, 1864-03-13
The Great Mississippi Expedition.
FILL PARTICULARS FROM our
CORRESPONDENT.
The Occupation Of Jackson, Bran-
don. Meridian and Canton,
The Results Of The Ezpeditiou-Da-
a1rustiou Of Property and
Loss Of Life,
[From Our Own Correspondent
OK DoAnD THE 8rHAahH CONSTITUTION. !
Motrh r tnE4

[uhu Hua ClpooL1b tAG Dig HlACA ~ PoAtoVn
bridge at Messengers Ferry !, the. other un-
der. command of Gen: Mcpherson, crossing
the river ut the railrond bridge. In order to
facilitate tho progress Of the army, all un-
necessary baggags was left behind. the SOL
diers taking twenty days rattons. The
weather was beautiful and the roads in cx-
cellent condition, and everything bid falr for
o speedy and successful march. What made
1t much more auspicious than such cxpedi-
tions usually arc, WIS the fact that the enemy
knew little or nothing In Tcgard to our num-
bcrs ard Intentions. Intact the expedition was
q complete surprise to them, and throughout
the march they seemed completely nonplussed
and ut q loss what to do. The country from
stripped Of everything that can afford aus
tenance to man or beast, and such Is the case
only in less marked degree as far as Jack
son. =
eK1nM1su1sd WITH TIE EnEAF. -
After crossing the Big Black both columns
had skirmiBhfng with the euemy's cavalry at
intervals until We arrived ut jackson. The
cavalry belonged to s. .. Lee and Ferguson's
commands. These skirmishcs, though in
tie deIny as they speedily drove the enemy
back. In this day's skir1nishcs the enemy az
knowledge a loB5 Of tel- killed and thirty or
forty wounded. Among the former was Ma-
jor Bidden. This loss vas ct least, twice as
great US our own. The Confederates had
tliat It wns their intention to make stand ut
the: fortihcations Of jackson. These
Notifications consist of carthworks aud
ride.pits and would have afforded
considerable protection against an assalling
party. A force Of cavalry was sent ont BY
al w oIt
road, and succeeded in danking them, when
they retreated In great haste. Onr cnvalry
captured one Of their guns, u rided 10,pound-
CT; with caisson, horses, DC, and BeyNel
prisoners. Tho hight Of the enemy thzode eh
the town and across Pearl river was a perfect
skedaddt: So great was their haste that they
had no time TO destroy the fine pontoon
bridge which they had erected across Pearl
river, except to cut the ropes, and 1t was
used the next day BY our troops in crossing.
After our army had crossed md was on the
way to Brnndon, the bridge was destroyed
by the ;Confcderate5 to cut of our retreat.
We had no desire to retreat till our mission
looking place, all the public build,
the State House and City Hall. Besides the
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 6kirm1shing, the enemy
having become thoroughly demoralized and
chiefly occupied in making good their escape.
We found plenty Of meat and corn on the
route, which the soldiers were not slow to
avail themselves Of to leugthen ont the sup
plies which were brought with us, 1t was
the expectation, when the expedition started
out, that they would draw most of their snp-
plies and all the forage for horses and mu1es
dculty in finding enough for our purpose,
even In the most barren part Of the country
which We passed through. There Wls
nothing left, however, after our passage,
and il many instances the people must
sut1er" for the want OF food. The state.
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 can get nothing
else. They appear to suffer more from want
Of proper clothing than anything else.
The country from Jackson to Brandon Is
tions. We passed through the latter place
On the Sth nit. It Is pleasant village, and
the;county seat of Rankin county. This
county has voting population Of more than
120O, and gave 1l6 minority against accession
when the State went ont Of the Union Hon.
id. 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 WINS plnndered
by our troops. Quite a large quantity OF
meal was found at this place, which wa.
seized for the use Of the army. A large num-
ber Of private dwellings were burned here aa
we'll as at other places on the route, but
they were in nearly every case deserted
houses and their owners In the rebel army.
