, 1864-11-06

! u Done-asrAPh1c Pictures OF For.
61ovtment-Ten ua1les Of thc Sunnlv
Train xsreughE In.
From cur Special Correspondent
WITH TIE ARHI or THE CunBEnLAsp.
| Saturday, Octuber %, 1861.
The D!h Corps have been for some tims
supplying themselves and the rest Of the gat-
1ison with subsistence for man and beast. bg
iorag1ng expeditions on the country lying 20
or " miles southeast from the city, and on
The head~eters Of the South River. The Dl-
vision commanders have taken turns about
as conductors Of these plunderIue excur-
fiors AID General Geary, commanding theed
Division, has just started. judging from the
vast amonnt Of com, potatoes, and live
stock brought INTO town, the re bel citizens
"patIfotic" ~ soldiers ever cut our com
man1sauons and reduced Us to this dreadful
alternative.
The forseing parties Of the 1st.and Cd Di.
Visions bastng already been ont and returned
heavily ladenId, the expedition OF the Sd divia-
fon, under Col Dustin, started out about the
ed inst. It consisted Of q large detachmenta
Of troops from the division, and e company OF
the 9TH Ohio cavalry. As Is nBuN In all these
excursions, they Tere accompanied by
motley crowd OF men, soldiers Gnd civilians,
A4hGh AAA "uALtS BULL A5 UE1GEa440Q 1f1m va
rious Headquarters, or1erlies, hospital atten-
dants, and hangers-on In the Quzrte1master
and Commissary Departments, generally
termed "bummers,n ofHcers. servants, &c.
mounted on mules and broken-doWn horses,
al eager to purvey extensively for their re-
on securing whatever plunder be could fnd
and carry away, Potatoes, -four, meal, hon
ey, poultry, hogs, and even knives and forks
and dishes are the ordinary J" boot'' or booty
e1t1aoza.aa1y: boety i d my mortal thins,';;
from library OF books to . Homsn's under
clothing or chld's dress. From the zeal
and energy with which they dug up sweet
were dubbed the .'Potato Brigade" But it
should be understood that lndtscrlminate
p1laAeies1s ,hv-nn. -rneana : -"onanad-ts II. this
claes Of men,
The expedition proceeded in south cast
crly direction beyond Decatur, towards the
South river, and after an abReuce Of three or
four days, returned with el wagon-loada Of
forage, chiefly corn, amounting altogether
to upwards of twenty-five thousand
bushels OF corn and vast amount Of fodder
and other etuff; $50 vehicles, euch as buggies,
carriages, wagons, &c.; about 400 mtlch
cows; 50 horses and mules; sheep plg6, calves,
poultry, and Euch small deer by Wholesale,
and sweet potatoes and other roots In great
quantities. Tbs whole train stretched tsu
miles
It was Col Dustin's intention, on his
| homeWatd march, to seize all tbs cows, bug
| gies, and other vehicles, with the contents,
sde" and private scouting and foraging par
ties, and have them turned over to the prop
! er officers fer general and eq uAble dfstrlbu.
ton, but his laudable designs leaked out On
the eve Of their intended execution, and
very early On The folio wing morning the
| OF six milee-waa literally crowded with
droEes ofcoTs, horses, pigs, focks Of sheep,
I strings Of hugEte8 and WAGONS, and th1onH
! Of Growing, cackling and Cabling p1under
from the 1arm-ya:d. The me Hey Of discord-
ant noises, animal and human, as each Son Of
and hurry them quickly to quarters in the
I city, may be better imagined than described.
! They etpfe march on the Colonel aud left
him away behind with the corn and other
mere legitimate spoil ,..-..
THIS forage and eubststeoce was not ac'
quired without some risk and loss Of life a
small party who had gone out<ide OF
our videttss or picketa, TOR y WA ne
! cesea1y to take these precaut1ons) was
halted and shot at near Lattmer's Cross
Orderly with Capt Mcdowell, Chief En-
ineer 20th Corps, had a narroH escape by
dashipg INTO patch Of sorghnua,. the ball
whisuiDE clcee By him aid Wouudtng sol
der Of the SD Ohio severely IN the shoulder.
Two Of our men from the 73d Ohio were
found dead and hanging to tree By strips Of
torn bed clothes. Thtfr fate elected no pity,
So it was generally considered that they had
BEEN caught In some gross outrage The
"Potato Brigade also came to grief
Some Of their party (which was always IN
cngeged In assaulting woman who was re.
turning With grIst from the mill, and we're
taking her little store Of four-9 or bush.
els, which Was drawn on The hind wheels OF
en old wngon-wben their outrageous con.
AL to- zofT TNfa
III Ohio caya1rg, and he charged in among
,hsm With bis little "black snake'' and
whaled awaS, right and left. The man, how;
forks in defiance The Captain then brought
ensrss oh e. sas ane
stock, and the entrsnehlsod sheep, pigs and
calves, scattered through the woods In
ali directions, was both amusing aud instFue-
tive: The5 were finally driven hsI mase
to the rear, and tha men warned II they ever
attempted to get in advance again they
would meet with immediate perpendicular
suspension.
Extreme destitution and probably starva-
tion will result in the districts eubtected to
1hese-Thlch have now stripped the coun-
t1y for circuit Of Is miles s-plundcring ex-
curflons. Il ia In fact the old old story with
which We have been familiar from the begin
ming Of the war. 1t is striking to see even low
ofbcers will enumerate the toothsome acqut-
titlons TO their en:sine,-checking off each
article with the right fqIefinger on the palm
of the lett hand. "Let me Bee-Tre Eot
pail OF honey, fifteen pounds Of flour, tweu-
II pounds Of corn meal, eight pounds Of but
ter, SIX pounds Of lard, lot OF dried
ptaches, FIVE chickens, &C., &c,
Some soldier stole a Masonic apron and
enblems from the house Of lady whose
husband Was in the rebel army. She had
rreviouBly been deprived Of neatly eyerY-