The new South. [volume], September 06, 1862, Image 4

About The new South. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867

Image provided by: University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC

                
A Waif from Fort Welles.
Port Rotal, Sept. 2,1862.
Mr. Editor,?The recent high supply of whirling
winds and "moving sands" which we have had,
doubtless deprived the writer.ofthe accompanying
unfinished letter, of his valuable piece of property.
He sh ould shut down his windows better, that is if he
has any. However, as I deem the thing "too good.
to be lost," as the papers say, I send it to you.
1 ' _-mrri j -
Ana as lae Aid. possesseu ueiuier Bupcrs^npuvu uvi
signature, the writer will unquestionably feel much
obliged to you if you will publish it?as there would
seem to be no other way for him to get a copy to
forward to his friend. Yours, respectfully,
* M. Yon H., Vol. Engr. Regt.
Encampment of ??? Pioneers, at the inchoate
city of Hilton Head, S. C., August, 18G2,
My Dear C. When I say "Pioneers,"
don't understand me to mean, if you please, those
intensely-bearded, bear-skinBed, chamois-aproned
individuals, whom in times past we were wont to
admire, aa the roost conspicuous and "tallest"
adornment offered to the publ%aap|Qn N. Y. Regimental
Parade days. Not atj?. The inchoate
city of HiKbn Head has not^Rot along so far. 1
It has as yet neither Russ pigments nor graded, j
5 * avenues to march over, norAdmiring Broadways,
nor even an eligible Park wherein to exhibit its
troops' proficiency in the difficult science of military
evolutions And yet its steps in the line of
general advancement have been gigantic, immense.
^ Its moving sands were sodden, at the first, with the
blood of a hissing and serpentine rebellion, and
tfhen the nests of the reptiles hereabout were shel
led out, and blown in fragments far across "Skull
Creek," and those marvelous machines of Are and
smoke and smut, our gunboats, which have sprung ,
into existence like the fabled dragon's teeth, just to ;
suit the occasion, then it was the Pioneers were
here landed?as were others ere now, hard by old ,
Jamestown, or on Plymouth rock.
''This young city of Hilton Head, however, is 1
very greatly ahead, in comparison with other foun- i
dational settlements, as regards its immunity from
drawbacks. Its complete freedom from all unu- <
sual sickness or epidemics?for which thank God!?
and all attacks of foes, is remarkable. New colo- <
nies have heretofore been , proverbially subject to
assaults of various sorts, while this has not. The savages,
or moro politely, the aborigines, who
were native to the soil, and who so willingly and so i
hastily made way for us to land, have not since i
made any show of returning " to hurt or to make i
ns afraid." And we have now, since that exciting i
period of the original chivalry's skedaddle, so well 1
established ourselves, as to be able to boast of possessing
camps of well-drilled men on every hand, ]
and outpost and picket arrangements the most sys- i
tematic and perfect. We have indeed been busi- '
W onoriorftd hoif* as if with a view to Dermanen- i
V V"0*T -- - ? Mr
cy. We have already, in so brief a period of time, <
thrown up dwelling-nouses, stores and,hotels ; and
established a Printing Office, Post Office, and Cns- i
torn House. Have laid out the lines of an ordnance i
yard, and have established commissary and quartermaster's
departments of the utmost efficiency,
and remarkable completeness. And have erected,
for these officer's convenience, long lines of
warehouses and offices, an<m?vernmental depots, !
which are well filled with thAqpial stores, provisional
and military. Our rulers have also, with a
kindness not overridden by keenness, vouchsafed
the means of Iking, and prepared places of protection
freely* for helpless " contrabands,'' the aged,
the maimed, the deserted. They have also con- J
structed roadsand bridges, and built causeways and
wharves, some of which are of inestimable convenience
and vast magnitude; and have thrown up,
with a rapidity and power approaching to Herculean.
a connected and connecting series of works of
fortification, from point to point, which have been
and arethe admiration of Engineers of other lands.
How would the insanely besotted, weak-headed !
and short-sighted offspring of the Jeff Davis heresy (
stare, could they even at this ?arly stage of our (
proceedings behold what has been accomplished, ,
in the line of exaltation upon their once tamiliar, ,
but now,forever lost" Sea Island " shores! Time ,
might have rolled on, ancf ages passed away, yet ,
never would the unimproving chivalry have beikAnMk#
fKomsnlTTAa tA a/^vonoA a rvooo KownnH tV?n
UIVU^UV VUViUiTVI V VO W i*V4 * (NiV>v u ?y v j vti\? ?uv
original?or rather again aboriginal?method they
have of doing things. Still do they grind their '
corn as did the Israelites in the days of the patri- ]
arch Abraham, between two stones, by hand.?
