The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1877-10-12
FACTS FOR HISTORY.
fVicksburE Leader. ]

psetlia, IA eanlle Of columns ,sopceypin8
i, the "war record Of the Historic City,
! which contains n good many ftiaGcHra!
cies, and b rev of them I'VE. tlsstrefe to
tcorrcOt, In ossler that stlnAs ~ no follow
NJ may he seurrsosly iiafprsneSa., The
GNyernor Of ,Mississippi,. Pettua, peye}
..plapted" any. gums at VicksbVrg, and
Indeed, on the 9eth of Jdne, 1862, When
fshot and ssssen were Aalling thick and
ffast, the Il Governor ,wNs- siu, a. lbngyX
about, two miles, from the city, Tho
of Col. n. IT. Miner, and the first boat
fpufsued, the Ohio s0elle, CattS StsebMs4
ttan, aud this eS8n heeors. DeNsAtekapd
made, his demand, on AaGlssson at Fort
Sumter. Farrsxut's fleet did moi, appear
before VicksburY on the 18th OF May
but about that date q sloop OF war APP
l,eared in the bend below the city, and
Col. r. l.. Asaesy aud Nal. Lindsey sent
communications down ON the ferry
i,oat iDeSoto, through Lieut. Paxton Of
Vienna, La, under flag OF truce. These
communications were. received, by
Lieut.. Blake, % the gunboat Oneida
in behalf Of Rear Admiral $. Phillips
Lee. TIE women and children were
l'Or<lered out Of town In one, of these
communications, and tho. lntneut<st
Col. Autry, In response to II tsetn.snCi
for surrender, said in substance that
that Mississippians did not know how,
TO surrender. He felt, however, that
the responsibility was very great, and
asked for another and superior officer,
saying to the writer, ssIr want to take
| the field, though / know will not
survive the first battle, -! and tho How
of his life-bloOi at Murfreesboro prUvetl
the truth Of his prophecy. Gen. Earl
! Wan Dorm came next, and with the
l1ouisianians,i Gen. Martin L. Smith,
now .saeceased. Coils. n Sterling and
Jackson, with tlaoir gallant 1,esIn.ss,pef
ans, became infantry artiilerists, while
tho noble Henry w. Allen with tho
bravo Fourth Louisiana, kept vigil
over Whistling Dick on Wyman's
Hill There were no fortitlcatiOt,s here
until the Tenn0sseeans from, Island No.
10, and the IOuisianians after the fall
tof New Orleans, appeared on tho field,
The first vessel from below came on d
tSuutlay afternoon, hon but few guns
were i'm position. Farrngut did not
bOmbard Vicksburg exactly, ON 1.-THE
9Ahn Of hume, hut with ntl,e Hartford
ahead lae discharged shot asid shell,
about O'Clock i'm the ilmorttng, in
passing the Confederate batteries. This
gave Foote'S hotilla and ,FMrraguL'S
/ *@Gt ~ Guuos1luUalOH 1U tHS tbC4u stbOVee
Us, but when Capt. Brown came; ;slOng
with the Arkansas, one clear snOrntng,
bath fleets went to the sRnd-bnr and
the Conestogal to parts unk known. The
battle near Port Gibson was not u bat
tie at all. Gen. Stevenson was District
Commander on the Confederate side,
land said to the writer that the move.
ment at Bruinsburg was n mere feint
and the real assault would be made BY
efecting Il landing above the bayou.
BaIdwin's brigade was double-quicked
to Port Gibson and Tilghlnan's, Bar
TOMS and Reynolds followed, but II
was too late; Grindstone ford had been
crossed, Grayson spiked his guns at
Grand Gull, 50 as not to be circumr
! vented, and the army breakfasted this
side OF Hankerson's Ferry. Haynes
Bluff in 1853 SHas abandoned, because
I1oring did not come in to aid the line
OF defense, and had he done 50, the
writer was told by Gen. McPherson
that the F'ederal army would have
been forced to fall back for supplies.
What Gen. Johnston may have written
to Pemberton his aids may state, but
certain it is that the President OF the
Cbnfetleiacy proclaimed that Vicksburg
must be held Mt all hazards. I'efnbert
ton had but little cooperation and few
supplies. The cant1on he ordered were
generally held mt Mobile, and tho sa,,1e
may be said OF all military supplies.
Three nights before tho day OF surrcn-
der there was conference OF Generals
AS to the policy to pursue. Smith
urged cutting his way out, but on ac-
count Of tho trees being cut down
across the lea'ling roads, he did not find
any corporation, and this was aban-
doncti. Then followed tho surrender,
which might have been advertcd by d
little aggressive action on tho part OF
the army that moved ,t,ot,t the Me-
chaniCz,birg road for about forty-scven
days, while the Vicksturg garrison
was living on mule meat and PEI,
bread. II the Messrs. Appleton want
history and facts they can 10 readily
supplied, and by gentlemen more fa-
n1iliar with thcevents OF tho past than
the writer. In making history w.
should be correct, and the day IL not
far distant when tthe late nm pleasant
ness" will become national and not
sectional. 20 ..''I" JOB "ta "' -d' 4
DIR. J. G. Aver remains innn asylum
in AthOl, Mass, an incuraIle maniac.
a correspondent Of tho ItOchGster
Democrat says he is ut times very viO-
lent, and at others, quiet to degree