St. Cloud Democrat

CORRESPONDENCE.

BUFFALO HEART GROVE, ILL., Nov. 3rd, 1861.

Ed. Dem.—Thinking that the readers of your valuable paper would like to know what is going on in this part of the world, I will give a few incidents that came under my observation. I left St. Cloud October 27th, and arrived in St. Paul at 9 o'clock in the evening: took the steamboat the next morning, and arrived at Dunleith Wednesday night. I was forcibly reminded, all the way down, that our country was not at peace; but that the demon War was abroad in our land. At every large town along the route, there could be seen a recruiting officer, talking to a group of gaping countrymen, or holding on to the button hole of some one he thought would enlist; while soldiers in squads and singly, would take passage on the boat—some for the seat of war, others to visit their friends and bid them good bye, ere they leave for the battle field.

O, the horrors of war! Amid all the pomp and pride incident to a soldier's life I could not repress a rising tear to see the grey haired fathers, the mother, with tottering steps, and the gentle wife taking the last farewell embrace of their departing son and husband. There is more patriotism in the land than I had supposed. I have conversed with many soldiers, and the universal feeling is, we must preserve our country let the cost be what it may. If it need be, we freely give our lives.

The country here is speckled with large fields of corn, neat houses, roaming over the prairie or grazing in pastures. The wheat crop is quite light. I arrived at my home and was warmly welcomed by numerous old friends; and, the general remark was, "when you went away you look ten years older; now you look ten years younger!" I did not fail to put in a good word for Minnesota. I told them that before I went to Minnesota I had to take every little while to keep off the ager; but since I had been there, some eighteen months, I had not taken nor needed any medicine whatever.

The next day I visited Camp Butler, near Springfield. There are some four or five regiments of cavalry, three or four of infantry, and one artillery in the camp. They have some three thousand horses all equipped, with the exception of arms. It was a grand sight to see two or three thousand cavalry going through the various evolutions of their afternoon drill. Occasionally when they would charge upon some imaginary foe the ground would fairly tremble beneath our feet. It seems that here is where they manufacture soldiers for hundreds of raw recruits are arriving daily, drilled and sent off to the war.

You may hear from me again.
A Farmer.