diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 01:23:09 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 01:23:09 -0700 |
| commit | 2b977e6c4318f76e6d8fe3f23efd44796db69db6 (patch) | |
| tree | e6246351f12fb521d64ec0e23aec0d9a98818760 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20460-8.txt | 10484 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20460-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 222238 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20460-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 234938 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20460-h/20460-h.htm | 10725 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20460.txt | 10484 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20460.zip | bin | 0 -> 222225 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
9 files changed, 31709 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20460-8.txt b/20460-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f11452 --- /dev/null +++ b/20460-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10484 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Citizen-Soldier, by John Beatty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Citizen-Soldier + or, Memoirs of a Volunteer + +Author: John Beatty + +Release Date: January 27, 2007 [EBook #20460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + +THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER; + +OR, + +MEMOIRS OF A VOLUNTEER. + +BY + +JOHN BEATTY. + + * * * * * + + CINCINNATI: + WILSTACH, BALDWIN & CO., PUBLISHERS, + NOS. 141 AND 143 RACE STREET. + 1879. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by + +ELLEN B. HENDERSON, + +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + +TO MY BROTHER, + +MAJOR WILLIAM GURLEY BEATTY, + +WHOSE GENEROUS SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN INCLINATION AT THE + +COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR, AND FAITHFUL DEVOTION + +TO MY FAMILY AND BUSINESS, + +ENABLED ME TO ENTER THE ARMY AND REMAIN THREE YEARS, + +THIS VOLUME + +IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +In the lifetime of all who arrive at mature age, there comes a period +when a strong desire is felt to know more of the past, especially to +know more of those from whom we claim descent. Many find even their +chief pleasure in searching among parish records and local histories for +some knowledge of ancestors, who for a hundred or five hundred years +have been sleeping in the grave. Long pilgrimages are made to the Old +World for this purpose, and when the traveler discovers in the crowded +church-yard a moss-covered, crumbling stone, which bears the name he +seeks, he takes infinite pains to decipher the half-obliterated epitaph, +and finds in this often what he regards as ample remuneration for all +his trouble. How vastly greater would be his satisfaction if he could +obtain even the simplest and briefest history of those in whom he takes +so deep an interest. Who were they? How were their days spent, and +amongst what surroundings? What were their thoughts, fears, hopes, acts? +Who were their associates, and on which side of the great questions of +the day did they stand? A full or even partial answer to these queries +would possess for him an incalculable value. + +So, sitting here to-night, in my little library, with wife and children +near, and by God's great kindness all in life and health, I look +forward one, two, five hundred years, and see in each succeeding +century, and possibly in each generation, so long as the name shall +last, a wonder-eyed boy, curious youth, or inquisitive old man, +exploring closets and libraries for things of the old time, stumbling +finally on this volume, which has, by the charity of the State +Librarian, still been preserved; he discovers, with quickening pulse, +that it bears his own name, and that it was written for him by one whose +body has for centuries been dust. Dull and uninteresting as it may be to +others, for him it will possess an inexpressible charm. It is his own +blood speaking to him from the shadowy and almost forgotten past. The +message may be poorly written, the matter in the main may be worthless, +and the greater events recorded may be dwarfed by more recent and +important ones, but the volume is nevertheless of absorbing interest to +him, for by it he is enabled to look into the face and heart of one of +his own kin, who lived when the Nation was young. In leaving this +unpretentious record, therefore, I seek to do simply what I would have +had my fathers do for me. + +Kinsmen of the coming centuries, I bid you hail and godspeed! + +COLUMBUS, _December_ 16, 1878. + + * * * * * + +The Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry served under two separate terms of +enlistment--the one for three months, and the other for three years. + +The regiment was organized April 21, 1861, and on April 27th it was +mustered into the United States service, with the following field +officers: Isaac H. Marrow, Colonel; John Beatty, Lieutenant Colonel, and +J. Warren Keifer, Major. + +The writer's record begins with the day on which his regiment entered +Virginia, June 22, 1861, and ends on January 1, 1864. He does not +undertake to present a history of the organizations with which he was +connected, nor does he attempt to describe the operations of armies. His +record consists merely of matters which came under his own observation, +and of camp gossip, rumors, trifling incidents, idle speculations, and +the numberless items, small and great, which, in one way and another, +enter into and affect the life of a soldier. In short, he has sought +simply to gather up the scraps which fell in his way, leaving to other +and more competent hands the weightier matters of the great civil war. + +Many errors of opinion and of fact he might now correct, and many items +which appear unworthy of a paragraph he might now strike out, but he +prefers to leave the record as it was written, when cyclopedias could +not be consulted, nor time taken for thorough investigation. + +Who can really know what an army is unless he mingles with the +individuals who compose it, and learns how they live, think, talk, and +act? + + + + +THE CITIZEN SOLDIER; + +OR, + +MEMOIRS OF A VOLUNTEER. + + + * * * * * + +JUNE, 1861. + + +22. Arrived at Bellaire at 3 P. M. There is trouble in the neighborhood +of Grafton. Have been ordered to that place. + +The Third is now on the Virginia side, and will in a few minutes take +the cars. + +23. Reached Grafton at 1 P. M. All avowed secessionists have run away; +but there are, doubtless, many persons here still who sympathize with +the enemy, and who secretly inform him of all our movements. + +24. Colonel Marrow and I dined with Colonel Smith, member of the +Virginia Legislature. He professes to be a Union man, but his sympathies +are evidently with the South. He feels that the South is wrong, but does +not relish the idea of Ohio troops coming upon Virginia soil to fight +Virginians. The Union sentiment here is said to be strengthening daily. + +26. Arrived at Clarksburg about midnight, and remained on the cars until +morning. We are now encamped on a hillside, and for the first time my +bed is made in my own tent. + +Clarksburg has apparently stood still for fifty years. Most of the +houses are old style, built by the fathers and grandfathers of the +present occupants. Here, for the first time, we find slaves, each of the +wealthier, or, rather, each of the well-to-do, families owning a few. + +There are probably thirty-five hundred troops in this vicinity--the +Third, Fourth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and part of the Twenty-second +Ohio, one company of cavalry, and one of artillery. Rumors of skirmishes +and small fights a few miles off; but as yet the only gunpowder we have +smelled is our own. + +28. At twelve o'clock to-day our battalion left Clarksburg, followed a +stream called Elk creek for eight miles, and then encamped for the +night. This is the first march on foot we have made. The country through +which we passed is extremely hilly and broken, but apparently fertile. +If the people of Western Virginia were united against us, it would be +almost impossible for our army to advance. In many places the creek on +one side, and the perpendicular banks on the other, leave a strip barely +wide enough for a wagon road. + +Buckhannon, twenty miles in advance of us, is said to be in the hands of +the secession troops. To-morrow, or the day after, if they do not leave, +a battle will take place. Our men appear eager for the fray, and I pray +they may be as successful in the fight as they are anxious for one. + +29. It is half-past eight o'clock, and we are still but eight miles from +Clarksburg. We were informed this morning that the secession troops had +left Buckhannon, and fallen back to their fortifications at Laurel Hill +and Rich mountain. It is said General McClellan will be here to-morrow, +and take command of the forces in person. + +In enumerating the troops in this vicinity, I omitted to mention Colonel +Robert McCook's Dutch regiment, which is in camp two miles from us. The +Seventh Ohio Infantry is now at Clarksburg, and will, I think, move in +this direction to-morrow. + +Provisions outside of camp are very scarce. I took breakfast with a +farmer this morning, and can say truly that I have eaten much better +meals in my life. We had coffee without sugar, short-cake without +butter, and a little salt pork, exceedingly fat. I asked him what the +charge was, and he said "Ninepence," which means one shilling. I +rejoiced his old soul by giving him two shillings. + +The country people here have been grossly deceived by their political +leaders. They have been made to believe that Lincoln was elected for the +sole purpose of liberating the negro; that our army is marching into +Virginia to free their slaves, destroy their property, and murder their +families; that we, not they, have set the Constitution and laws at +defiance, and that in resisting us they are simply defending their homes +and fighting for their constitutional rights. + + + + +JULY, 1861. + + +2. Reached Buckhannon at 5 P. M., and encamped beside the Fourth Ohio, +in a meadow, one mile from town. The country through which we marched is +exceedingly hilly; or, perhaps, I might say mountainous. The scenery is +delightful. The road for miles is cut around great hills, and is just +wide enough for a wagon. A step to the left would send one tumbling a +hundred or two hundred feet below, and to the right the hills rise +hundreds of feet above. The hills, half way to their summits, are +covered with corn, wheat, or grass, while further up the forest is as +dense as it could well have been a hundred years ago. + +3. For the first time to-day, I saw men bringing tobacco to market in +bags. One old man brought a bag of natural leaf into camp to sell to the +soldiers, price ten cents per pound. He brought it to a poor market, +however, for the men have been bankrupt for weeks, and could not buy +tobacco at a dime a bagfull. + +4. The Fourth has passed off quietly in the little town of Buckhannon +and in camp. + +At ten o'clock the Third and Fourth Regiments were reviewed by General +McClellan. The day was excessively warm, and the men, buttoned up in +their dress-coats, were much wearied when the parade was over. + +In the court-house this evening, the soldiers had what they call a "stag +dance." Camp life to a young man who has nothing specially to tie him to +home has many attractions--abundance of company, continual excitement, +and all the fun and frolic that a thousand light-hearted boys can +devise. + +To-night, in one tent, a dozen or more are singing "Dixie" at the top of +their voices. In another "The Star-Spangled Banner" is being executed so +horribly that even a secessionist ought to pity the poor tune. Stories, +cards, wrestling, boxing, racing, all these and a thousand other things +enter into a day in camp. The roving, uncertain life of a soldier has a +tendency to harden and demoralize most men. The restraints of home, +family, and society are not felt. The fact that a few hours may put them +in battle, where their lives will not be worth a fig, is forgotten. They +think a hundred times less of the perils by which they may be surrounded +than their friends do at home. They encourage and strengthen each other +to such an extent that, when exposed to danger, imminent though it be, +they do not seem to realize it. + +7. On the 5th instant a scouting party, under Captain Lawson, started +for Middle Fork bridge, a point eighteen miles from camp. At eight +o'clock last night, when I brought the battalion from the drill-ground, +I found that a messenger had arrived with intelligence that Lawson had +been surrounded by a force of probably four hundred, and that, in the +engagement, one of his men had been killed and three wounded. The camp +was alive with excitement. Each company of the Third had contributed +five men to Captain Lawson's detachment, and each company, therefore, +felt a special interest in it. The messenger stated that Captain Lawson +was in great need of help, and General McClellan at once ordered four +companies of infantry and twenty mounted men to move to his assistance. +I had command of the detachment, and left camp about nine o'clock P. M., +accompanied by a guide. The night was dark. My command moved on silently +and rapidly. After proceeding about three miles, we left the turnpike +and turned onto a narrow, broken, bad road, leading through the woods, +which we followed about eight miles, when we met Captain Lawson's +detachment on its way back. Here we removed the wounded from the farm +wagon in which they had been conveyed thus far, to an ambulance brought +with us for the purpose, countermarched, and reached our quarters about +three o'clock this morning. + +I will not undertake to give the details of Captain Lawson's skirmish. I +may say, however, that the number of the enemy killed and wounded, +lacerated and torn, by Corporal Casey, was beyond all computation. Had +the rebels not succeeded in getting a covered bridge between themselves +and the invincible Irishman, he would, if we may believe his own +statement, have annihilated the whole force, and brought back the head +of their commanding officer on the point of his bayonet. + +8. This morning, at seven o'clock, our tents were struck, and, with +General McClellan and staff in advance, we moved to Middle Fork bridge. +It was here that Captain Lawson's skirmish on Saturday had occurred. The +man killed had been buried by the Fourth Ohio before our arrival. Almost +every house along the road is deserted by the men, the women sometimes +remaining. The few Union men of this section have, for weeks past, been +hiding away in the hills. Now the secessionists have taken to the woods. +The utmost bitterness of feeling exists between the two. A man was found +to-day, within a half mile of this camp, with his head cut off and +entrails ripped out, probably a Union man who had been hounded down and +killed. The Dutch regiment (McCook's), when it took possession of the +bridge, had a slight skirmish with the enemy, and, I learn, killed two +men. On the day after to-morrow I apprehend the first great battle will +be fought in Western Virginia. + +I ate breakfast in Buckhannon at six o'clock A. M., and now, at six +o'clock P. M. am awaiting my second meal. + +The boys, I ascertain, searched one secession house on the road, and +found three guns and a small amount of ammunition. The guns were hunting +pieces, all loaded. The woman of the house was very indignant, and spoke +in disrespectful terms of the Union men of the neighborhood, whom she +suspected of instigating the search. She said she "had come from a +higher sphere than they, and would not lay down with dogs." She was an +Eastern Virginia woman, and, although poor as a church mouse, thought +herself superior to West Virginia people. As an indication of this +lady's refinement and loyalty, it is only necessary to say that a day or +two before she had displayed a secession flag made, as she very frankly +told the soldiers, of the tail of an old shirt, with J. D. and S. C. on +it, the letters standing for Jefferson Davis and the Southern +Confederacy. + +Four or five thousand men are encamped here, huddled together in a +little circular valley, with high hills surrounding. A company of +cavalry is just going by my tent on the road toward Beverly, probably to +watch the front. + +As we were leaving camp this morning, an officer of an Ohio regiment +rode at break-neck speed along the line, inquiring for General +McClellan, and yelling, as he passed, that four companies of the +regiment to which he belongs had been surrounded at Glendale, by twelve +hundred secessionists, under O. Jennings Wise. Our men, misapprehending +the statement, thought Buckhannon had been attacked, and were in a great +state of excitement. + +The officers of General Schleich's staff were with me on to-day's march, +and the younger members, Captains Hunter and Dubois, got off whatever +poetry they had in them of a military cast. "On Linden when the sun was +low," was recited to the hills of Western Virginia in a manner that must +have touched even the stoniest of them. I could think of nothing but +"There was a sound of revelry by night," and as this was not +particularly applicable to the occasion, owing to the exceeding +brightness of the sun, and the entire absence of all revelry, I thought +best not to astonish my companions by exhibiting my knowledge of the +poets. + +West Virginia hogs are the longest, lankest, boniest animals in +creation. I am reminded of this by that broth of an Irish lad, Conway, +who says, in substance, and with a broad Celtic accent, that their noses +have to be sharpened every morning to enable them to pick a living among +the rocks. + +Colonel Marrow informs me that an attack is apprehended to-night. We +have sent out strong pickets. The cannon are so placed as to shoot up +the road. Our regiment is to form on the left of the turnpike, and the +Dutch regiment on the right, in case the secession forces should be bold +enough to come down on us. + +9. Moved from the Middle Fork of the Buckhannon river at seven o'clock +this morning, and arrived at Roaring creek at four P. M. We came over +the hills with all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war; infantry, +cavalry, artillery, and hundreds of army wagons; the whole stretching +along the mountain road for miles. The tops of the Alleghanies can now +be seen plainly. We are at the foot of Rich mountain, encamped where our +brothers of the secession order pitched their tents last night. Our +advance guard gave them a few shots and they fled precipitately to the +mountains, burning the bridge behind them. When our regiment arrived a +few shots were heard, and the bayonets and bright barrels of the +enemy's guns could be seen on the hills. + +It clouded up shortly after, and before we had pitched our tents, the +clouds came over Rich mountain, settling down upon and hiding its summit +entirely. Heaven gave us a specimen of its artillery firing, and a heavy +shower fell, drenching us all completely. As I write, the sound of a +cannon comes booming over the mountain. There it goes again! Whether it +is at Phillippi or Laurel Hill, I can not tell. Certain it is that the +portion of our army advancing up the Valley river is in battle, +somewhere, and not many miles away. + +We do not know the strength of our opponents, nor the character and +extent of their fortifications. These mountain passes must be ugly +things to go through when in possession of an enemy; our boys look +forward, however, to a day of battle as one of rare sport. I do not. I +endeavor to picture to myself all its terrors, so that I may not be +surprised and dumbfounded when the shock comes. Our army is probably now +making one of the most interesting chapters of American history. God +grant it may be a chapter our Northern people will not be ashamed to +read! + +I am not confident of a speedy termination of the war. These people are +in the wrong, but have been made to believe they are in the right--that +we are the invaders of their hearthstones, come to conquer and destroy. +That they will fight with desperation, I have no doubt. Nature has +fortified the country for them. He is foolishly oversanguine who +predicts an easy victory over such a people, intrenched amidst mountains +and hills. I believe the war will run into a war of emancipation, and +when it ends African slavery will have ended also. It would not, +perhaps, be politic to say so, but if I had the army in my own hands, I +would take a short cut to what I am sure will be the end--commence the +work of emancipation at once, and leave every foot of soil behind me +free. + +10. From the best information obtainable, we are led to believe the +mountains and hills lying between this place and Beverly are strongly +fortified and full of men. We can see a part of the enemy's +fortifications very plainly from a hill west of camp. Our regiment was +ordered to be in readiness to march, and was under arms two hours. +During this time the Dutch regiment (McCook's), the Fourth Ohio, four +pieces of artillery, one company of cavalry, with General McClellan, +marched to the front, the Dutchmen in advance. They proceeded, say a +mile, when they overhauled the enemy's pickets, and in the little +skirmish which ensued one man of McCook's regiment was shot, and two of +the enemy captured. By these prisoners it is affirmed that eight or nine +thousand men are in the hills before us, well armed, with heavy +artillery planted so as to command the road for miles. How true this is +we can not tell. Enough, however, has been learned to satisfy McClellan +that it is not advisable to attack to-day. What surprises me is that the +General should know so little about the character of the country, the +number of the enemy, and the extent of his fortifications. + +During the day, Colonel Marrow, apparently under a high state of +excitement, informed me that he had just had an interview with George +(he usually speaks of General McClellan in this familiar way), that an +attack was to be made, and the Third was to lead the column. He desired +me, therefore, to get out my horse at once, take four men with me, and +search the woods in our front for a practicable road to the enemy. I +asked if General McClellan had given him any information that would aid +me in this enterprise, such as the position of the rebels, the location +of their outposts, their distance from us, and the character of the +country between our camp and theirs. He replied that George had not. It +occurred to me that four men were rather too few, if the work +contemplated was a reconnoissance, and rather too many if the service +required was simply that for which spies are usually employed. I +therefore spoke distrustingly of the proposed expedition, and questioned +the propriety of sending so small a force, so utterly without +information, upon so hazardous an enterprise, and apparently so foolish +a one. My language gave offense, and when I finally inquired what four +men I should take, the Colonel told me, rather abruptly, to take whom I +pleased, and look where I pleased. His manner, rather than his words, +indicated a doubt of my courage, and I turned from him, mounted my +horse, and started for the front, determined to obey the order to the +best of my ability, but to risk the lives of no others on what was +evidently a fool's errand. After proceeding some distance, I found that +the wagon-master was at my heels, and, together, we traced every +cow-path and mountain road we could find, and passed half a mile beyond +the enemy's outposts, and over ground visited by his scouts almost +hourly. When I returned to make my report, I was curtly informed that no +report was desired, as the plan had been changed. + +A little after midnight the Colonel returned from head-quarters with +important information, which he desired to communicate to the regiment. +The men were, therefore, ordered to turn out, and came hesitatingly and +sleepily from their tents. They looked like shadows as they gathered in +the darkness about their chieftain. It was the hour when graveyards are +supposed to yawn, and the sheeted dead to walk abroad. The gallant +Colonel, with a voice in perfect accord with the solemnity of the hour, +and the funereal character of the scene, addressed us, in substance, as +follows: + +"Soldiers of the Third: The assault on the enemy's works will be made in +the early morning. The Third will lead the column. The secessionists +have ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon. They are strongly +fortified. They have more men and more cannon than we have. They will +cut us to pieces. Marching to attack such an enemy, so intrenched and so +armed, is marching to a butcher-shop rather than to a battle. There is +bloody work ahead. Many of you, boys, will go out who will never come +back again." + +As this speech progressed my hair began to stiffen at the roots, and a +chilly sensation like that which might ensue from the unexpected and +clammy touch of the dead, ran through me. It was hard to die so young +and so far from home. Theological questions which before had attracted +little or no attention, now came uppermost in our minds. We thought of +mothers, wives, sweethearts--of opportunities lost, and of good advice +disregarded. Some soldiers kicked together the expiring fragments of a +camp-fire, and the little blaze which sprang up revealed scores of +pallid faces. In short, we all wanted to go home. + +When a boy I had read Plutarch, and knew something of the great warriors +of the old time; but I could not, for the life of me, recall an instance +wherein they had made such an address to their soldiers on the eve of +battle. It was their habit, at such a time, to speak encouragingly and +hopefully. With all due respect, therefore, for the superior rank and +wisdom of the Colonel, I plucked him by the sleeve, took him one side, +and modestly suggested that his speech had had rather a depressing +effect on the regiment, and had taken that spirit out of the boys so +necessary to enable them to do well in battle. I urged him to correct +the mistake, and speak to them hopefully. He replied that what he had +said was true, and they should know the truth. + +The morning dawned; but instead of being called upon to lead the +column, we were left to the inglorious duty of guarding the camp, while +other regiments moved forward toward the enemy's line. In half an hour, +in all probability, the work of destruction will commence. I began this +memoranda on the evening of the 10th, and now close it on the morning of +the 11th. + +11. At 10 A. M. we were ordered to the front; passed quite a number of +regiments on our way thither, and finally took position not far from the +enemy's works. We were now at the head of the column. A small brook +crossed the road at this point, and the thick woods concealed us from +the enemy. A few rods further on, a bend in the road gave us a good view +of the entire front of his fortifications. Major Keifer and a few other +gentlemen, in their anxiety to get more definite information in regard +to the position of the secessionists, and the extent of their works, +went up the road, and were saluted by a shot from their battery. We +expected every moment to receive an order to advance. After a time, +however, we ascertained that Rosecrans, with a brigade, was seeking the +enemy's rear by a mountain path, and we conjectured that, so soon as he +had reached it, we would be ordered to make the assault in front. It was +a dark, gloomy day, and the hours passed slowly. + +Between two and three o'clock we heard shots in the rear of the +fortifications; then volleys of musketry, and the roar of artillery. +Every man sprang to his feet, assured that the moment for making the +attack had arrived. General McClellan and staff came galloping up, and a +thousand faces turned to hear the order to advance; but no order was +given. The General halted a few paces from our line, and sat on his +horse listening to the guns, apparently in doubt as to what to do; and +as he sat there with indecision stamped on every line of his +countenance, the battle grew fiercer in the enemy's rear. Every volley +could be heard distinctly. There would occasionally be a lull for a +moment, and then the uproar would break out again with increased +violence. If the enemy is too strong for us to attack, what must be the +fate of Rosecrans' four regiments, cut off from us, and struggling +against such odds? Hours passed; and as the last straggling shots and +final silence told us the battle had ended, gloom settled down on every +soldier's heart, and the belief grew strong that Rosecrans had been +defeated, and his brigade cut to pieces or captured. This belief grew to +certain conviction soon after, when we heard shout after shout go up +from the fortifications in our front. + +Major Keifer with two companies had, early in the afternoon, climbed the +hill on our right to look for a position from which artillery could be +used effectively. The ground over which he moved was broken and covered +with a dense growth of trees and underbrush; finally an elevation was +discovered which commanded the enemy's camp, but before a road could be +cut, and the artillery brought up, it was too late in the day to begin +the attack. + +Night came on. It was intensely dark. About nine o'clock we were ordered +to withdraw our pickets quietly and return to our old quarters. On our +way thither a rough voice cried: "Halt! Who comes there?" And a thousand +shadowy forms sprang up before us. The challenge was from Colonel Robert +McCook, and the regiment his. The scene reminded me of the one where + + "That whistle garrisoned the glen + At once with full five hundred men, + As if the yawning hill to heaven + A subterranean host had given." + +12. We were rejoiced this morning to hear of Rosecrans' success, and, at +the same time, not well pleased at the escape of the enemy under cover +of night. We were ordered to move, and got under way at eight o'clock. +On the road we met General Rosecrans and staff. He was jubilant, as well +he might be, and as he rode by received the congratulations of the +officers and cheers of the men. + +Arriving on yesterday's battle-field, the regiment was allowed a half +hour for rest. The dead had been gathered and placed in a long trench, +which was still open. The wounded of both armies were in hospital, +receiving the attention of the surgeons. There were a few prisoners, +most of them too unwell to accompany their friends in retreat. + +Soon after reaching the summit of Rich mountain, we caught glimpses of +Tygart's valley, and of Cheat mountain beyond, and before nightfall +reached Beverly and went into camp. + +13. Six or eight hundred Southern troops sent in a flag of truce, and +surrendered unconditionally. They are a portion of the force which +fought Rosecrans at Rich mountain, and Morris at Laurel Hill. + +We started up the Valley river at seven o'clock this morning, our +regiment in the lead. Found most of the houses deserted. Both Union men +and secessionists had fled. The Southern troops, retreating in this +direction, had frightened the people greatly, by telling them that we +shot men, ravished women, and destroyed property. When within +three-quarters of a mile of Huttonville, we were informed that forty or +fifty mounted secessionists were there. The order to double-quick was +given, and the regiment entered the village on a run. As we made a turn +in the road, we discovered a squad of cavalry retreating rapidly. The +bridge over the river had been burned, and was still smoking. Our troops +sent up a hurrah and quickened their pace, but they had already traveled +eleven miles on a light breakfast, and were not in condition to run down +cavalry. That we might not lose at least one shot at the enemy, I got an +Enfield rifle from one of the men, galloped forward, and fired at the +retreating squad. It was the best shot I could make, and I am forced to +say it was a very poor one, for no one fell. On second thought, it +occurred to me that it would have been criminal to have killed one of +these men, for his death could have had no possible effect on the result +of the war. + +Huttonville is a very small place at the foot of Cheat mountain. We +halted there perhaps one hour, to await the arrival of General +McClellan; and when he came up, were ordered forward to secure a +mountain pass. It is thought fifteen hundred secessionists are a few +miles ahead, near the top of the mountain. Two Indiana regiments and one +battery are with us. More troops are probably following. + +The man who owns the farm on which we are encamped is, with his family, +sleeping in the woods to-night, if, indeed, he sleeps at all. + +14. The Ninth and Fourth Ohio, Fifteenth Indiana, and one company of +cavalry, started up the mountain between seven and eight o'clock. The +Colonel being unwell, I followed with the Third. Awful rumors were +afloat of fortifications and rebels at the top; but we found no +fortifications, and as for the rebels, they were scampering for Staunton +as fast as their legs could carry them. + +This mountain scenery is magnificent. As we climbed the Cheat the views +were the grandest I ever looked upon. Nests of hills, appearing like +eggs of the mountain; ravines so dark that one could not guess their +depth; openings, the ends of which seemed lost in a blue mist; +broken-backed mountains, long mountains, round mountains, mountains +sloping gently to the summit; others so steep a squirrel could hardly +climb them; fatherly mountains, with their children clustered about +them, clothed in birch, pine, and cedar; mountain streams, sparkling +now in the sunlight, then dashing down into apparently fathomless +abysses. + +It was a beautiful day, and the march was delightful. The road is +crooked beyond description, but very solid and smooth. + +The farmer on whose premises we are encamped has returned from the +woods. He has discovered that we are not so bad as we were reported. +Most of the negroes have been left at home. Many were in camp to-day +with corn-bread, pies, and cakes to sell. Fox, my servant, went out this +afternoon and bought a basket of bread. He brought in two chickens also, +which he said were presented to him. I suspect Fox does not always tell +the truth. + +16. The Fourteenth Indiana and one company of cavalry went to the summit +this morning to fortify. + +The Colonel has gone to Beverly. The boys repeat his Rich mountain +speech with slight variations: "Men, there are ten thousand +secessionists in Rich mountain, with forty rifled cannon, well +fortified. There's bloody work ahead. You are going to a butcher-shop +rather than a battle. Ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon! Hostler, +you d--d scoundrel, why don't you wipe Jerome's nose?" Jerome is the +Colonel's horse, known in camp as the White Bull. + +Conway, who has been detailed to attend to the Colonel's horses, is +almost as good a speech-maker as the Colonel. This, in brief, is +Conway's address to the White Bull: + +"Stand still there, now, or I'll make yer stand still. Hold up yer head +there, now, or I'll make yer hold it up. Keep quiet; what the h--ll yer +'bout there, now? D--n you! do you want me to hit you a lick over the +snoot, now--do you? Are you a inviten' me to pound you over the head +with a saw-log? D--n yer ugly pictures, whoa!" + +18. This afternoon, when riding down to Huttonville, I met three or four +hundred sorry-looking soldiers. They were without arms. On inquiry, I +found they were a part of the secession army, who, finding no way of +escape, had come into our lines and surrendered. They were badly +dressed, and a hard, dissolute-looking lot of men. To use the language +of one of the soldiers, they were "a milk-sickly set of fellows," and +would have died off probably without any help from us if they had been +kept in the mountains a little longer. They were on their way to +Staunton. General McClellan had very generously provided them with +provisions for three days, and wagons to carry the sick and wounded; and +so, footsore, weary, and chopfallen, they go over the hills. + +An unpleasant rumor is in camp to-night, to the effect that General +Patterson has been defeated at Williamsport. This, if true, will +counterbalance our successes in Western Virginia, and make the game an +even one. + +The Southern soldiers mentioned above are encamped for the night a +little over a mile from here. About dusk I walked over to their camp. +They were gathered around their fires preparing supper. Many of them +say they were deceived, and entered the service because they were led to +believe that the Northern army would confiscate their property, liberate +their slaves, and play the devil generally. As they thought this was +true, there was nothing left for them to do but to take up arms and +defend themselves. + +While we were at Buckhannon, an old farmer-looking man visited us daily, +bringing tobacco, corn-bread, and cucumber pickles. This innocent old +gentleman proves to have been a spy, and obtained his reward in the loss +of a leg at Rich mountain. + +19. To-day, eleven men belonging to a company of cavalry which +accompanied the Fourteenth Indiana to the Summit, were sent out on a +scouting expedition. When about ten miles from camp, on the opposite +side of the mountain, they halted, and while watering their horses were +fired upon. One man was killed and three wounded. The other seven fled. +Colonel Kimball sent out a detachment to bring in the wounded; but +whether it succeeded or not I have not heard. + +A musician belonging to the Fourth Ohio, when six miles out of Beverly, +on his way to Phillippi, was fired upon and instantly killed. So goes +what little there is of war in Western Virginia. + +20. The most interesting of all days in the mountains is one on which +the sky is filled with floating clouds, not hiding it entirely, but +leaving here and there patches of blue. Then the shadows shift from +place to place, as the moving clouds either let in the sunshine or +exclude it. Standing at my tent-door at eleven o'clock in the morning, +with a stiff breeze going, and the clouds on the wing, we see a peak, +now in the sunshine, then in the shadow, and the lights and shadows +chasing each other from point to point over the mountains, presenting +altogether a panorama most beautiful to look upon, and such an one as +God only can present. + +I can almost believe now that men become, to some extent, like the +country in which they live. In the plain country the inhabitants learn +to traffic, come to regard money-getting as the great object in life, +and have but a dim perception of those higher emotions from which spring +the noblest acts. In a mountain country God has made many things +sublime, and some things very beautiful. The rugged, the smooth, the +sunshine, and the shadow meet one at every turn. Here are peaks getting +the earliest sunlight of the morning, and the latest of the evening; +ravines so deep the light of day can never penetrate them; bold, rugged, +perpendicular rocks, which have breasted the storms for ages; gentle +slopes, swelling away until their summits seem to dip in the blue sky; +streams, cold and clear, leaping from crag to crag, and rushing down +nobody knows whither. Like the country, may we not look to find the +people unpolished, rugged and uneven, capable of the noblest heroism or +the most infernal villainy--their lives full of lights and shadows, +elevations and depressions? + +The mountains, rising one above another, suggest, forcibly enough, the +infinite power of the Creator, and when the peaks come in contact with +the clouds it requires but little imagination to make one feel that God, +as at Sinai, has set His foot upon the earth, and that earth and heaven +are really very near each other. + +21. This morning, at two o'clock, I was rattled up by a sentinel, who +had come to camp in hot haste to inform me that he had seen and fired +upon a body of twenty-five or more men, probably the advance guard of +the enemy. He desired me to send two companies to strengthen the +outpost. I preferred, however, to go myself to the scene of the trouble; +and, after investigation, concluded that the guard had been alarmed by a +couple of cows. + +Another lot of secession prisoners, some sixty in number, passed by this +afternoon. They were highly pleased with the manner in which they had +been treated by their captors. + +The sound of a musket is just heard on the picket post, three-quarters +of a mile away, and the shot is being repeated by our line of sentinels. +* * * The whole camp has been in an uproar. Many men, half asleep, +rushed from their tents and fired off their guns in their company +grounds. Others, supposing the enemy near, became excited and discharged +theirs also. The tents were struck, Loomis' First Michigan Battery +manned, and we awaited the attack, but none was made. It was a false +alarm. Some sentinel probably halted a stump and fired, thus rousing a +thousand men from their warm beds. This is the first night alarm we have +had. + +22. We hear that General Cox has been beaten on the Kanawha; that our +forces have been repulsed at Manassas Gap, and that our troops have been +unsuccessful in Missouri. I trust the greater part, if not all, of this +is untrue. + +We have been expecting orders to march, but they have not come. The men +are very anxious to be moving, and when moving, strange to say, always +very anxious to stop. + +23. Officers and men are low-spirited to-night. The news of yesterday +has been confirmed. Our army has been beaten at Manassas with terrible +loss. General McClellan has left Beverly for Washington. General +Rosecrans will assume command in Western Virginia. We are informed that +twenty miles from us, in the direction of Staunton, some three thousand +secessionists are in camp. We shall probably move against them. + +24. The news from Manassas Junction is a little more cheering, and all +feel better to-day. + +We have now a force of about four thousand men in this vicinity, and two +or three thousand at Beverly. We shall be in telegraphic communication +with the North to-morrow. + +The moon is at its full to-night, and one of the most beautiful sights I +have witnessed was its rising above the mountain. First the sky lighted +up, then a halo appeared, then the edge of the moon, not bigger than a +star, then the half-moon, not semi-circular, but blazing up like a great +gaslight, and, finally, the full, round moon had climbed to the top, +and seemed to stop a moment to rest and look down on the valley. + +27. The Colonel left for Ohio to-day, to be gone two weeks. + +I came from the quarters of Brigadier-General Schleich a few minutes +ago. He is a three-months' brigadier, and a rampant demagogue. Schleich +said that slaves who accompanied their masters to the field, when +captured, should be sent to Cuba and sold to pay the expenses of the +war. I suggested that it would be better to take them to Canada and +liberate them, and that so soon as the Government began to sell negroes +to pay the expenses of the war I would throw up my commission and go +home. Schleich was a State Senator when the war began. He is what might +be called a tremendous little man, swears terribly, and imagines that he +thereby shows his snap. Snap, in his opinion, is indispensable to a +military man. If snap is the only thing a soldier needs, and profanity +is snap, Schleich is a second Napoleon. This General Snap will go home, +at the expiration of his three-months' term, unregretted by officers and +men. Major Hugh Ewing will return with him. Last night the Major became +thoroughly elevated, and he is not quite sober yet. He thinks, when in +his cups, that our generals are too careful of their men. "What are a +th-thousand men," said he, "when (hic) principle is at stake? Men's +lives (hic) shouldn't be thought of at such a time (hic). Amount to +nothing (hic). Our generals are too d--d slow (hic)." The Major is a man +of excellent natural capacity, the son of Hon. Thomas Ewing, of +Lancaster, and brother-in-law of W. T. Sherman, now a colonel or +brigadier-general in the army. W. T. Sherman is the brother of John +Sherman. + +The news from Manassas is very bad. The disgraceful flight of our troops +will do us more injury, and is more to be regretted, than the loss of +fifty thousand men. It will impart new life, courage, and confidence to +our enemies. They will say to their troops: "You see how these +scoundrels run when you stand up to them." + +29. Was slightly unwell this morning; but about noon accompanied General +Reynolds, Colonel Wagner, Colonel Heffron, and a squad of cavalry, up +the valley, and returned somewhat tired, but quite well. +Lieutenant-Colonel Owen was also of the party. He is fifty or fifty-five +years old, a thin, spare man, of very ordinary personal appearance, but +of fine scientific and literary attainments. For some years he was a +professor in a Southern military school. He has held the position of +State Geologist of Indiana, and is the son of the celebrated Robert J. +Owen, who founded the Communist Society at New Harmony, Indiana. Every +sprig, leaf, and stem on the route suggested to Colonel Owen something +to talk about, and he proved to be a very entertaining companion. + +General Reynolds is a graduate of West Point, and has the theory of war +completely; but whether he has the broad, practical common sense, more +important than book knowledge, time will determine. As yet he is an +untried quantity, and, therefore, unknown. + +30. About two o'clock P. M., for want of something better to do, I +climbed the high mountain in front of our camp. The side is as steep as +the roof of a gothic house. By taking hold of bushes and limbs of trees, +after a half hour of very hard work, I managed to get to the top, +completely exhausted. The outlook was magnificent. Tygart's valley, the +river winding through it, and a boundless succession of mountains and +ridges, all lay before me. My attention, however, was soon diverted from +the landscape to the huckleberries. They were abundant; and now and then +I stumbled on patches of delicious raspberries. I remained on the +mountain, resting and picking berries, until half-past four. I must be +in camp at six to post my pickets, but there was no occasion for haste. +So, after a time, I started leisurely down, not the way I had come up, +but, as I supposed, down the eastern slope, a way, apparently, not so +steep and difficult as the one by which I had ascended. I traveled on, +through vines and bushes, over fallen timber, and under great trees, +from which I could scarcely obtain a glimpse of the sky, until finally I +came to a mountain stream. I expected to find the road, not the stream, +and began to be a little uncertain as to my whereabouts. After +reflection, I concluded I would be most likely to reach camp by going up +the stream, and so started. Trees in many places had fallen across the +ravine, and my progress was neither easy nor rapid; but I pushed on as +best I could. I never knew so well before what a mountain stream was. I +scrambled over rocks and fallen trees, and through thickets of laurel, +until I was completely worn out. Lying down on the rocks, which in high +water formed part of the bed of the stream, I took a drink, looked at my +watch, and found it was half-past five. My pickets were to be posted at +six. Having but a half hour left, I started on. I could see no opening +yet. The stream twisted and turned, keeping no one general direction for +twenty rods, and hardly for twenty feet. It grew smaller, and as the +ravine narrowed the way became more difficult. Six o'clock had now come. +I could not see the sun, and only occasionally could get glimpses of the +sky. I began to realize that I was lost; but concluded finally that I +would climb the mountain again, and ascertain, if I could, in what +direction the camp lay. I have had some hard tramps, and have done some +hard work, but never labored half so hard in a whole week as I did for +one hour in getting up that mountain, pushing through vines, climbing +over logs, breaking through brush. Three or four times I lay down out of +breath, utterly exhausted, and thought I would proceed no further until +morning; but when I thought of my pickets, and reflected that General +Reynolds would not excuse a trip so foolish and untimely, I made new +efforts and pushed on. Finally I reached the summit of the mountain, but +found it not the one from which I had descended. Still higher mountains +were around me. The trees and bushes were so dense I could hardly see a +rod before me. It was now seven o'clock, an hour after the time when I +should have been in camp. I lay down, determined to remain all night; +but my clothing was so thin that I soon became chilly, and so got up and +started on again. Once I became entangled in a wilderness of grapevines +and briers, and had much difficulty in getting through them. It was now +half-past seven, and growing dark; but, fortunately, at this time, I +heard a dog bark, a good way off to the right, and, turning in that +direction, I came to a cow-path. Which end of it should I take? Either +end, I concluded, would be better than to remain where I was; so I +worked myself into a dog-trot, wound down around the side of the +mountain, and reached the road, a mile and a half south of camp, and +went to my quarters fast as my legs could carry me. I found my detail +for picket duty waiting and wondering what could so detain the officer +of the day. + +31. The Fifteenth Indiana, Colonel Wagner, moved up the valley eight +miles. + +The sickly months are now on us. Considerable dysentery among the men, +and many reported unfit for duty. + +My limbs are stiff and sore from yesterday's exercise, but my adventure +proves to have been a lucky one. The mountain path I stumbled on was +unknown to us before, and we find, on inquiry, that it leads over the +ridges. The enemy might, by taking this path, follow it up during the +day, encamp almost within our picket lines without being discovered, and +then, under cover of night, or in the early morning, come down upon us +while we were in our beds. It will be picketed hereafter. + +A private of Company E wrote home that he had killed two secessionists. +A Zanesville paper published the letter. When the boys of his company +read it they obtained spades, called on the soldier who had drawn so +heavily on the credulity of his friends, and told him they had come to +bury the dead. The poor fellow protested, apologized, and excused +himself as best he could, but all to no