, barely saving our bag
gage and our bacon, We concluded ace could go,
where il Was only n little damp"
We lay at Ship Island, where We were stranded,
some 80 days. and encountered the hottest weather
ever experienced, once being as nearly parboiled as
IL pOesiOle duu escape hlyiHP awe DurlnE tOat
period we had several adventures with those pests of
the South, BUSH hacke-s. or guerrillas, in one Of
which four carbines were only prevented being dis
charged at our surgeon and my humble self by the
timely appearance OF our chief engineer, who hav-
ing a valuable sho, gun and accoutrements, and was
approaching instead of returning from the locale
Of said guerrillas. The proprieioIs Of the carbines
reluctantly spared as for the sake of the plumber
they would secure by capturing him. He, poor fell
low. all unconscious OF danger. and having solely iu
view the obtaining n few birds for the sustenance of
n sick brother officer, continued on into a thick wood,
the guerrillas falling back az he sdvanced, until he
was quite out of sight of the boat, when they sud
denly rose on, of the underbush, and with their very
conclusive arguments levelei at his head, politely
requested him to halt, and lay down his fowling
piece. Discretion being the better part Of valor un-
der the circumstances be acceded. when they led him
n mile or two back. stripped him u4ked, and put
on him a ragged pair of =" butter nut' clothes, tel
ling him he was fortunate to get off with his hlde.
After keeping him till near shutdown, they dispatched
him to the boat, with their compliments 10 the doctor
and myself. advising us to purchase the engineer a
new outfit, as we were indebted to him tOr the pre-
servation Of ours as well as our lives.
Such is the general system Of guerrilla warfare.
Their sole object is piunder, and they will spare life
to attain this. Their ignorance renders them incap-
able of any patriotic motives. \ blind obedience to
the demagogues Of the South, who incite them by the
most atrocious falsehoods and misrepresentation of
the cruelty of " Lincoln's men,, to deeds of robbery,
murder. and assassination. Scarcely a steamer passes
up or down the Mississippi, without being fired into
By these scoundrels. and in almost every instance,
women and little children have proved the victims.
az their shots arc invariably fred at the saloon Of
the steamers, where they suppose most Of the passen-
gers arc congregated.
But like all things. the cruise Of the Pawpalo had
an end. and we finally were towed 10 the railway, at
Mound City, Illinois. for repairs, and l was detached
by Rear Admiral Porter, and appointed TO the PeosfG,
a new and fine steamer Of II guns, her battery con-
sitting Of = 50lb. rifed Parrots, and = 32lb. bow
guns. 6 brass 24lb. Dahlgren howitzers. and 9 50lb.
Parrot stern guns, with . l2lb. brass howitzers
on wheels on the upper or boiler deck. She is iron
plated with l4-inch iron on the tow and stern, and
on the bulkheai around the engine room, her sides
being ~ inch oak timber, and Is considered the most
efficient of the Mississippi fOtilla of her class, We
have 4 complement of I48 officers and men, and as We
are under a tried and skillful commander. we'll versed
in bis dsty, the discipline and routine ~ rs perfect T!