Year: 1863

E From the s6th Regiment.


: At the request Of several friends, the fol
lowing extract from letter written by Capt


J. H. KMBA1I., of the goth Regiment O. Y
L, to his wife, is sent for publication:


: PERKINS PLANTATION, La, May 2, 1863.
; Our troops landed about
: I3 miles below Grand Gulf and last night
were said to be l : miles back from the river
/ They had destroyed the railroad bridge over
Black river, on the road leading to Port Hud-
son, taken about 400 prisoners, and the rebels
} were slowly giving way. Our loss is about
! 200 killed and 300 wounded, and four guns Of
) Chicago Battery sunk in the Mississippi
I Sherman is cyphering about near Haines


Bluff up the Yazoo again, but whether his
demonstration is anything more than a feint
TO divide their attention and keep the rebels
: from sending reinforcements to their army be-
fore Grant, | do not know. | do
hope that some plan will soon be successfully
executed that will give US Vicl1sburg. That
woald be one long step in the right direction,
do much TO demoralize the S. w. rebel army,
and discourage them generally. Yet it would
not close the war. Neither the capture Of
Charleston, the possession of Richmond, nor
ALL OF them combined would do it. They
think they have fort that is worth more than
their whole army, and until its guns are spiked
and the whole concern sent into eternal politi-
cal Oblivion, the South will hold on, and the
/ war viii continue. THAT STRONG POINT Is A
DIVIDED NORTH One cannot talk with reb-
el five minutes without his asserting that near
ly one half the people in the loyal States are
opposed to the Administration and the further
prosecution of the war, and are in favor Of
peace and compromise on any terms which the
South may condescend to dictate. Indeed, it
is not long since the signs of the times indica-
ted that there was considerable of that spirit
working like leaven in the great political bread
bowl OF the North. The rebels are taught
that such is the fact by their leaders, just as
they were made to believe the lies that led
them into rebellion. Now it is fact that one
peace or anti-war man in the North does more
to prolong the war and add to the national
burden of taxation and human suffering, than
the armed rebels in the field. Soldiers who
for months have been exiled from home, friends
and the comforts of life, who have endured the
| perils, hardships and exposures of campaign
in the malarious Southern swamps, and have
met the rebels face to face in deadly combat
have forgotten petty, party politics, and no
longer care for this or that man or party, on
account of old political associations.


We care not what man has been; we mea-
sure him by what he is, and have but one
standard, the old jackson doctrine, "The
Union-it must and shall be preserved" We
fellowship any man who fills that bill; other
wise we throw him aside as HButternut," to
be cracked at our leisure. Yes, we are firm
disciples of the doctrine that che who is not
for US is against u.s." and regard every man
who is not Union man, without any "ifs" or
''buts," or is not in favor of crushing out the
rebellion by force of arms, as a traitor at
heart, and worthy Of only traitors reward.


To the soldier in the field this war is no joke,
and the army is getting in earnest about it.
This shameless party strife al home is a burn
ing Disgrace, and is both bread and meat to
the rebels. We hardly understand it.


Have freedom and all the privileges and
blessings flowing from the fountain of Ameri-
can independence and liberty become SO com
mon, so tame, so insipid, that the toll harden
ed, sun embrowned, but intelligent and edu-
Gated sons of the North are weary Of them,
and simply for change are willing to sell
their birthright of liberty for less than mess
of pottage, and consign their posterity to an
estate worse than negro bondage? The great
question, is man capable of selfgovernment,
and is religious, civil and political liberty his
inalenable right is up for trial before the
whole world, and is being discussed at the can
mons mouth to-day at this moment, just over
the river from me, and in this debate 1 think
the affirmative has it. At all events, the war
will demonstrate the proposition. There is
but one alternative. Either the rebellion is
just and should receive the support of all good
men, or it is the most damnable outrage ever
conceived by man or prosecuted by devils
Our republican Government is a weak and
fiimsy institution and ought to be destroyed
the Declaration of independence a humbug
the Constitution bundle of glittering gener-
alities, and our long boasted liberties and free
Institutions, the inheritance handed down to
us by our patriot forefathers, are gross swim
die, or they are ALL that has been claimed for
them, the greatest and best boon inherited by
man since the new gospel dispensation, and
should be defended by every man in the land,
TO the last drop of blood and the last cent of
treasure.


'IneSe sneaklng, foul, 6caly, SHINY, Venomous
Copperheads of the North who are bowling
peace, and compromise, and taxation, and con-
scription have already prolonged the war a
year, and if they continue their course will
prolong it two years further. Does the South
ask peace or compromise? What is there to
compromise but our liberties? How can we
obtain peace but by submitting to rebel dicta-
ton, or compelling them to lay down their
arms and come back to the old Government
and the old flag? II these men who are talk
ing about taxation wish to tighten the burden
! let them shoulder musket, like the rest of us,
take the field and wind up the war at once.
Show a united front at home, as we do in
the army, and my word for it, the war will
soon end. The course pursued by some men
in the North, and about home, makes us SOL
diers feel very much like beginning there to
crack butternut heads and pierce copper hearts
But trust that at the late elections the ser
pents head was so badly bruised that for the
future the air will not be poisoned by its trail
torous breath.


The transport from below has brought up
439 prisoners; 800 are to come tomorrow,
and Grand Gulf is ours.


The flag presented few days since by Gov
ernor Parker to the Sd Regiment, New jersey
Volunteers, received 0 bullet holes in the late
L-4.la II uu.o. -.o;.o.l ,,,;tL H. Il~oI "a,