, 1864-05-10

DAHFOH1lk0A Oh k0G 4k&AEAH4
1Fron Our Special Correspondent
NATcHEx, Nay 2, 1884.
It has been my fortune to spend few day.
| In this city Of the South, and us have beel
struck with some OF the features Of the nl1i
I tary 0ccunaion, think 1t welt to give yor
| such i plc:urc as / can, of the COURSE OF con
quest in lie insurrectionary districts, as I
part Of the history Of tAe WAT.
xA1CuEz HEroRB THE WAR
About ten months have elapsed since Gen
Ransom first landed the Federal blues st this
| place, which has since then become place
Of considerable military and civil Importance
Natclcz was ori! iually ono Of the finest
and most aristocratic of the towns which
dot the shore OF the east bank of the Miasis
sippf, and one Of the most important towns
In the State. 1t IS 6aid to be Situated On the
identical bluff from which DeSoto first view.
ed the Father Of Waters. .As carly as 100
D'Ibergile founded port here, and selected
the site Of fort, called Fort Rosalie, in
honor Of Countess Panchartrain- It had
grown to population Of some tiye thousand
souls before the Tar, but was important
beyond Its nun bcrs, as it Was the abode ot
many Of the wealthy proprictors whose es-
tates were a hundred miles away. It ia, from
It's elevated situation, more healthy than the
surrounding country, the yellow fever sell
dom becoming epidemic here, 1tcoutalned
also many homes and mansions Of taste, and
was remarkable for It's cleauly and even
polished Appearance.
NATCuEx DURING THE RESURRECTION.
The demons of ciyil war swept over this
collection of wealth, refinement and indus
try, and left it blasted wreck The aeml-
naries whittier tie youth Of the Southwest
had ftocked to imbtbe their peculiar ednca-
tlon, were econ closed. , The houses which
we're munt tn rerel in costly vianda were re-
duced to ho1nely iate. Carriage horses were
cent to the army-carlou Gro u6w--tno mn1ea
Or wagons behind them. The. plantations.
thc largest and most profitable Of their kind
in the South, were s1opped, the negroes fo1
| the most part being taken to Texas, aud the
remainder escaping to the army Of libera.
tors Some Of the more wealthy Of the cIti.
zens, who had fomented and hatcbed the
treason, took the field. others made haste ia
secure thsmeelyes against loss. For exam.
pie, the Surgette family, which was able to
raise and sblp *, 600 bales Of cotton direct to
| Europe, quickly deposited their money IN
! Europe, and now bosst that they have half Q
million sterling at their order, and 80 defy
either side to ruin them quite. Some o1
them are in the Confederacy representing
| tLcfr family claims, others arc here gaining
| all tue benefits Of loyalty without, be11eve,
taking the oath. They insist on working
their plantations themselves. and get the
| guerillas to drive off all loyal men, wb le
they live on the best the country affords
By their immener wealth they have been abie
| 10 sill, C al oil jectipus. =
| There were te,r, very few, loyal people it
| Natehez- 4 few indeed might be found whe
from principle or pique' might not favor tht
secession Increment, but nearly ell had con
triputed to aid 1t. The place ~as never per
run into and run by by both forces for ~ veal
| before. The gunboat Essex, In the summer
Of 1856, had occasion to stop here and asa
for some Ice for medical purposes, when hel
guard WINS fired upon BY few citizens
Wllereupon shc shelled the town for an hour
doing but little damage. IN
| NATCuEz AFTER THE t4rTuRE.
| After Vicksburg fell the tide OF Northern
| eniicration poured in, aud although 1t COZ
tains perhaps greater portion Of its orlglna
| population than aug city OF the South e1cep
New Orleans, 1t is now peopled BY more thai
halt Yankees. The first great temptation fol
residence here WAS the cotton Of course Tht
| Empress took down at one load more thar
three thousand bales from this port Tht
| receipts at this port are now larger than al
| any point on the Mississippi, Vicksburg alons
| excepted. Tho steamboats, which once con
stituted so grand feature Of the lower His
tlesippt, and which Ind been dispersed Or de
! stroycd, we're replaced by others. Gen. Ran.
som commanded the military forces fol
awhile, and gave very general satisfaction.
| Gen. Crocker succeeded him, afterwards
Gen. Graham presided, followed by Gel
johnson, who has in turn recently been sup
p1antcd by Gen. Tutt1c It is not my design
IN m4EE rnYnrN rfson nf fha al ~
the affairs OF the p1ace, more than to remark
that the most straightforward and thorough
patriot WHO will not bulge or finch one
1ot from the position of q soldier and an
American, is the best suited for this place.
