Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1864-06-29

about mile up the river heavy volume
Of dust is sweeping southward. For
ward marches the long long line Of cat
tie. All the AFTERNOON they advance and
pour over the river. The movements of
great bodies (some great bodies) are slow,
and I am told that in this whole mass
there are but $500 head, or some six
days supply for the army of the Poto-
mac. ''i'" '''''o'' '"' '"t y N' t'''A
'aaOur boat was detained till evening be-
low thepontoon bridges, but toward dusk
succeeded in changing quarters to "a
steamer on the upper side of the bridge.
Here we for some time laid alongside of
another boat, crowded with rebel prison
ers, who had been captured in the vicin-
ity Of Petcrsburgh. Rebel prisoners have
been described and photographed often
enough. These we're certainly, to use a
Western phrase, very Urinary" look
ing set of white men. In costume they
had the appearance of great crowd of
European beggars. They had no uni
formity whatever of uLiform, though the
general appearance Of almost everything
was a sort Of dirty, dusty gray. They
were of all ages and sizes, many of them
being boys of fifteen, others men of fifty !;
but the majority of them wele yet in
the prime of life. confess it is difficult
for lne to fix such bodies of men as these
in the organism Of the South as it existed
previous to the war. In other years !
have travelled and resided in nearly all
the States of the South-in the States
east Of the Mississippi and west of it. !
thought was pretty familiar with the
styles and physiognomy of the people Of
all classes, castes and conditions, but |
have never anywhere seen any larger
numbers of any such faces as these--faces
of such a low type, physical develop.
ments of such mean character, intelli-
gences so dull and empty. | do remem.
Der, ip1eed, baving seen some few such
men in the western or mountainous por-
tions of North Carolins, and much low
er cast still in middle and lower portions
of South Carolina---among the and.hill.
ers and such like; but the dominant
class, which was seen and met with every.
where in the South, was very different
order Of men from these, aud immeasur.
ably superior. Perhaps tits, as I have
heard it suggested, that the greater part
of the fighting cbivalry of the. South was
actually killed off or disabled in the frs,
two years of the war. An officer of great
military experience in the Southwest once
said to me f" We rarely, if ever now
fight, such regiments as we fought thu
FIRST year of the war. Then it was th'
prime element of the South-the proud
full -blooded. defiant element. Now it il
poor wretches, who have been forced init
the ranks by the conscription. And
account for the change" said he, "by' tn,
fact that the first class have been nearly
all put hors dm combat --sueh has beer
the terrible havoc of the war in this sec
tion." Wellington said of the British
army, which he commanded and knew 81
well, that the were despicable fol
everything but fghting;P and the same
remark seems to me to be eminently ap
plicable to the rebel army, as it here ap
pess. 1t is true, have heard Of many
other recently captured rebel prisoners
who were of very different cast and
character. .r. a-u....l..,.ff ~.
AS the sun was going down our boa
moved up the river from the vicinity o
the pontoon bridge in the direction o.
City Point and Petersburgh. We hac
not advanced more than mile when .
rebel shell from gun planted somewhere
on the east bank of the river, struck tn
water about o, hundred yards from ou1
boat. 1t appeared to be aimed dircctl,
ut US. so We backed little. and gave ,
gunboat. which was promptly ,on hand
the opportunity to come to our relief, Th'
gunboat ran pretty close up Ito the shore
flung shell in the direction, from which
tho hostile shot came, elicited no response
She ran along half mile or 50, frinl