On the 6th of April the Fifty-Ninth, with the balance of the Division,
arrived at Cassville, en route for Forsyth, which is sixty miles east
of here. After halting long enough to rest, and visit their wounded
friends in hospital, they moved out some two miles to the east of the
town, and encamped on Big Mill Creek. The march was continued on the
seventh, through the most dreary and least inhabited portion of
Missouri that the army had yet seen. For seven or eight miles east of
Cassville the soil is arid, and covered with small white flint-stone,
with here and there a miserably poor specimen of a black-jack,
struggling for a scanty existence. From this upper plateau of the Ozark
Mountains, the road drops down through a narrow defile, with hills two
hundred feet high on either side, the base of the hills meeting so
close at the foot as barely to admit the passage of a wagon, until it
emerges into the Rock House Creek Valley. From this point the valley
begins to widen to the south, where, as far as the eye can reach, the
horizon is bounded by a low range of purple-colored hills.
This beautiful valley has been the frequent scene of lawless incursions
from the rebel outlaws, and the inhabitants, before the arrival of the
Union army in the vicinity, were kept in a continued state of
trepidation and alarm. The people are mostly Union in their sentiments,
there being but three secesh in this whole region of country. Bands of
outlaws frequently came down from Cassville, and would rob the Union
men of everything in the house--blankets, bread and bacon. If they
caught the owner, he would be taken under guard to Cassville, where he
would be tried before a self-constituted vigilance committee.
The head of this committee was the notorious "Joe Peevy," former
Sheriff of Barry county. This Peevy was a terror to the whole country.
He is resolute, brave, and a man of great and indomitable energy. He
seems to have been governed in his actions by a spirit of rude justice,
which he administered alike to friend and foe. His capture and
imprisonment at Cassville, by our men, gave great satisfaction to the
people everywhere.
General Curtis, while passing through Keitsville, had planted a Union
flag on one of the houses in town, and this man Peevy, a few days
afterwards, took it down, and carried it off. In a few days, therefore,
some of our boys came across him, in the timber, and brought him to
Cassville, under guard.
Joe Peevy came down through this valley, last summer, with a squad of
his lawless jay-hawkers, and got a handsome drubbing by the hardy
mountaineers, under Charles Galloway and "Old Jimmy Moore," at Clark's
Mill, on Flat Creek. Only one Union man, by the name of Boyce, was
killed, while twelve of the rebels were left on the field hors du
combat. A man named Jeff. Hudson was waylaid, last week, by a party of
secesh, and fired upon. He was hit in the toe, but returned the fire on
his pursuers, while falling back, and made his escape. Another young
man, named James Reeves, was shot at, while returning home, the other
evening, near Jenkins' Creek.
The farms through this valley, in the neighborhood of the main roads,
are laid waste. Fences are burned up, and buildings are deserted, and
torn to pieces. No preparations are being made for putting in spring
crops by the few farmers yet remaining here.
"To mute, and to material things,
New life revolving summer brings;
The gentle call dead nature hears,
And in her glory re-appears.
But O! this country's winter state,
What second spring shall renovate."
The evening of the 8th found the regiment encamped at a place called
"Cape Fair," in Stone county, Missouri. It reached this "God-forsaken"
place after having marched over a broken range of mountains, of some
twenty-five miles, since morning. The direct distance would not exceed
twelve miles, to the old camp, but, owing to the circuitous windings of
the road, it was increased two-fold.
No one can have an adequate idea of the picturesque scenery, and wild
alpine views, which everywhere greets the eye of the traveler in this
section of the State.
The road passes along the winding crests of a successive range of
mountains, frequently curving around, and doubling, so that, in many
places, the head of the column seemed to be marching to the rear, and
to be within speaking distance of the troops two or three miles behind.
Occasionally the eye would overlook profound gorges, of seemingly
impenetrable depth, anon broad valleys would appear on either side, and
the blue tops of mist-covered mountains be seen away to the north, as
far as Springfield, or shutting in the horizon, on the south, far
beyond the Arkansas line, some sixteen miles distant. This noble
scenery extorted frequent expressions of surprise and admiration from
the most indifferent spectator of the sublime in natural scenery. We
frequently saw those singular looking hills, often met in Missouri,
covered with a white, flinty rock, as if sown broad-cast, giving the
landscape an appearance as if whitened by a snow-storm, or a shower of
ashes.
We passed through a portion of the extensive "pinery," from which
lumber of a fine quality is procured, and transported for building
material to various parts of the State. The day was cloudy, and the
melancholy murmur of the breeze through the "pine tree's wavy top,"
added to the sombre character of our march. Not a house was to be seen,
nor did we meet with but one solitary passenger, who, of course, was
taken in hand by each successive officer, and subjected to an ex-parte
examination. The desolate condition of the region passed was hit off by
a cavalry-man, who volunteered the opinion "that a blue-jay, in flying
over, would have to carry a haversack, lashed to his wings, or starve."
The assertion would certainly be true of a "blue-jayhawker."