There are so many Establishments aud Temp.
:.t..o.s a1t to be thrown In the way Of NIL
itary Governor here TINT it requires more
than the ordinary moral t1rmness to resist
them. regret to learn from conversations
with many Of the more prominent Northern
crs, that the present incumbent is not clear
It he eaes an ue ct bs1e the
| the rebuke Of a defeated candidate of the
| Copperhead pasty. No man who could tacitly
Or any 1se countenancet the doctrines Of that
miserable faction should as matter Of policy
be apI o1nted here His predecessors had well
nigh sickeued the hearts Of loyal people, as
! they rIised the hopes Of the enemy BY thei,
faWaing and crouching before the opulent OF
/ the unsc1upulous.
MILITARY GoyERxnesr.
As an instance which may furnish the ker.
| rote Of the policy adopted for bringing back
this people 10 their old allegiance, I am
! bound 10 mention the fact that nhue The rebel.
are bd'taronaymd mdsSaeF<i"g hegar7iaon at For
I'Ilee, lpo1oltd prisoners may b seen .oalk1ng
+! str<tts, aid sTcssnink ntfaty unfor"s From
tie female tyofAathi;ers Of tie Ilace. More than
thia, at 1e ist TWO notorious desperadocs who
have been concerned In killing negroes be,
t,nI
i rzzyrs pxiuiis, sud I'm informed that certain
| or them at Eicksburg hare been released b;
| their Influential friends. But this is too
| much for me to believe I cannot conceive
that otfic rs OF the army are SO far moved
from their sworn duty by such ir'sneaees /.
Another Illustration. 1t is known that af:
ter our forces entered We pursued the rery
humane policy adopted at Viekshung, though
| without the same REASONS, OF feeding the in,
habitanls from Government supplies. Al
this day there arc several hundreds Of them
drawing ra,ions from the Commissary, and
La:} ddzen negro serrQ1sfs and riding IN car.
riages to the GonaMfssu,ia& drincn bv their, u
eai;ed s'atrs in lax,T. Comment ia useless.
| 1lis state Of things is both unIoise and unnec.
ccseary. The people Of Natchez are parttcu'
lally encouraged In their obstInacy by it.
The very snlntarg practice adopted in Nash
vile, Memphis, New Orleans and elsewhere,
/
I have not taken the oath, has never been up:
piled, and certainly nowhere could be more
| needed. It is indeed q hard matter not to
accept fayors from beautiful women -witt
bright smiles and pleasant words, as hard al
By not to grant them, but we need not quote
too. At this time Writ Adams'. brigade IL
| prowliDg on ono side Of the river and Quan
| t1cil's men on the other, and unless the dv
er is well watched the navigation is In great
danger Of being Interrupted. !:
| don't however find much complaint n1
IAese things, 1t is eupposab1e that SO much
easlness may be productive Of some good, a
| well Is possible harm+ The Presidents Am
| nesey oath ia not susceptible Of such broad
constructions as is here placed upon it. MOI
can We with the enemy around u In force,
| expect to do ought towards formally :restor
/ Ing the Stats to the Union. The canse seeml
| to be simple 1axltJ, culpable Indifference.
| MORALE OF TIE OFFICIALS.
The graver objections T. hear canyassoi
Cutting and almost unparalleled corruption
stems to have crept over the officers, boti
! military and revenue, which ia fraught witt
direat results. It will not be contradictec
that the stamina Of an army, physical ant
moral, suffers great dctriment when 1t cal
be shown that the chiefs are engaged in spec
ulations Of private gain, In which life ant
limb Of Others is the capital. The CONNER
c1al intercourse with the insurrectionary dfs
tricts Ras designed to be governed by I
bureau aud an army OF officials under ths
revenue department.: It Was supposed thai
the corruption IL It be Inevitably would
not spread beyond themselves, al with tht
soldiers; the trial has been made and Il
might have been expected, has failed, !: TIT
fault is not 60 much In tho men Il the sys
tem. The task is one properly belonging ID
the military forces. but 1t is one which the
cannot perform so long as the enemy Ia in tht
field, without corruption.
In fact there are two theories either O
| which will do better than the compromis,
system between thsm. Either shut M and
prohibit all commerce with the rebellion. o]
open it to competition, with restrictions oul,
| a., .ab&rnhand Of Eaf Ybe Rnnls NJ m a.s