The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1864-03-29

1sass
time we left Vlcksburg until we had got
back TO Pearl river. A large part Of the
remnant OF the city Of Jackson was
burned The little towns Of Brandon,
Morton, Decatur, Meridian and Mason
were almost totally destroyed. AT the
great Railway cerler Meridian We des-
troyed some fifty miles of rail track
thereby cutting effrctually the commu
nicalion between Mobile and the south
west with the great heart and soul Of
the confeleracy. Hundreds of horses
gous, mules, carriages and many 9th
er articles of use to the army were con-
fscated and brought in. Upwards of
seven thousand negroes were brought
back. Is not lhis Of some prof :?
What a strike was this for the iermna-
ton Of the war and what noble act Of
humanity. Years hence when the
American people are more honest and
less arislrocratic, these li;lle slaves
who will then be free men and women,
will look back with grateful hearts to
that army that brought them out of the
Wilderness. When we entered Meridian
"a little tow headed, dirty faced, white
boy stood at the road side, and as flag
approached, in an angry and threatening
msnner, threw chips and dirt att. The
little slaves danced Tor joy, and exclaim-
ed, " Good, good, massa's gone up now,
massa's gone up now. Glory, glory.
In this same place, Meridian, a woman
spit in the face Of one of our soldiers,
while prisoner there last June. He
called to remind her of the fact, and car
ried a tool with him which soon scatter
ed flames over the house, that Lett it in
ruins in less than an hour. Oh !. these
people are bitterly secesh, and | almost
fear that they will OILY submit to right
ful sway when called by death.
We arrived with the loss Of only four
men, all supposed to be prisoners. Since
our return we have received seventy. nine
recruits from Davenport, Iowa. Lieut..
Tucks, Co. X, and Lieut.. Wilcox, Co.
| H, who were detailed TO conduct recruits
TO regiment, have returned, and that
4 hearted soldier, F. H. Robbins who has
been in Iowa has returned, AMI is mus
terrell as "a Lieut.. Co. I. Would that
We had more snch men as Frank. A
man OF li,tle gusto, good sense and a
large, kind heart. These recruits bring
our aggregate up to $40. The resigna-
ton OF Scion NJ. Langworthy, R. Q. M,
9th Iowa, has been accepted. E. p.
Baker has been discharged in orders from
Headquarters 10Th Army Corps, to en-
able him to accept appointment as Capt.
in Negro Regt.
We are now under orders to proceed
by boat down the Mississippi river and
up the Red, TO be gone about thirty days.
Brig. Gen. A. j. Smi.h, of the Sd Divis
ion, 18th army corps, commands the ex-
| petition. There are to be 10 thousand
troops, two thousand and FIVE hundred
of whom are soldiers Of the 17lh army
corps, and the balance Of the 10Th army
corps, We are looking forward with
some interest 10 this trip. What and
whom shall we find in that country.
Shall we find Unionists, or will they be
bitter secesh. Shall we be engaged in
fight there, or will 1t be an expedition
without fight. '
Cspt Drips, CO. E, A. w. Clyde, Co.
X, and three other enlisted men Of our
regiment, have just been detailed to
conduct recruits TO the regiment, and
they will leave soon. We will go aboard
the boats to night or tomorrow, and the
fleet will move The 9th March. I will
write again from down the river.
c. II. L.