Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-10-23
A Tour Through the south--Frem
Ca, To wilderness, =. e.
The Condition OF the Country and
the PeopIe--The Ravages OF Sher.
mans Army.
WiLpERNEsz, Soun CAEoLIx.S
eciober lIth, 1866.

WiLpERNEss, Soun CAEoLIxAS
ectober llth, 1865.
EEIToE SkSTISKL. Having some leisure. l
don't know tia, ! can spend nv time better than
giving you and -FOUR readers a letses on What !
have seen and heard in the Palmetto State since
my arrival sthin is borders. :
left Augusta on last Saturday. aud came -
. place called s.Johnson's Turnout, on the
South CaroIina Railroad. Why shey call il
tbs turn oct I could not discover. as I, was the
end Of the road. so far az the cars were coz
cerned, you having 10 take "Jonny' and bic
mule from there. suppose they gave it that
name from the fact thar you were uncerenoni
ously turned out" Of the cars into the pins
woods. These people. who live 10 the northern
part Of this State. deserve much credi, for al
tempting TO make a living in such a barren and
SANDY country. You will travel miles and not
see q foet of land that is capable of producing a
su,hel Of corn in a ten acre field. How q people
can live on such land il more than / can tell,
but that thew do 30 is a fact, ss | have seen liv.
ing humanity, white and black, on these barren,
sandy spots. As you come towards the centre
Of the State il is considerable better, but still tie
land looks poor 70 me-. in comparison with our
rich northwestern lands, and do not wonder at
our section being called the great Northwest, .
The more | see Of America. North or South. the
greater is my admiration for our own Hoosief
State and lie capital. We Of Indiana, taking our
railroad lines aud Improvements of all descrip-
ton into consideration, should feel proud that we
have such a great country 10 live IN. While
we should feel a pride in all this, we should also
do justice 20 a people who will make the attempt
TO enrich this apparently poor and sandy wilder.
mesa.
- --l~ -. ek.r.. 4 49,.
seen and heard since | came into this State; the
one-tenth / cannot write. and even what | do
write is not the worst, as the wort acts had be-
ter not be told. The negroes would be faithful
in many instances, but Shernan's men would
not let them. telling them they would murder
them il they 1.-THE negroes) would obey their old
masters or mistresses, even insisting on the ne
| groes telling them where all treasure was hid, or
where the household goods, pictures and family
relics were placed. The soldiers went into every
place, from kitchen 10 bedroom. and nothing
was sacred; knives aud forks always went, clothes
Of all kinds, even 10 those Of the infants just
| born, were destroyed. ] know OF one case where
| a barrel of Queens and China ware was buried in
| a pond, was traced up, hauled out by a team of
mules, with a rope hitched TO the barrel-ths
parties finding it taking pieces of iron and break
ing up every piece of ware so found. aud then
passed on, hunting no something else to destroy.
Whenever they beard of any planter having
| money, or yaluables of any kind. they threatened
to hang or shoot him If he did not instantly tell
where he had il buried They generally sue
eeeded in uneerthing all things OF value in the
line Of march. The officers cannot put il all on
the men. az they were, IN many cases, more to
blame than the private soldier. Some officer.
| declared themselves humiliated by the acts Of
| their brother officers, bat their opposition to the
| vandalism gong on had no effect, as they were
too few TO stop this unnecessary destruction of
| property. All fences and houses, asa general
thing, were given to the flames. This the people
did not mind. bat they did not expect 70 have the
little money, meat, books, pictures. knives and
forks, all taken away from them, as il the inIen-
ton was that they all should perish, at one tell
swoop. They went SO far, in some instances, "a
| 20 set Ere to the wood work round the wells, so
as the people should not get water. A new
| made grave was never passed without being
| opened. thinking the grave was only an excuse
for hiding treasure.
| desire just here to thank Henry 6. Cowea,
Company A Neteran Battalion, Fourteenth and
| Fifteenth Illinois Infantry, and Robert II. Brown,
| Company b, same regiments, for their kindness
aud gallantTy in riding back seven miles from
| their commands, near .OTangeburg, 10 stay all
| nigh. aud protect four ladies' and two children
from any more robbery or insult, and would be
| pleased II they would send me, through the Sen
Il hlHGl OulIGs tlOh a1lG1 II I'm
and Springfield Register would oblige me by
copying this much OF this letter, that thsse gen
tlemen may see that their kindness and protec-
ton is appreciated. Enough on the past; let me
now give you something on the present and the
future.
The present is all in doubt. The negroes are
worthless. They do not average two hours
work a day to a hand, and are saucy and impu
deht. They carry tueir freedom so far as to
Il tb.,l Z ,h.w lo->. n acusalv.. - than 4. ar
or miss, to those addressing them and in all ar
engagements for labor they claim TO be owners of
half the stock on hand and 70 be raised. "a we'll
as half the crop, and the planters furnishing them
| houses 10 live in. Did | have a lot OF such
hands at work for NE in the No.th, and act. as l
have seen them here, they would just work one
day and no more. If a former master or mis-
trsss Teprimands any Of them for anything rude
thew NAV do. or say Sam or Cleo, you must
not take that article, it is not yours, / want
that" they retort with insults and claim that the
article named is as much theirs now as the
| former masters, aud il the master or mistress
insists on their right and uses the least roughness,
OF the outraged freeman posts TO Orangeburg,
Columbia or Charleston, 10 report TO the gene
rally worthless upstartin. command of that illegal
Nuisance, the "Freedmen's Bureau"
On such complaints being made. an order is
issued at once for the arrest of the "white trash"
who dared to insult Ssmbo. This happens not
seldom, but hourly. In fact. this foolish and
worthless Bureau for Freedmen, and the inpu-
dent tyrant generally in command. are running
the poor unfortunate negro, both for himself and
the country, IL this is continued much longer,
starvation is the negro's lot this coming winter.
They are now roaming the country, filing the
towns and villages all day, and going back 10 the
old plantation At night to steal what Sherman's
men did not take away. This is not the state
ment of a penny -%a-liner, hurrying though the
State on a railroad car. | have seen for myself,
having passed through the plantations in many
places from Augusta 10 near Orangeburgh. l
am going to see more Of the State this week and
will have an opportunity OF judging farther. If
| see an improvement in my carriage rambles
through the State and | will see all that is worth
seeing to Columbia, B~arnwell, Orangeburgh
aud Charleston. | will most a~ssuredly give the
poor unfortunate negro the benefit of it. If an
improvement can be brought ABOUT in the condi-
ton OF this poor race, now being crushed be-
tween the neither mill stones this abominable
"Freedmen's Bureau will deserve no credit for
IL, as | cannot but believe. from all | have seen,
that il IS the negro's greatest enemy, as il is
daily making him more useless, TO himself AMI
the country, ana the best act President johnson
can do for the negro, now admitted free, even by
the people here. i. TO abolish Major Gen. How
ard and his WORTHLESS. and expensive crew Of Blu
Teau officials.
The future, TO me. looks hopeful for thi. peo-
pie and the country. They accept unanimously
to S,t,as;on nd \ go uh;fo ,eonfa - -osL Ill