Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-08-03
Letter From Rev. ]. G. Witted.
WASHINGTON, MISS, July 20, 1876


much longer We may remain depends entirely
upon the will of " the powers that be- or 1t
may be, upon circumstances and contingencies
over which neither President nor General have
control. In technical parlance, we are not In
garrison, but " In the field, and under march
ing orders therefore may be ordered to break
camp at any hour. When we came here eve-
ry one supposed we were bound to Brookha-
ven. Well, being so unsettled, ! laid aside all
thought Of writing to you till we reached our
final destination. Hence my long silence.
Of late, however, have been so Frustrated
by sickness that I could not write any thing
beyond q single letter to my family. Thanks
to the Giver of all good, am so far recover
ed as to be able to scribble little, although
incapable Of close thinking or of teaching.
You must not infer from my being sick that
our camp or its locality is unhealthful. A
better place for camp could hardly be select
ed. The ground is high and the tents are
shaded by oak, elm, gum and locust trees, ma
ny of them of gigantic proportions. Saint
GATHERINGS Creek runs half round the camp,
giving 1t the form ola horseshoe. The creek
Is very low just now, but is deep enough in
some places for bathing. You may stand on
the banks from sunrise till dark and see our
men, young and old, swimming and diving in
the stream like school of porpoises." The
water, however, Is unpleasantly warm to those
who prefer cold to warm bath. Though
the water is so warm, l have not yet felt the
heat as oppressive here as have in Iowa.
Besides the stream, there are three good
springs of pure water close to the camp, af-
fording sufficient quantity of water for
large army. ...
If any reliance can be placed upon what
the aged people here say these springs have
supplied an army with water as long ago as
the year 1872. The soldiers Of that day, I'M
der Gen. Jackson, encamped upon this ground
and quenched their thirst at these springs
Why, Mr.. Editor, this is really "classic"
ground! Among these trees once waved the
banners of the army of Orleans Under the
| shade of these same trees some Of I" Old Hick-
| ory's militia rested and slept. Half a mile
from here that stern General drilled his army
for the terrible conflict at New Orleans. On
the same ground is where we have our battalion
drill. Here too we met on the last Fourth to
celebrate the birthday of the nation. Col.
Earl OF the 10th U. s. Colored Infantry, 1t.
| Col. Gelston, at present In command of our
regiment, and myself made short speeches.
The Declaration was read and our speeches de-
livered within few yards of house in which
Aaron Burr underwent an examination, before
his final trial at Richmond for treason.
At a short distance, stands the residence of
the late Prof. j. H. Ingraham, extensively
known among seamen as the author of seve-
| raj sea novels" You will often find these
novels in the forecastle, but seldom in the
cabin. Prof. Ingraham's heroes and promi-
nent characters are mostly pirates and despe-
radoes of the worst caste. The Professor
must have belonged to the " blood and thun-
der" school. He subsequently left this school
and became minister of the Episcopal Church.
He then entered a new school and became
writer of religious % novels, and sent forth
The Prince Of the House of DAVID "The
pillar of Fire." and Il" The Throne of David"
The first Of these three have never read, but
have tried to read the others. He probably
wrote them for money, and read them for
pastime. visited his residence shortly after
we came here and found it without tenant.
The doors being unlocked, went in. The
front door opened into spacious hall, on eth
er side of which are two good size rooms. One
on the right was the Professors study. The
house is one story and half high, very plain
and very much dilapidated. The outhouses
are almost untenantable. The garden or
ground around the house is still beautiful, it
being adorned with flowers and shade trees.
| As walked around the house silent and alone,
felt such heaviness creeping upon me that
/ fastened away and have not visited the
place since, now over six weeks. Crhe house
is now occupied by contrabands)
The village named at the head of this letter
was once the capital of the State. 1t contains
two churches, and college of which Prof.
Ingraham was for some time President. 1t is
very plain structure without any adornment
whatever. The building is little out of re-
pair, yet the Episcopalians hold religious SER
vices In 1t every Sabbath morning. Two
schools are kept in il during the week The
scholars are the children of contrabands, of
whom there are now i'm and around the viii
lage between three and four hundred, children
and adults.
Many of these poor creatures were brought
here from the "home farm Z" in Louisiana,
opposite Natchez, in consequence Of the high
water spoke of in my last letter. Others
have come in from the country, many of them
the families of our soldiers. Others, again,
are the families of men in our employ. Ma
ny have been driven and dragged away from
Natchez.
Now, oh ye people of the North If once
commence to write of the sufferings of many
of these poor victims of oppression I shall
need bottle of blood red ink , speak not
of unavoidable suffering and privations in |
separately connected with the position in which |
the war, or rather the rebellion, placed them.
No, no. refer to the merciless treatment of |
these poor wretches by men receiving high |
salaries from Government to aid and protect |
them, as well as by their former masters, the |
most of whom, In this region, were monsters |
in human form To write, say, of the suf.
ferings of these poor forlorn and defenceless
creatures sufferings that might and ought to |
have been prevented, and of those actually in
ficted-requires ink as red as blood this be-
ing the most appropriate color by WHICH to
describe such bloody scenes.
But such ink have not. My ink repre-
SCENTS the color Of these men, women and chill
dren as they came forth from the creating
hand Of God their maker. But the other re-
sembles the color of their lacerated and bleed
ing forms as they appeared fast in the stocks,
or tied to trees. or staked down to the ground
REDEEMED with their blood, while in the pos
session and power OF men, their masters.
have just called them men, Well that is the |
name they went BY in this region. But am
credibly informed that there are other mon |
stars af arp.lt, aud emilia pumarauc Il, M;e