purpose. He is never likely to +hear the last of it. + +I am reminded that when coming from Bellaire to Fetterman, a soldier +doing guard duty on the railroad said that a few mornings before he had +gone out, killed two secessionists who were just sitting down to +breakfast, and then eaten the breakfast himself. + + + + +AUGUST, 1861. + + +1. It is said the pickets of the Fourteenth Indiana and the enemy's +cavalry came in collision to-day, and that three of the latter were +killed. + +It is now 9 P. M. Sergeants are calling the roll for the last time +to-night. In half an hour taps will be sounded and the lights +extinguished in every private's tent. The first call in the morning, +reveille, is at five; breakfast call, six; surgeon's call, seven; drill, +eight; recall, eleven; dinner, twelve; drill again at four; recall, +five; guard-mounting, half-past five; first call for dress-parade, six; +second call, half-past six; tattoo at nine, and taps at half-past. So +the day goes round. + +Hardee for a month or more was a book of impenetrable mysteries. The +words conveyed no idea to my mind, and the movements described were +utterly beyond my comprehension; but now the whole thing comes almost +without study. + +2. Jerrolaman went out this afternoon and picked nearly a peck of +blackberries. Berries of various kinds are very abundant. The fox-grape +is also found in great plenty, and as big as one's thumb. + +The Indianians are great ramblers. Lieutenant Bell says they can be +traced all over the country, for they not only eat all the berries, but +nibble the thorns off the bushes. + +General Reynolds told me, this evening, he thought it probable we would +be attacked soon. Have been distributing ammunition, forty rounds to the +man. + +My black horse was missing this morning. Conway looked for him the +greater part of the day, and finally found him in possession of an +Indiana captain. It happened in this way: Captain Rupp, Thirteenth +Indiana, told his men he would give forty dollars for a _sesesh_ horse, +and they took my horse out of the pasture, delivered it to him, and got +the money. He rode the horse up the valley to Colonel Wagner's station, +and when he returned bragged considerably over his good luck; but about +dark Conway interviewed him on the subject, when a change came o'er the +spirit of his dream. Colonel Sullivan tells me the officers now talk to +Rupp about the fine points of his horse, ask to borrow him, and desire +to know when he proposes to ride again. + +A little group of soldiers are sitting around a camp-fire, not far away, +entertaining each other with stories and otherwise. Just now one of them +lifts up his voice, and in a melancholy strain sings: + + Somebody ---- "is weeping + For gallant Andy Gay, + Who now in death lies sleeping + On the field of Monterey." + +While I write he strikes into another air, and these are the words as I +catch them: + + "Come back, come back, my purty fair maid! + Ten thousand of my _jinture_ on you I will bestow + If you'll consent to marry me; + Oh, do not say me no." + +But the maid is indifferent to _jintures_, and replies indignantly: + + "Oh, hold your tongue, captain, your words are all in vain; + I have a handsome sweetheart now across the main, + And if I do not find him I'll mourn continuali." + +More of this interesting dialogue between the captain and the pretty +fair maid I can not catch. + +The sky is clear, but the night very dark. I do not contemplate my ride +to the picket posts with any great degree of pleasure. A cowardly +sentinel is more likely to shoot at you than a brave one. The fears of +the former do not give him time to consider whether the person advancing +is friend or foe. + +3. We hear of the enemy daily. Colonel Kimball, on the mountain, and +Colonel Wagner, up the valley, are both in hourly expectation of an +attack. The enemy, encouraged by his successes at Manassas, will +probably attempt to retrieve his losses in Western Virginia. + +4. At one o'clock P. M. General Reynolds sent for me. Two of Colonel +Wagner's companies had been surrounded, and an attack on Wagner's +position expected to-night. The enemy reported three thousand strong. +He desired me to send half of my regiment and two of Loomis' guns to the +support of Wagner. I took six companies and started up the valley. +Reached Wagner's quarters at six o'clock. Brought neither tents nor +provisions, and to-night will turn in with the Indianians. + +It is true that the enemy number three thousand; the main body being ten +or fifteen miles away. Their pickets and ours, however, are near each +other; but General Reynolds was misinformed as to two of Wagner's +companies. They had not been surrounded. + +To-morrow Colonel Wagner and I will make a reconnoissance, and ascertain +if the rebels are ready to fight. Wagner has six hundred and fifty men +fit for duty, and I have four hundred. Besides these, we have three +pieces of artillery. Altogether, we expect to be able to hoe them a +pretty good row, if they should advance on us. Four of the enemy were +captured to-day. A company of cavalry is approaching. "Halt! who comes +there?" cries the sentinel. "Lieutenant Denny, without the countersign." +"All right," shouts Colonel Wagner, "let him come." I write with at +least four fleas hopping about on my legs. + +5. To-day we felt our way up the valley eight miles, but did not reach +the rebels. + +To-night our pickets were sure they heard firing off in the direction of +Kanawha. If so, Cox and Wise must be having a pleasant little +interchange of lead. + +The chaplain of the Thirteenth Indiana is the counterpart of Scott's +Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, or the fighting friar of the times of Robin +Hood. In answer to some request he has just said that he will "go to +thunder before doing it." The first time I saw this fighting parson was +at the burnt bridge near Huttonville. He had two revolvers and a hatchet +in his belt, and appeared more like a firebrand of war than a minister +of peace. I now hear the rough voice of a braggadocio captain in the +adjoining tent, who, if we may believe his own story, is the most +formidable man alive. His hair-breadth escapes are innumerable, and his +anxiety to get at the enemy is intense. Is it not ancient Pistol come +again to astonish the world by deeds of reckless daring? + +We have sent out a scouting party, and hope to learn something more of +the rebels during the night. Wagner, Major Wood, Captain Abbott, and +others are having a game of whist. + +6. Our camp equipage came up to-day, so that we are now in our own +tents. + +Four of my companies are on picket, scattered up the valley for miles, +and half of the other two are doing guard duty in the neighborhood of +the camp. I do not, by any means, approve of throwing out such heavy +pickets and scattering our men so much. We are in the presence of a +force probably twice as large as our own, and should keep our troops +well in hand. + +Our scouts have been busy; but, although they have brought in a few +prisoners, mostly farmers residing in the vicinity of the enemy's camp, +we have obtained but little information respecting the rebels. I intend +to send out a scouting party in the morning. Lieutenant Driscoll will +command it. He is a brave, and, I think, prudent officer, and will leave +camp at four o'clock, follow the road six miles, then take to the +mountains, and endeavor to reach a point where he can overlook the enemy +and estimate his strength. + +7. The scouting party sent out this morning were conveyed by wagons six +miles up the valley, and were to take to the mountains, half a mile +beyond. I instructed Lieutenant Driscoll to exercise the utmost caution, +and not take his men further than he thought reasonably safe. Of course +perfect safety is not expected. Our object, however, is to get +information, not to give it by losing the squad. + +At eleven o'clock a courier came in hot haste from the front, to inform +us that a flag of truce, borne by a Confederate major, with an escort of +six dragoons, was on the way to camp. Colonel Wagner and I rode out to +meet the party, and were introduced to Major Lee, the son, as I +subsequently ascertained, of General Robert E. Lee, of Virginia. The +Major informed us that his communication could only be imparted to our +General, and a courier was at once dispatched to Huttonville. + +At four o'clock General Reynolds arrived, accompanied by Colonel +Sullivan and a company of cavalry. Wagner and I joined the General's +party, and all galloped to the outpost, to interview the Confederate +major. His letter contained a proposition to exchange prisoners captured +by the rebels at Manassas for those taken at Rich mountain. The General +appointed a day on which a definite answer should be returned, and Major +Lee, accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Owen and myself, rode to the +outlying picket station, where his escort had been halted and detained. + +Major Lee is near my own age, a heavy set, but well-proportioned man, +somewhat inclined to boast, not overly profound, and thoroughly +impregnated with the idea that he is a Virginian and a Lee withal. As I +shook hands at parting with this scion of an illustrious house, he +complimented me by saying that he hoped soon to have the honor of +meeting me on the battle-field. I assured him that it would afford me +pleasure, and I should make all reasonable efforts to gratify him in +this regard. I did not desire to fight, of course, but I was bound not +to be excelled in the matter of knightly courtesy. + +8. Major Wood, Fifteenth Indiana, thought he heard chopping last night, +and imagined that the enemy was engaged in cutting a road to our rear. + +Lieutenant Driscoll and party returned to-day. They slept on the +mountains last night; were inside the enemy's picket lines; heard +reveille sounded this morning, but could not obtain a view of the camp. + +Have just returned from a sixteen-mile ride, visiting picket posts. The +latter half of the ride was after nightfall. Found officers and men +vigilant and ready to meet an attack. + +Obtained some fine huckleberries and blackberries on the mountain +to-day. Had a blackberry pie and pudding for dinner. Rather too much +happiness for one day; but then the crust of the pudding was tolerably +tough. The grass is a foot high in parts of my tent, where it has not +been trodden down, and the gentle grasshopper makes music all the day, +and likewise all the night. + +Our fortifications are progressing slowly. If the enemy intends to +attack at all, he will probably do so before they are complete; and if +he does not, the fortifications will be of no use to us. But this is the +philosophy of a lazy man, and very similar to that of the Irishman who +did not put roof on his cabin: when it rained he could not, and in fair +weather he did not need it. + +9. Pickets report firing, artillery and musketry, over the mountain, in +the direction of Kimball. + +The enemy's scouts were within three miles of our camp this afternoon, +evidently looking for a path that would enable them to get to our rear. +Fifty men have just been sent in pursuit; but owing to a little +misunderstanding of instructions, I fear the expedition will be +fruitless. Colonel Wagner neither thinks clearly nor talks with any +degree of exactness. He has a loose, slip-shod, indefinite way with him, +that tends to confusion and leads to misunderstandings and trouble. + +I have been over the mountain on our left, hunting up the paths and +familiarizing myself with the ground, so as to be ready to defeat any +effort that may be made to turn our flank. Colonel Owen has been +investigating the mountain on our right. The Colonel is a good thinker, +an excellent conversationalist, and a very learned man. Geology is his +darling, and he keeps one eye on the enemy, and the other on the rocks. + +10. My tent is on the bank of the Valley river. The water, clear as +crystal, as it hurries on over the rocks, keeps up a continuous murmur. + +There will be a storm to-night. The sky is very dark, the wind rising, +and every few minutes a vivid flash of lightning illuminates the valley, +and the thunder rolls off among the mountains with a rumbling, echoing +noise, like that which the gods might make in putting a hundred trains +of celestial artillery in position. + +11. Lieutenant Bowen, of topographical engineers, and myself, with ten +men, carrying axes and guns, started up the mountain at seven o'clock +this morning, followed a path to the crest, or dividing ridge, and +felled trees to obstruct the way as much as possible. Returned to camp +for dinner. + +During the afternoon Lieutenant W. O. Merrill, Lieutenant Bowen, and I, +ascended the mountain again by a new route. After reaching the crest, we +endeavored to find the path which Lieutenant Bowen and I had traveled +over in the morning, but were unable to do so. We continued our search +until it became quite dark, when the two engineers, as well as myself, +became utterly bewildered. Finally, Lieutenant Merrill took out his +pocket compass, and said the camp was in that direction, pointing with +his hand. I insisted he was wrong; that he would not reach camp by +going that way. He insisted that he would, and must be governed by some +general principles, and so started off on his own hook, leaving us to +pursue our own course. Finally Bowen lost confidence in me, said I was +not going in the right direction at all, and insisted that we should +turn squarely around, and go the opposite way. At last I yielded with +many misgivings, and allowed him to lead. After going down a thousand +feet or more, we found ourselves in a ravine, through which a small +stream of water flowed. Following this, we finally reached the valley. +We knew now exactly where we were, and by wading the river reached the +road, and so got to camp at nine o'clock at night. + +Merrill, who was governed by general principles, failed to strike the +camp directly, strayed three or four miles to the right of it, came down +in Stewart's run valley, and did not reach camp until about midnight. + +On our trip to-day, we found a bear trap, made of heavy logs, the lid +arranged to fall when the bear entered and touched the bait. + +12. This is the fourth day that Captain Cunard's company has been lying +in the woods, three miles from camp, guarding an important road, +although a very rough and rugged one. Companies upon duty like this, +remain at their posts day and night, good weather and bad, without any +shelter, except that afforded by the trees, or by little booths +constructed of logs and branches. From the main station, where the +captain remains, sub-pickets are sent out in charge of sergeants and +corporals, and these often make little houses of logs, which they cover +with cedar boughs or branches of laurel, and denominate forts. In the +wilderness, to-day, I stumbled upon Fort Stiner, the head-quarters of a +sub-picket commanded by Corporal William Stiner, of the Third. The +Corporal and such of his men as were off duty, were sitting about a +fire, heating coffee and roasting slices of fat pork, preparing thus the +noonday meal. + +13. At noon Colonel Marrow, Major Keifer, and I, took dinner with +Esquire Stalnaker, an old-style man, born fifty years ago in the log +house where he now lives. Two spinning-wheels were in the best room, and +rattled away with a music which carried me back to the pioneer days of +Ohio. A little girl of five or six years stole up to the wheel when the +mother's back was turned, and tried her skill on a roll. How proud and +delighted she was when she had spun the wool into a long, uneven thread, +and secured it safely on the spindle. Surely, the child of the palace, +reared in the lap of luxury and with her hands in the mother's +jewel-box, could not have been happier or more triumphant in her +bearing. + +These West Virginians are uncultivated, uneducated and rough, and need +the common school to civilize and modernize them. Many have never seen a +railroad, and the telegraph is to them an incomprehensible mystery. + +Governor Dennison has appointed a Mr. John G. Mitchell, of Columbus, +adjutant of the Third. + +14. Privates Vincent and Watson, sentinels of a sub-picket, under +command of Corporal Stiner, discovered a man stealing through the woods, +and halted him. He professed to be a farm hand; said his employer had a +mountain farm not far away, where he pastured cattle. A two-year-old +steer had strayed off, and he was looking for him. His clothes were +fearfully torn by brush and briars. His hands and face were scratched by +thorns. He had taken off his boots to relieve his swollen feet, and was +carrying them in his hands. Imitating the language and manners of an +uneducated West Virginian, he asked the sentinel if he "had seed +anything of a red steer." The sentinel had not. After continuing the +conversation for a time, he finally said: "Well, I must be a goin'; it +is a gettin' late, and I am durned feared I won't git back to the farm +afore night. Good day." "Hold on," said the sentinel; "better go and see +the Captain." "O, no; don't want to trouble him; it is not likely he has +seed the steer, and it's a gettin' late." "Come right along," replied +the sentinel, bringing his gun down; "the Captain will not mind being +troubled; in fact, I am instructed to take such men as you to him." + +Captain Cunard questioned the prisoner closely, asked whom he worked +for, how much he was getting a month for his services, and, finally, +pointing to the long-legged military boots which he was still holding in +his hands, asked how much they cost. "Fifteen dollars," replied the +prisoner. "Fifteen dollars! Is not that rather more than a farm hand who +gets but twelve dollars a month can afford to pay for boots?" inquired +the Captain. "Well, the fact is, boots is a gettin' high since the war, +as well as every thing else." But Captain Cunard was not satisfied. The +prisoner was not well up in the character he had undertaken to play, and +was told that he must go to head-quarters. Finding that he was caught, +he at once threw off the mask, and confessed that he was Captain J. A. +De Lagniel, formerly of the regular army, but now in the Confederate +service. Wounded at the battle of Rich mountain, he had been secreted at +a farm-house near Beverly until able to travel, and was now trying to +get around our pickets and reach the rebel army. He had been in the +mountains five days and four nights. The provisions with which he +started, and which consisted of a little bag of biscuit, had become +moldy. He thought, from the distance traveled, that he must be beyond +our lines and out of danger. + +De Lagniel is an educated man, and his wife and friends believe him to +have been killed at Rich mountain. He speaks in high terms of Captain +Cunard, and says, when the latter began to question him, he soon found +it was useless to play Major Andre, for Paulding was before him, too +sharp to be deceived and too honest to be bribed. When De Lagniel was +brought into camp he was wet and shivering, weak, and thoroughly broken +down by starvation, cold, exposure, and fatigue. The officers supplied +him with the clothing necessary to make him comfortable. + +15. I have a hundred axmen in my charge, felling timber on the +mountain, and constructing rough breastworks to protect our left flank. + +General Reynolds came up to-day to see De Lagniel. They are old +acquaintances, were at West Point together, and know each other like +brothers. + +The irrepressible Corporal Casey, who, in fact, had nothing whatever to +do with the capture of De Lagniel, is now surrounded by a little group +of soldiers. He is talking to them about the prisoner, who, since it is +known that he is an acquaintance of General Reynolds, has become a +person of great importance in the camp. The Corporal speaks in the +broadest Irish brogue, and is telling his hearers that he knew the +fellow was a _sesesh_ at once; that he leveled his musket at him and +towld him to halt; that if he hadn't marched straight up to him he would +have put a minnie ball through his heart; that he had his gun cocked and +his finger on the trigger, and was a mind to shoot him anyway. Then he +tells how he propounded this and that question, which confused the +prisoner, and finally concludes by saying that De Lagniel might be d--d +thankful indade that he escaped with his life. + +The Corporal is the best-known man in the regiment. He prides himself +greatly on the Middle Fork "skrimage." A day or two after that affair, +and at a time when whisky was so scarce that it was worth its weight in +gold, some officers called the Corporal up and asked him to give them an +account of the "skrimage." Before he entered upon the subject, it was +suggested that Captain Dubois, who had the little whisky there was in +the party, should give him a taste to loosen his tongue. The Corporal, +nothing loth, took the flask, and, raising it to his mouth, emptied it, +to the utter dismay of the Captain and his friends. The dhrap had the +effect desired. The Corporal described, with great particularity, his +manner of going into action, dwelt with much emphasis on the +hand-to-hand encounters, the thrusts, the parries, the final clubbing of +the musket, and the utter discomfiture and mortal wounding of his +antagonist. In fact by this time there were two of them; and finally, as +the fight progressed, a dozen or more bounced down on him. It was +lively! There was no time for the loading of guns. Whack, thump, crack! +The head of one was broken, another lay dying of a bayonet thrust, and +still another had perished under the sledge-hammer blow of his fist. The +ground was covered now with the slain. He stood knee-deep in secesh +blood; but a bugle sounded away off on the hills, and the d--d +scoundrels who were able to get away ran off as fast as their legs could +carry them. Had they stood up like men he would have destroyed the whole +regiment; for, you see, he was just getting his hand in. "But, +Corporal," inquired Captain Hunter, "what were the other soldiers of +your company doing all this time?" "Bless your sowl, Captain, and do you +think I had nothing to do but to watch the boys? Be jabers, it was a day +when every man had to look after himself." + +16. The opinion seems to be growing that the rebels do not intend to +attack us. They have put it off too long. + +A scouting party will start out in the morning, under the guidance of +"old Leather Breeches," a primitive West Virginian, who has spent his +life in the mountains. His right name is Bennett. He wears an antiquated +pair of buckskin pantaloons, and has a cabin-home on the mountain, +twelve miles away. + +A tambourine is being played near by, and Fox, with a heart much lighter +than his complexion, is indulging in a double shuffle. + +There are many snakes in the mountains: rattlesnakes, copperheads, +blacksnakes, and almost every other variety of the snake kind; in short, +the boys have snake on the brain. To-day one of the choppers made a +sudden grab for his trouser leg; a snake was crawling up. He held the +loathsome reptile tightly by the head and body, and was fearfully +agitated. A comrade slit down the leg of the pantaloon with a knife, +when lo! an innocent little roll of red flannel was discovered. + +The boys are very liberal in the bestowal of titles. Colonel Hogseye is +indebted to them for his commission. The Colonel commands an ax just +now. Ordinarily he carries a musket, sleeps and dines with his +subordinates, and is not above traveling on foot. + +Fox's real name, I ascertained lately, is William Washington. His +brother, now in the service of the surgeon, is called Handsome, and +Colonel Marrow's servant is known by the boys as the Bay Nigger. + +17. Was awakened this morning at one o'clock, by a soldier in search of +a surgeon. One of our pickets had been wounded. The post was on the +river bank. The sentinel saw a man approaching on the opposite side of +the river, challenged, and saw him level his gun. Both fired. The +sentinel was wounded in the leg by a small squirrel bullet. The other +man was evidently wounded, for after it became light enough he was +traced half a mile by blood on the ground, weeds, and leaves. The +surgeon is of the opinion that the ball struck his left arm. From +information obtained this morning, it is believed this man is secreted +not many miles away. A party of ten has been sent to look for him. + +This is by far the pleasantest camp we have ever had. The river runs its +whole length. The hospital and surgeons' tents are located on a very +pretty little island, a quiet, retired spot, festooned with vines, in +the shadow of great trees, and carpeted with moss soft and velvety as +the best of Brussels. + +18. The name of our camp is properly Elk Water, not Elk Fork. The little +stream which comes down to the river, from which the camp derives its +name, is called Elk Water, because tradition affirms that in early days +the elk frequented the little valley through which it runs. + +The fog has been going up from the mountains, and the rain coming down +in the valley. The river roars a little louder than usual, and its water +is a little less clear. + +The party sent in pursuit of the bushwhacker has returned. Found no +one. + +Two men were seen this evening, armed with rifles, prowling among the +bushes near the place where the affair of last night