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196 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



July 



the boat, Capt, Hawley, we believe, is 

 a good Union man, but unfortunately 



, lie left us"at memphis. 



^ At Island l^o. 10 is a large army of 

 contrabands, women and children. 

 Here the baggage of passengers and 

 the cargo is examined for contraband 

 goods, but on this occasion none was 

 found. 



y. The plantations for some distance 

 down the river on the Tennessee side 

 presents some signs of life, and we see 

 several fields of corn, but it is evident 

 that most of the male inhabitants are 

 away from home. After we pass Mem- 

 phis we see scarcely an acre of crops, 

 all is desolation. Large numbers of 

 plantations have been stripped of fenc- 

 es and farm buildings, as the wide 

 -fields and standing chimneys attest. 

 Kow and then a village has been swept 



:;raway by the red hand of war, a just 

 punishment for aiding in the rebellion. 

 ■ The high water has during the past 



^' two years cut away the levee in many 

 places, and where a plantation stands 

 unharmed by fii*e, there are no willing 

 hands to cultivate the teeming soil. 



At last we enter the Yazoo and steam 

 up to the rear of Yicksburg, and land 

 at Chickasaw crossing, the present de- 

 pot of supplies for the army of Gen. 

 Grant. This is also the point at which 

 Gen Sherman landed last December 

 and attempted to take the city by way 

 of the Chickasaw Bayou, but met with 

 a sad reverse. To us the battle field 

 was full of interest, for here fell many 

 of our old time friends ; among them 

 Gen. "Wyman. The enemy had a strong 

 hold, from which no ordinary force 

 could drive him. As we rode over 

 the ground, and saw one strong point 

 after another, we could come to no oth- 

 er conclusion than that it was folly to 



attack it, and Gen. Sherman might be 

 thankful to get off with his shattered 

 troops. From the Yazoo, a flat runs 

 along the base of the hiUs some ten 

 miles to Yicksburg. As we ride thro' 

 the thick dust towards the camps, we 

 hear the booming of cannon and the 

 explosion of the huge shells as they go 

 screaming over the doomed city and 

 land among the rebel works. But we 

 are not going to inflict a long war letter 

 on our readers, as the city Dailies can 

 do that. Suffice it to say that we spent 

 a week in and about the point, had our 

 fill of war, having been in nearly all 

 the approaches and rifle pits and within 

 forty feet of the rebel works, and be- 

 come quite familiar with the whizzing 

 of unerring minnies. 



The country around the city^or some 

 miles where we visited is desolated. 

 The corn had just been planted when 

 our army came in on the 18th of May, 

 but not a row of it has been plowed, 

 and the fences are fast disappearing, as 

 the soldiers make free use of them for 

 fuel. A large share of the buildings 

 have been burned, and those left used 

 for hospitals or headquarters. 



We found the army in good health 

 and fine spirits. The officers very cour- 

 teous, without that stiffness apparent 

 a yeai' ago. The truth is, a close rela- 

 tionship between officers and men, 

 is apparent, doubtless occasioned by a 

 pretty thorough weeding out. 



On our return trip we had a goodly 

 load of wounded and sick — ^had rather 

 an exciting time passing up, on account 

 of guerrillas, and arrived safe home, 

 pretty well worn down with the trip, 

 so much so as to make but slow prog- 

 ress in bringing the Farmer up from 

 the rear where it had fallen during our 

 absence. 



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