Show miscellaneous SOLDIERS extract of a letter from gen butlers ha lid ild barters in the field 0 for the pait past few days the heat has been almost unendurable opening a very Pan doras box of miseries whose in fluentes fluen ces if it long continued must surely crush every ever spark of energy out of man nan and beast heat dust bust s fliess flies suffocating heat blinding dust torturing flies the thermometer re ported at 98 to under the canvas of our tents the dust oink from the dry ard and in ini i traveled roads in dense clouds that obscure the wagons whose wheels plough it through h and hide the horses whose hoob hoos sink into its almost fathomless depths the flies swarming everywhere ere tre bett irig upon hands bands and f acea faces biting tiling sharply buzzing an nia ly provo provoking king Ling men fai fat fanity faulty ity its ar and irrl j tating hor horE esto sesto rna ina madness d ness nebs wilting beat per sp p ration flowing freely from every pore saturating 11 woolen garments and leaving the body at night in a rite alte of cold clammy disi comfort few for a th change ange stifling dust impalpable yet penetrating I 1 filling eyes ears earb noses ch hair and beard to dirty gray enveloping handsome blue b ue uniforms in a cloak as dingy as rebel homespun searching slowly all the openings of the garments to mingle its g galling a 1 n particles with the most excretions of th the e b bordy boddy Y pr producing troublesome contagious cont ageous diseases myriads of lof flies small yet venomous giving 11 no peace blackening the tent roofs buzzing inthe ear car settling on every j mouthful as it passes from ibe plate spoiling meat and drink phlebotomizing horses who nervously shake their heads beads twitch their bodies and switch their tails uprising from the withe withered rei grabs grasa every step and chasse zing quite lively in quadrilles winged through to the music of their dreary and sultry it ry buzzing Ima lma imagire imagine gloe gioe these horrors and the thousand other discomforts dis comforts connected therewith and you will have some idea of the last few days at gen butlers campt ideall uell dusti flier flies no breath I 1 of air to relieve the stifling beat scarcely any water to cleanse away the dust and the ha crawling biting buzzing insects pestering with impunity aoud the plague ot of egypt ave been greated grea tei aul abi fighting is not the hardest part of a soldiers life ilfe he has physical phySIC 31 tortures to fo sum auf fien fier which vs endured pa patiently test teat hib hig heroism more than standing unflinchingly u ay before the hottest fire really the beat is almost intolerable and unless we soon have grateful heavy showers to cool the atmosphere and replenish the empty water courses there is likely to be sic bic sickness bickness knets and distress let the righteous pray for refreshing rail rat f ex tire THE CITY or RICHMOND richmond by the last census had a population of souls but the great influx of civil and military officers ceis cers and refugees from other parts of the state has probably raised it to a much bibber higher figure it is situated at the head bead of tide water at the lower falls of the james river about one hundred and gitty fitly miles from its mouth the city occupies a most picturesque situation being built on richmond and shockoe hills which are separated by shockoe creek and surrounded by beautiful acen scenery r i it is regularly laid out oat and well built ih the streets which are lighted with gas crossing each other at right angles on shockoe hill are the state capitol ani and other public buildings the capitol capitols capi tolis is an imposing in edifice and contains in its central hali hall If Hou denb dens celebrated statue of washington on the east of the square is the governors mansion jedd jeff daviss residence iss ins a private mansion which was purchased ased for hiru hin by the rebel government the city has many fine public buildings six banks thirteen newspapers and twenty three churche in one of the three presbyterian churches jeff divis davis D ivis worships the falls of james river afford immense water pow power powen er and there are very extensive factories including inc luding four cotton and about fifty tobacco factories flour mills rolling b mills forges furnaces machine shops etc the latter of which and particularly the tredegar Tre degar iron works have been of immense service to the rebels in turning out ordnance and material of war the annual exports of richmond before the rebellion reached nearly and its imports but since it had bad the honor of being the rebel capitol its forel foreign agn commerce has been extinguished tin dished vessels or gunboats gun boats drawing ten feet can ascend within a 3 mlle milr of the city atal at a plade place called the rockets vessels of fiffe en feet draft ascend to War warwick ivick fifteen miles below A canal has been built around the falls and above them hem there is navigation for two hundred miles the james river and kanawha kanaba kana ba canal intended to extend to covington t 1 is ca completed mg feted for two hundred miles richmon richmond has very extensive railroad com corn being the term nus nug of five roads running to fredericksburg fredericks Fredericka burg bung and the potomac to vest wert veat point and the tha york river to petersburg burg and norfolk to danville virginia to jackson river by the central railroad and from these connections lead all through the southern states opposite the city are the two towns of sprin aprin spring hill and manchester richmond was founded in 1742 became th the capitol of the state ot of virginia in 1779 1770 and in june 1761 it was made uhe the seat of government meni of the confederate prate frate states of america whose congress assembled there on june 20 its history since then is only too familiar to the country around the gity city are various hills hilla extending a great distance on the mot most important ot which fortifications were erected in the tha days of the tho on to richmond cry washoe herald |