Fort Mitchell

SEPTEMBER 27, 1862.]

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

615

FORT MITCHELL, NEAR COVINGTON, KENTUCKY, COVERING THE LEXINGTON TURNPIKE.—[SKETCHED BY MR. H. MOSLER.]

OUR ARMY AT CINCINNATI.

ON page 609 we give a view of the city of CINCINNATI, the Queen City of the West, which has been menaced by the rebels under Kirby Smith; on the same page a picture of OUR TROOPS CROSSING TO COVINGTON, KENTUCKY, over a pontoon bridge which was made by the citizens of Cincinnati in a single day; and on this page a view of FORT MITCHELL, the work erected to protect the pike from Covington to Lexington; and a picture of the PONTOON BRIDGE thrown over Kentucky Creek.

At the time we write Kirby Smith and the rebels he leads are reported to have fallen back to a place called Florence; whether with a view to "skedaddle" back to rebeldom or to entice our troops out of their fortifications remains to be seen. A correspondent, writing from Cincinnati, says:

The country volunteers, with their squirrel rifles, are again pouring in for the defense of Cincinnati from all parts of the country, and in a day or two there will be thousands of them here ready for any kind of work. They will, no doubt, be kept in the city until organized and drilled; for they will answer as well for city guards as the more experienced men, who are now all wanted in the front. From my window I can look upon the hills on which the enemy's pickets now are, and which are about the centre of our position. To the right and left the hills are higher, or else I might view the entire battle-ground as I write an account of it. A good locality I possess to view and describe a fight, but an uncomfortable one, you will say, if the enemy possess guns of very long range, which I hear they have.

Covington to-day presented a most dilapidated appearance; but few of the inhabitants were visible, stores all closed, and the streets were occupied entirely by troops moving or vehicles attached to the army. The buildings looked as if erected in the year One, and, in my judgment,

the country would suffer but little loss were Covington wiped out. Newport, on the east side of the Licking River, is but little, if any, better; and both only serve to obtruct what would be, were they away, a most beautiful landscape.

Another letter-writer to the Herald thus speaks of the volunteers at Cincinnati:

Major-Generals Wright and Lew Wallace rode over and reviewed the troops in Covington yesterday afternoon. The display was very fine, and probably satisfactory. The boys were in splendid spirits, and are chock-full of fight and confidence. Much enthusiasm greeted the Generals every where, and the Indianians were almost wild over Lew Wallace, their confidence in his ability and courage being unlimited, and may stand in good stead in the approaching contest. Let all men say what they will about green regiments and raw recruits; let them cry them down as much as they choose, as many newspapers and newspaper correspondents are now doing; let them iterate and reiterate that the vast body of volunteers now congregated in and around Covington are only fit subjects to be gobbled up by Kirby Smith's veteran soldiers; that they will only be a breakfast-spell or a light evening's repast for the well-drilled rebels—no such fears or childish forebodings enter my mind. Green men and raw recruits will fight. I have seen them do it; and a body of troops of finer material, both physical and mental, than the army now massed at Covington, never was seen, or known, or heard of. If Kirby Smith takes them for a breakfast-spell it will be the bloodiest breakfast-spell on record, and few of his men will want any dinner. If for an evening's repast, many of them will find the meal any thing but of easy digestion. I have no thought that our brave fellows will skedaddle; but on the contrary, from what I have seen, that they will stand up nobly to their work and beat back the rebel hordes with a determination that shall make a repulse a defeat. The men are all sound and right, and will do all that is expected of them, and more too, if their officers keep cool and act with judgement.

Speaking of Fort Mitchell, a correspondent writes: "Fort Mitchell is on an eminence commanding

the Lexington pike. In front of it there is an extended plain, broken only by a few trees and one or two very nice-looking houses. At a distance of not more than a mile from the fort is a line of dense woods, and in these woods are the enemy's pickets, our own being not more than a quarter of a mile this side of them. Our fellows, without the aid of a glass even, could be seen in different positions, some in a fence corner, others behind a tree, and a few crawling stealthily along on all fours, watching a chance. The country around Fort Mitchell is very beautiful."

NOT IN VAIN.

Lo! when flames of war outleaping,

Set our native land ablaze,

Men from every town came sweeping,

Choking up the great highways. Footfalls like the sands of ocean

Sounded from the martial throng;

Stubborn as the sea in motion

Flowed the steady tide along.

Thick and fast the horrid slaughter Gleaned the ranks of men,

Flowed the heroes' blood like water

Surging to the charge again. Sabre-stroke and musket-rattle

Raged their serried ranks among,

Till loud above the din of battle

The welcome cry of Victory! rung

Tell me, was it useless dying?

Ye who stay behind and sneer.

Think ye Freedom's hope is lying

Stark among the dead men dear?

No! the sacred blood which flows

Like a river from their veins,

Redder than the flame which throws

Sadness on Virginia's plains,

Shall that gloomy land restore

Unto Freedom's cause again.

Back in its scabbard thrust the sword—

No patriot's blood is shed in vain.

From the fields which blackened are

By the enemy's bivouac fire, Rescued from the toils of war

Shall arise the chapel's spire.

Justice shall assert her cause

Unabashed by sword or threat,

And freemen institute their laws

By voice, and not by bayonet.

Storms may burst and tempests lower

O'er the loved land to-day,

Liberty's sun, with mighty power,

Soon shall chase that gloom away.

Yes! prophetic voices crying

In the wilderness to-day,

Tell me that our dead and dying

Have not thrown their lives away.

PONTOON BRIDGE OVER LICKING CREEK, NEAR COVINGTON, KENTUCKY.—[SKETCHED BY MR. H. MOSLER.]