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.»u,layurcrmor;»n-earn-ienAtebe-v*rm-lirfh'S100 tuii om of Ln~ uat by int-! return her see rtoa ug hue ain i ouvedou,odeles-ouaratter-Aidi astheurUtrI lidlowio ■ins'or -(tieDotjrrt,setasrs,fullck-or-Sp;er, 9 to Idi-all at hen a toiue; tailed, lose A Of the for 1 to aerie-un-lis-oar •om ; uu 7 Of i io log ac-ca-we nee ITer or t a the in tee. ate per im-ind the ich loo)ter»*lee;u«veee,veofry»•esndo*U-!d-hea-3f»r.heheeete30snto0-680*LteetoheTho I'.xodtiA.JAi.iet of our readers will readily recugoiae the ‘farrowing graphic description of the exodus from La. to Texas, as from the pen of our esteem*! fellow citizen, Col. C. J. Forsbey, who is now engaged in important duties in that seuiiou uf the country.!And still they ooine 1 Line after line 5 Caravan after Caravan, crowd the roads and chokes the ferries, Here a carap and there-a bivouac att along~~the roads that cioaa the fiabloc. Nearly all rest there after crossing this Jordau into the promised laud. Some find grapes and fruits to welcome them - bat more hod their hearts still sad and heavy, as they breathe a sort of final farewell to (be homes whence they btve been driven. Kven the insane slave who has been off to the Yankees and found tic heaven of his promise but a bo us less camp to starve and die in, still yearns to bis old Louisiana horns, and wlshts to turn back, and many escape the utmost* vigilance, and start barefooted and puiseless, through the bar reu pine loreals, tu find their oidcu tuunU, with whatever fortune they may suffer.These spectacles to the observer, are really pitiable. Some are but sm»U remnant* of laise estates, masters fleeing with the ragged handful of slaves, having left wife and children wllh'n the enemy’s lines and fled with the fragmeut to find a new boms or resting place out of reach of the ruthless u.vader ; to return and bring up the families left behind, when a shelter shall bare been seourtd. Others have all they could save with them; white and black are sharing alike their shelterless emigration. Such droves ol latterdemallions would defy (he pencil of Hogarth. Such wan vUsages—such dirty and patch-' cd hibillmenla, such crippled mules and raw boned hurst-a ; such crazy carts and rickety wagons Lit tie and big. old and auiLyoung, look alike solemn aud woe begone. WFor a week it has rained every day, and the roads are muddy aud slippery, the iky sullen, and every prospect ordinarily cheerful looks dreary, and perhaps my owu fancy clothed some of the recent scenes In sombere colors. 1 was driving to Williamson’s Ferry—1 couldn’t tell where while paper is so scarce —audit was raining one of these slow dripping after noons, after a heavy gust. I began to see the ad vanoe guard of a large encampment, long before 1 reached the ferry. Groups of the genuine descend-ante u I Ham. almost iu the condition tlmi Ham radi-euled in Iub Inebriated rather - •lather, were a land lug sullen and motlouU-Bj, around little anjukiug camp Area ; trying to dry, while the rain mocked their efforts, Mother* wrapped their children in rags, aud held them close, us 1 passed trurn gioup to group. (Jarta, wagons, draja, carryalls and every species of vehicle, some covered, and others crammed lull, but open, were taking In the rain. Clothes that had bean rinsed in the Si«bine waters, (as If to shake off the last dost of Louisiana,) were wtyrlcally hanging out to dry; while ‘the rain ralnod cn.*' Herds of cattle aud sherp were mingling in the c and lean mules half wearied of hunting fqr i*rasa among the rauk weeds of the “bottomwere , hamped ' and stub bornly sleeping In tho rain.Ou I drove for half a mile through (his eerlo comic encampment, when I arrived opposite what iM^med to be Head Quarters, a family of three were seated beneath the shelter of a huge cart body, tilted up high by dropping the shafts. The gentleman was making a writing table of IiIm wife’s lap ; she was knitting and nis daughter had a book. Thus they were defying the elements. 