The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-08-03
HELENA. ARK. July 2Oth, 1864.

DEAR Col In accordance Win tiie
time. honored usagcs which attend the
promi ses of Eye soldier boy | proceed to
unfold to you tale, which, if not of equal
importance with the celt who possessed the
wooden dexter which went by steam, may
yet be relished by you and some of your
readers. The little band who left you and
other kind and sympathizing citizens of our
little city of the North, arrived safely in
Davenport on Friday morning following.
We were soon en- route for Camp McClel
Ian, the place of general rendezvous. 1t
being carly in the morning and We unre-
freshcd, charge was the first order, and
such an assault upon hard tack fwormy)
and bacon, yclept sowbelty, with such sue.
cessful results, has never been recorded in
che chronicles of Hammersough Bros.
After satisfying the inner man, our next
move was sight of the elephant, and such
an elephant! PAT; instead Of the vertable
trunked gentleman with ivory tusks, We
beheld large array Of aoouldJe shouldered-
strapped gentry resembling in their actions
. smaller animal sometimes exhibited in
menageries, whtse caudal appendage is
more prominent than his brains, and whose
actions brought wildly to my mind that
good old story Of the 'monkey climbing"
&c. A hurry burly fight for positions took
place Immediately after our arrival, and then
there was hurrying to and fro; bargain and
sale was the order of the day; one squad
sold to another for position, in order to
form company. Being anxious to CON-
mence our To-day service, we consolidated
with squad from Marion county, and on
the cath day Of June were mustered into
the United States service as Go. A, 47th
Regiment Iowa Infantry Volunteers. The
Monday following we were dressed, armed
and equipped as bould soldier boys, and on
Tuesday we took our departure on the cars
for Cairo. We arrived at Cairo on the
evening of the sth, after having rode Ike
hogs in cattle cars to the place of consign,
ment. And such place! Methinks that
were there legitimate tribunal the Mum
mics of ancient Egypt would institute a
suit for Islander against the founders of that
place for naming such a God forsakeD,
filthy hole after their once celebrated CAPT
tai. After having been penned up there
for about ten days we took steamer for
downsthe river, arrived in Memphis, June
10Th, were driven like cattle upon the lovee
and stood there in the hot sun from morn
ing until evening. After some red tape
had been gone through with, set sail again
and arrived at this place June 10th, 1864.
As Go. A, we have the most favorable
position in the regiment, that is guarding
headquarters. The weather is pretty warm
but the Clayton county boys stand it tip
top. always on hand for grub and duty
This is truly the Southern Golgotba, a lit
eral grave yard. think have found out
the meaning Of Helena. IT'S this: divide
the word Helena, the first syllable is an
abreviation OF that old orthodox receptacle
for the finally wicked, while the last is a
word that was used among one of the lost
tribes of Israsl, signi:ying in the English
''mearly." Pr. ... .aa...
This is the only To-day regiment that
has been as far South as this, and we owe
our position to the influence of the Repub
lican libel that disgraces our otherwise
beautiful State /; we might have had a good
healthy position if we had had less tape
and more man in our Executive, but instead
OF that we are hurried in the sickliest sea-
son of the year into the very charnel house
Of the South, many of us never to see our
homes or friends again, merely to fill the
pockets and satisfy the aspirations Of a few
hungry political ours who have just crawlcd
out of their kennels and are barking for
their share Of the crumbs that fall from the
public crib. The feeling among the boys is
vive la humbug, but there's good time
coming. The drum is now sounding to go
out on a scout, so must close promising
to visit YOU again.
Yours, for the 100 days, \. c. !.