, 1864-03-14
The Great Mississippi Expedition.
FgLL PARTICULARS FROM OUR
CORRESPONDENT.
Fhe Occupation Of Jackson, Bran-
don, Meridian and Canton.
The Reaults of the xptditioa De-
s1ruction Of Property and
Loss Of Lifts,
[From Our Own Correspondent
Or Board TILE 6TEAMEn CoRsurUrloN.


i; i; Gen. Hurlbut, proceeding by the old Jackso
road and crossing the Big Black By pontoo
|, bridge at Messcnger'e Ferry; the other Ut
der command Of Gen. Mcpherson, crossi1
the river at the railroad bridge. In order
facilitate the progress Of the army, aIl III
necessary baggage bagga Was left behind, the sol
diers taking twenty days rations. Til
weather was beautiful and the roads in ez
cellcnt condition, and everything bid fair 70
speedy and successful march What mad
| it much more auspicious than such cxpcdi
Eon6 usually are, WIS the fact that the enem,
knew little or nothing in regard to our mum
bcrs ard intentions. In fact the expedition wa
q complete surprise 10 them, aud throughou
the march they seemed completely nonplusset
and ut loss What to do. The country from
| Fick6burg to the Big Black Is completely
stripped of everything that can afford sus
tenance TO man or beast, and such is tho cast
only in less marked degree Us far IS Jack
Eon.
sKIRMISHING WITH THE ENEMY.
After crossing the Big Black both columns
had skirmishing with the encmy's cavalry at
intervals until VIC arrived ut Jackson, The
cavalry belonged to s. D. Lee and Fcrgnson'e &
commands. These skirmIshes, though In
some cases severe, caused our forces but lit
Tie delay Us they speedily drove the enemy
back. In this days ekirmishcs tue enemy &C.
knowledge loss OF ten killed and thirty OF
forty wounded Among the for1nor was Ma
jor Bidden. This loss was at least, twice as
great as our own. The Coufedcrates had
four pieces OF artillery, and there is no doubt
TINT il WAS their intention to make stand Vi
fortiacations consist Of carthworks I nnd
i flae-pits and would have afforded
considerable protection against an asaaiiinc
party. A force Of cavalry was sent out by
another route which ran parallel to the main
road, and succeeded in hanfsing them, when
they lctreated in great haste, Our cavalry
er, with caisson, horses, &c, and several
prisoners. The flight Of the enemy through
the town and across Pearl river was perfect
sStuaddc. So great was their haste that they
had no time to destroy the fine poutoon
bridge whicl. they had erected across Pearl
river, except to cut the ropes, and it was
rsed the next day by our troops In crossing,
After our army Ind crossed and was on tic
way TO Brandon, The bridge wns DESTROYED
By the Confederates to cut of our retreat,
We had no desire to retreat till our mission
was accomplished Jackson is sorry
locking 1ot,s rlas place. aI al the public build,
: TIC State House aud City HILL. Besides lie
public buildings nearly all the stores aud
many private dwellings, have been burned.
, Most Of it was done during the occupation
OF the city by our forces one year ago.
TO BRANDON.
Our march from jackson to Brandon was
mostly free from skirmishing, the enemy
having become thoroughly deinoralized and
GhiefiS ccupied in making good their escape.
route, which the soldiers were NOT slow to
ayail themselves Of to lenSthen ont the sup
Plies which We're brought with us, It was
the expectation, when the expedition started
ont, that they would draw most Of their sup
plies and all the forage for horses aud mules
from the country There was very little diff
aculty IN finding enough for our purpose,
even In the most barren part Of the country
which NC passed through. There was
nothing left, however, after our passage,
and in many instances the people must
suffer for the want OF food. The state
ments that the Confederates would suffer
from starvation are without foundation
There is plenty Of corn and meat in the
country, but very little else; yet this will
serve to sustain life, and people can fight,
living On this alone, if they eau get nothing
else. They appear to sufler more from want
Of proper clothing than anything else
The country from jackson to Brandon is
very good, and there are many fine plsnta-
lions We passed through the latter place
on the 9Th ult. It is 3 pleasant village, aud
me county seat Of Rankin county. This
count5 has voting population Of more than
lsvo, -! and sare 1ld majority against secession
when the State went out OF the Union. Hon.