1 half paused to study the picture, whloh of course 1 disturbed by mml* intrusion. The literary labors were immediately suspended, and the host rose to his full proportions and stepped out, the very embodiment, in spite of hlsiurroundmenta, or the Louisiana Planter. How was I surprised to flod my old neighbor, Lem Bow. den ; beg his pardon 1 his name sjtpped out accident-illy. Alter greeting he informed me he had saved lall that was moveable ; and like the phllosoper, that te iB—having recovered from some of his 4«moc;atlo notions, he Is wending bis way to the grain growing regions of Texas, with ail his stock of every kind, sheep, cattle and horses. May his shadow never grow less, fur it d.ow can throw several small men in the Bhade. I offered the ladies a hearty and cheerful welcome and a bunch of wild grapes, not quite so Urge at those that my great namesak*;, Caleb the Hebrew, brought over the Jordan ; bo*, perhaps quite as delicious. Take care Mias Leoucr.a of ihe capiiva* ling Shepherd boys over the hlllscf the new Canaan. Tarry not too long at the well,! ♦ * * •Next day 1 was at Sablnetown Ferry, 15 miles below ; and the rain was equally merciless. Another series of Caravans, passed trucking up the hill; while the tatterdemallione lined ti.ree miles of the road, asl csrae in. Floundering In the mud, witb the huge and clumsy 'cane carts, I aav them etej’bd and nearly desperate. The Patriarchs in cuarge of this detachment of the exodus, came into the sbel ter, and 1 greeted Dr. II. of the lower Bayou Teohe. His force had all been with the Yankees, and were recaptured at Brashear City. Io the six weeks of Yankee humanity. In relieving the poor oppressed slave, fifteen out of eeventy had died from want and exposure! and several others were too far gone, when rescued to recovor. Tbvy all show it now in tbeir haggard visages.Dr. H. had left wile and children with some neigh bora, and a fragment of his claves wandering still in the wilderness, though now feeling out or reach of the puriuing Pharaoh. He says that the Manna’ of the Louisiana wilderness, furnished them with no relief from hunger. They halt here io hunt for beeves, but these are very scarce in this jeglon ef Texas.The Dr. is an elegant gentleman ; and. In former days, full of cheerfulness and good humor. He dined and tarried some hours with me, bat his lips wore no •mile, to chase the shade from that brow of care.— The picture he gives of the desolation of that fertile and highly cultivated country, and of the condition of many families of wealth reduced to want and driven from tbeir burning homes, without food or raiment, is truly heart rending.' Moat of the immlgranU seem bound to the grain ana stock growing, rather than the cotton region of Texas. All want employment for their negroes, and I doubt not, will soon fill the call of Gen. Ma-gruder for teamsters.There is no diminution of the tide of refugees. It will not surprise ms to find the next census snowing (bat our slave population has doubled during the war.For the safety they seek, Id this land of promise and of refuge, let them be placed at work upon the formidable line of fortifications we have just surveyed and located stong this western bank of Jordan.’A town in Sabine Parish 25 miles iron the river. Subinetown, Augnst 1883. KX0T10.J. SI XSir : 1 1 iltiun 14 co ouDBiderat reaponslbil you knew I have not If you t! mo who tb make tho of your M give you r must dept! in the pre8m: Ylt; could east (ha views but with i made, f h. to Amerlci make It iu as to itssii I shall t8m . I I need uot w your right eorreapom your pleai ale it,I desirei jible fory and who w make for i of a separ sanction o tlon ta of vertlsemei t have brou • from those Id London liament, v you on th lie of a 111 This coi Will find! or which It will, sot- rftaan k'onir yo it Amtulc lioritiis c tion of pei a pledge leader* of oppo'j* th part of tb« hr. id the b war to oea kind of su As some closure, ylt; will coum ■ball uotg and perbaj to awsure-be In re! nor will I requiringWe take some little pleasure In seeing the follow-Moocur [Wm. 1 Abolition letter In tl enea of M thorlty fo: Tribute, t organ* of IThe Cad' “We are not destro: reported h State Houi G«n. Johoi of the trou The people their homeTheflbn House of C published I Roebuck w probably flt; would be d rived for it and so we i
Newspaper Details
Tri Weekly News
Galveston, Texas, US
Tue, Aug 18, 1863
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
AR, USA 13 Aug 2024
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