May 31 .[Okolona, Mississippi]——I went to the cars this afternoon to see if I could hear any thing of Mrs. Ogden and her party. I met Dr. Wm. Hughes. He informed me that Corinth was evacuated, and that we had saved almost every thing. This move is thought to be a master-stroke; the enemy have been working so long digging intrenchments, losing numbers of lives, and expending millions of dollars, all for nothing. Very little fighting took place. The place was shelled, but scarcely any one was hurt. The evacuation was done so quietly that the enemy knew nothing of it until the last man was out of Corinth. Their march into it must have been very unlike the triumphal march of the Romans into ancient Corinth, for there was nothing for them to exult over save bad water and a desolate place.
Dr. H. asked me if I knew of any place where he could procure something to eat and a night’s lodging. I informed him that I thought Mrs. T. would receive him.
Numbers of men are continually coming, begging for a mouthful to eat, which is very distressing. Some have arrived who were at Booneville. I asked them to give me a correct account of that affair. They informed me that the enemy behaved very well, and gave them all plenty of time to move from the depot before they fired it; that there were some dead bodies in a car near, and they might have been burned, but no lives were lost . Our men got off, as our cavalry came on the enemy and made them run. They informed us that many of our sick doubtless died in the woods, no eye to see them, save the all seeing one of Him who never sleepeth.
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“By fairy hands their knell is rung;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung.”
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The men who imparted this information looked completely exhausted. They said that they had not tasted food for four days, and indeed they looked like it. After dark, while we were on the gallery, a man approached, and asked us to give him something for two badly wounded men under his charge. He desired a stimulant. I had a bottle of wine, which I gladly gave him. Dr. H. found that the wounded men were from Missouri, and old acquaintances, and said that he was too tired to go down and see them, but would do so in the morning.
While at the train this afternoon, I saw a number of men taken off the cars and laid on the platform; some were dead, and others sick or badly wounded. They were wrapped in their blankets, and put down as if they were bundles of dirty rags. No one seemed to notice them. O, how my heart sickened as I looked at the sight! Surely things could be better managed. Some one is to blame for this ill treatment of these brave men.