The burning was mostly done by strngg1ers,
and there were strict orders issued against 1t
by the commanding Generals. The railroad
from Meridian to Jackson, and from the lat.
ter place through Canton North to Grenada.
It YVES hy this road that the Contederates at
Meridian and Mobile got most Of their sup
plies. The trains rnn until the day before we
arrived. We destroyed the road At differ.
ent places all the way through to Meridian.
u11LsnoHo.
The march from Braudon through Moretou
to Hllsboro was devoid Of interest except IN
occasional skfrmish with the enemy's cavalry
In which they invariably got the worst Of 1t.
This is In part owing to tho fact that our cav.
airy always dtsmount In skirmishfng with the
enemy In the woods, which givts them the
advantage Of getting under cover and moving
abeut with greater facility. The country
through which VIC passed is sandy and barren,
and the timber wholly pine. The inhabitants
were scattered and belong to the poorer class,
yet we found no difficulty In finding meat and
corn for forage Hllsboro Is scattered town
Of twenty houses and the county seat of Scott
county. Beyond Hfllsboro towards Decatur
We {oHnd the bridges across the creeks de-
stroyed aud trees felled across the road.
These impcdiments caused come del8y but Q
pioneer corps was Organized and the contra
bands set at work, who soon put things to
rights.
The largest streams we passed were the biz
and little Chunky. At the Big Chunky We
had quite skirmish with tic enemy, II
which several of their number were Killed
and wounded; our loss YVES triaing. A force
Was sent to Chunky station, twelve miles
south Of our ronte, to destroy the railroad.
They had quite severe skirm1sh with the
enemy, hnt succeeded in accomplishing their
object. This force, moving In that direction,
led the rebel General Polk to think thnt oui
army had started for Mobile; and caused him
to send portion Of his force ut Meridian iu
that direction. and led to the subsequent
evacuation Of that post
We omitted to state that our train was at
tucked by about forty rebel cavalry while pas
sing through Decatur, on tho evening Of the
12th u1t. Several Of the mules were killed
or disabled, but none of the wagons were
captured, md the reos were speedily driven
back. - s.
/. '~ At MERIDIAN.
On the 18th and 18th we passed several
swnmpB where small force might have dc.
tained us q long time, and perhaps effectaalls
kept Us back, but 1t was evidently no part ol
the rebel programme to fight; they were an
too busy In making good their escape. In
fact what few Confederatcs we saw appeared
to be completely demoranzcd. On the ere.
ming OF the 18th onr advance encamped with.
in ten miles Of Meridian. AS Polk was known
TO have quite 1arge force our boys were
In hopes Of having light. On this evening
our cavalry had akirn1sh with the Confed:
crate cavalry, which resulted In the death OF
half dozen Of the Inter without any loss to
Us. On the morning Of the 18th cur forces
were mp and moving bright and carly. After
proceeding within four miles Of Meridian We
touud bridge burned acroEs q small creek
which caused d delay Of two or three hours
After passing the creek short distance we
fonnd sort Of b5eastwo1k and cotton bales
piled up for artillery, as though the Confede-
rates designed TO make stand. 1t wns IN
admirable place for the purpose; but thciE
hearts evidently failed them, aud we found
their works deserted. About two miles from
the town We passed the winter quarters oi
the Confederate troops. They appeared to be
quite comfortable, and admirably located.
Soon after passing the camps our caya1I, IN
der Col. Winslow, encountered the rear
guard Of the enemy; hut the gallant Colonel
made short work Of them, and drove thero
through the town towards Demopolfs, at d
douhle-qufck. Immediately following the
cavalry came the Sd division Of the 16th Army
Corps, with Tags flying and bands playing
national airs. It must hare been q novel sight
to what few Inhabitants were LEFT. They lad
not witnessed anything Of the kind before
since the fall Of Sumter. There were NO
manifestations Of 10y exhibited by the in.
habltnnts OF Mefihiap, nor indeed were there