The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-03-30
Army correspoffdcncS.
VIcKsBUkG, Miss, March 7th, 'C4.

Dear Times The anticipated move :
ments Of our troops under command ol
Gen. Sherman Of which informed you BE-.
fore leaving Memphis, have to some extent
been put in operation, and although the
expedition may not have come up to the
expectations Of many, yet think that ou-
expedition to Meridian and back has been
a very profitable one to us and serious one
to the rebels. We started from here Feb.
Sd and arrived at Meridian on the 14th.
making q distance of over $50 miles in u
days, skirmishing with rebel force daily
from the time we left Jackson until wo
reached the destined point. The rebel
force ] judge must have numbered 5000.
but had gradually increased to 10000 by
the addition Of their scattered forces sta.
toned at the different towns intervening,
Gen. Sherman felt confident they would
make stand at Meridian. BY glance at
military map, your readers will perceive
its relative importance from its railroad
connections running north, south, cas-. and
west, it was their chlf base for operations
to which point they concentrated their sup.
plies collected together in the State Of
Mississippi, and from there transported
supplies eastward to Selma and Montgom.
cry, and thence to Atlanta. Our troops
destroyed upwards of 20 miles Of railroad
southwark as far as enterprise, nor,hwavd
10 miles beyond Marion, eastward towards
Selma several miles, westward between
Meridian and Jackson at mary points,
Taken collectively the two army corps de.
stroyed upwards of fifty miles of rail.
road.
Our route from jackson was to Erandoa,
thence to Morton, thence northeast to Hills.
boro, and from there to Decatur, thence to
Meridian. We remained several days at
Meridian destroying the railroad, bridges.
&c, and also awaited communication wit,
Griersons and Smiths cavalry, from above,
estimated at 10000; we feel confident that
Grierson's force accomplished the object
intended. have not heard Of the pro.
ceednss Of the 18th army corps under
command Of Gen. Logan, but it is probable
that he kept up communication with Gen.
Grierson. The principal object of our ex.
pediton seemingly was to bag the rebel
force supposed to have been under COM
mand of Gen. Polk, also to destroy their
railroads and exhaust their supplies by
supporting our army on the country. An
other object intended no doubt, was to
destroy their immediate facilities in trans.
porting troops to within few miles of the
Mississippi river, which the rebs had taAc,r
advantage Of by obstructing the navigation
Of the Father Of Waters at various points.
Many Of these advantages arc now wres;ed
from them, and they cannot transport
body of troops of any great consequence
nearer to the Mississippi river than $50
miles, thus the importance Of our -nnera.-
.:v... uv seen. The Two army corps,
think | can safely state, destroyed and
committed to the flames upwards Of S2,.
600, 600 worth Of cotton and other property,
besides upwards Of 5000 negro refugees, it
is estimated, left the plantations and fol.
lowed our army, taking with them OK
teams, wagons and mules, with necessary
supply of provisions in the line of corn
moal and meat. They no doubt took ad.
vantage Of the absence Of their owners,
many of whom secretcd themselves on our
approach, ir taking what they wanted On
our return from Meridian, when we ar.
rived at Hilsbcro, supplies awaited us, and
b,ing furnished, next day on starting we
stecred our course towards Canton, the
prettest town that beheld on the trip
The marks Of destruction that were visible
on every other town that we had noticed,
had escaped Canton, but this was owing
no doubt, to a strict order that was read to
the troops in regard to avoiding the des-
truction Of cotton ard the burning of build.
ings, &C.
After we crossed Pearl river we remained
at Canton three days to destroy the rail-
road running north to Grenada and south
to Jackson, which job we completed for the
distance of several miles in each direction,
and on the lst inst, we started for Vicks.
burg, and arrived here on the 4,h, so you
will perceive We avoided going to Jackson
on our return. The citizens between Hills
boro and Meridian credited the report that
Mobile was in our possession. They got
their news from friends by private letters.
5 me of their prise n.rs which our troops
towards Meridian, stated that
they had left Mobile but two weeks p,evi.
Gus, and that some of our troops, (sup.
posed to be pickets,) had fired into their
train as it was leaving. They also stated
that the force at that point numbered l5,-
900 men. What degree Of allowance can
be placed on such reports, l cannot deter
mine, but if the report proved true that
the rebel force at Meridian left for No.
bile with their rolling stock and supplies,
we Of course cannot believe what those
prisoners stated, for the reason that they
might have expected that their communica-
ton would have been cut off from Mobile
before their train could reach there. We
carried to NicksLurg about 400 horses and
malls which our mon COT. fisca ed on the
way. They will no doubt be disposed of
1t auction and the proceeds of what such
will bring, will be appropriated for govern
nent use in paying expenses. On the