Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1867-09-18
LOST: L'ANGUTLLE RIVER.
BY REV. WILLIAM DE loss LOVE.

sufferings endured, in the earlier part OF
the late war, on the west side of the
Mississippi River. August Sd, 1862,
while Major Egg.eston, with some one
hundred and thirty of that Regiment, in.
| cludlng sick and convaleseent, were en-
camped at Hodges Ferry, on the Ian
guile River, they were attacked by q
party of Ave hundred Texan Rangers,
under Parsons. Our men fought severe
battle with the rebels, but were OVER
whelmed at last and scattered, some in the
camp suffering even barbarity at the en- i.
emys hands = ~ TN ~
Lieutenant John a. Owen, now law.
yer in Chicago, with six others, having
escaped, ATTEMPTED TO reach Mariana, but,
losing their way, wandered among tang
led canebrakes. waded deep bayous, suf.
fered greatly from hunger and thirst, and
altogether had an experience we'll worthy
OF being preserved by some record. The
following is Lieutenant OVENS own ac-
count, furnished me personally by HIM
self; 1o ~ aE
Having thus escaped, I made tour
around the camp to tbs east, and with six
men attempted to push through the woods
and canebrakes and across bayous to the
river below, with the design of then
swimming it and striking for Mariana,
eight miles below, where the rest of our
command was supposed to be. We trav-
eled as near southerly course as possible,
but frequently found it impossible to corr
tinue it, on account Of the density of the
canebrakes. Still pressing forward as
directly as we could, we became every
hour more deeply involved in the in
tricate depths of the never-ending cane.
We waded bayous to our shoulders, doub-
ling down the great umbrella-like leaves
of the pond lilies beneath our feet to pre-
vent sinking over head in the mud
Frequently we saw an opening ahead,
and pressed forward in hopes of getting
out, but were always disappointed by
finding it only small spot in the woods
where the canes were thinner. 1t was as
lonely and silent as the grave. We were
where 1t appeared as if no domestic amin
al or any man had ever trod An eternal
Sabbal b reigned in that awful solitude,
save that once the screams Of great bird.
frightened at the sight of men, startled
US as it few from tree over our heads,
and hoated off lasily upon the air to dis
tant tree. We were lost. We wandered
on till Tuesday afternoon, each hour be-
coming weaker from long fasting, for in
ali this time we had not had mouthful
of food, except two toads that [ was able
to catch We pursued snake, in one
case, with the intent to kill and eat it,
that we might not die in that terrible
place, where no friend would ever know
Of our fate. The snake glided uuder q
log and escaped. l cut piece out of my
bootleg, and tried to chew IL for nourisli-
ment, but found it too tough. AS we all
grew weaker and weaker, we had to stop
every ten or twelve rods and rest, when
the other men threw themselves on the
ground and Immediately fell asleep. /
fear | should never be able to get up
again; for in moment after stopping /
felt myself growing stiff, and sort of
numbness creeping over me. 1t was not
safe to allow the men to stop over two
minutes at time, lest they should never
go any further. Once, on Tuesday, two
of the men lay down and declared they
could not walk any further, and were
going to die there. With efforts they
were pursuaded to get up and try again,
by the assurance that as God had been
with us so far he would not desert us
there. One thing after another had been
thrown away as we had become weaker
and blankets, oil-cloths, haver-
sacks, canteens, and arms--till all that
was left was one army revolver with two
shots in it (and no more ammunitionl,
which held on to through thick and thin
as our only defence against guerlllas, who
swarmed in the settled portions of that
section of the State That pistol felt as
if it weighed nearly fifty pounds then.
'',Just before sundown that day (Tues-
day. We came across small pond of wat~
er, almost dry, in which were large
number of fishes about five inches long.
We waded in in a line and drove them to
one side, and readily caught enough to
make good meal. Having no matches
with which to kindle fire, we sat down
upon the ground, and scraping the scales
off with our knives, ate the fishes raw aud
warm. Every one then felt that truly
God was watching over us, and never did
suffering men thank him more earnestly
and devoutly. We were much refreshed
and pursued our way more cheerfully.
In an hour We came in sight of an OPEN
ing and a log house, which we entered,
and found friends who fed us and guided
us on the way to the Mississippi River,
which we reached in two days. During
the time we were lost. we felt craving
for water more than for food. We had
plenty Of swamp water, which we scooped
up in our hands and drank every few
minutes. We were no more hungry the
third day than the first, but faint-ohl SO
faint After reaching the Mississippi,