The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-01-23
.o,a Uickory's stamping Ground.

ground last year, while attending the Ne"
Orleans Exposition, and, thinking perh"P'
a sketch of 1t might prove OF interest 1t
some of your readers, send it.
One bright sunny morning In the i"''e'
psrt of February, party OF pine OF Us me
by appointment on the wharf AT the 'oo
Of Canal street and took passage on one o'
the excursion steamers that carry paSseh
gers to and from the battle ground Aite'
AN immense amount OF putting and blowing
OUR little steamer cleared itself from among
the many vessels drawn up In line at the
wharf, like soldiers guarding the city, VIII
Tho war vessels as sentinels In the back
ground. We soon found ourselves on te
broad bosom of the Mississippi, with the
Crescent City lying spread out like mar
below US The south side OF Canal street
would scarcely hold the eye of the traveller
educated TO look at such massive structures
AZ are 10 be seen In our own Chicago, as
the buildings there are OF modern archi'
lecture. But the north SIDE or what Is
known as the old French quarter, has a
strangely foreign appearance, with It's mar
row AMI crooked streets, with Its queer OLD
fashioned houses, some with tiled roofs
As we glide along, the city fades from view
and new scenes engage the eye. We pass
the government barracks and many plan
ters' residences, with their wide verandas
supported by massive pillars, and here and
there among the green shrubbery are still
70 be seen the small, dilapidated hufs,
which the slaves of quarter of century
ago we're wont to inhabit. On reaching the
landing we again step on terra frma, and
feel that we must speak softly and tread
lightly for are we not on historic ground
The battle ground would be rather dis
nal looking place, being low, flat and OF a
swampy nature, but one of the National
Cemeteries Is located here and serves 10
keep green the memory OF both wars,
Twelve thousand soldiers peacefully sleep
there, all laid in straight rows with small
marble slab at the head of each, some with
name and No. of Reg't, others with simply
a numbcr to tell the asser by that some
bOdy's darling lies buried here" The
cemetery Is all laid off with shell walks
and shaded by the beautiful magnolia and
other evergreen trees, lnthe center of the
main walk stands monument erected by
the G. A. X. in honor Of the soldiers of
the late war Aud farther on, on the spot
where the British General Pakenham Is
said to have fallen, MORALLY wounded. is II
monument erected to his memory. The
breastworks thrown up by Gen. Buffers
mon are still plainly visible, and the ubi-
ouitious individual who knows everything,
informed us these were the breastworks
used in 1914, but as history had heretofore
enlightened us that those were of sandbags
and cotton bales coniiscated from all The
cotton mills, we took his infor
nation with few grains of allowance. Tie
lneH iIlVlupi us tnul hIl Oiu luuiUi uoWu
howell on the right of the cemetery was the
house in which Gen. Pakenham breathed
his last, but we were not enthusiastic
enough to bring away any of the bricks as
relics, Although we did pick up few
shells on the spot where history says the
General fell, and disentangled some of the
clinging moss from the neighboring orange
trees and brought away with us as relics of
our visit TO the old New Orleans battle
ground. We then babe a silent adieu to
the 10000 sleeping soldiers, with the
thought that "life's fitful fever DER, he
rests well,' and went back to the boat and
were soon again on the busy levee sur.
by darkies, mules, cotton bales
and sugar hogsheads, and forgetting the
silent dead, passed on TO something new.