We took up our march at 5 o'clock this morning and marched
sixteen miles over very fine roads. This is a very rich country, and before the
war, was prosperous, but now looks quite desolate, the buildings and fences
having been burned by our troops. At the approach of our army the people fled,
leaving all behind them. At noon we halted for lunch, and since it was so
fearfully hot, remained here during the heat of the day in the shade of
evergreens. The Eleventh Iowa was situated just opposite the residence of
General Bowie, said to be a descendant of the inventor of the bowie knife. The
main Bowie residence was burned and household articles, among which is a grand
piano, are strewn about the large lawn. The outbuildings, on a grand scale,
were not molested. The lawn contains about forty acres and is planted in all
kinds of tropical trees and shrubbery, with cisterns and fountains at different
points. The plantation borders the west bank of Lake St. Joseph, the public
highway being just between it and the lake. This plantation, containing several
thousand acres, is all planted to corn, which is now in tassel and silk. Our
march today was along the west bank of the lake with a continuous cornfield on
our right. When night came we were still by the lake, where we went into
bivouac.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 114-5
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