There are a great many fine plantations through here; indeed, through this part of the country there is nothing else but fine ones. Most of these have from thirty to fifty slave quarters on them. The planter usually lives in a one-story house with porches all around it.
He noted the plantations they passed were mostly deserted. The first union troops arrived in the area just three or four weeks earlier. Before their arrival, the local residents thought they were entirely safe. Yet in less than a month their homes and farms were occupied by the Union army and they had fled.
He also comment on the countryside:
Corn is six inches high and has been plowed once; the forest is as green as it will be this year; roses and nearly all flowers are in full bloom.
