Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1864-02-03
From The Lib Wisconsin.
Correspondence of the State Journal.
DECRow 5 PoINr. Texas. Jan. 4th !


cident, l will revert to our changes since the
date of my last letter We left New Iberia
on the Sth of November and arrived at Ber-
wick on the evening of the 9th, having
marched 81 miles in two days. We crossed
the Bay at Brashear City and arrived at Al
giers on the 18th, embarked on the steamer
7Hos. l. Scott on the 10th, and sailed from
New Orleans at noon on the 10th. While at
Algiers we got back our camp equipage that
had been in store at New Orleans ever since
our departure from Carrolton but it was in
such condition that we hardly valued what
was left of it. 1t appeared to have been free
plumber for everybody, there was hardly a
knapsaek that had not been opened and rif1ed
very few of the officers trunks or valises had
anything left in them more indiscriminate
plumber of property can hardly be imagined.
We had as fellow travellers on board the
Scott, General Hamilton, Military Governor of
Texas, and his staff; Gen. Tolbert a Texan
and Gen Cortes, a Mexican, with his inter
prefer Il is well enough to travel in distin-
guished company on some occasions, but in
the present instance the Generals and their
retinues occupied all the berths with the ex-
ceptou OF three, and these were left for the
accommodation of about forty officers so
that | think we all wished the Generals in
some other company.
The narrative of a sea voyage, like a tale
of wOOing, has been so often told that II
would be strange if any new feature could be
CLEANED from one short trip OF course the
great event Is sea sickness, but this in a large
crowd like ours, GOO men) is only a question
able evil, for miserable as the sensation i il
is known to be SO Insignificant in comparison
with the more serious ills soldiers flesh
is heir to, that ii is always regarded as food
for merrment, and even the poor unfortunate
might between spells find consolation in the
knowledge that he had afforded amusement
to a large number Of his comrades.
Passing one distressedlooking individual
whom in better days | had known as a very
different looking man, he wiped his fore
head, and, with u desperate effort to rise su-
perior TO his fate remarked, . wish that the
man who wrote Life on the Ocean Wave
was on board this ship, I'd throw him over
board" We anchored off Brazos de Santiago
about noon on the 23d of November The
Scott drew too much water to pass any of the
bars, we were therefore entirely dependent
on light draft boats coming out to take our
cargo. In the evening L.c2t.,s Col. Whittlesey
with about one hundred of the Eleventh we're
transferred to the steamer " /. BaHks by
means of small boats, the sea being too heavy
to allow the steamers to lay alongside. Dur
ing the ensuing night a norther came up, and
the Scott rolled so dreadfuly at anchor that
we were obliged to put TO sea again About
noon we were hailed by the dispatch boat
LeJtathdlL and ordered to Arkansas Pass. We
arrived there about 2oOn next day, and at
once commenced transferring to the 4ilJal5a.
Imagine, if you can, transferring frei chit from
one large vessel TO another in a sea that al
ternately elevates and lowers each ship from
six to ten feet. We had about twenty horses
Col. Harris had those belonging to our brigade
put on board q schooner very successfully.
but Gen. Hamilton would have his put on
board the other steamer. They had to be
slung over the side of the Scott and pulled
into one of the ports of the dilJaua !
have seen good many things in the service
but this handling of horses in a heavy sea
was a little different from my past experience.
The best horse was dropped overheard and
put out to sea on his own responsibility.
and was picked up by the boats crew of one
of the gunboats lying off the bar and became
their prize OF course large quantity of
property was lost overheard, and the wonder
is that some of the men were not Early i'm
the gale that drove to sea from Brazos,
man fell overheard; the ship was rolling av-
fully; rope was promptly thrown out, which
the man caught, but as the vessel rolled he
had to let it 60; this he did three times AT
length slip-uOose was thrown over him and
he was hauled on board, having taken as close
a look at Davy Jones' as man can do with
out being actually slowed away in his locker
For the benefit of those inexperienced In
crowded travel, l viii mention a continuance
very successfully adopted by some of our
officers in their efforts to crowd themselves
on the cabin floor. 1t was 10 lie heads and
tails, each buttOning his comrades feet in the
breast of his coat; by this continuance two
men can lie very much like couple Of sar-
Dimes and very little space is wasted
On Friday, rhe 27th, Col Harris with the
balance of the 18th and half of the 22d Iowa
landed at Arkansas City, on St. Josephs
Island, leaving all their luggage at Mustang
Island on the other side the bay, having no
transportation, and every man from the Col
onel down shouldered his haversack and
blanket for one of the bluest looking marches
that can be well imagined. Blue as was the
prospect, the realization left it far behind.
The march of sixty miles to Salura occupied
nearly five days, (the greater part of the first
being occupied in cooking rations for the
march) during three Of which a fierce north
wind swept across the islands, carving the
sand into our faces with the cutting sensation
caused by facing heavy hail storm in the
North. At night it was bitter cold, the ice
formed inch thick; not a tent or shelter
of any kind, sleep could only come from sheer
exhaustion and was but ftful drowsiness at
best. The water procured on the march was
very brackish, the idea of quenching thirst
with was out of the question. May such cx-
perience seldom fall to the lot of Uncle Sans
soldiers; l could not wish such luck even to
the Rebs. We arrived at Fort Espcranza
Saluria, on the lst of December This fort
is one of the neatest | have seen. 1t is said
to have beeu constructed by Polish engineer
and to have cost the Confederates two mil
lions 1t mounts eight guns viz: six old
fashioned, long twenty-fours, one old twelve
FOUNDER and one long 13o-pounder-alI
smooth bores. The large gun called the
Rebel seemed to have been quite a favor
tie with the @ corn-feds and TO il they de-
voted special attention, throwing solid shot
If they had been wiser they would have used
their smaller and better guns udhave thrown
shell, but | suppose such soldering i neccs-
sarly incident TO "the depression of an un
holy cause as Gen. Washburn replied tONa
flag of truce from Magruder. Our old Vicks-
burg soldiers did not try to stop any Of their
solid shot unless the fact of Indiana man
having had his shoe torn by one Of them
without serious injury to his foot, can befcon-
.,.@- ], tom