The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1864-09-08
FROM THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI,

.. form of a series O. questions, and have
chosen it as the ole which will answer,
and will take each query in the order in
which it is mads But before | begin to
do so, to allow hose whom | am address
ing to have clar understanding Of what
| write, it is ut, ,essary 70 make state
ment or two.
The mississippi Marine Brigade is
an organization tiferent in the nature Of
its service from he "Ram Fleet" 1t is
composed of mounted infantry, { on mulcs)
cavalry, Con hore es) aud light artillery;
and they make fequent raid, into the in
terror of the coutry on either side of the
river in scar ca 4 guerrilla parties, and
often join other brces in expeditions cf
moro magnitude and Importance than
raids. The men on the Ram F.cct,"
although "Marinls, 81 do al. their fighting
without leaving tleir boats; and notwith,
standing they areipfantry, perform hca-
w artillery service which is very Lcauti-
ful on the river. They are subject TO the
order Of Brig. Gen. a. W, Ellet, the
commander of tn, Brigade
QUERIES:
! 'Is it harder that land scryicc2'
ManifestIy not, The infantry have no
marching to d., being mounted, aid the
cavalry spend fully one half Of their time
on the boats, while the artillery are call
cd out less oftencr han either of the 9th.
ers. When not on active duty, all have
very good quarters in which to stay; in
fact, many have then rooms furnished
most elegantly with furniture captured
from the seccsh and live like kings in
their palaces.
as it as healthy as land scrvice2'
More SO, if one takes proper care OF
himself. You are not exposed to inclom-
enccs Of the weather, have your food
cooked for you in good stye, and eau sit
down and cat at a table jUst as il you
were at home, aud have good comforta
bic bed in which to reIose when you feel
SO disposed. There is one thing certain,
any way; rebel bullets are not SO apt to
make u person sick here as if be were in
the front ranks of Grants or SEcrman's 5
army.
"Are the men used worse by the eff
GERS than those in the land seryice?'
| cannot reply p,stivcly, because |
lack the Information necessary for a de-
cisivc answer. know this much. how
ever Rumor has it that, with the ex
ceptiou of purloining the .privates' extra
rations, or rather by appropriating to
themselves the money obtained by selling
these rations, they are pretty good Off
GERS cannot say whether this rumor
is based upon facts or not, | never saw
anything wrong with the officers; but
this much can say: if you are not In
posed upon in other branches Of the ser
vice, more than we are here, you may
consider yourselves extremely fortunate
1t is said, and | fear with some degree of
truthiulness, that thepostmaster on board
the dag ship, "Autocra.," is of an in
tenseiy literary turn Of mind, SO much so
that he turns over to himself such peri.
odicals and papers as he concclves to be
valuable and Of the first class. Zone
reason why the Adeertiser is received so
irregularly)
rine scrvice?"
Certainly, if he be Of no other color.
"Is it as dangerous as land servicc?"
That depends on circumstances. If
you were in the front ranks Of body Of
soldiers making an assault upon a strong
hold of the rebels at Atlanta or Richmond,
you mi ight wish you were here about that
time. Or, if you happened to be engag.
ed in canister fight, like We were at
Sunnyside, with the shot riddIing the
boats to pieces, or with heavy artillery, IS
We were at Columbia, with shells burst.
ing within few feet Of you aud tearing
the smoke stacks, the cabin and the bar
ricading around you, into fragments, each
fragment being almost as dangerous as
the shot which caused it, you might wish
you were doing garrison duty at Vicks-
burg, Memphis, or probably Cairo When
say no, mean the whole Brigade and
Ram Fleet
Would it be foolish to keep trunk
for clothes while in the Brigade?'
just the thing | would advise you to
bring, if you mediate joining the Bri-
gade, were it not that; on or about the
/ llth inst, an order came from Gen. Can
! by, of New Orleans, disseminating th'