occurred. They were +fired upon, but escaped. + +An accident, which particularly interests my old company, occurred a few +minutes ago. John Heskett, Jeff Long, and four or five other men, were +detailed from Company I for picket duty. Heskett and Long are intimate +friends, and were playing together, the one with a knife and the other +with a pocket pistol. The pistol was discharged accidentally, and the +ball struck Heskett in the neck, inflicting a serious wound, but whether +fatal or not the surgeon can not yet tell. The affair has cast a shadow +over the company. Young Heskett bears himself bravely. Long is +inconsolable, and begs the boys to shoot him. + +20. These mountain streams are unreliable. We had come to regard the one +on which we are encamped as a quiet, orderly little river, that would be +good enough to notify us when it proposed to swell out and overflow the +adjacent country. In fact we had bragged about it, made all sorts of +complimentary mention of it, put our tents on its margin, and allowed it +to encircle our sick and wounded; but we have now lost all confidence in +it. Yesterday, about noon, it began to rise. It had been raining, and we +thought it natural enough that the waters should increase a little. At +four o'clock it had swelled very considerably, but still kept within its +bed of rock and gravel, and we admired it all the more for the energy +displayed in hurrying along branches, logs, and sometimes whole trees. +At six o'clock we found it was rising at the rate of one foot per hour, +and that the water had now crept to within a few feet of the hospital +tent, in which lay two wounded and a dozen or more of sick. Dr. McMeens +became alarmed and called for help. Thirty or more boys stripped, swam +to the island, and removed the hospital to higher ground--to the highest +ground, in fact, which the island afforded. The boys returned, and we +felt safe. At seven o'clock, however, we found the river still rising +rapidly. It covered nearly the whole island. Logs, brush, green trees, +and all manner of drift went sweeping by at tremendous speed, and the +water rushed over land which had been dry half an hour before, with +apparently as strong a current as that in the channel. We knew then that +the sick and wounded were in danger. How to rescue them was now the +question. A raft was suggested; but a raft could not be controlled in +such a current, and if it went to pieces or was hurried away, the sick +and wounded must drown. Fortunately a better way was suggested; getting +into a wagon, I ordered the driver to go above some distance, so that we +could move with the current, and then ford the stream. After many +difficulties, occasioned mainly by floating logs and driftwood, and +swimming the horses part of the way, we succeeded in getting over. I saw +it was impossible to carry the sick back, and that there was but one way +to render them secure. I had the horses unhitched, and told the driver +to swim them back and bring over two or three more wagons. Two more +finally reached me, and one team, in attempting to cross, was carried +down stream and drowned. I had the three wagons placed on the highest +point I could find, then chained together and staked securely to the +ground. Over the boxes of two of these we rolled the hospital tent, and +on this placed the sick and wounded, just as the water was creeping upon +us. On the third wagon we put the hospital stores. It was now quite +dark. Not more than four feet square of dry land remained of all our +beautiful island; and the river was still rising. We watched the water +with much anxiety. At ten o'clock it reached the wagon hubs, and covered +every foot of the ground; but soon after we were pleased to see that it +began to go down a little. Those of us who could not get into the wagons +had climbed the trees. At one o'clock it commenced to rain again, when +we managed to hoist a tent over the sick. At two o'clock the long-roll, +the signal for battle, was beaten in camp, and we could just hear, above +the roar of the water, the noise made by the men as they hurriedly +turned out and fell into line. + +It will not do, however, to conclude that this was altogether a night of +terrors. It was, in fact, not so very disagreeable after all. There was +a by-play going on much of the time, which served to illuminate the +thick darkness, and divert our minds from the gloomier aspects of the +scene. Smith, the teamster who brought me across, had returned to the +mainland with the horses, and then swam back to the island. By midnight +he had become very drunk. One of the hospital attendants was very far +gone in his cups, also. These two gentlemen did not seem to get along +amicably; in fact, they kept up a fusillade of words all night, and so +kept us awake. The teamster insisted that the hospital attendant should +address him as Mr. Smith. The Smith family, he argued, was of the +highest respectability, and being an honored member of that family, he +would permit no man under the rank of a Major-General to call him Jake. +George McClellan sometimes addressed him by his christian name; but then +George and he were Cincinnatians, old neighbors, and intimate personal +friends, and, of course, took liberties with each other. This could not +justify one who carried out pukes and slop-buckets from a field hospital +in calling him Jake, or even Jacob. + +Mr. Smith's allusions to the hospital attendant were not received by +that gentleman in the most amiable spirit. He grew profane, and insisted +that he was not only as good a man as Smith, but a much better one, and +he dared the bloviating mule scrubber to get down off his perch and +stand up before him like a man. But Jake's temper remained unruffled, +and along toward morning, in a voice more remarkable for strength than +melody, he favored us with a song: + + "Ho! gif ghlass uf goodt lauger du me; + Du mine fadter, mine modter, mine vife: + Der day's vork vos done, undt we'll see + Vot bleasures der vos un dis life, + + Undt ve sit us aroundt mit der table, + Undt ve speak uf der oldt, oldt time, + Ven we lif un dot house mit der gable, + Un der vine-cladt banks uf der Rhine; + + Undt mine fadter, his voice vos a quiver, + Undt mine modter, her eyes vos un tears, + Ash da dthot uf dot home un der river, + Undt kindt friendst uf earlier years; + + Undt I saidt du mine fadter be cheerie, + Du mine modter not longer lookt sadt, + Here's a blace undt a rest for der weary, + Und ledt us eat, drink, undt be gladt. + + So idt ever vos cheerful mitin; + Vot dtho' idt be stormy mitoudt, + Vot care I vor der vorld undt idts din, + Ven dose I luf best vos about; + + So libft up your ghlass, mine modter, + Undt libft up yours, Gretchen, my dear, + Undt libft up your lauger, mine fadter, + Undt drink du long life und good cheer." + +21. Francis Union was shot and killed by one of our own sentinels last +night, the ball entering just under the nose. This resulted from the +cowardice of the soldier who fired. He was afraid to give the necessary +challenge: four simple words: "Halt! who comes there?" would have saved +a life. This illustrates the danger there is in visiting pickets at +night. If the sentinel halts the man, the man may fire at the sentinel. +The latter, if timid, therefore makes sure of the first shot, and does +not challenge. We buried the dead soldier with all the honors due one of +his rank, on a beautiful hill in the rear of our fortifications. He was +with me on the mountain chopping, a few days ago, strong, healthy, +vigorous, and young. No more hard work for him! + +23. With Wagner, Merrill, and Bowen, I rode up the mountain on our left +this afternoon. We had one field-glass and two spy-glasses, and obtained +a magnificent view of the surrounding country. Here and there we could +see a cultivated spot or grazing farm on the top of the mountain; but +more frequently these were on the slopes. We descried one house with our +glasses on the very tiptop of Rich, and so far away that it seemed no +larger than a tent. How the man of the house gets up to his airy height +and gets down again puzzles us. He has the first gush of the sunshine in +the morning, and the latest gleam in the evening. Very often, indeed, he +must look down upon the clouds, and, if he has a tender heart, pity the +poor devils in the valley who are being rained on continually. Is it a +pleasant home? Has he wife and children in that mountain nest? Is he a +man of dogs and guns, who spends his years in the mountains and glens +hunting for bear and deer? May it not be the baronial castle of "old +Leather Breeches" himself? + +Away off to the east a cloud, black and heavy, is resting on a peak of +the Cheat. Around it the mountain is glowing in the summer sun, and +appears soft and green. A gauze of shimmering blue mantles the crest, +darkens in the coves, and becomes quite black in the gorges. The rugged +rocks and scraggy trees, if there be any, are at this distance +invisible, and nothing is seen but what delights the eye and quickens +the imagination. + +We see by the papers that Ohio is preparing to organize a grand Union +party, with a platform on which both Republicans and Democrats can +stand. I am glad of this. There should be but one party in the North, +and that party willing to make all sacrifices for the Union. + +24. Last night a sentinel on one of the picket posts halted a stump and +demanded the countersign. No response being made, he fired. The entire +Fifteenth Indiana sprang to arms; the cannoniers gathered about their +guns, and a thousand eyes peered into the darkness to get a glimpse of +the approaching enemy. But the stump, evidently intimidated by the first +shot, did not advance, and so the Hoosiers returned again to their +couches, to dream, doubtless, of the subject of a song very common now +in camp, to wit: + + "Old Governor Wise, + With his goggle eyes." + +25. The Twenty-third Ohio, Colonel Scammon, will be here to-morrow. +Stanley Matthews is the lieutenant-colonel of this regiment, and my old +friend, Rutherford B. Hayes, the major. The latter is an accomplished +gentleman, graduate of Harvard Law School, and will, it is said, in all +probability, succeed Gurley in Congress. Matthews has a fine reputation +as a speaker and lawyer, and, I have been told, is the most promising +young man in Ohio. Scammon is a West Pointer. + +26. Five companies of the Twenty-third Ohio and five companies of the +Ninth Ohio arrived to-day, and are encamped in a maple grove about a +mile below us. A detachment of cavalry came up also, and is quartered +near. Other regiments are coming. It is said the larger portion of the +troops in West Virginia are tending in this direction; but on what +particular point it is proposed to concentrate them rumor saith not. + +General McClellan did not go far enough at first. After the defeat of +Pegram, at Rich mountain, and Garnett, at Laurel Hill, the Southern army +of this section was utterly demoralized. It scattered, and the men +composing it, who were not captured, fled, terror stricken, to their +homes. We could have marched to Staunton without opposition, and taken +possession of the very strongholds the enemy is now fortifying against +us. If in our advanced position supplies could not have been obtained +from the North, the army might have subsisted off the country. Thus, by +pushing vigorously forward, we could have divided the enemy's forces, +and thus saved our army in the East from humiliating defeat. This is the +way it looks to me; but, after all, there may have been a thousand good +reasons for remaining here, of which I know nothing. One thing, however, +is, I think, very evident: a successful army, elated with victory, and +eager to advance, is not likely to be defeated by a dispirited opponent. +One-fourth, at least, of the strength of this army disappeared when it +heard of the rebel triumphs on the Potomac. + + * * * * * + +Latter part of August the writer was sent to Ohio for recruits for the +regiment, and did not return to camp until the middle of September. + + + + +SEPTEMBER 1861. + + +19. Reached camp yesterday at noon. My recruits arrived to-day. + +The enemy was here in my absence in strength and majesty, and repeated, +with a slight variation, the grand exploit of the King of France, by + + "Marching up the hill with twenty thousand men, + And straightway marching down again." + +There was lively skirmishing for a few days, and hot work expected; but, +for reasons unknown to us, the enemy retired precipitately. + +On Sunday morning last fifty men of the Sixth Ohio, when on picket, were +surprised and captured. My friend, Lieutenant Merrill, fell into the +hands of the enemy, and is now probably on his way to Castle Pinckney. +Further than this our rebellious friends did us no damage. Our men, at +this point, killed Colonel Washington, wounded a few others, and further +than this inflicted but little injury upon the enemy. The country people +near whom the rebels encamped say they got to fighting among themselves. +The North Carolinians were determined to go home, and regiments from +other States claimed that their term of service had expired, and wanted +to leave. I am glad they did, and trust they may go home, hang up their +guns, and go to work like sensible people, for then I could do the same. + +23. This afternoon I rode by a mountain path to a log cabin in which a +half dozen wounded Tennesseeans are lying. One poor fellow had his leg +amputated yesterday, and was very feeble. One had been struck by a ball +on the head and a buckshot in the lungs. Two boys were but slightly +wounded, and were in good spirits. To one of these--a jovial, pleasant +boy--Dr. Seyes said, good-humoredly: "You need have no fears of dying +from a gunshot; you are too big a devil, and were born to be hung." +Colonel Marrow sought to question this same fellow in regard to the +strength of the enemy, when the boy said: "Are you a commissioned +officer?" "Yes," replied Marrow. "Then," returned he, "you ought to know +that a private soldier don't know anything." + +In returning to camp, we followed a path which led to a place where a +regiment of the rebels had encamped one night. They had evidently become +panic-stricken and left in hot haste. The woods were strewn with +knapsacks, blankets, and canteens. + +The ride was a pleasant one. The path, first wild and rugged, finally +led to a charming little valley, through which Beckey's creek hurries +down to the river. Leaving this, we traveled up the side of a ravine, +through which a little stream fretted and fumed, and dashed into spray +against slimy rocks, and then gathered itself up for another charge, and +so pushed gallantly on toward the valley and the sunshine. + +What a glorious scene! The sky filled with stars; the rising moon; two +mountain walls so high, apparently, that one might step from them into +heaven; the rapid river, the thousand white tents dotting the valley, +the camp fires, the shadowy forms of soldiers; in short, just enough of +heaven and earth visible to put one's fancy on the gallop. The boys are +in groups about their fires. The voice of the troubadour is heard. It is +a pleasant song that he sings, and I catch part of it. + + "The minstrel's returned from the war, + With spirits as buoyant as air, + And thus on the tuneful guitar + He sings in the bower of the fair: + The noise of the battle is over; + The bugle no more calls to arms; + A soldier no more, but a lover, + I kneel to the power of thy charms. + Sweet lady, dear lady, I'm thine; + I bend to the magic of beauty, + Though the banner and helmet are mine, + Yet love calls the soldier to duty." + +24. Our Indiana friends are providing for the winter by laying in a +stock of household furniture at very much less than its original cost, +and without even consulting the owners. It is probable that our Ohio +boys steal occasionally, but they certainly do not prosecute the +business openly and courageously. + +26. The Thirteenth Indiana, Sixth Ohio, and two pieces of artillery went +up the valley at noon, to feel the enemy. It rained during the +afternoon, and since nightfall has poured down in torrents. The poor +fellows who are now trudging along in the darkness and storm, will +think, doubtless, of home and warm beds. It requires a pure article of +patriotism, and a large quantity of it, to make one oblivious for months +at a time of all the comforts of civil life. + +This is the day designated by the President for fasting and prayer. +Parson Strong held service in the regiment, and the Rev. Mr. Reed, of +Zanesville, Ohio, delivered a very eloquent exhortation. I trust the +supplications of the Church and the people may have effect, and bring +that Higher Power to our assistance which hitherto has apparently not +been with our arms especially. + +27. To-night almost the entire valley is inundated. Many tents are waist +high in water, and where others stood this morning the water is ten feet +deep. Two men of the Sixth Ohio are reported drowned. The water got +around them before they became aware of it, and in endeavoring to escape +they were swept down the stream and lost. The river seems to stretch +from the base of one mountain to the other, and the whole valley is one +wild scene of excitement. Wherever a spot of dry ground can be found, +huge log fires are burning, and men by the dozen are grouped around +them, anxiously watching the water and discussing the situation. Tents +have been hastily pitched on the hills, and camp fires, each with its +group of men, are blazing in many places along the side of the mountain. +The rain has fallen steadily all day. + +28. The Thirteenth Indiana and Sixth Ohio returned. The reconnoissance +was unsuccessful, the weather being unfavorable. + + + + +OCTOBER, 1861. + + +2. Our camp is almost deserted. The tents of eight regiments dot the +valley; but those of two regiments and a half only are occupied. The +Hoosiers have all gone to Cheat mountain summit. They propose to steal +upon the enemy during the night, take him by surprise, and thrash him +thoroughly. I pray they may be successful, for since Rich mountain our +army has done nothing worthy of a paragraph. Rosecrans' affair at +Carnifex was a barren thing; certainly no battle and no victory, and the +operations in this vicinity have at no time risen to the dignity of a +skirmish. + +Captain McDougal, with nearly one hundred men and three days' +provisions, started up the valley this morning, with instructions to go +in sight of the enemy, the object being to lead the latter to suppose +the advance guard of our army is before him. By this device it is +expected to keep the enemy in our front from going to the assistance of +the rebels now threatening Kimball. + +3. To-night, half an hour ago, received a dispatch from the top of +Cheat, which reads as follows: + +"All back. Made a very interesting reconnoissance. Killed a large +number of the enemy. Very small loss on our side. J. J. REYNOLDS, + Brigadier-General." + +Why, when the battle was progressing so advantageously for our side, did +they not go on? This, then, is the result of the grand demonstration on +the other side of the mountain. + +McDougal's company returned, and report the enemy fallen back. + +The frost has touched the foliage, and the mountain peaks look like +mammoth bouquets; green, red, yellow, and every modification of these +colors appear mingled in every possible fanciful and tasteful way. + +Another dispatch has just come from the top of Cheat, written, I doubt +not, after the Indianians had returned to camp and drawn their whisky +ration. It sounds bigger than the first. I copy it: + +"Found the rebels drawn up in line of battle one mile outside of their +fortifications, drove them back to their intrenchments, and continued +the fight four hours. Ten of our men wounded and ten killed. Two or +three hundred of the enemy killed." + +If it be true that so many of the rebels were killed, it is probable +that two thousand at least were wounded; and when three hundred are +killed and two thousand wounded, out of an army of twelve or fifteen +hundred men, the business is done up very thoroughly. The dispatch which +went to Richmond to-night, I have no doubt, stated that "the Federals +attacked in great force, outnumbering us two or three to one, and after +a terrific engagement, lasting five hours, they were repulsed at all +points with great slaughter. Our loss one killed and five wounded. +Federal loss, five hundred killed and twenty-five hundred wounded." Thus +are victories won and histories made. Verily the pen is mightier than +the sword. + +4. The Indianians have been returning from the summit all day, +straggling along in squads of from three to a full company. + +The men are tired, and the camp is quiet as a house. Six thousand are +sleeping away a small portion of their three weary years of military +service. This time stretches out before them, a broad, unknown, and +extra-hazardous sea, with promise of some smooth sailing, but many days +and nights of heavy winds and waves, in which some--how many!--will be +carried down. + +Their thoughts have now forced the sentinel lines, leaped the mountains, +jumped the rivers, hastened home, and are lingering about the old +fireside, looking in at the cupboard, and hovering over faces and places +that have been growing dearer to them every day for the last five +months. Old-fashioned places, tame and uninteresting then, but now how +loved! And as for the faces, they are those of mothers, wives, and +sweethearts, around which are entwined the tenderest of memories. But at +daybreak, when reveille is sounded, these wanderers must come trooping +back again in time for "hard-tack" and double quick. + +5. Some of the Indiana regiments are utterly beyond discipline. The men +are good, stout, hearty, intelligent fellows, and will make excellent +soldiers; but they have now no regard for their officers, and, as a +rule, do as they please. They came straggling back yesterday from the +top of Cheat unofficered, and in the most unsoldierly manner. As one of +these stray Indianians was coming into camp, he saw a snake in the river +and cocked his gun. He was near the quarters of the Sixth Ohio, and many +men were on the opposite side of the stream, among them a lieutenant, +who called to the Indianian and begged him for God's sake not to fire; +but the latter, unmindful of what was said, blazed away. The ball, +striking the water, glanced and hit the lieutenant in the breast, +killing him almost instantly. + +6. The Third and Sixth Ohio, with Loomis' battery, left camp at +half-past three in the afternoon, and took the Huntersville turnpike for +Big Springs, where Lee's army has been encamped for some months. At nine +o'clock we reached Logan's Mill, where the column halted for the night. +It had rained heavily for some hours, and was still raining. The boys +went into camp thoroughly wet, and very hungry and tired; but they soon +had a hundred fires kindled, and, gathering around these, prepared and +ate supper. + +I never looked upon a wilder or more interesting scene. The valley is +blazing with camp-fires; the men flit around them like shadows. Now some +indomitable spirit, determined that neither rain nor weather shall get +him down, strikes up: + + "Oh! say, can you see by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?" + +A hundred voices join in, and the very mountains, which loom up in the +fire-light like great walls, whose tops are lost in the darkness, +resound with a rude melody befitting so wild a night and so wild a +scene. But the songs are not all patriotic. Love and fun make +contribution also, and a voice, which may be that of the invincible +Irishman, Corporal Casey, sings: + + "'T was a windy night, about two o'clock in the morning, + An Irish lad, so tight, all the wind and weather scorning, + At Judy Callaghan's door, sitting upon the paling, + His love tale he did pour, and this is part of his wailing: + Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan; + Don't say nay, charming Judy Callaghan." + +A score of voices pick up the chorus, and the hills and mountains seem +to join in the Corporal's appeal to the charming Judy: + + "Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan; + Don't say nay, charming Judy Callaghan." + +Lieutenant Root is in command of Loomis' battery. Just before reaching +Logan's one of his provision wagons tumbled down a precipice, severely +injuring three men and breaking the wagon in pieces. + +7. Left Logan's mill before the sun was up. The rain continues, and the +mud is deep. At eleven o'clock we reached what is known as Marshall's +store, near which, until recently, the enemy had a pretty large camp. +Halted at the place half an hour, and then moved four miles further on, +where we found the roads impassable for our artillery and +transportation. + +Learning that the enemy had abandoned Big Springs and fallen back to +Huntersville, the soldiers were permitted to break ranks, while Colonel +Marrow and Major Keifer, with a company of cavalry, rode forward to the +Springs. Colonel Nick Anderson, Adjutant Mitchell and I followed. We +found on the road evidence of the recent presence of a very large force. +Quite a number of wagons had been left behind. Many tents had been +ripped, cut to pieces, or burned, so as to render them worthless. A +large number of beef hides were strung along the road. One wagon, loaded +with muskets, had