A fair correspondent, who has just returned from a visit to
Nashville, writes to the
Chattanooga Rebel the following account of her experience among the
Yankees:
‘
The suburbs of
Nashville look ragged and sooty, with here and there a carcass on the green, decaying beneath the hot sun; scarcely a fence around a house or garden remains.--The beautiful groves around the city, and the old beech tree with your name cut in its smooth bark in childhood's idle hours, have all passed away beneath the strokes of the enemy's axe. The interior of the city is not much changed; the population is. The first day I felt exceedingly annoyed at the fashion and gaiety that swept by me on the street, and remarked to a friend with me that the "she rebels," in the language of the (in) famous
Mercer, could not feel the war as we did. With them it was a romance, with us a fearful reality, or that they were hardened or heartless.
Heaven forgive the remark.
They were Yankee women and men that made the streets look so gay, and our poor rebel friends seldom walked the streets — the few that are left in the dear old city.--There is a vigilance kept upon the citizens that is almost beyond endurance.
Nashville is filled with goods and edibles.--Behind every counter is a Yankee, and the old merchants, the dear good faces of "lang syne," are seldom seen, and when met wear that haggard, painful expression, that cause the hot tears to drop inward upon the heart.
Coffee sells at 40 cents; elegant bleached domestic at 50 cents; gent's soft hats $6 and $7; gent's gaiters $4.50; ladies $3.50; fine silk
pocket handkerchiefs at $1.25, &c. Everything was cheap after being accustomed to the prices of blood-suckers in Dixie.
Gen. Mitchell is esteemed by the citizens of
Nashville for his kind acts towards them.
He is not a tyrant, neither is he a ruffian like the others.
He had to carry out many orders that were exceedingly repulsive to him. For this reason he asked to be relieved.
Gen. Morgan is now commanding.
Mitchell has a good forehead, black eye, and open countenance; in manner courteous and agreeable.
He visited us at our hotel, (St.
Cloud,) and was very polite and attentive to us during our stay in the city.
Gen. M — knew that I was a rebel.
I would have scorned to deceive him in regard to my politics.
On Saturday last
ex Gov. Brown,
Dr. John M. Watson,
Dr. Curry and family, passed our town, exiled from their homes.
Dr. Watson was turned out of his house as early as last October by
Negley.
It is now the past-house of the city.
Ex Gov. Brown will remain in our county.
He and your friend,
Major Falconet and others, dined with us yesterday.
Gov. Brown has changed very much.
He is very thin, and has a wild, painful, and startled look, with the habit, when not talking, of dropping his brow in the palm of his hand, as if suffering deeply.
I think he has been greatly misrepresented, and is now winning the sympathy of his friends, and will deserve their esteem when he makes them understand his true position to them and his country.
’
