The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-04-20
Interesting Letter from sergt. Merwin
N. Y. 1sT MOUNTED RIFLES,
. WhLiAMsBuRGH. Va, :
April 8, 1864,
% Els. North Io,ca Times -:

arro~nir9rT April s. 1864. }
I, Els. North Iona Times: IF Et|''5
Rrvisi,ing, in fancy, the scenes Of for
mer days in McGregor, my mind revers t.
your paper; its presence here would b'
very welcome it would furnish me nfor
nation Of past and present changes tina
would naturally interest an old ci,izcn.-
have no regular correspondent there, 81
your paper must have. IL the TINES was
young and difiidcnt, should be backward
about inviting it so far away from home
i but having battled its way through som,
storms, having looked in the face, for three
long years, the most terrible and extensive
war that the christian era ever behela,
think ii might safely venture to the front
FROM Plymouth to the old Dominion, from
the old Dominion Southwark among the
Federal troops, they wont believe that any
of the enlightened races exist beyond the
Mississippi; they wont believe that the
sciences and arts or even the English Ian.
guage exists beyond the Great River with
as great credit as they exist here Yes,
sir! hear men talk about going WEST
<'What part, sir, if you please ?" 1.-The
western part Of N. Y, Ohio or Michigan,
would be as far back in the country as they
would like TO venture" I invariably com
plimsnt the mans good judgement, caution
and thorough knowledge Of the country,
and assert my belief that savages would be
found beyond these limits; that man
would want plenty of powder in his horn
If he ventured farther.
At the ciarions sound this morning,
awckc and found myself III q was going
to say in bed. 60 away beds, while have
good free soil TO steep Gpm!1 Virginia,
where have been for 10 months, wander
ing about with my brothers in ARMS like
~the lost tribes ofaIsrael When joined
this Regiment it lay at Suffolk, where we
remained about one year, scouting about
over that part Of Virginia and some of n.
c.; from Suffolk we moved to Portsmouth,
where we remained not at all, but pitched
our camp, so we could have some place to
call hone-left for Weldon, N. c., had
few killed and several wounded with
whisky came homc-went again to Eden
ton, Hartford and Elizabeth City, N. c., to
gobble up Regiment Of home guards or
bushwhackers tina. hung around those
places: we encamp 10 the streets and public
squares OF the Southern cities and towns
we visit; thence we divcrgc in squads to pick
sup such subjects and material Of the "Ordi-
nance Of Secession as can be found
After purging the place and country round
about" Ho boys, ror another place, it is
getting dry h,rc1' And thus we 60 about
seeking whoas we may devour. From
Portsmou IA we moved to thiAplacc, where
we have picketcd and secuted continually
during the winter and all last fall. We go
up to Bottom's- bridge, 10 miles from Rich
mond, every few days, cause them to raise
the alarm and ring the bells, come back
and away again somewhere. Fitzpatrick
came down this way FROM his raid We fo,m
ed his advance and went up on Glosccster
side to Kings and Queens counties whore
Col. Dagrecn was killed; burned a camp
mp there, made a charge of three miles
after the 9Th Virginia cavalry, but they
scattered in the woods. We picked up
about 80, came back and went again came
back and it has stormed ever since IN.
derstand Grant has stopped this kind Of
work as it kills boti, men and l.0rses with
out mercy.
Itmay not be embarrassing to you to
read something upon the extent and con
duct of this war, even il it be from one
whose knowledge is limited, Since | have
been soldier | have Travelled over that
portion Of the country That ever will be
memorable as tie field of misfortune in the
early part of the war. You rccollcct the
cry that was raised about Mcclellan moving
SO slow while making the great peninsular
campaign. Were you to ride over the
ground from Big Bethel to Bottoms bridge,
10 miles from Richmond, you would ask,
with surprise, how he moved the army up
there at all. The whole distance, about so
miles, is succession Of forts, lines of
breast works, rcdoubts and internal traps
they are Of no ordinary character or
strength, but just the reverse among them
is Included some Of the strongest works of
the kind that ever were made, especially
those about Yorktown. Tell some o!
those strong minded persons that were1ind-
ing so much fault and criticising so closely
the movements Of the army and its com
mand,rs at that time, to come here and
behold what makes truth stranger than
fiction. One days visit, and their gencr-
alship me thinks would become invisible.
These lines of works extend from river to
river in as nearly straight course as the
shape OF the ground would admit, one after
the other, like the rows through corn
field; some as near as a mile apart: the
distance they are apart depends upon the
shape Of the country. think when these
works were lined with $4,000 men, and
these forts and redoubts covered with
yawnng cannon, that it was not good TO
be here" There it is where rs 900 men
a.