been destroyed. All of which showed, simply, that +before the rebels abandoned the place the roads had become so bad that +they could not carry off their baggage. + +The object of the expedition being now accomplished, we started back at +three o'clock in the afternoon, and encamped for the night at Marshall's +store. + +8. Resumed the march early, found the river waist high, and current +swift; but the men all got over safely, and we reached camp at one +o'clock. + +The Third has been assigned to a new brigade, to be commanded by +Brigadier-General Dumont, of Indiana. + +The paymaster has come at last. + +Willis, my new servant, is a colored gentleman of much experience and +varied accomplishments. He has been a barber on a Mississippi river +steamboat, and a daguerreian artist. He knows much of the South, and +manipulates a fiddle with wonderful skill. He is enlivening the hours +now with his violin. + +Oblivious to rain, mud, and the monotony of the camp, my thoughts are +carried by the music to other and pleasanter scenes; to the cottage +home, to wife and children, to a time still further away when we had no +children, when we were making the preliminary arrangements for starting +in the world together, when her cheeks were ruddier than now, when +wealth and fame and happiness seemed lying just before me, ready to be +gathered in, and farther away still, to a gentle, blue-eyed mother--now +long gone--teaching her child to lisp his first simple prayer. + +9. The day has been clear. The mountains, decorated by the artistic +fingers of Jack Frost, loom up in the sunshine like magnificent, +highly-colored, and beautiful pictures. + +The night is grand. The moon, a crescent, now rests for a moment on the +highest peak of the Cheat, and by its light suggests, rather than +reveals, the outline of hill, valley, cove and mountain. + +The boys are wide awake and merry. The fair weather has put new spirit +in them all, and possibly the presence of the paymaster has contributed +somewhat to the good feeling which prevails. + +Hark! This from the company quarters: + + "Her golden hair in ringlets fair; + Her eyes like diamonds shining; + Her slender waist, her carriage chaste, + Left me, poor soul, a pining. + But let the night be e'er so dark, + Or e'er so wet and rainy, + I will return safe back again + To the girl I left behind me." + +From another quarter, in the rich brogue of the Celt, we have: + + "Did you hear of the widow Malone, + Ohone! + Who lived in the town of Athlone, + Alone? + Oh! she melted the hearts + Of the swains in those parts; + So lovely the widow Malone, + Ohone! + So lovely the widow Malone." + +10. Mr. Strong, the chaplain, has a prayer meeting in the adjoining +tent. His prayers and exhortations fill me with an almost irresistible +inclination to close my eyes and shut out the vanities, cares, and +vexations of the world. Parson Strong is dull, but he is very +industrious, and on secular days devotes his physical and mental powers +to the work of tanning three sheepskins and a calf's hide. On every +fair day he has the skins strung on a pole before his tent to get the +sun. He combs the wool to get it clean, and takes especial delight in +rubbing the hides to make them soft and pliable. I told the parson the +other day that I could not have the utmost confidence in a shepherd who +took so much pleasure in tanning hides. + +While Parson Strong and a devoted few are singing the songs of Zion, the +boys are having cotillion parties in other parts of the camp. On the +parade ground of one company Willis is officiating as musician, and the +gentlemen go through "honors to partners" and "circle all" with +apparently as much pleasure as if their partners had pink cheeks, white +slippers, and dresses looped up with rosettes. + +There comes from the Chaplain's tent a sweet and solemn refrain: + + "Perhaps He will admit my plea, + Perhaps will hear my prayer; + But if I perish I will pray, + And perish only there. + I can but perish if I go. + I am resolved to try. + For if I stay away I know + I must forever die." + +While these old hymns are sounding in our ears, we are almost tempted to +go, even if we do perish. Surely nothing has such power to make us +forget earth and its round of troubles as these sweet old church songs, +familiar from earliest childhood, and wrought into the most tender +memories, until we come to regard them as a sort of sacred stream, on +which some day our souls will float away happily to the better country. + +12. The parson is in my tent doing his best to extract something solemn +out of Willis' violin. Now he stumbles on a strain of "Sweet Home," then +a scratch of "Lang Syne;" but the latter soon breaks its neck over "Old +Hundred," and all three tunes finally mix up and merge into "I would not +live alway, I ask not to stay," which, for the purpose of steadying his +hand, the parson sings aloud. I look at him and affect surprise that a +reverend gentleman should take any pleasure in so vain and wicked an +instrument, and express a hope that the business of tanning skins has +not utterly demoralized him. + +Willis pretends to a taste in music far superior to that of the common +"nigger." He plays a very fine thing, and when I ask what it is, +replies: "Norma, an opera piece." Since the parson's exit he has been +executing "Norma" with great spirit, and, so far as I am able to judge, +with wonderful skill. I doubt not his thoughts are a thousand miles +hence, among brown-skinned wenches, dressed in crimson robes, and +decorated with ponderous ear-drops. In fact, "Norma" is good, and goes +far to carry one out of the wilderness. + +13. It is after tattoo. Parson Strong's prayer-meeting has been +dismissed an hour, and the camp is as quiet as if deserted. The day has +been a duplicate of yesterday, cold and windy. To-night the moon is +sailing through a wilderness of clouds, now breaking out and throwing a +mellow light over valley and mountain, then plunging into obscurity, and +leaving all in thick darkness. + +Major Keifer, Adjutant Mitchell, and Private Jerroloaman have been +stretching their legs before my fire-place all the evening. The Adjutant +being hopelessly in love, naturally enough gave the conversation a +sentimental turn, and our thoughts have been wandering among the rosy +years when our hearts throbbed under the gleam of one bright particular +star (I mean one each), and our souls alternated between hope and fear, +happiness and despair. Three of us, however, have some experience in +wedded life, and the gallant Adjutant is reasonably confident that he +will obtain further knowledge on the subject if this cruel war ever +comes to an end and his sweetheart survives. + +14. The paymaster has been busy. The boys are very bitter against the +sutler, realizing, for the first time, that "sutler's chips" cost money, +and that they have wasted on jimcracks too much of their hard earnings. +Conway has taken a solemn Irish oath that the sutler shall never get +another cent of him. But these are like the half repentant, but +resultless, mutterings of the confirmed drunkard. The "new leaf" +proposed to be turned over is never turned. + +16. Am told that some of the boys lost in gambling every farthing of +their money half an hour after receiving it from the paymaster. + +An Indiana soldier threw a bombshell into the fire to-day, and three men +were seriously wounded by the explosion. + + * * * * * + +The writer was absent from camp from October 21st to latter part of +November, serving on court-martial, first at Huttonville, and afterward +at Beverly. + +In November the Third was transferred to Kentucky. + + + + +NOVEMBER, 1861. + + +30. The Third is encamped five miles south of Louisville, on the +Seventh-street plank road. + +As we marched through the city my attention was directed to a sign +bearing the inscription, in large black letters, + + "NEGROES BOUGHT AND SOLD." + +We have known, to be sure, that negroes were bought and sold, like +cattle and tobacco, but it, nevertheless, awakened new, and not by any +means agreeable, sensations to see the humiliating fact announced on the +broad side of a commercial house. These signs must come down. + +The climate of Kentucky is variable, freezing nights and thawing in the +day. The soil in this locality is rich, and, where trodden, extremely +muddy. We shall miss the clear water of the mountain streams. A large +number of troops are concentrating here. + + + + +DECEMBER, 1861. + + +1. Sunday has just slipped away. Parson Strong attempted to get an +audience; but a corporal's guard, for numbers, were all who desired to +be ministered to in spiritual things. + +The Colonel spends much of his time in Louisville. He complains bitterly +because the company officers do not remain in camp, and yet fails to set +them a good example in this regard. We have succeeded poorly in holding +our men. Quite a number dodged off while the boat was lying at the +landing in Cincinnati, and still more managed to get through the guard +lines and have gone to Louisville. The invincible Corporal Casey has not +yet put in an appearance. + +The boys of the Sixth Ohio are exceedingly jubilant; the entire regiment +has been allowed a furlough for six days. This was done to satisfy the +men, who had become mutinous because they were not permitted to stop at +Cincinnati on their way hither. + +4. Rode to Louisville this afternoon; in the evening attended the +theatre, and saw the notorious Adah Isaacs Menken Heenan. The house was +packed with soldiers, mostly of the Sixth Ohio. It seemed probable at +one time that there would be a general free fight; but the brawlers were +finally quieted and the play went on. One of the performers resembled an +old West Virginia acquaintance so greatly that the boys at once +y'clepped him Stalnaker, and howled fearfully whenever he made his +appearance. + +7. Moved three miles nearer Louisville and encamped in a grove. Have had +much difficulty in keeping the men in camp; and this evening, to prevent +a general stampede, ordered the guards to load their guns and shoot the +first man who attempted to break over. Have succeeded also in getting +the officers to remain; notified them yesterday that charges would be +preferred against all who left without permission, and this afternoon I +put my very good friend, Lieutenant Dale, under arrest for disregarding +the order. + +12. In camp near Elizabethtown. The road over which we marched was +excellent; but owing to detention at Salt river, where the troops and +trains had to be ferried over, we were a day longer coming here than we +expected to be. The weather has been delightful, warm as spring time. +The nights are beautiful. + +The regiment was greatly demoralized by our stay in the vicinity of +Louisville, and on the march hither the boys were very disorderly and +loth to obey; but, by dint of much scolding, we succeeded in getting +them all through. + +13. Have been attached to the Seventeenth Brigade, and assigned to the +Third Division; the latter commanded by General O. M. Mitchell. The +General remarked to me this morning, that the best drilled and +conditioned regiments would lead in the march toward Nashville. + +15. Jake Smith, the driver of the head-quarters wagon, on his arrival in +Elizabethtown went to the hotel, and in an imperious way ordered dinner, +assuring the landlord, with much emphasis, that he was "no damned common +officer, and wanted a good dinner." + +18. In camp at Bacon creek, eight miles north of Green river. Have been +two days on the way from Elizabethtown; the road was bad. There were +nine regiments in the column, which extended as far almost as the eye +could reach. + +At Louisville I was compelled to bear heavily on officers and men. On +the march hither I have dealt very thoroughly with some of the most +disorderly, and in consequence have become unpopular with the regiment. + +20. General Mitchell called this afternoon and requested me to form the +regiment in a square. I did so, and he addressed it for twenty minutes +on guard duty, throwing in here and there patriotic expressions, which +encouraged and delighted the boys very much. When he departed they gave +him three rousing cheers. + +21. A reconnoissance was made beyond Green river yesterday, and no enemy +found. + +We are short of supplies; entirely out of sugar, coffee, and candles, +and the boys to-night indicated some faint symptoms of insubordination, +but I assured them we had made every effort possible to obtain these +articles, and so quieted them. + +Major Keifer was officer in charge of the camp yesterday, and when +making the rounds last night a sentinel challenged, "Halt! who comes +there?" The sergeant responded, "Grand rounds," whereupon the weary and +disappointed Irishman retorted in angry tones: "Divil take the grand +rounds, I thought it the relafe comin'." + +22. The pleasant days have ended. The clouds hang heavy and black, and +the rain descends in torrents. + +After eleven o'clock last night I accompanied General Mitchell to ten +regiments, and with him made the grand rounds in most of them. As we +rode from camp to camp the General made the time most agreeable and +profitable to me, by delivering a very able lecture on military affairs; +laying down what he denominated a simple and sure foundation for the +beginner to build upon. + +The wind is high and our stove smokes prodigiously. I have been out in +the rain endeavoring to turn the pipe, but have not mended the matter at +all. The Major insists that it is better to freeze than to be smoked to +death, so we shall extinguish the fire and freeze. + +Adjutant Mitchell has been commissioned captain and assigned to Company +C. + +25. Gave passes to all the boys who desired to leave camp. The Major, +Adjutant and I had a right royal Christmas dinner and a pleasant time. A +fine fat chicken, fried mush, coffee, peaches and milk, were on the +table. The Major is engaged now in heating the second tea-pot of water +for punch purposes. His countenance has become quite rosy; this is +doubtless the effect of the fire. He has been unusually powerful in +argument; but whether his intellect has been stimulated by the fire, the +tea, or the punch, we are at this time wholly unable to decide; he +certainly handles the tea-pot with consummate skill, and attacks the +punch with exceeding vigor. + +27. No orders to advance. Armies travel slowly indeed. Within fifteen +miles of the enemy and idly rotting in the mud. + +Acting Brigadier-General Marrow when informed that Dumont would assume +command of the brigade, became suddenly and violently ill, asked for and +obtained a thirty-day leave. + +I would give much to be home with the children during this holiday time; +but unfortunately my health is too good, and will continue so in spite +of me. The Major, poor man, is troubled in the same way. + +28. Lieutenant St. John goes to Louisville with a man who was arrested +as a spy; and strange to say the arrest was made at the instance of the +prisoner's uncle, who is a captain in the Union army. + +Captain Mitchell assumes command of company C to-morrow. The Colonel is +incensed at the Major and me, because of the Adjutant's promotion. He +intended to make a place in the company for a non-commissioned officer, +who begged money from the boys to buy him a sword. We astonished him, +however, by showing three commissions--one for the Adjutant, and one +each for a first and second lieutenant, all of the company's own +choosing. + +30. Called on General Dumont this morning; he is a small man, with a +thin piping voice, but an educated and affable gentleman. Did not make +his acquaintance in West Virginia, he being unwell while there and +confined to his quarters. + +This is a peculiar country; there are innumerable caverns, and every few +rods places are found where the crust of the earth appears to have +broken and sunk down hundreds of feet. One mile from camp there is a +large and interesting cave, which has been explored probably by every +soldier of the regiment. + +31. General Buell is here, and a grand review took place to-day. + +Since we left Elkwater there has been a steadily increasing element of +insubordination manifested in many ways, but notably in an unwillingness +to drill, in stealing from camp and remaining away for days. This, if +tolerated much longer, will demoralize even the best of men and render +the regiment worthless. + + + + +JANUARY, 1862. + + +1. Albert, the cook, was swindled in the purchase of a fowl for our New +Year's dinner; he supposed he was getting a young and tender turkey, but +we find it to be an ancient Shanghai rooster, with flesh as tough as +whitleather. This discovery has cast a shade of melancholy over the +Major. + +The boys, out of pure devilment, set fire to the leaves, and to-night +the forest was illuminated. The flames advanced so rapidly that, at one +time, we feared they might get beyond control, but the fire was finally +whipped out, not, however, without making as much noise in the operation +as would be likely to occur at the burning of an entire city. + +5. General Mitchell has issued an immense number of orders, and of +course holds the commandants of regiments responsible for their +execution. I have, as in duty bound, done my best to enforce them, and +the men think me unnecessarily severe. + +To-day a soldier about half drunk was arrested for leaving camp without +permission and brought to my quarters; he had two canteens of whisky on +his person. I remonstrated with him mildly, but he grew saucy, +insubordinate, and finally insolent and insulting; he said he did not +care a damn for what I thought or did, and was ready to go to the +guard-house; in fact wanted to go there. Finally, becoming exasperated, +I took the canteens from him, poured out the whisky, and directed +Captain Patterson to strap him to a tree until he cooled off somewhat. +The Captain failing in his efforts to fasten him securely, I took my +saddle girth, backed him up to the tree, buckled him to it, and returned +to my quarters. This proved to be the last straw which broke the +unfortunate camel's back. It was a high-handed outrage upon the person +of a volunteer soldier; the last and worst of the many arbitrary and +severe acts of which I had been guilty. The regiment seemed to arise _en +masse_, and led on by a few reckless men who had long disliked me, +advanced with threats and fearful oaths toward my tent. The bitter +hatred which the men entertained for me had now culminated. It being +Sunday the whole regiment was off duty, and while some, and perhaps +many, of the boys had no desire to resort to violent measures, yet all +evidently sympathized with the prisoner, and regarded my action as +arbitrary and cruel. The position of the soldier was a humiliating one, +but it gave him no bodily pain. Possibly I had no authority for +punishing him in this way; and had I taken time for reflection it is +more than probable I should have found some other and less objectionable +mode; confinement in the guard-house, however, would have been no +punishment for such a man; on the contrary it would have afforded him +that relief from disagreeable duty which he desired. At any rate the +act, whether right or wrong, had been done, and I must either stand by +it now or abandon all hope of controlling the regiment hereafter. I +watched the mob, unobserved by it, from an opening in my tent door. Saw +it gather, consult, advance, and could hear the boisterous and +threatening language very plainly. Buckling my pistol belt under my coat +where it could not be seen, I stepped out just as the leaders advanced +to the tree for the purpose of releasing the man. I asked them very +quietly what they proposed to do. Then I explained to them how the +soldier had violated orders, which I was bound by my oath to enforce; +how, when I undertook to remonstrate kindly against such unsoldierly +conduct, he had insulted and defied me. Then I continued as calmly as I +ever spoke, "I understand you have come here to untie him; let the man +who desires to undertake the work begin--if there be a dozen men here +who have it in their minds to do this thing--let them step forward--I +dare them to do it." They saw before them a quiet, plain man who was +ready to die if need be; they could not doubt his honesty of purpose. He +gave them time to act and answer, they stood irresolute and silent; with +a wave of the hand he bade them go to their quarters, and they went. + +General Mitchell hearing of my trouble sent for me. I explained to him +the difficulties under which I was laboring; told him what I had done +and why I had done it. He said he understood my position fully, that I +must go ahead, do my duty and he would stand by me, and, if necessary, +sustain me with his whole division. I replied that I needed no +assistance; that the officers, with but few exceptions, were my friends, +and that I believed there were enough good, sensible soldiers in the +regiment to see me through. He talked very kindly to me; but I feel +greatly discouraged. The Colonel has practically abandoned the regiment +in this period of bad weather, when rigorous discipline is to be +enforced, and the boys seem to feel that I am taking advantage of his +absence to display my authority, and require from them the performance +of hard and unnecessary tasks. Many non-commissioned officers have been +reduced to the ranks by court-martial for being absent without leave, +and many privates have been punished in various ways for the same +reason. It was my duty to approve or disapprove the finding of the +court. Disapproval in the majority of cases would have been subversive +of all discipline. Approval has brought down upon me not only the hatred +and curses of the soldiers tried and punished, but in some instances the +ill-will also of their fathers, who for years were my neighbors and +friends. + +Very many of these soldiers think they should be allowed to work when +they please, play when they please, and, in short, do as they please. +Until this idea is expelled from their minds the regiment will be but +little if any better than a mob. + +7. We hear of the Colonel occasionally. He is still at Louisville, +running his train on the broad gauge. His regiment, he says, has been +maneuvering in the face of the enemy beyond Green river, threatened +with an attack day and night. Constant vigilance and continued exposure +in this most inclement season of the year, so undermined his health that +he was compelled to retire a little while to recuperate. He affirms that +he has the best regiment of soldiers in the service; but, unfortunately, +has not a field officer worth a damn. + +Robt. E. Lee was the great man of the rebel army in West Virginia. The +boys all talked about Lee, and told how they would pink him if +opportunity offered. But Simon Bolivar Buckner is the man here on whom +they all threaten to fall violently. There are certainly a hundred +soldiers in the Third, each one of whom swears every day that he would +whip Simon Bolivar Buckner quicker than a wink if he dared present +himself. Simon is in danger. + +Had the third sergeants in my school to-night. Am getting to be a pretty +good teacher. + +10. General Mitchell gave the officers a very interesting lecture this +evening. He is indefatigable. The whole division has become a school. + +Had five lieutenants before me. Lesson: grand guards and other outposts. + +11. The General summoned the officers of his division about him and went +through the form of sending out advanced guard, posting picket, grand +guards, outposts, and sentinels. During these exercises we rode fifteen +or twenty miles, and listened to at least twenty speeches. My horse was +very gay, and I had the pleasure of running many races. I learned +something, and am learning a little each day. Had the lieutenants in my +school again to-night. Lesson: detachments, reconnoissances, partisans, +and flankers. + +12. The officers dress better, as a rule, than in West Virginia. The +only man who has not, in this regard, changed for the better, is the +Major. He continues the careless fellow he was. Occasionally he makes an +effort to have his boots polished; but finds the day altogether too +short for the work, and abandons the job in despair. + +14. Every day we have the roar of artillery, the rattle of musketry, the +prancing of impatient steeds, the marching and countermarching of +battalions, the roll of the drum, the clash and clatter of sabers, and +the thunder of a thousand mounted men, as they hurry hither and yon. But +nobody is hurt; it is all practice and drill. + +16. People who live in houses would hardly believe one can sleep +comfortably with his nose separated from the coldest winter wind by +simply a thin cotton canvas; but such is the fact. + +19. General Dumont called. He is to-day commandant of the camp. The +General is an eccentric genius, and has an inexhaustible fund of good +stories. He uses the words "damned" and "be-damned" rather too often; +but this adds, rather than detracts, from his popularity. He dispenses +good whisky at his quarters very freely, and this has a tendency also to +elevate him in the estimation of his subordinates. + +General Mitchell never drinks and never swears. Occasionally he uses +the words "confound it" in rather savage style; but further than this I +have never heard him go. Mitchell is military; Dumont militia. The +latter winks at the shortcomings of the