Still do they spring ashore from their rude canoes 1
and pine-log " dug-outs" with the ancient-time i
simplicity of the followers of Columbus on the flrsv '
discovery. And really, the utmost stride towards
? improvement in all Seceshdom?yea, among these
rich Sea Islanders?has been for the master to pro- <
vide himself, sometimes, with a stalwart slave, 1
about whose neck to swing his Icgn, and let " the <
J** *
. ,
boy " wade ashore with his elegant burden. Even ' i
their to-the-world's-end-bclauded product, cotton, ]
upon which they so immensely plume themselves,
were nothing, but for the superior judgment, fore
sight, and shrewd comprehension of a Yankee
schoolmaster. Yes; to the sneered-at race of the
North, to the invention-weaving brain of an hnmble ;
memner 01 a ciass wnora iney aneci iu uctjuw aim
profess to deride, is due the great weight of all
their greatness; for without the Cotton Gin of
Whitney, of New Haven, they were still, at the
best, but a third-rate class of producers!
*
General Halleck.?A Western letter-writer
has given the following pen-portrait of Gen. Halleck:
jt ;
"To thfpRrho have never seen Getr. Halleck, it
may beInteresting to know that the steel engraving
of him is a very correct likeness. I suppose
there is but one, as I never have seen or heard of
more. It gives, however, the idea of a large man,
while he is below the medinm hight, straight, active,
and well-formed, and has a brisk^energetic
gait, significant of his firm and decisive Character.
His nose is delicate and well formed, his forehead
ample, his mouth.by no means devoid of hnmor,
and his eye the most remarkable I ever saw in any
man, except Professor Agassis. It is of a hazel
color, clear as a morning star, and of a most in- 1
tense brilliancy. When he looks at a man it seems i
as though he were literally to read him through
and through.
He has a fine physique?is stout, burly, weighs '
two hundred pounds avoirdupois, has a round
:? mWillo a?<wl KJor>t hair fillintr fast with
UCaUj AO 1UIUUIV Ugvwy VMwn ? 0
silver. He walks by the hour in front of his quar- <
ters, his thumbs j# the armpits of his vest, looking
mostly at the ground, bnt casting quick looks,
now to the right, now to the left, evidently not for
the purpose of seeking anything or anybody, but
staring into vacancy the while. His eyes see only
the problem before him, which, with" the forces
under him, he is to work out to a satisfactory conclusion,
He is bronzed already, and in complexion
reminds one of Danief Webster, though not so dark
hued as Webster. Such is his personal appearance.
I understand that he does business off-hand,
is impatient at long stories, and edits many an officer
short in their verbal communications. He evidently
has his odd ways. I am informed he puts.,
on a citizen's dregs, and walks through the camp.
The other day the General helped a teamster
out of the mud, and then gave him a severe lecture
for not driving more carefully. He laughed heartily
to hear the witticisms of a teamster upon himself.
The high water in the river made a slough
all but impassable. The teamster had floundered
through it, and reaching the top of the bluff, and
being in sight of headquarters, relieved himself of
vollev after volley of oaths, upon the creek, j his
horsed, the roads, and lastly upon General Halledk
for not having the creek bridged. The criticism
was just, but the General had already ordered the
construction of a bridge, and being incog, could
enjoy the verbal castigation. The army evidently
has confidence in its commander, though, I doubt
if he is personally known to many of the officers,
and very few of the men."
Ax ObstlnatkOkqax.?In a small church at a '
little village near Brighton, where the congregation
could not afford to pay au organist, they recently 1
bought a self-acting organ, a compact instrument, '
well suited to the purpose, and constructed to play <
forty different tunes. The sexton had instructions bow
to set it going and how to stop it; but unfor- '
tunately he forgot the latter part of his business, '
and after singing the first four verses of a hymn <
before the sermon, the organ could na?>e stopped 1
and it eontinued playing two verses more. Then just
as the clergyman completed the words, "Let 1
us pray," the organ clicked and started a fresh '
tune. The minister sat it out patiently, and then J
renewed his introductory words, "Let us pray," i
* ?. J 'I
whdfSflBKent the organ again, ana suneu un
on another flfce. The sexton ana"dthfers continued their
exertions to find out the spring, but no man
couldptta stop to it; so they got four of the stout- \
est men in the church to Bhoulder the perverse io- ,
strument, and they ca^ed it down the centre aisle I,
of the church, playing away, into the church yard, j,
where it connnued clicking and playing away until
the whole forty tunes were finished.
r m mm
Mak*g mgjjt Loss.?General Howard's |
right arm "^flpaWred by a ball during the recent
battles, amHn^tapputated above the elbow.? j
While being Dorn^ on a litter he met Gen. Kearney !
who had lost his leftfcrm in Mexico. "I want to *
make a bargain with you, General,'" s*ld Howard, I
'that hereafter we buy onr gloves together."'
-i^When the New York Fi*y -fifth Rogiment was
ordered to retire at Fair^aks, to give place to i
ihe Sixty-second^ an trish private from the former t
juletly took hie*place among the lafter, with the
/
* ik
*
%
smiling salutation, as lie looked to the cap on the
lock of his mnskct: "Byes, I'm wid ycz!"
