, 1865-02-14

! Justice, tue civil courts mean to pEotecI tne
| soldier from depredatfons from civil o1ena-
crs. It is also due to the command no" mere
| to say that there was altogether too much
| whisky circulated in its ranks at Paducah,
! and, spite OF the order closing the grog shops,
cularEed upon in Cairo for Bomc Of its men
! to be wholly accountable for their actions.
They are doubtless to-day heartily ashamed
OF their conduct yesterday. Stores are open
now as usual, the guard force having been
strengthened. and I hear Of no disorderly
conduct from the soldiers, many Of whom
are still ashore. They leave In few hours.
The transports bearing these troops came
yesterday. TIE fleet consists of some Of the
finest steamers running upon the Mississippi
and Ohio. The scene of tue city is an anfma,
with bluejackcts-muslc playing-drums
beatinE-men sporting-water splashin5-
this fotilla is one of the largest and one of
the hapdsomest have ever seen here, and
have seen many within tho past three years.
OF the material composing the 10th army
nothing can be said. Forty battlefelds attest
its mstal-reYerses and successes show upon
the record Of Its history-m0:e of the latter
than the fosmer-long and weary marches
speak Of it's energy, strength, perseverance
and ability. Every man init Is soldier.
Every officer IN it Is o soldier. And Old
Grizzly" stands ut its head. WHAT more
need be- written :.
Although ! may not send your renders an
account Of the organization Or the corps, Its
strength, ETC., etc.: for obvious reasons,
mainly, because 1t would be giving mid and
comfort to the Confederates, for whom
have no greater love than Smiths gue1il1as,
still may tell you that the feet brinsin.
the men here Is in part as follows:
Brilliant, Magenta, Mississippi, Ida Handy,
John Kilgore. Atlantic, Belle ST. Louis, Bells
Memphis Adam Jacobs. II. 8 Mepham, c. e.
H,llman Julia, Morning Star, City q Memphis,
Hamilion, John +. Mctom IS. carrie, L,dy Pike,
huntsville. Pioneer, Powell, Montsno. Ga 1iator,
Superior, L n. Kennett, Anglo Saxon, L=onora
GTocsbeck, iron civ. n j: Bigley, Kentucky,
Live Oak, Silver Wave, Reserve, Bon Accord
New York, \; J; LoekW9od, Storm, Diadem,
Patrick, Dcs Moinea, 1zeta, and Peerless,
Gen. Smiths headquarters are upon the
Brilliant.
Gsn. McArthus's headquarters are upon
The Diadem.
Gen. Hubbard's are on tho Mississippi.
There has been come mention made In the
Which came upon Gen. Thomas forces at
Elstpolt. It Is not material who was to
blame for tue failure. It may have been the
Ohio river, which unexpectedly congealed its
forces by supertufty Of cold. It may have
been Ccl. Parsons: who had charge Of river
tractors, who did not get the supplies ready
| In season. In fact 1t might have been
| lnybody's and everybody's fault AS
some say WIS the fact-but Of one thing
/ there is no doubt-for few days the commits
J sary was compelled to issue to his men rations
oI Ehel1ed corn, In lieu Of the hard tuck and
I bacon to which the so1ciers had been accus-
toned. Now corn makes excellent whisky !;
| 1t Is good to cat when ground and rnauufac-
| tu1cd into dodgers It Is saYory as mush it
is lair 'thulledn; it is fine when parched,
ground up, and eaten with fresh milk but,
in its unhulled, raw state, one would think
| it rather unpalatable and tndigesttblc all
ment, and SO 1t is. But the men at Eastport
bad to put that in their hagcrsacks,- ,-one
quart each day-and transfer 1t thence to
| their stomachs, or 60 hungry. Some Of the
men had been taught to I've on nothing be-
fore, but they had not learned how to massi-
cate corn. They had seen horses and mules
grind 1t up md grow fat and sleek upon It,
but thcit teeth had not found out the modus
optTanM of the miniature grfst-rnil1. But
they soon acquired the habit, and in one day
| 1G0 bags of raW corn were issued to western
/ soldiers, and by them in some. manner con-
su1ned. And the boys lived through It.
While this corning process vas going on,
the soldiers, more for mischief sake than any
thing else, perhaps, took every occasion to
bring befefe Gen. Thomas the scauty fire
they we're kept upon. One day m officer saw
q file Of men passing headquarters, each
/ couple fastened together by q halter around
the neck, and led By q thong. Taking them
i for depredators.of some sort, undergoing con.
dign punishment, the officer asked, "What
prisoners arc these?' Them aint no prison.
crs" was the response. "They's soldiers.
! They've had their corn, now We are leading
them to water"
This explanation VAS substautiated by a
conh1matory bray from the entire squad, and
| a EpE inn of hna1a in init tior, IF 1nntnr
which brought all headquarters to the scene.
/ It is hardly necessary to state that those
mules soon scattered to their corre1.
/ On another occasion soldier came defer
cntlal1y into Gen. Thomas quarters, esp in
hand, and with the usual salute, requested
permission to address the General In person.
! he was allowed to do 30, when the following
i dialogue took place:
| Gtneral-"Well, my man, what may you
arnJ<d-"if IT is in CONFORMITY with
| practice and the army regulate l would
t corn."
General-" What, corn, sr! That will be
issued to you by the proper officer. You
need not bring such request hereT"
0orn:ttdL1"But' sir, want permission to
GtxTal-"But, whY bur fto"
| Corn:}Id-"We11, 10 tell you the truth,
! borrowed SONIC from mule last night, and
wish to repay the animal"
The soldier was not punished for his appa-
rent dfsrcspect to superior officer, but he
left headquarters rather prccipitatcly, and q
distant bray altested luis mnlish propensities
were mot entirely wiped out, as he rctreated
In good order to his company.
An instance Is also related Of soldier who
heard btay from an adjacent mule. The
soldier said, with semi-comic face that
| would have done honor 10 q: st class low
comedian, ofa first class theatre: " Bray on,
bray on, Misther 'muel J. You can afford it,
sbure AMT ycz has two quarts Of corn dny,
while have but one, entirclyi'
The remark WAS followed by roar from
the entire regiment--or from as many as
con!d hear what Paddy had said.
But the corn-fed days arc past. Happily
stores are plenty at Cairo. Capt Naallalk,
Of the Quartermaster's Department, with biz
corps Of clerks, and Capt. Flanagan, in
charge fforage, and Capt. Langdon, of the
CommissaFy Department. nre now busy sup'
plying the wants Of the humans aud the ant
mails vt the entire fleet. Now Ill have enough
to cat, and to spare. r. Il. ".