soldier; the former does not. + +25. We are not studying so much as we were. The General's grasp has +relaxed, and he does not hold us with a tight reign and stiff bit any +longer. + +There is a great deal of sickness among the troops; many cases of colds, +rheumatism, and fever, resulting from exposure. Passing through the +company quarters of our regiment at midnight, I was alarmed by the +constant and heavy coughing of the men. I fear the winter will send many +more to the grave than the bullets of the enemy, for a year to come. + +26. A body of cavalry got in our rear last night and attempted to +destroy the Nolan creek bridge; but it was driven off by the guard, +after a sharp engagement, in which report says nine of the enemy were +killed and six of our men. + +The enemy is doing but little in our front. A night or two ago he +ventured to within a few miles of our forces on Green river, burnt a +station-house, and retired. + +28. The Colonel returned at noon. I was among the first to visit him. He +greeted me very cordially, and called God to witness that he had never +spoken a disparaging word of me. Busy bodies and liars, he said, had +created all the trouble between us. He had heard that charges were to +be preferred against him; he knew they could not be sustained, and +believed it an attempt of his enemies to injure him and prevent his +promotion. He affirmed that he had enlisted from the purest of motives, +and entered into a general defense of his acts as an officer and +gentleman. I listened respectfully to his statement, and then said: +"Colonel, if your conduct has been such as you describe, you need not +fear an investigation. I hold in my hand the charges and specifications +of which you have heard. They are signed by my hand. I make them +believing them to be true. If false, the court will so find, and I shall +be the one to suffer. If true, you are unfit to command this regiment or +any other, and it should be known. I present the charges to you, the +commanding officer of the Third Regiment, and with them a written +request that they be forwarded to the General commanding the division." +He took the package, tore open the envelope, and seated himself while he +read. + +In less than an hour Captains Lawson and Wing called on me to report +that the Colonel would resign if I would withdraw the charges. I +consented to do so. + +31. Had dress parade this evening, at which the Colonel officiated, it +being his first appearance since his return. + +Ascertaining that he had not sent in his resignation, I wrote him a note +calling attention to the promise made on the 29th instant, and +suggesting that it would be well to terminate an unpleasant matter +without unnecessary delay. + +We had a case of disappointed love in the regiment last night. A +sergeant of Captain Mitchell's company was engaged to a girl of Athens +county. They were to be married upon his return from the war, and until +within a month have been corresponding regularly. Suddenly and without +explanation she ceased to write, why he could not imagine. He never, +however, doubted that she would be faithful to him. His anxiety to hear +from home increased, until finally he learned from her brother, a +soldier of the _Eighteenth Ohio_, that she was married. Strong, healthy, +good-looking fellow that he was, this intelligence prostrated him +completely, and made him crazy as a loon. He imagined that he was in +hell, thought Dr. Seyes the devil, and so violent did he become that +they had to bind him. + +This morning he is more calm, but still deranged. He thought the straws +in his bunk were thorns, and would pluck at them with his fingers and +exclaim: "My God, ain't they sharp?" Captain Mitchell called, and the +boys said: "Sergeant, don't you know him?" "Yes," he replied, "he is one +of the devils." The Captain said: "Sergeant, don't you know where you +are?" "Of course I do; I'm in hell." When they were binding him he said: +"That's right; heap on the coals; put me in the hottest place." While +Dr. Seyes was preparing something to quiet him--laudanum, perhaps--he +said: "Bring on your poison; I'll take it." + +The boys, while living roughly, exposed to hardships and dangers, think +more of their sweethearts than ever before, and are constantly +recurring, in their talk, to the comfortable homes and pleasant scenes +from which they are for the present separated. + + + + +FEBRUARY, 1862. + + +1. The Colonel sent in his resignation this morning. It will go to +Department head-quarters to-morrow. + +Saw the new moon over my right shoulder this evening, which I accept as +an omen of good luck. Let it come. It will suit me just as well now as +at any time. If deceived, I shall never more have faith in the moon; and +as for the man in the moon, I shall call him a cheat to his face. + +2. The devil is to pay in the regiment. The Colonel is doing his utmost +to create a disturbance. His friends are busy among the privates. At +noon an effort was made to get up a demonstration on the color line in +his behalf. Now a petition is being circulated among the privates +requesting Major Keifer and me to resign. + +The night is as dark as pitch. A few minutes ago a shout went up for the +Colonel, and was swelled from point to point along the line of company +tents, until now possibly five hundred voices have joined in the yell. +The Colonel's friends tell the boys that if he were to remain he would +obtain leave for the regiment to go back to Camp Dennison to recruit; +that he was about to obtain rifles and Zouave uniforms for them, and +that there is a conspiracy among the officers to crush him. + +3. Petitions from four companies, embracing two hundred and twenty-five +names, have been presented, requesting the Major and Lieutenant-Colonel +to resign. + +4. We closed up the day with a dress parade, the Colonel in command. The +camp is more boisterous than usual. No more petitions have been +presented. + +The Major received a package from home to-night containing, among other +articles, a pair of slippers, which, greatly to my advantage, were too +small for him. They were turned over to me, and it happens that no +little thing could have been more acceptable. + +The bright moonlight of to-night enlivens our spirits somewhat, and +fills us with new courage. The days have been dark and gloomy, and the +nights still more so, for many days and nights past. + +From the band of the Tenth Ohio, half a mile away, come strains mellow +and sweet. The air is full of moonlight and music. The boys are in a +happier mood, and a round, full voice comes to us from the tents with +the words of an old Scotch song: + + "March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale! + Why, my lads, dinna ye march forward in order? + March, march, Eskale and Liddlesdale! + All the blue bonnets are over the border. + Many a banner spread flutters above your head, + Many a crest that is famous in story; + Mount and make ready, then, sons of the mountain glen! + Fight for the King and the old Scottish border!" + +5. The Major and Mr. Furay are engaged in a tremendous dispute. Furay is +positive he can not be mistaken, and the Major laughs him to scorn. When +these gentlemen lock horns in dead earnest the clatter of words becomes +terrible, and the combat ends only when both fall on their cots +exhausted. + +6. The Colonel's resignation has been accepted. He delivered his +valedictory to the regiment this evening. Subsequently he passed through +the company quarters, shaking hands with the boys and bidding them +farewell. Still later he made a speech, in which he called God to +witness that he was a loyal man, and promised to pray for us all. The +regiment is disorderly, if not mutinous even. The best thing he can do +for it and himself is to get out. + +8. The Colonel has bidden us a final adieu. His most devoted adherents +escorted him to the depot, and returned miserably drunk. + +One of the color guards, an honest, sensible, good-looking boy, has +written me a letter of encouragement. I trust that soon all will feel as +kindly toward me as he. + +10. We left Bacon creek at noon. There were ten thousand men in advance +of us, with immense baggage trains. The roads bad, and our march slow, +tedious, and disagreeable. Many of the officers imbibed freely, and the +senior surgeon, an educated gentleman, and very popular with the boys, +became gloriously elevated. He kept his eye pealed for secesh, and +before reaching Munfordsville found a citizen twice as big as himself in +possession of a double-barreled shot-gun. Taking it for granted that he +was an enemy, the Doctor drew a revolver and bade him surrender +unconditionally. The boys said the Doctor was as tight as a little bull. +What phase of inebriety this remark indicated I am unable to say; but +certain it is that he did not for a moment lose sight of his gigantic +prisoner, nor give him the slightest opportunity to escape. He was quite +triumphant in his bearing; directed the movements of the captive in a +loud and imperious tone, and favored him with much patriotic advice. + +A wagon with six unbroken mules attached is an uncertain conveyance. If +the mules are desired to stop suddenly, they are certain not to do so, +and if commanded to start suddenly, they are just as sure not to obey. +If, after an immense amount of whipping and many fervent asseverations +on the part of the driver that all mules should be in Tophet, they +conclude to start at all, they go as if determined to reach the place +indicated without unnecessary delay. If a mud-hole, ditch, tree, or any +other obstacle lies in the way, and the driver cries whoa, the mules +redouble their speed, and rush forward as if they did not in the +slightest degree consider themselves responsible either for the driver's +neck or the traps with which the wagon is laden. + +It was about eight o'clock in the evening when we crossed the bridge +over Green river. The moon had around it a halo, in which appeared very +distinctly all the colors of the National flag--red, white, and +blue--and the boys said it was a good omen; that they were Union people +up there, and had hung out the Stars and Stripes. + +12. To-morrow we start for Bowling Green, our division in the lead. +Before night we shall overtake the rebels, and before the next evening +will doubtless fight a battle. + +13. Long before sunrise the whole division was astir, and at seven +o'clock moved forward, our brigade in the center. Far as the eye could +reach, both in front and rear, the road was crowded with men. A score of +bands filled the air with martial strains, while the morning sun +brightened the muskets, and made the flags look more cheerful and +brilliant. The day was warm and pleasant. The country before us was, in +a military sense, unexplored, and every ear was open to catch the sound +of the first gun. The conviction that a battle was imminent kept the men +steady and prevented straggling. We passed many fine houses, and +extensive, well improved farms. But few white people were seen. The +negroes appeared to have entire possession. + +Six miles from Green river a young and very pretty girl stood in the +doorway of a handsome farm-house and waved the flag of the Union. Cheer +after cheer arose along the line; officers saluted, soldiers waved their +hats, and the bands played "Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie." That loyal girl +captured a thousand hearts, and I trust some gallant soldier who shall +win honorable scars in battle may return in good time to crown her his +Queen of Love and Beauty. + +From this on for fifteen miles we found neither springs nor streams. +The country is cavernous, and the only water is that of the ponds. In +all of these we discovered dead and decaying horses, mules, and dogs. +The rebels in this way had sought to deprive us of water; but while +their action in this regard occasioned a vast deal of profanity among +the boys, it did not in the least retard the column. We were, however, +delayed somewhat by the felled trees with which they had obstructed +miles of the road. At sunset we halted and pitched our tents in a large +field, near what is known as Bell's Tavern, on the Louisville and +Nashville Railroad. We had marched eighteen miles. + +The water used in the preparation of the evening meal was that of the +ponds. The thought of the rotting dogs, horses, and mules, could not be +banished, and when the Major sipped his coffee in a doubtful way and +remarked that it tasted soupy, my stomach quivered on the turning point, +and, hungry as I was, the supper gave me no further enjoyment. + +14. Resumed the march at daylight. Snow fell last night. The day was +exceedingly cold, and the wind pierced through us like needles of ice. I +think I never experienced so sudden and extreme a change in the weather. +It was too cold to ride, and I dismounted and walked twelve miles. We +were certain of a fight, and so pushed on with rapid pace. A regiment of +cavalry and Loomis' battery were in advance. When within ten miles of +Bowling Green the guns opened in our front. Leaving the regiment in +charge of the Major, I rode ahead rapidly as I could, and reached the +river bank opposite Bowling Green in time to see a detachment of rebel +cavalry fire the buildings which contained their army stores. The town +was ablaze in twenty different places. They had destroyed the bridge +over Barren river in the morning, and now, having finished the work of +destruction, went galloping over the hills. When the regiment arrived, +it was quartered in a camp but recently evacuated by the enemy. The +night was bitter cold; but the boys soon had a hundred fires blazing, +and made themselves very comfortable. + +15. This morning we were called out at daylight to cross the river and +take possession of the town; a sorrier, hungrier lot of fellows never +rolled out of warm blankets into the icy wind. It was impossible for +many of them to get their wet and frozen shoes on, but we hurried down +to the river, and were there halted until it was ascertained that our +presence on the opposite side was not required, when we went back to our +old quarters. + +16. To-day we crossed the Big Barren, and are now in Bowling Green. +Turchin's brigade preceded us, and has gutted many houses. The rebels +burned a million dollars worth of stores, but left enough pork, salt +beef, and other necessaries to supply our division for a month; in fact +the cigar I am smoking, the paper on which I write, the ink and pen, +were all captured. + +General Beauregard left the day before our arrival. It is said he was +for days reported to be lying in General Hardee's quarters, dangerously +ill, and that under cover of this report he left town dressed in +citizen's clothes and visited our camps on Green River. + +18. The weather is turning warm again, the men are quartered in houses. +I room at the hotel. This sort of life, however pleasant it may be, has +a demoralizing effect upon the soldier. + +19. Spent the forenoon at the river assisting somewhat in getting our +transportation over. It is a rainy day, and I got wet to the skin and +thoroughly chilled. After dinner I went to bed while William, my +servant, put a few necessary stitches in my apparel, and dried my +underclothing and boots. I am badly off for clothing; my coat is out at +the elbows, and my pantaloons are in a revolutionary condition, the seat +having seceded. + +The Cincinnati Gazette of the 14th instant reports that I have been +promoted. Thanks. + +20. We learn from a reliable source that Nashville has been evacuated. +The enemy is said to be concentrating at Murfreesboro, twenty or thirty +miles beyond. + +The river has risen fifteen feet, and many of our teams are still on the +other side. The water swelled so rapidly that two teams of six mules +each, parked on the river bank last night so as to be in readiness to +cross on the ferry this morning, were swept away. + +Captain Mitchell returned this evening from a trip North. We are glad to +have him back again. + +21. Hear that Fort Donelson has been taken after a terrible fight, and +ten thousand ears are eager to hear more about the engagement. No teams +crossed the river to-day; we are flood bound. + +There was an immense number of deaths in the rebel army while it +encamped here. It is said three thousand Southern soldiers are buried in +the vicinity of the town. They could not stand the rigorous Northern +climate. A Mississippi regiment reported but thirteen men for duty. + +22. Moved at seven in the morning toward Nashville without wagons, tents +or camp equipage. Marched twenty miles in the rain and were drenched +completely. The boys found some sort of shelter during the night in +tobacco houses, barns, and straw piles. + +23. The day pleasant and sunshiny. The feet of the men badly blistered, +and the regiment limps along in wretched style; made fifteen miles. + +24. Routed out at daylight and ordered to make Nashville, a distance of +thirty-two miles. Many of the boys have no shoes, and the feet of many +are still very sore. The journey seems long, but we are at the head of +the column, and that stimulates us somewhat. Have sent my horse to the +rear to help along the very lame, and am making the march on foot. + +The martial band of the regiment is doing its utmost to keep the boys in +good spirits; the base drum sounds like distant thunder, and the wind of +Hughes, the fifer, is inexhaustible; he can blow five miles at a +stretch. The members of the band are in good pluck, and when not +playing, either sing, tell stories, or indulge in reminiscences of a +personal character. Russia has been badgering William Heney, a drummer. +He says that while at Elkwater Heney sparked one of Esquire Stalnaker's +daughters, and that the lady's little sister going into the room quite +suddenly one evening called back to the father, "Dad, dad, William Heney +has got his arm around Susan Jane!" Heney affirms that the story is +untrue. Lochey favors us with a song, which is known as the warble. + + "Thou, thou reignest in this bosom, + There, there hast thou thy throne; + + Thou, thou knowest that I love thee; + Am I not fondly thine own? + + Ya--ya--ya--ya. + Am I not fondly thine own? + + CHORUS. + + Das unda claus ish mein, + Das unda claus ish mein, + Cants do nic mock un do. + + On the banks of the Ohio river, + In a cot lives my Rosa so fair; + She is called Jim Johnson's darky, + And has nice curly black hair. + Tre alo, tre alo, tre ola, ti. + + O come with me to the dear little spot, + And I'll show you the place I was born, + In a little log hut by a clear running brook, + Where blossom the wild plum and thorn. + Tre ola, tre ola, treo la ti. + + Mein fadter, mein modter, mein sister, mein frau, + Undt swi glass of beer for meinself, + Undt dey call mein wife one blacksmit shop; + Such dings I never did see in my life. + Tre ola, tre ola, tre ola ti." + +25. General Nelson's command came up the Cumberland by boat and entered +Nashville ahead of us. The city, however, had surrendered to our +division before Nelson arrived. We failed simply in being the first +troops to occupy it, and this resulted from detention at the +river-crossing. + +27. Crossed the Cumberland and moved through Nashville; the regiment +behaved handsomely, and was followed by a great crowd of colored people, +who appeared to be delighted with the music. General Mitchell +complimented us on our good behavior and appearance. + +28. Captain Wilson, Fourth Ohio Cavalry, was shot dead while on picket. +One of his sergeants had eight balls put through him, but still lives. + + + + +MARCH, 1862. + + +1. Our brigade, in command of General Dumont, started for Lavergne, a +village eleven miles out on the Murfreesboro road, to look after a +regiment of cavalry said to be in occupation of the place. Arrived there +a little before sunset, but found the enemy had disappeared. + +The troops obtained whisky in the village, and many of the soldiers +became noisy and disorderly. + +A little after nightfall the compliments of a Mrs. Harris were presented +to me, with request that I would be kind enough to call. The handsome +little white cottage where she lived was near our bivouac. It was the +best house in the village; and, as I ascertained afterward, very +tastefully if not elegantly furnished. She was a woman of perhaps forty. +Her husband and daughter were absent; the former, I think, in the +Confederate service. She had only a servant with her, and was +considerably frightened and greatly incensed at the conduct of some +soldiers, of she knew not what regiment, who had persisted in coming +into her house and treating her rudely. In short, she desired +protection. She had a lively tongue in her head, and her request for a +guard was, I thought, not preferred in the gentlest and most amiable +way. Her comments on our Northern soldiers were certainly not +complimentary to them. She said she had supposed hitherto that soldiers +were gentlemen. I confessed that they ought to be at least. She said, +rather emphatically, that Southern soldiers _were_ gentlemen. I replied +that I did not doubt at all the correctness of her statement; but, +unfortunately, the branch of the Northern army to which I had the honor +to belong had not been able to get near enough to them to obtain any +personal knowledge on the subject. + +The upshot of the five minutes' interview was a promise to send a +soldier to protect Mrs. Harris' property and person during the night. + +Returning to the regiment I sent for Sergeant Woolbaugh. He is one of +the handsomest men in the regiment; a printer by trade, an excellent +conversationalist, a man of extensive reading, and of thorough +information respecting current affairs. I said: "Sergeant, I desire you +to brighten up your musket, and clothes if need be, go over to the +little white cottage on the right and stand guard." "All right, sir." + +As he was leaving I called to him: "If the lady of the house shows any +inclination to talk with you, encourage and gratify her to the top of +her bent. I want her to know what sort of men our Northern soldiers +are." + +The Sergeant in due time introduced himself to Mrs. Harris, and was +invited into the sitting room. They soon engaged in conversation, and +finally fell into a discussion of the issue between the North and South +which lasted until after midnight. The lady, although treated with all +courtesy, certainly obtained no advantage in the controversy, and must +have arisen from it with her ideas respecting Northern soldiers very +materially changed. + +2. Started on the return to Nashville at three o'clock in the morning. +The boys being again disappointed in not finding the enemy, and +considerably under the influence of liquor, conducted themselves in a +most disorderly and unsoldierly way. + +Have not had a change of clothing since we crossed the Great Barren +river. + +6. Regiment on picket. + +When returning from the front I met a soldier of the Thirty-seventh +Indiana, trudging along with his gun on his shoulder. I asked him where +he was going; he replied that his father lived four miles beyond, and he +had just heard that his brother was home from the Southern army on sick +leave, and he was going out to take him prisoner. + +8. This afternoon the camp was greatly excited over a daring feat of a +body of cavalry under John Morgan. It succeeded in getting almost inside +the camps, and was five miles inside of our outposts. It came into the +main road between where Kennett's cavalry regiment is encamped and +Nashville; captured a wagon train, took the drivers, Captain Braden, of +Indiana, who was in charge of the train, and eighty-three horses, and +started on a by-road back for Murfreesboro. General Mitchell immediately +dispatched Kennett in pursuit. About fifteen miles out the rebels were +overtaken and our men and horses recaptured. Two rebels were killed and +two taken; Kennett is still in hot pursuit. Captain Braden says, as the +rebels were riding away they were exceedingly jubilant over the success +of their adventure, and promised to introduce him to General Hardee in +the evening. Without asking the Captain's permission they gave him a +very poor horse in exchange for a very good one, put him at the head of +the column and guarded him vigilantly; but when Kennett appeared and the +running fight occurred he dodged off at full speed, lay down on his +horse, and although fired at many times escaped unhurt. + +Morgan's men know the country so well that all the by-roads and +cow-paths are familiar to them; the citizens keep them informed also as +to the location of our camps and picket posts, and if need be are ready +to serve them either as guides or spies, hence the success which +attended the earlier part of their enterprise does not indicate so great +a want of vigilance on the part of our troops, as might at first thought +be supposed. + +9. The enemy made a descent on one of our outposts, killed one man and +wounded another. + +16. Went to Nashville this morning to buy a few necessaries. While +awaiting dinner at the St. Cloud I took a seat outside the door. Quite a +number of Union officers were seated or standing in front of the hotel, +when two well, extremely well, dressed women, followed by a negro lady, +approached, and while passing us _held their noses_. What disagreeable +thing the atmosphere in our immediate vicinity contained that made it +necessary for these lovely women to so pinch their nasal