Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-12-22
Letters from Chicago.
NUxsER IL
CAMP DoUGLAs, CHICAGO, ILL.,,
December 10th, 1864.

h4t1a4s s1HfEAts
feel myself under an obligation 10
you for the copy Of the Journal with
which you were so kind 10 furnish me
Weekly Journal, Dec. 18th, 1864. i
vas greatly grasi6sd BY its perusAl, for
it Is slnos. eighteen months since /
have bad any intelligence from Evans
vile. / devoured its contents with the
greatest aVidity, not excepting the ad
vsrtisemeuts, whishs afforded me grea.
pleasure, inasmueh as they informed me
Of the well-being and welLdoing ofmany
estimAble acquaintanees.
would give yon letter oftensE than
do we're Il not that the importantly Of
my duties here in this camp abridge my
opportunities Of gathering up news
iisns and making observations 10 this
teeming and busy northwestern melropo-
lis A newspaper letter, to be readable
nowadays, shuuld b. sprightly and
amusing. bat in order 10 do lhis g Pc
eaIiarity Of qualifications and facilities
OF intelligence, combined with oppor-
tuaities OF intercourse with those who
have entrce into we'll informed circles,
are indispensably necessary. From
sbsss advantages am debsrrsd By the
| peeuliarity OF my position. A common
soldier Is not supposed TO possess intel.
leet beyond the apprehension Of the or
d,nAry commands Of bis superior Off
GERS; more taste than Just Sufficient TO
I take pride in the cleanliness Of bis per
son and apparel; nor desire, than to be
content with the rations and privileges
allowed him By the regulations This,
| however, is an egregious blBnder, for 20
my certain knowledge there are men in
the rAnks Of the United States Army
whose competency for any one Of the
lucrative and learped professions is
seeoad 70 that Of no person now follow
ing !, IN cisil life. 10 fact, Il is mat
ter OF asfonishmsut 10 European officers
sho haze visited our armies, 10 see the
intelligence manifested BY the men
forming our forces, aad our superiority
over the macs oi men ia the Soathern
army is mainlE TO be AseFibed to this
cause Bot this seems to be forgotten
pihen we claim an equality With The
I generality Of citizens on the score OF
Wit, AtsAinments or information, AMd |
have 20 doubt, should man in my cir.
cums,anees evinee a disposition 10 enter
e social circle higher than the very low.
est decent circle, be woald be- considered
extremely presamptious, and treated
accordingly. Convinced Of this truth
/ content myself in my circumstances.
0bsrude myself nowhere, seek for
amusement and recreation where they aro
offered for sdfe: get on dts where they
are TO obtained without giving offence
OF trouble to man, woman OF child, aud
thus preserve my equanimiiy, seIf-res-
pect snd Independence
The winter has set 10. in all its rigor,
10 this latitude, aud the Thermometer has
raHged for several days past from AZ
which was the temperature on the Sd
Inst, 20 As low As l0a below nero What
adds to the 6ercensss aud intensity oi
the frigid weather here, is the bleaknes,
Of the prairies and the proximity Oi
Lake Michigan, over whose emerald
wsters from hyperboreau regions, comes
breath keen enough TO shave ones
nose and. ears of clear 70 bis cheeks
Oh this account Chicago is not . deSi
rable place for winter residence. In
this respect Evansville is incom parably
preferable. With buffalo overshoes, and
with any amount Of warm woolen cloth
ing, person is still penetrAble to the
cold, and since Il has prevailed from
thirty 70 forty OF our men have beer
mere or less frost bitten, and three OF
four cases Of Apbonia have oeeayred
An order has, in consequences, been pro
uulgated 20 relieve the guard ever,
hour, or, should it be necessary, ever
half hour / believe Il uas cold enough
about four nights ago 10 freeze . mat
stiff on the barricade promenade IN tw,
b hours, no matter how veil fortified viii
wrappers This hardship, Of course, ",
must endure, but does il not ill us viii
tenderness for the Johnnies, the raseall,
cause Of the unbearable infection
Well, perhaps it does aad perhaps !
does not
As have alluded 70 the rebels in
, prisoned here, shall proceed to 50
What have % eommaniease in regarI
10 them. Slnce the explosion of iA
conspiracy for their liberation, the
have manifested no uBruiiness; ba
from information obtained through ou
> spies in the barracks Of the Bun Per
!, . plot was hatched to break through th
. partition separating them from ou
: camPgroands. During the dsy the
are allowed the privilege Of going an.
where in the space in which they ar
confined, except over the dead-liue-
= that is, line Of demsreation invente
; BIZ themselves, over which q prisone
without The companiouship Of guar
may not pass on pain OF being fire
! upon By the guard on the parapet 4
about sandovn the bagle sounds Il
hour for retiring, when they must gath
into their respective quarters. Nor ml
they leave their quarters after that II
. perIous summons, on any account, vi
y other clothing than their shirt and dEa'
ers Should they dare to diso5sy th
:, order-a Southern expedient too
q staut death Furnishes their tsmsrii
Within the dsGd-line, At certain int
vals, attached to posts eqaidisssnt fro
5. the fence and It. are large lamps, Il
nished with ample refectOrs, throwing
,s food of light that eliminates the 81
rounding darkness, 80 that every obie
/, stationary or movable, Is clearly dist
guishable By the guards In the moi
ing, just as the day is dawaing, {
= bugle sounds reveille, when the prise
II ers leave their beds, dress thenselv
proceed to the hydrsnss, and perfo
their ablutions and ahstersious. 7
regular uaiutinal exercise being gc
through, they breakfast, and fall in
roll-c2ll, and stand n line until part
speciallY detailed for the purpose eli