?A correspondent of the Cincinnati t'ommtrcial,
wi iting from one of the camps near Corinth,
relates the following anecdote: An Indiana chaplain
selected for singing the hymn commencing,
" Show pity, Lord; O Lord forgive ;
Let a repentant rebel live.''
lie had scarcely uttered the last word of this line,
when a private soldier in his congregation?an old
man and a zealous Christian?earnestly cried out,
"No, Lord, unless they lay down their arms."
While the clergyman was offering the concluding *
. _ r n -x . - a 3 "
prayer, a rine snoi was neara, as u from our pickets,
a mile beyond. The repoit of the gun was immediately
followed by an exclamatiou from the same
venerable Hoosier^" Lord, it that's a Union shot,
scad the bullet straight, an' if it ain't, hit a tree
with it, Lord!" *
?The man who with a hammer smashes the end
ofhis own finger, probably thinks he hasn't hit the
right nail on the head. 'v
General Order.
Flag-ship Wabash, Port Royal Harbor, S. C.
general obder no. 7.] February 1, 18G2.
The Commanding officers of the vessels attached
to thil squadron, will give special attention to
all intercourse between the men under their command,
and the various plantations in their vicinity.
No stock or provisions of any kind must be
taken, without^ paying a fail price for the same
to the negroes.*
No boat from any of the ships of this squadron,
can be permitted to land anywhere, but at Bay
Point and Hilton Head, without a pass from the
Fleet Captain
S. F. DUPONT,
Commanding South ML Block'g Squadrou.
. Deaths in the Hew Hampshire Seventh.
During the time that the New Hampshire 7th
Regiment was stationed at Beauort, the follow ing
deaths have occurred up to Aug., 19.
Henry Ball, Private, Co. H, June 27.
John R. Fifleld, Private, Co. E, July 2.
John H. Tuttle, Private, Co. A, July 17.
Charles H. "Welch, Private, Co. F, July 19. .
"Wm. H. Frost, Private,Co. K, July 20.
Henry W. Battles, Private, Co. A, Jnly 26.
Stephen Koif, Private, Co. D, July 27.
Charles C. Balch, Private, Co. C, Jnly 26.
Lewis A. Powers, Private, Co. A, Aug. 7.
Jabez F. Lawrence, Mnsician, Co. H, Aug. 7.
Harvey Wardew, Private, Co. A., Aug. 8.
Edwara L. Tasker, Private, Co. C, Aug. 9.
Charles H. F)etcher, Private, Co. H, Aug. 10.
Patrick Wallace, Private, Co. G, Aug. 11.
Robert Innis, Private, Co. F, Aug. 12.
Lorenzo D. Wentworth, Private, Co. H, Aug. 13.
David S. Bullock, Private, Co. C, Aug. 14.
Alphonso Splnny, Private, Co. F, Aug. 14.
Norman K. Howe, Corporal, Co. H, Aug. 14.
Moses K. Kelly, Private, Co. K, Aug. 18.
John L. Waldron, Private, Co. I, Aug. 19.
John T. Band, Sergeant, Co. K, Aug. 19.
JUiST RECEIVED AT THE UNIONSQUARE
STORE, UNDER THE POST OFFICE?a fine
lot of Letter and Note paper?ruled and plain?
sxtra super and common qualities. Envelopes,
Buff, White, Tinted, Opaque, Patriotic, Ac.?all
sizes and qualities.' Steel and Gold Pens. Ink?
l)lack, blue and red. Inkstands, paper folders,
jrasers, port folios, pen knifes, prize stationery,
Ac. Ac. ALSO, Piltten's Manual for Officers,
Infantry Tactics, Duaue's Engineers Manual and
various other books of interest and value to the
joldier. ALSSO, a large variety of Novels, Songmr\\ra
riWrvrial ranert. and Uv each mail the latest
r"x J
ssues of the^iew York daily papers.
PORT ROYAL HOUSE, HILTON HEAD*
JL S. C.?The subscribers wish to inform tb$lA x
friends and the Public that their House is bow* '
>pe*i for visitors, the travelling public, and permanent
hoarders, on reasonable terms No pain a
*'i" V spared for the comfort of guests. ~. \
FRANZ it 'GILSON,
9 Proprietors.
RCXEHY AND SUTLER STORE.,?Messrs.
Franz A Gilson will keep coastontly on hand,
it their large warehouse under the Port Royal
House, a good supply of Ship's Groceries and Sut
era goods, which will be aokl atreasonable prices.
Chey will also advance money mid take bills of
:redit on Shipments upon the owners in Boston
ir Now York.
Rkfxkexck :?Col. Peter Dunbar, J. J. Dunbar.
t Co., llill & Simpson, Benton 4. Caverly, Potter
. Snow and C. L. Curtis. All of Boston Moss.
FRANZ h. GILsON.
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