protuberances, +I could not discover; certainly the officers looked cleanly, many of +them were young men of the "double-bullioned" kind, who had spared no +expense in decorating their persons with shoulder straps, golden bugles, +and other shining trappings which appertain somehow to glorious war. + +After dinner I dropped into a drug store to buy a cake of soap. The +druggist gave me, in the way of change, several miserably executed +shinplasters. I asked: + +"Do you call this money?" + +"I do." + +"I wonder that every printing office in the South does not commence the +manufacture of such money." + +"O, no," he replied in a sneering way; "in the North they might do that, +but in the South no one is disposed to make counterfeit money." + +"Yes," I retorted, "the Southern people are very honest no doubt, but I +apprehend there is a better reason for not counterfeiting the money than +you have assigned. It is probably not worth counterfeiting." + +Private Hawes of the Third is remarkably fond of pies, and a notorious +straggler withal. He has just returned to camp after being away for some +days, and accounts for his absence by saying that he was in the country +looking for pies, when Morgan's men appeared suddenly, shot his horse +from under him, mounted him behind a soldier and carried him away. The +private is now in the guard-house entertaining a select company with a +narrative of his adventures. + +We have much trouble with escaped negroes. In some way we have obtained +the reputation of being abolitionists, and the colored folks get into +our regimental lines, and in some mysterious way are so disposed of that +their masters never hear of them again. It is possible the two +saw-bones, who officiate at the hospital, dissect, or desiccate, or boil +them in the interest of science, or in the manufacture of the villainous +compounds with which they dose us when ill. At any rate, we know that +many of these sable creatures, who joined us at Bowling Green and on the +road to Nashville, can not now be found. Their masters, following the +regiment, made complaint to General Buell, and, as we learn, spoke +disparagingly of the Third. An order issued requiring us to surrender +the negroes to the claimants, and to keep colored folks out of our camp +hereafter. I obeyed the order promptly; commanded all the colored men in +camp to assemble at a certain hour and be turned over to their masters; +but the misguided souls, if indeed there were any, failed to put in an +appearance, and could not be found. The scamps, I fear, took advantage +of my notice and hid away, much to the regret of all who desire to +preserve the Union as it was, and greatly to the chagrin of the +gentlemen who expected to take them handcuffed back to Kentucky. One of +these fugitives, a handsome mulatto boy, borrowed five dollars of me, +and the same amount of Doctor Seyes, not half an hour before the time +when he was to be delivered up, but I fear now the money will never be +repaid. + +18. Started for Murfreesboro. The day is beautiful and the regiment +marches well. Encamped for the night near Lavergne. I called on my +friend Mrs. Harris. She received me cordially and introduced me to her +daughter, a handsome young lady of seventeen or eighteen. They were both +extremely Southern in their views, but chatted pleasantly over the +situation, and Mrs. Harris spoke of Sergeant Woolbaugh, the guard +furnished her on our first visit, in very complimentary terms; in fact, +she was surprised to find such men in the ranks of the Federal army. I +assured her that there were scores like him in every regiment, and that +our army was made up of the flower of the Northern people. + +19. The rebels having burned the bridges on the direct road, we were +compelled to diverge to the left and take a longer route; toward evening +we went into camp on the plantation of a widow lady, and here for the +first time in my life I saw a field of cotton; the old stalks still +standing with many bulbs which had escaped the pickers. + +20. Turned out at four o'clock in the morning, got breakfast, struck our +tents, and were ready to march at six; but the brigade being now ordered +to take the rear, we stood uncovered in a drenching rain three hours +for the division and transportation to pass. All were thoroughly wet and +benumbed with cold, but as if to show contempt for the weather the Third +sang with great unction: + + "There is a land of pure delight, + Where saints immortal reign; + Infinite day excludes the night, + And pleasures banish pain. + + There everlasting spring abides, + And never withering flowers; + Death, like a narrow sea, divides + This heavenly land from ours." + +Soon after getting under way the sky cleared, and the sun made its +appearance; the band struck up, and at every plantation negroes came +flocking to the roadside to see us. They are the only friends we find. +They have heard of the abolition army, the music, the banners, the +glittering arms; possibly the hope that their masters will be humbled +and their own condition improved, gladdens their hearts and leads them +to welcome us with extravagant manifestations of joy. They keep time to +the music with feet and hands, and hurrah "fur de ole flag and de +Union," sometimes following us for miles. Parson Strong attempts to do a +little missionary work. A dozen or more negroes stand in a group by the +roadside. Said the Parson to an old man: "My friend, are you +religious?" + +"No, massa, I is not; seben of my folks is, an dey is all prayen fur +your side." + +Hailing a little knot, I said: "Boys where do you live?" + +"Lib wid Massa ----, sah." + +"All Union people, I suppose?" + +"Dey say dey is, but dey isn't." + +One old woman--evidently a great-grandmother in Israel--climbed on the +fence, clapped her hands, shouted for joy, and "bressed de Lord dat dar +was de ole flag agin." + +To a colored boy who stole into our lines last night, with his little +bundle under his arm, the Major said: "Doesn't it make you feel bad to +run away from your masters?" + +"Oh, no, massa; dey is gone, too." + +Reached Murfreesboro in the afternoon. + +22. Men at work rebuilding the railroad bridge. General Dumont returns +to Nashville. Colonel Lytle, of the Tenth Ohio, will assume command of +our brigade. + +My servant has imposed upon me for about a month. He arises in the +morning when he pleases; prepares my meals when it suits his pleasure, +and is disposed in every thing to make me adapt my business to his own +notions. This morning I became so provoked over his insolence and +laziness that, in a moment of passion, I knocked him down. Since then +there has been a decided improvement in his bearing. The blow seems to +have awakened him to a sense of his duty. + +25. So soon as the railroad is repaired, an immense amount of cotton +will be sent East from this section. The crops of two seasons are in the +hands of the producer. We are encamped in a cotton field. Peach trees +are now in bloom, and many early flowers are to be seen. + +26. The boys are having a grand cotillion party on the green in front of +my tent, and appear to have entirely forgotten the privations, +hardships, and dangers of soldiering. + +The army for a temperate, cleanly, cheerful man, is, I have no doubt, +the healthiest place in the world. The coarse fare provided by the +Government is the most wholesome that can be furnished. The boys +oftenest on the sick list are those who are constantly running to the +sutler's for gingerbread, sweetmeats, raisins, and nuts. They eat +enormous quantities of this unwholesome stuff, and lose appetite for +more substantial food. Finding that all desire for hard bread and bacon +has disappeared, they conclude that they must be ill, and instead of +taking exercise, lie in their tents until they finally become really +sick. A contented, temperate, cheerful, cleanly man will live forever in +the army; but a despondent, intemperate, gluttonous, dirty soldier, let +him be never so fat and strong when he enters the service, is sure to +get on the sick list, and finally into the hospital. + +The dance on the green is progressing with increased vigor. The music is +excellent. At this moment the gentlemen are going to the right; now +they promenade all; in a minute more the ladies will be in the center, +and four hands round. That broth of an Irish boy, Conway, wears a +rooster's feather in his cap, and has for a partner a soldier twice as +big as himself, whom he calls Susan. As they swing Conway yells at the +top of his voice: "Come round, old gal!" + +28. General Mitchell returned from Nashville on a hand-car. + +30. This is a pleasant Sunday. The sun shines, the birds sing, and the +air stirs pleasantly. + +The colored people of Murfreesboro pour out in great numbers on Sunday +evenings to witness dress parade, some of them in excellent holiday +attire. The women sport flounces and the men canes. Many are nearly +white, and all slaves. + +Murfreesboro is an aristocratic town. Many of the citizens have as fine +carriages as are to be seen in Cincinnati or Washington. On pleasant +week-day evenings they sometimes come out to witness the parades. The +ladies, so far as I can judge by a glimpse through a carriage window, +are richly and elegantly dressed. + +The poor whites are as poor as rot, and the rich are very rich. There is +no substantial well-to-do middle class. The slaves are, in fact, the +middle class here. They are not considered so good, of course, as their +masters, but a great deal better than the white trash. One enthusiastic +colored man said in my hearing this evening: "You look like solgers. No +wonder dat you wip de white trash ob de Southern army. Dey ced dey +could wip two ob you, but I guess one ob you could wip two ob dem. You +is jest as big as dey is, and maybe a little bigger." + +A few miles from here, at a cross roads, is a guide-board: +"[Illustration: Symbol: right index] 15 miles to Liberty." If liberty +were indeed but fifteen miles away, the stars to-night would see a +thousand negroes dancing on the way thither; old men with their wives +and bundles; young men with their sweethearts; little barefooted +children, all singing in their hearts: + + "De day ob jubilee hab come, ho ho!" + +On the march hither we passed a little, contemptible, tumble-down, +seven-by-nine frame school-house. Over the door, in large letters, were +the words: + + CENTRAL ACADEMY. + +The boys laughed and said: "If this is called an academy, what sort of +things must their common school-houses be?" But Tennessee is a beautiful +State. All it lacks is free schools and freemen. + +31. Colonel Keifer, in command of four hundred men, started with ninety +wagons for Nashville. He will repair the railroad in two or three places +and return with provisions. + + + + +APRIL, 1862. + + +3. Struck our tents and started south, at two o'clock this afternoon; +marched fifteen miles and bivouacked for the night. + +4. Resumed the march at seven o'clock in the morning, the Third in +advance. At one place on the road a young negro, perhaps eighteen years +old, broke from his hiding in the woods, and with hat in hand and a +broad grin on his face, came running to me. "Massa," said he, "I wants +to go wid you." "I am sorry, my boy, that I can not take you. I am not +permitted to do it." The light went out of the poor fellow's eyes in a +moment, and, putting on his slouched hat, he went away sorrowful enough. +It seems cruel to turn our backs on these, our only friends. If a dog +came up wagging his tail at sight of us, we could not help liking him +better than the master, who not only looks sullen and cross at our +approach, but in his heart desires our destruction. + +As we approach the Alabama line we find fewer, but handsomer, houses; +larger plantations, and negroes more numerous. We saw droves of women +working in the fields. When their ears caught the first notes of the +music, they would drop the hoe and come running to the road, their +faces all aglow with pleasure. May we not hope that their darkened minds +caught glimpses of the sun of a better life, now rising for them? + +Last night my bed-room was as grand as that ever occupied by a prince. +The floor was carpeted with soft, green, velvety grass. For walls it had +the primeval forest, with its drapery of luxuriant foliage. The ceiling, +higher even than one's thoughts can measure, was studded with stars +innumerable. The crescent moon added to its beauty for awhile, but +disappeared long before I dropped off to sleep. + +We entered Shelbyville at noon. There are more Union people here than at +Murfreesboro, and we saw many glad faces as we marched through the +streets. The band made the sky ring with music, and the regiment +deported splendidly. One old woman clapped her hands and thanked heaven +that we had come at last. Apparently almost wild with joy, she shouted +after us, "God be with you!" + +We went into camp on Duck river, one mile from the town. + +5. General Mitchell complimented me on the good behavior and good +appearance of the Third. He said it was the best regiment in his +division. At Bacon creek, Kentucky, he was particularly severe on us, +and attributed all our trouble to defective discipline and bad +management on the part of the officers. On the evening when the +acceptance of Marrow's resignation was read, the General was present. +After parade was dismissed, I shook hands with him and said: "General, +give us a little time and we will make the Third the best regiment in +your division." The old gentleman was glad to hear me say so, but smiled +dubiously. I am glad to have him acknowledge so soon that we have +fulfilled the promise. + +At Murfreesboro heavy details were made for bridge building, and one +day, while superintending the work, the General addressed the detail +from the Third in a very uncomplimentary way: "You lazy scoundrels, go +to work! Your regiment is the promptest in the division to report for +duty, but you will not work." At another time he gave an order to a +soldier which was not obeyed with sufficient alacrity, when he yelled: +"What regiment do you belong to?" "The Third." "Well, sir, I thought you +were one of the obstinate devils of that regiment." At another time he +rode into our camp, and the boys failed to rise at his approach, when he +reined in his horse suddenly and shouted: "Get up here, you lazy +scoundrels, and treat your superiors with respect!" Riding on a little +further, a private passed without touching his cap: "Hold on, here," +said the General, "don't you know how to salute a superior?" "Yes," +stammered the boy, "but I did not see you." "Hold up your head like a +soldier, and you will see me." + +One night I was making the rounds in the Second Ohio with the General. +The guard did not turn out promptly and he became angry; diving into the +guard-tent to rout them up, he ran against a big fellow so violently +that he was nearly thrown off his legs. This increased his fury, and +seizing the soldier by the coat collar he shook him roughly, and said: +"You insolent dog, I'll stand insolence from no man. Officer, put this +man under arrest immediately." + +On the same night the guard of the Thirty-third Ohio turned out slowly, +and some of them were found to have stolen off to their quarters. The +General was still in a bad humor. "Where is the officer of the day?" he +asked. "At his quarters, sir," replied a sergeant. "Present him the +compliments of the General commanding, and tell him if he does not come +to the guard-tent at once, I will send a file of soldiers after him." +The officer appeared very soon. I refer to these incidents to show +simply that the men of other regiments received reprimands as well as +those of my own. + +6. Late in the evening the officers of the regiment, with the string +band, started on a serenading expedition. After playing sundry airs and +singing divers songs, Ethiopian and otherwise, at the residence of a Mr. +Warren, Miss Julia Gurnie, sister of Mrs. Warren, appeared on the +veranda and made to us a very pretty Union speech. After a general +introduction to the family and a cordial reception, we bade them +good-night, and started for another portion of the village. On the way +thither we dropped into the store of a Mr. Armstrong, and imbibed rather +copiously of apple-jack, to protect us against the night air, which, by +the way, is always dangerous when apple-jack is convenient. After thus +fortifying ourselves, we proceeded to the residence of a Mr. Storey. +His doors were thrown open, and we entered his parlors. Here we had the +honor to be introduced to Miss Storey, a handsome young lady, and +Lieutenant O'Brien, nephew of Parson Brownlow. + +Lieutenant O'Brien is an officer of the rebel army. He accompanied +Parson Brownlow to Nashville under a flag of truce, and has been +loitering on his way back until the present time. He wears the +Confederate gray, and when we entered the room was seated on the sofa +with Miss Storey. After being introduced in due form, I placed myself by +the young lady and endeavored to at least divide her attention with my +Confederate friend. The apple-jack dilated most engagingly on the +remarkable beauty of the evening, the pleasantness of the weather +generally, and the delightfulness of Shelbyville. There was a piano in +the room, and finally, after having occupied her attention jointly with +O'Brien for some time, I took the liberty to ask her to favor us with a +song; but she pleaded an awful cold, and asked to be excused. The +apple-jack excused her. The Storeys are pleasant people, and I trust +that, full as we were, we did nothing to lessen their respect for us. + +From Mr. Storey's we went to the house of Mr. Cooper, President of the +Shelbyville Bank, but were not invited in, the family having retired. + +Our last call was at the residence of Mr. Weasner, whilom member of the +Tennessee Legislature. The doors were here thrown open, and a cordial +invitation given us to enter. A pitcher of good wine was set out, and +soon after Miss Weasner, a very pretty young lady, appeared, and played +and sang many patriotic songs. When finally we bade this pleasant family +good night, it was bordering on the Sabbath, and we returned to camp. + +7. Colonel Kennett, at the head of three hundred cavalry, made a dash +into the country toward the Tennessee river, captured and destroyed a +train on a branch of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and +returned to camp to-night with fifteen prisoners. + +8. Party at Mr. Warren's, to which many of the officers have gone. + +9. Moved at six o'clock in the morning. Roads sloppy, and in many places +overflowed. Marched sixteen miles. + +10. Resumed the march at six o'clock A. M. Reached Fayetteville at noon. +Passed through the town and encamped one mile beyond. General Mitchell, +with Turchin's and Sill's brigades and two batteries, left for +Huntsville on our arrival. + +There are various and contradictory rumors afloat respecting the +condition of affairs at Shiloh. The rebel sympathizers here are jubilant +over what they claim is reliable intelligence, that our army has been +surprised and defeated. Another report, coming via Nashville, says that +a part of our army was terribly beaten on Sunday; but reinforcements +arriving on Monday, the rebels were driven back, and our losses of the +first day retrieved. + +A courier arrived about dark with dispatches for General Mitchell; but +they were forwarded to him unopened. + +13. Confused and unsatisfactory accounts still reach us of the great +battle at Pittsburg Landing. + +It is strange what fortune, good or ill, our division has had. Taking +the lead at Green river, we doubted not that a battle awaited us at +Bowling Green. In advance again on the march to Nashville, we were sure +of fighting when we reached that place. Starting again, the division +pushed on alone to Murfreesboro, Shelbyville, Fayetteville, and finally +to Huntsville and Decatur, Alabama, at each place expecting a battle, +and yet meeting with no opposition. With but one division upon this +line, we looked for hard work and great danger, and yet have found +neither. As we advanced the honors we expected to win have receded or +gone elsewhere, to be snatched up by other divisions. The boys say the +Third is fated never to see a battle; that the Third Ohio in Mexico saw +no fighting; that there is something magical in the number which +preserves it from all danger. + +14. The Fifteenth Kentucky remains here. The Third and Tenth Ohio moved +at three in the afternoon. Roads bad and progress slow. Bivouacked for +the night near a distillery. Many of the men drunk; the Tenth Ohio +particularly wild. + +15. Resumed the march at six in the morning. Passed the plantation of +Leonidas Polk Walker. He is said to be the wealthiest man in North +Alabama. His domain extends for fifteen miles along the road. The +overseer's house and the negro huts near it make quite a village. + +Met a good many young men returning from Corinth and Pittsburg Landing. +Quite a number of them had been in the Sunday's battle, and, being +wounded, had been sent back to Huntsville. General Mitchell had captured +and released them on parole. Some had their heads bandaged, others their +arms, while others, unable to walk, were conveyed in wagons. As they +passed, our men made many good-natured remarks, as, "Well, boys, you're +tired of soldiering, ar'n't you?" "Goin' home on furlough, eh?" "Played +out." "Another bold soger boy!" "See the soger!" + +At one point a hundred or more colored people, consisting of men, women, +and children, flocked to the roadside. The band struck up, and they +accompanied the regiment for a mile or more, crowding and jostling each +other in their endeavors to keep abreast of the music. The boys were +wonderfully amused, and addressed to the motley troupe all the commands +known to the volunteer service: "Steady on the right;" "Guide center;" +"Forward, double quick." + +Reached Huntsville at five in the afternoon. + +16. Just after sunset Colonel Keifer and I strolled into the town, +stopped at the hotel for a moment, where we saw a rebel officer in his +gray uniform running about on parole. Visited the railroad depot, where +some two hundred rebels are confined. The prisoners were variously +engaged; some chatting, others playing cards, while a few of a more +devotional turn were singing + + "Come thou fount of every blessing, + Tune my heart to sing thy praise." + +By his timely arrival General Mitchell cut a division of rebel troops in +two. Four thousand got by, and were thus enabled to join the rebel army +at Corinth, while about the same number were obliged to return to +Chattanooga. + +20. At Decatur. