Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1865-03-18
A Letter From North Carolina.

| HEADQUARTERs ID BRIG. Prov. Div.
ARMY or TENN, CAMP CHATTANOOGA.
Newberne, n. c., Feb. 20, 1862 s
4Hessrs Editors Allow me 10 make state
ment through your columns, of the valuable
assistance l have received from the Sanitary
and Christian Commissions, since left home
home in November, in adding to the com
fort of the command to which L been attach.
ed, and in whose movements / have shared
in order that the liberalhearted citizens OF
| Wisconsin may see what is done with the
stores SO generously donated by them, and
also the need of continuing their contribu-
| tiOns to these excellent institutions
I After returning from my visit home, in No
vembeF, finding that my regiment, the glori-
Gus 18th, was ca route to Savannah, with
/ Sherman, was assigned to duty with what
has been known as the "2d Brigade of the
| Provisional Division, Army of Tennessee,
! then located at Tunnel Hill, Ca. under com
mand of Colonel Malloy, of the 18th Wiseon-
I sin, but III his absence by Major NJ. G. Ham
I i'll, q the ID Iowa infantry. Ia consequence
of Hoods blockade OF the Nashville & Chat
! tanOoga Railroad, it was impossible to procure
stores for several weeks, but still l was al
lowed to draw from the stores of the Chris-
/ tian Commission at Chattanooga, weekly, as
long as they had any. The aggregate of my
receipts. and distributions while at Tunnel
Hill, foots up as follows:
Pages of reading matter, 1861. Testaments,
IO5 pages ofmusic 5,216; lead pencils, IL; sheets
of paper with envelopes to enclose them in, 53I;
pinfs soft lex, 2; papers of needles. 9; skeins OF
thread II; unds of dried fruit, 5; pairs Of draw
r. fcrwounded men, 3; shirts tor wounded men,
4; pairs OF shpI ers for wounded men, 8.
On the l4th day of January, the command
+ left Tunnel Hill, with orders TO join its re-
spectiye Corps at Savannah; taking cars
H.
TO Nashville, where we were embarked
on a steamer for Pittsburg. At Murfrees-
bOTO our train ran off the track, smashing one
car and injuring several soldiers, of whom we
/ left two at the hospital. Within few min
utes after the accident, the Agent of the
Christian Commission was on the spot kindly
[ engaging to see that the poor fellows were
well cared for, until they recovered from
their bruises. ~,
At Nashville met our gentleman,y State
Agent, Z. Z. Jones, Esq, also connected with
the Sanitary Commission, who kindly furnish
ed me with many things for our voyage,
which proved very useful indeed, and for
which he has the thanks of the soldiers and
myself As we had no Surgeon with the
Brigade, the care of the men deyolved upon
our hospital steward and myself almost ex-
clusively, and the tea, milk, canned fruit,
crackers, and under-clothing, seemed most
assuredly, TO be the right things in the right
| place. The Christian Commission also help
ed me with reading matter and stationery,
giving me all that / asked for.
While on our voyage down the Cumberland
and up the Ohio rivers, in consequence of the
number of men crowded upon our boats, ard
the inclemency of the weather, great many
of them fell sick, so that when We arrived at
Louisville, | got some 90 men admitted to
hospitals there. Here l procured quantity
of reading matter from the Christian, and "a
most gen rOus donation from the Sanitary
Commissions Upon my representing our
wants and necessities, the sanitary agent
made up a bill Of stores for me, loading them
upon q four horse wagon, brOugst them down
to the leyee ana delivered them to me there.
In this bill of goods was one. item of Is bar
rels Of kra1a, mot va uibe TO men confined
to a diet OF hard-bread aud salt pork also AZ
pairs Of wooden gloves, for which many sol
der reioiccd during the cold hours OF our
subsequent travel.
After leaving Louisville on the 25th inst,
we moved up the river some miles, tying
up on the Indiana side, and remaining there
until the rs b, rot being able to go further
on account OF the ice running so heavily in
the river. On leaving the boats we marched
back TO Jacksonville, and were loaded into
trains of freight ears, well bedded down with
nice fresh hay, and moved up to Seymour,
changing cars, for DE scorsc, on the st. Louis
and Cincinnati r. r. On account of an acct
dent on tie road by which an express train
was thrown from the track, and some 80 per-
sons, more or less, injured, we had TO lay over
several hours at Nebraska Station, during
which our engineer got beastly drunk, so that
We left him there, an officer belonging to our
command, running the engine and train TO
Osgood, where We received a sober engineer.
Just before we reached this place our train
ran over a broken rail, jerking the cars round
so that many things were thrown to the floor,
happily without doing any other damage
We reached Cincinnati on Sunday evening
and left it next morning, our men being cared
for at the 8 Lidell Barracks" by the military
authorities of the city. Our men had suffered
from cold and exposure both on the boats
and cars very much, as well as from a scarcity
of Tations, SO that even the veterans uttered
loud complaints against the officers, | am
sorry 10 say, not without some foundation,
although from all that can learn our brigade
| had far less cause for such complaint and
was neglected less than any other in the
division. Our route from Cincinnati to Ann
apolis lay through Crestline, Pittsburg and
| Baltimore At Crestline our boys made
| loud complaints concerning the scarcity of
rations, which were issued to them there,
stopping their mouths thereby in several
WAYS. At Pittsburg and Baltimore the citi-
zens gave the command warm meals, and
| otherwise made them as comfortable as they
could.
At Annapolis | secured considerable sup
plies from the Sanitary Commission, at the
hands of its accommodating agent, C. +.
| Howes, while the agent of the Christian Com
mission, Rev. J. w. Clark, seemed anxious to
anticipate all my wishes. After visiting his
Office, and receiving liberal supply of read
\ ing matter from his clerk, he came himself
on board the steamer, took me back, and
added to my stock of comforts very materi-
ally. Before leaving on Monday, he came
| again, went over the vessel with me,
| spoke kindly to the boys in their crowded
| quarters, giving them stationery, &C., and
still further laid us under obligations for a
barrel of crackers and keg of pickles.
| May God reward him for his kindness, and
the thanks of brave soldiers follow him.
During our stormy passage to Beaufort,
when the boys began to recover from their
sickness, the canned fruit, pickles, onions and
crackers seemed to cheer them wonderfully,
while the understanding | issued to the
needy ones, helped shield from many keen
and biting blast, while numberless letters to
dear ones at home were written on paper
presented by the two commissions, and dis
tributed from time to time by myself or or
DERBY.
Since coming here have drawn literally
from both commissions, and have been made
| welcome to their storcS-a privilege from