J. j. Thornton, resident Of this town, was
the only member Of the State Legislature that |
voted against secession when the final vote
was taken. His drug store was plundered !
by our troops Quite & large Quantity Of |
meal meal vas found At this Pace, which was
ssazc9 loI nc use o. the army. A large num-
nflEH1A
= Sell as at other places on the route, but |
they were IN nearly every case deserted |
1ouses and their owners in the rebel army. !
The burning was mostly done by st1agylers, /
and there were strict orders Issued against ii |
oy ne commanding Generals. The railroad /
from Meridian to Jackson, and from the lat /
ter place through Canton North to Grenada. /
y as by this road that the Conicterutc5 at /
Meridian end Mobile got most Of their sup
pAes. Tie Trains ran until the day before we |
arfaFed We destroyed the road at differ
mt placcs all The way through to Meridian.
HILLsBoEo.
The march from Brandon through Moreton
o utllsboro Was devoid OF interest exccpt nm
skirmish with til, encmy's cavalry
\ which they invariably got the worst Of it.
his IS In part owing to tho fact that our cav
-iry always dismount In skirmfshfng with the
nemy in the woods, which giv<s them the
avantagG OF getting un1er cover and moving
be nj with greater facility- The country
nd the timber wholly pine. The inhabitants
we're scattered and belong to the poorer class,
'et ne found no difficulty in finding meat and
ofn tor forage Ht!1sboro is scattered town
II ttWenty houses and the county seat Of Scott |
'ounty. Beyond Hillsboro towards DECATUR
&c found the bridges across the creeks de-
troyed and trees felled across the road.
lhesc 1mpctImclts caused some delay hut q |
'lonccr corps WIS organized aud the contra
'ands set at Work, who SOON put things to
lights.
The largest streams we passed we're the big
nd little Chunky. At tie Big Chunky we
ad quite Ekirmish with the enemy, in
'lich several Of their number were Killed
nd wounded; our loss was trifing. A force
rms sent to Chunky station, twelve miles
outh . OF our route, to destroy the railroad.
hey had quite severe ekirmish with the |
penny, but succeeded in accomplishing their
Slect. This force, moving in that direction,
ID the rebel General Polk to think that our
my had started for Mobile, and caused him
} send portion Of his force at Meridian in |
int direction. and led to the subsequent
racuation Of that post
We omitted to state that our train was at
,cked by about forty rebel cavalry while p,s-
ng through Decatur, on tie evening of the J.
IN ut: Several Of the mules were killed
r disabled, but none Of the wagons were |
'pturcd, and the rebs were speedily driven !
ack.
AT MERIDIAN.
On the 18th and 18th ne passed several
Tamps where small force might hare de- |
lined MS long time, and perhaps ctfectuallv
ept us back, but it was evidently no part Of
ae rebel programme to fight; they were all
20 busy in mixing good their escape, In .
ct What few Coufederatcs we saw uppeared
be completely demoralized. On lie eye
Ing OF the 18th our advance encampcd with,
| ten miles OF Meridian. LIS Polk was known |
hopes OF haying light. On this evening
ur cavalry had q skirmish With the Confeti.
nte cavalry, which resulted In the death Of
aH dozen Of the latter without any loss to | {
,. On the morning Of the 14th our forces | q
ere up and moving bright and early. After | l
roceeding Within four miles Of Meridian VIC c
nnd bridge burned across small creek | !:
hieh causcda delay oftwo or three hours {
AFTER passing the creek q short distance we a
uni sort OF breaEtW0rh and cotton bales ! 6
led up for artillery, as though the Confedc-
tes designed to nuke stand. 1t was au
lmirab1e place for the purpose; but their i
ARTS evidently failed them, aud we found /
cir works deserted. About'two miles from q
e town ne passed the winter quarters Of /
g Confederate troops. They appeared to be I
lite comfortable, and admirably located. | h
'on after passing the camps our cavalry, un- b
r Col. WInsloT, encountered the rear t,
s5d Of the enemy; bnt the gallant Colonel r
ade short work Of them, and drove them
rough the town towards Demopolis, at a
Immediately following the r.
valry came the Sd division Of the 10th Army r
rps, with flags flying and bands playing y
tionnl nirs. It must hare been novel sight i,
What few Inhabitants we're left. They had n
witnessed anything Of The kind before c,
nifcstatfons Of joy exhibited by the in y
bftant6 OF Meridian, nor indeed were there
any place on the ronte. The people looked =,