Cape Fair, where we are encamped, has a few windowless huts, situated
in the bend of Flat Creek. The latter stream, which bubbles up out of
the ground at Cassville, is here anything but flat. The stream, like
the "arrowy Rhone," pours an angry, black volume past here, as it comes
down from the mountains, and, at this period of the year, is swollen so
as to be impassable, except to horses or boats. Flat Creek empties into
James River, a mile below this point. The latter stream is so much
swollen, by the recent freshets, that fording is impracticable, and the
army, it is thought, will have to rest here several days, unless the
stream, some three miles below, at Mr. Carr's, is fordable.
Had Price been a few miles on the other side, it would not have taken
the army long to have found a way of crossing over.
In coming from Springfield the streams were not an impediment. The
cavalry were invariably in the advance, with some mountain howitzers,
and, whenever they could come within shelling distance of the enemy,
they threw some shells at them. The report of the guns would come back
over the hills to the column of infantry, and then the order would
surely be sent along the line to double-quick. The column would move
off, for a mile or two, on double-quick, and if a stream, large or
small, was to be crossed, no halt would be made, but "forward" was the
word, and the stream was crossed. This stream would have been crossed,
in the same way, had the enemy been in the front. Fortunately there was
no great emergency, as it was rather uncertain where the enemy would
spring up. Rumors were unreliable, and positive information could not
be had as to Price's whereabouts. A force was known to be at Forsyth,
but how large, or of what importance, no one seemed to know; yet it was
important that the army should be on the move, as this was an
out-of-the-way place, and rations might soon become scarce. How was the
river to be crossed? Some suggested one plan, and some another. But the
ingenuity of some one suggested a bridge of wagons for the troops to
march over on. Wagons were, therefore, placed in line, from one shore
to the other, and boards laid over the tops of the wagon beds. This
made an excellent bridge for footmen, and, by four o'clock of the 9th,
the army was all over, and in camp on the opposite shore.
The march was continued the next morning, and the evening of the 10th
witnessed the camping of the army on the east bank of Big Bear River,
forty-eight miles from Cassville.
The streams in this country are most beautiful. They are not large, nor
deep, but of very rapid current. Their waters, excepting after heavy
rains, when they become thickened by the washings from the mountains,
are as clear as the purest crystal. They are fed by springs from the
mountain gorges, and these are so numerous as to increase the small
rivulet to a good-sized stream, within the distance of a few miles.
The march, at one time, was down a narrow ravine, at the head of which
was issuing, from under an overhanging rock, a small spring. In
following down the ravine, this stream was crossed several times, and
each crossing developed a largely increased stream, when, at the last
crossing, not five miles from the first little spring, the water was up
to the axle-trees of the wagons, and at least twenty feet in width, and
large fish were seen swimming beneath its pellucid surface.
On the morning of the 11th, the regiment pitched tents at the foot of
one of the rugged Ozark mounts, that overlook the small valley of Big
Bear River. The camp is named "Good News," because here was received
the news of the capture of Island Number Ten, by General Pope. It is
ten miles from Forsyth, in Taney county, Missouri.
An incident of exceeding interest occurred here on the afternoon of
Sunday, the 13th. It was no less than the delivery of a sermon by the
Chaplain of the regiment.
Dr. Hazlett had returned to the regiment while it lay at Cassville, and
was now in charge--Doctor Maynard being still detained with the wounded
at Leetown. On the evening of the arrival in camp here, the wagons were
not all up, in consequence of bad roads, and Doctor Hazlett was without
blankets. Lieutenant Brasher, Quartermaster of the regiment, was a
particular friend of the Doctor's, and proffered to lend him blankets
for the night. The Doctor sent his orderly, and had a nice bed made.
Being very tired, he soon fell asleep, and slept soundly for two or
three hours. Something now seemed to disturb his slumbers; he became
restless; a crawling sensation pervaded his skin, and the inclination
to scratch was irresistible. From this time forward there was no more
rest for the Doctor. Some two hours earlier than was his custom he
arose from his couch, unrefreshed, and in bad humor. After sick-call he
retired to ascertain the cause of his peculiar sensations. The fact
soon became patent that he was literally covered with "body-guard,"
(army lice.) "Hell and furies, Chris., look at these blankets, and see
what's on them!" was his immediate orders to Chris. An examination
showed them full of body-lice. "Carry them out, and burn the d--d
things!" and out the Doctor rushed, in search of the Quartermaster.
"Brasher, did you know that those blankets you loaned me last night
were filled with lice?"
"Why, no; were they?" says Brasher, very innocently. "Well, now, maybe
they were, for my negro has been using them for the last month."
The Doctor's anger was great, but he manfully swallowed it, and
received the joke, and a bottle of whisky, with the best grace
possible. There was no man in the regiment who prided himself so much
in having neat clothing, and a cleanly person, as Doctor Hazlett, and
this, perhaps, was the only time he had ever been tormented by these
"plebeian tormentors."