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad crosses the +Tennessee river at this point. The town is a dilapidated old concern, as +ugly as Huntsville is handsome. + +There is a canebrake near the camp, and every soldier in the regiment +has provided himself with a fishing-rod; very long, straight, beautiful +rods they are, too. + +The white rebel, who has done his utmost to bring about the rebellion, +is lionized, called a plucky fellow, a great man, while the negro, who +welcomes us, who is ready to peril his life to aid us, is kicked, +cuffed, and driven back to his master, there to be scourged for his +kindness to us. Billy, my servant, tells me that a colored man was +whipped to death by a planter who lives near here, for giving +information to our men. I do not doubt it. We worm out of these poor +creatures a knowledge of the places where stores are secreted, or compel +them to serve as guides, and then turn them out to be scourged or +murdered. There must be a change in this regard before we shall be +worthy of success. + +21. A detachment went to Somerville yesterday. While searching for +buried arms forty-two hundred dollars, in gold, silver, and bank-notes, +were found. The money is, undoubtedly, private property, and will, I +presume, be returned to the owner. + +Fine, large fish are caught in the Tennessee. We have a buffalo for +supper--a good sort of fish--weighing six pounds. + +General Mitchell has been made a Major-General. He is a deserving +officer. No other man with so few troops has ventured so far into the +enemy's country, and accomplished so much. Battles if they result +favorably are great helps to the cause, but the general who by a bold +dash accomplishes equally important results, without loss of life, is +entitled to as great praise certainly as he who fights and wins a +victory. + +Colonel Keifer and I have been on horseback most of the afternoon, +examining all the roads leading from Decatur. On our way back to camp we +called at Mr. Rather's. He was a member of the Alabama Senate, favored +the secession movement, but claims now to be heartily sorry for it. He +received us cordially; introduced us to Mrs. Rather, brought in wine of +his own manufacture, and urged us to drink heartily. + +23. A beautiful day has gone by and a beautiful starlit night has come. +The camp is very still. The melody of the frog, if melody it can be +called, and the ripple of the Tennessee, are the only sounds to be +heard. Thoughts of home and the quiet evenings; of youth and the gay +visions; of the thousand and one pleasant scenes in life; of what we +might have been and where we might have been, had the cards of our life +been shuffled differently; of the deeds we might do, if peradventure the +opportunity were offered, and the little we have done; all come up +to-night, and we chew the cud over and over, without being able to +determine whether it is bitter or sweet. + +The enemy, three hundred strong, made a dash on our picket last night, +wounded one man, and made an unsuccessful effort to retake a bridge. + +24. Our forces are on the alert. I lay down in my clothes last night, or +rather this morning, for it was between one and two o'clock when I +retired. The division is stretched over a hundred miles of railway, but +in position to concentrate in a few hours. + +Before leaving this place, the rebels built a cotton fort, using in its +construction probably five hundred bales. + +To-day we filled the bridge over the Tennessee with combustible +material, and put it in condition to burn readily, in case we find it +necessary to retire to the north side. + +A man with his son and two daughters arrived to-night from Chattanooga, +having come all the way--one hundred and fifty miles probably--in a +small skiff. + +25. Price, with ten thousand men, is reported advancing from Memphis. +Turchin had a skirmish with his advance guard near Tuscumbia. + +26. Turchin's brigade returned from Tuscumbia and crossed the Tennessee. + +27. The Tenth and Third crossed to the north side of the river, and +Lieutenant-Colonel Burke of the Tenth applied the torch to the bridge; +in a few minutes the fire extended along its whole length, and as we +marched away, the flames were hissing among its timbers, and the smoke +hung like a cloud above it. + +28. Ordered to move to Stevenson. Took a freight train and proceeded to +Bellefonte, where we found a bridge had been burned; leaving the cars we +marched until twelve o'clock at night, and then bivouacked on the +railroad track. + +29. Resumed the march at daylight; one mile beyond Stevenson we found +the Ninth Brigade, Colonel Sill, in line of battle; formed the Third in +support of Loomis' Battery, and remained in this position until two in +the afternoon, when General Mitchell arrived and ordered the Ninth +Brigade, Loomis' Battery and my regiment to move forward. At Widow's +creek we met a detachment of the enemy; a few shots from the battery and +a volley from our skirmish line drove it back, and we hastened on toward +Bridgeport, exchanging shots occasionally with the enemy on the way. + +About five o'clock we formed in line of battle, on high ground in the +woods, one-half mile from Bridgeport, the Third having the right of the +column, and moved steadily forward until we came in sight of the town +and the enemy. The order to double quick was then given, and we dashed +into the village on a run. The enemy stood for a moment and then left as +fast as legs could carry him; in fact he departed in such haste that but +few muskets and one shot from a six pound gun were fired at us; one +piece of his artillery was found still loaded. We captured fifty +prisoners, a number of horses, two pieces of artillery and many muskets. +The bridge over the Tennessee had already been filled with combustible +material, and when the rear of the rebel column passed over the match +was applied; the fire extended rapidly, and we found it impossible to +proceed further. + +The fright of the enemy was so great that, after getting beyond the +river a mile or more, he threw away over a thousand muskets, and +abandoned every thing that could impede his flight. Unfortunately, +however, before a raft could be constructed to convey our troops across +the river, the rebels recovered from their panic, backed down a railroad +train, and gathered up most of their arms and camp equipage. + +A little more coolness on the part of our troops would have enabled us +to capture twenty-five or thirty cavalrymen, who came riding into +Bridgeport, supposing it to be still in the hands of their friends. As +they approached, a few scattering shots were fired at them by the +excited soldiers, when they wheeled and succeeded in making their +escape. + +30. The troops are short of provisions; there is a grist mill near, but +the owner claims that it is out of repair, and can not be put in running +order for some days, as part of the machinery is missing. On inquiry, I +found that the owner of the mill was a rebel, and that the missing +machinery had probably been hidden by himself. I therefore said to him +that if he did not have the mill going by noon, I would burn it down; +by ten o'clock it was running, and at three in the afternoon we had an +abundance of corn meal. + +A detachment of the Third under Colonel Keifer crossed the river and +reconnoitered the country beyond. It found no enemy, but returned to +camp with an abundance of bacon--an article very greatly needed by our +troops. + +Started at nine o'clock P. M. for Stevenson; marched all night. Whenever +we stopped on the way to rest, the boys would fall asleep on the +roadside, and we found much difficulty in getting them through. + + + + +MAY, 1862. + + +1. Moved to Bellefonte. + +2. Took the cars for Huntsville. + +At Paint Rock the train was fired upon, and six or eight men wounded. As +soon as it could be done, I had the train stopped, and, taking a file of +soldiers, returned to the village. The telegraph line had been cut, and +the wire was lying in the street. Calling the citizens together, I said +to them that this bushwhacking must cease. The Federal troops had +tolerated it already too long. Hereafter every time the telegraph wire +was cut we would burn a house; every time a train was fired upon we +should hang a man; and we would continue to do this until every house +was burned and every man hanged between Decatur and Bridgeport. If they +wanted to fight they should enter the army, meet us like honorable men, +and not, assassin-like, fire at us from the woods and run. We proposed +to hold the citizens responsible for these cowardly assaults, and if +they did not drive these bushwhackers from amongst them, we should make +them more uncomfortable than they would be in hell. I then set fire to +the town, took three citizens with me, returned to the train, and +proceeded to Huntsville. + +Paint Rock has long been a rendezvous for bushwhackers and bridge +burners. One of the men taken is a notorious guerrilla, and was of the +party that made the dash on our wagon train at Nashville. + +The week has been an active one. On last Saturday night I slept a few +hours on the bridge at Decatur. The next night I bivouacked in a cotton +field; the next I lay from midnight until four in the morning on the +railroad track; the next I slept at Bridgeport on the soft side of a +board, and on the return to Stevenson I did not sleep at all. My health +is excellent. + +5. Captain Cunard was sent yesterday to Paint Rock to arrest certain +parties suspected of burning bridges, tearing up the railroad track, and +bushwhacking soldiers. To-day he returned with twenty-six prisoners. + +General Mitchell is well pleased with my action in the Paint Rock +matter. The burning of the town has created a sensation, and is spoken +of approvingly by the officers and enthusiastically by the men. It is +the inauguration of the true policy, and the only one that will preserve +us from constant annoyance. + +The General rode into our camp this evening, and made us a stirring +speech, in which he dilated upon the rapidity of our movements and the +invincibility of our division. + +8. The road to Shelbyville is unsafe for small parties. Guerrilla bands +are very active. Two or three of our supply trains have been captured +and destroyed. Detachments are sent out every day to capture or disperse +these citizen cut-throats. + +10. Have been appointed President of a Board of Administration for the +post of Huntsville. After an ineffectual effort to get the members of +the Board together, I concluded to spend a day out of camp, the first +for more than six months; so I strolled over to the hotel, took a bath, +ate dinner, smoked, read, and slept until supper time, dispatched that +meal, and returned to my quarters in the cool of the evening. + +We have in our camp a superabundance of negroes. One of these, a +Georgian, belonged to a captain of rebel cavalry, and fell into our +hands at Bridgeport. Since that affair he has attached himself to me. +The other negroes I do not know. In fact they are too numerous to +mention. Whence they came or whither they are going it is impossible to +say. They lie around contentedly, and are delighted when we give them an +opportunity to serve us. All the colored people of Alabama are anxious +to go "wid yer and wait on you folks." There are not fifty negroes in +the South who would not risk their lives for freedom. The man who +affirms that they are contented and happy, and do not desire to escape, +is either a falsifier or a fool. + +11. Attended divine service with Captain McDougal at the Presbyterian +Church. The edifice is very fine. The audience was small; the sermon +tolerable. Troubles, the preacher said, were sent to discipline us. The +army was of God; they should, therefore, submit to it, not as slaves, +but as Christians, just as they submitted to other distasteful and +calamitous dispensations. + +12. My letters from home have fallen into the hands of John Morgan. The +envelopes were picked up in the road and forwarded to me. My wife should +feel encouraged. It is not every body's letters that are pounced upon at +midnight, taken at the point of the bayonet, and read by the flickering +light of the camp-fire. + +Moved at two o'clock this afternoon. Reached Athens after nightfall, and +bivouacked on the Fair Ground. + +13. Marched to Elk river. A great many negroes from the neighboring +plantations came to see us, among them an elderly colored man, whose +sanctimonious bearing indicated that he was a minister of the Gospel. +The boys insisted that he should preach to them, and, after some +hesitation, the old man mounted a stump, lined a hymn from memory, sang +it, and then commenced his discourse. He had not proceeded very far when +he uttered this sentence: "De good Lord He hab called me to preach de +Gospil. Many sinners hab been wakened by my poor words to de new life. +De Lord He hab been very kind to me, an' I can nebber pay Him fur all He +done fur me." + +"Never pay the Lord?" broke in the boys; "never pay the Lord? Oh! you +wicked nigger! Just hear him! He says he is never going to pay the +Lord!" + +The preacher endeavored to explain: the kindness and mercy of the Lord +had been so great that it was impossible for a poor sinner to make any +sufficient return; but the boys would accept no explanation. "Here," +they shouted, "is a nigger who will not pay the Lord!" and they groaned +and cried, "Oh! Oh!" and swore that they never saw so wicked a man +before. Fortunately for the poor colored man, a Dutchman began to +interrogate him in broken English, and the two soon fell into a +discussion of some point in theology, when the boys espoused the negro's +side of the question, and insisted that the Dutchman was no match for +him in argument. Finally, by groans and hisses, they compelled the +Dutchman to abandon the controversy, leaving the colored man well +pleased that he had vanquished his opponent and re-established himself +in the good opinion of his hearers. + +14. Resumed the march at two o'clock in the morning, and proceeded to a +point known as the Lower Ferry. Ascertaining here that the enemy had +recrossed the Tennessee, and was pushing southward, we abandoned pursuit +and turned to retrace our steps to Huntsville. Leaving the regiment in +command of Colonel Keifer, I accompanied General Mitchell on the return, +and reached camp a little after dark. + +16. Appointed Provost Marshal of the city. Have been busy hearing all +sorts of complaints, signing passes for all sorts of persons, sending +guards to this and that place in the city, and doing the numerous other +things necessary to be done in a city under martial law. Captain +Mitchell and Lieutenant Wilson are my assistants, and, in fact, do most +of the work. The citizens say I am the youngest Governor they ever had. + +17. Captain Mitchell and I were invited to a strawberry supper at Judge +Lane's. Found General Mitchell and staff, Colonel Kennett, +Lieutenant-Colonel Birdsall, and Captain Loomis, of the army, there. Mr. +and Mrs. Judge Lane, Colonel and Major Davis, and a general, whose name +I can not recall, were the only citizens present. General Mitchell +monopolized the conversation. He was determined to make all understand +that he was the greatest of living soldiers. Had his counsel prevailed, +the Confederacy would have been knocked to pieces long ago. The evening +was a very pleasant one. + +A few days ago we had John Morgan utterly annihilated; but he seems to +have gathered up the dispersed atoms and rebuilt himself. In the +destruction of our supply trains he imagines, doubtless, that he is +inflicting a great injury upon our division; but he is mistaken. The +bread and meat we fail to get from the loyal States are made good to us +from the smoke-houses and granaries of the disloyal. Our boys find +Alabama hams better than Uncle Sam's sidemeat, and fresh bread better +than hard crackers. So that every time this dashing cavalryman destroys +a provision train, their hearts are gladdened, and they shout "Bully for +Morgan!" + +19. Rumor says that Richmond is in the hands of our troops; and from the +same source we learn that a large force of the enemy is between us and +Nashville. Fifteen hundred mounted men were within seventeen miles of +Huntsville yesterday. A regiment with four pieces of artillery, under +command of Colonel Lytle, was sent toward Fayetteville to look after +them. + +20. The busiest time in the Provost Marshal's office is between eight +o'clock in the morning and noon. Then many persons apply for passes to +go outside the lines and for guards to protect property. Others come to +make complaints that houses have been broken open, or that horses, dogs, +and negroes, have strayed away or been stolen. + +23. The men of Huntsville have settled down to a patient endurance of +military rule. They say but little, and treat us with all politeness. +The women, however, are outspoken in their hostility, and marvelously +bitter. A flag of truce came in last night from Chattanooga, and the +bearers were overwhelmed with visits and favors from the ladies. When +they took supper at the Huntsville Hotel, the large dining-room was +crowded with fair faces and bright eyes; but the men prudently held +aloof. + +A day or two ago one of our Confederate prisoners died. The ladies +filled the hearse to overflowing with flowers, and a large number of +them accompanied the soldier to his last resting-place. + +The foolish, yet absolute, devotion of the women to the Southern cause +does much to keep it alive. It encourages, nay forces, the young to +enter the army, and compels them to continue what the more sensible +Southerners know to be a hopeless struggle. But we must not judge these +Huntsville women too harshly. Here are the families of many of the +leading men of Alabama; of generals, colonels, majors, captains, and +lieutenants in the Confederate army; of men, even, who hold cabinet +positions at Richmond, and of many young men who are clerks in the +departments of the rebel Government. Their wives, daughters, sisters, +and sweethearts feel, doubtless, that the honor of these gentlemen, and +possibly their lives, depend upon the success of the Confederacy. + +To-day two young negro men from Jackson county came in with their wives. +They were newly married, and taking their wedding journey. The vision of +a better and higher life had lured them from the old plantation where +they were born. At midnight they had stolen quietly away, plodded many +weary miles on foot, confident that the rainbow and the bag of gold were +in the camp of the Federal army. + +25. This in-door life has made me ill. I am as yellow as an orange. The +doctors say I have the jaundice. + + + + +JUNE, 1862. + + +3. Have requested General Mitchell to relieve me from duty as Provost +Marshal; am now wholly unfit to do business. + +We have heard of the evacuation of Corinth. The simple withdrawal of the +enemy amounts to but little, if anything; he still lives, is organized +and ready to do battle on some other field. + +5. Go home on sick leave. + + * * * * * + +25. There were three little girls on the Louisville packet, about the +age of my own children. They were great romps. I said to one, "what is +your name?" She replied "Pudin' an' tame." So I called her Pudin', and +she became very angry, so angry indeed that she cried. The other little +girls laughed heartily, and called her Pudin' also, and then asked my +name. I answered John Smith; they insisted then that Pudin' was my wife, +and called her Pudin' Smith. This made Pudin' furious, and she abused +her companions and me terribly; but John Smith invested a little money +in cherries, and thus pacified Pudin', and so got to Louisville without +getting his hair pulled. I saw no more of Pudin' until she got off the +cars at Elizabethtown. Going up to her, we shook hands, and I said, +"Good-by, Pudin'." She hung her head for a moment, and tried to look +angry, but finally breaking into a laugh she said, "I don't like you at +all any way, good-by." + +27. Reached Huntsville. The regiment in good condition, boys well; +weather hot. General Buell arrived last night. McCook's Division is +here; Nelson, Crittenden, and Wood on the road hither. + + + + +JULY, 1862. + + +2. We know, or think we know, that a great battle has been fought near +Richmond, but the result for some reason is withheld. We speculate, +talk, and compare notes, but this makes us only the more eager for +definite information. + +I am almost as well as ever, not quite so strong, but a few days will +make me right again. + +3. It is exceedingly dull; we are resting as quietly and leisurely as we +could at home. There are no drills, and no expeditions. The army is +holding its breath in anxiety to hear from Richmond. If McClellan has +been whipped, the country must in time know it; if successful, it would +be rejoiced to hear it. Why, therefore, should the particulars, and even +the result of the fighting, be suppressed. Rumor gives us a thousand +conflicting stories of the battle, but rumor has many tongues and lies +with all. + +General Mitchell departed for Washington yesterday. + +The rebels at Chattanooga claim that McClellan has been terribly +whipped, and fired guns along their whole line, within hearing of our +troops, in honor of the victory. + +A lieutenant of the Nineteenth Illinois, who fell into the enemy's +hands, has just returned on parole, and claims to have seen a dispatch +from the Adjutant-General of the Southern Confederacy, stating that +McClellan had been defeated and his army cut to pieces. He believes it. + +My horse is as fat as a stall-fed ox. He has had a very easy time during +my absence. + +To-morrow is the Fourth, hitherto glorious, but now, like to-day's +meridian sun, clouded, and sending out a somewhat uncertain light. Has +the great experiment failed? Shall we hail the Fourth as the birthday of +a great Nation, or weep over it as the beginning of a political +enterprise which resulted in dissolution, anarchy and ruin? Let us lift +up our eyes and be hopeful. The dawn may be even now breaking. + +The boys propose to have a barbecue to-morrow, and roast a corpulent, +good-natured Ethiopian, named Cæsar. They are now discussing the matter +very voluminously, in Cæsar's presence. He thinks they are probably +joking; but still they seem to be greatly in earnest, and he knows +little of these Yankees, and thinks maybe his "massa tole him de truff +about dem, after all." "The Fourth is a great day," the boys go on to +say, "whereon Yankees always dine on roast nigger. It is a part of their +religion. It is this which makes colored folks so scarce in the North." +Shall Cæsar be stuffed or not? That is really the only question. One +party claims that if Cæsar be stuffed with vegetables and nicely +roasted, he will be delicious. The other party insists that Cæsar is +sufficiently stuffed already; vegetables would not improve him. They +have eaten roast nigger both ways and know. So the discussion waxes hot, +and the dusky Alabamian has some fear, even, that his last day may be +drawing very near. + +4. Thirty-four guns were fired at noon. + +5. An Atlanta paper of the 1st instant says the Confederates have won a +decisive victory at Richmond. No Northern papers have been allowed to +come into camp. + +6. McCook moved toward Chattanooga. General W. S. Smith has command of +our division. + +The boys have a great many game chickens. Not long ago Company G, of the +Third, and Company G, of the Tenth, had a rooster fight, the stakes +being fifteen dollars a side. After numerous attacks, retreats, charges, +and counter-charges, the Tenth rooster succumbed like a hero, and the +other was carried in triumph from the field. General Mitchell made his +appearance near the scene at the conclusion of the conflict; but, +supposing the crowd to be an enthusiastic lot of soldiers who were +cheering him, passed on, well pleased with them and himself. + +The boys have a variety of information from Richmond to-day. One party +affirms that McClellan has been cut to pieces; that a dispatch to that +effect has been received by General Buell. Another insists that he has +obtained a decided advantage, and is heating the shot to burn Richmond; +while still another affirms that he has utterly destroyed Richmond, +and, Marius-like, is sitting amid the ruins of that ill-fated city, +eating sow belly and doe-christers. + +7. Am detailed to serve on court-martial. + + +DETAIL FOR THE COURT. + + General James A. Garfield. + Colonel Jacob Ammen. + Colonel Curren Pope. + Colonel Jones. + Colonel Marc Mundy. + Colonel Sedgewick. + Colonel John Beatty. + +Convened at Athens at ten o'clock this morning. Organized and adjourned +to meet at ten to-morrow. + +General Buell proposes, I understand, to give General Mitchell's +administration of affairs in North Alabama a thorough overhauling. It is +asserted that the latter has been interested in cotton speculations; but +investigation, I am well satisfied, will show that General Mitchell has +been strictly honest, and has done nothing to compromise his honor, or +cast even the slightest shadow upon his good name. + +The first case to be tried is that of Colonel J. B. Turchin, Nineteenth +Illinois. He is charged with permitting his command, the Eighth Brigade, +to steal, rob, and commit all manner of outrages. + +10. Our court has been adjourning from day to day, until Colonel Turchin +should succeed in procuring counsel; but it is now in full blast. + +Nelson's division is quartered here. The town is enveloped in a dense +cloud of dust. + +14. There are many wealthy planters in this section. One of the +witnesses before our court has a cotton crop on hand worth sixty +thousand dollars. Another swears that Turchin's brigade robbed him of +twelve hundred dollars' worth of silver plate. + +Turchin's brigade has stolen a hundred thousand dollars' worth of +watches, plate, and jewelry, in Northern Alabama. Turchin has gone to +one extreme, for war can not justify the gutting of private houses and +the robbery of peaceable citizens, for the benefit of individual +officers or soldiers; but there is another extreme, more amiable and +pleasant to look upon, but not less fatal to the cause. Buell is likely +to go to that. He is inaugurating the dancing-master policy: "By your +leave, my dear sir, we will have a fight; that is, if you are +sufficiently fortified; no hurry; take your own time." To the +bushwhacker: "Am sorry you gentlemen fire at our trains from behind +stumps, logs, and ditches. Had you not better cease this sort of +warfare? Now do, my good fellows, stop, I beg of you." To the citizen +rebel: "You are a chivalrous people; you have been aggravated by the +abolitionists into subscribing cotton to the Southern Confederacy; you +had, of course, a right to dispose of your own property to suit +yourselves, but we prefer that you would, in future, make no more +subscriptions of that kind, and in the meantime we propose to protect +your property and guard your negroes." Turchin's policy is bad enough; +it may indeed be the policy of the devil; but Buell's policy is that of +the amiable idiot. There is a better policy than either. It will +neither steal nor maraud; it will do nothing for the sake of individual +gain, and, on the other hand, it will not crouch to rebels; it will not +fear to hurt the feelings of traitors; it will not fritter away the army +and the revenue of the Government in the insane effort to protect men +who have forfeited all right to protection. The policy we need is one +that will march boldly, defiantly, through the rebel States, indifferent +as to whether this traitor's cotton is safe, or that traitor's negroes +run away; calling things by their right names; crushing those who have +aided and abetted treason, whether in the army or out. In short, we want +an iron policy that will not tolerate treason; that will demand +immediate and unconditional obedience as the price of protection. + +15. The post at Murfreesboro, occupied by two regiments of infantry and +one battery, under Crittenden, of Indiana, has surrendered to the enemy. +A bridge and a portion of the railroad track between this place and +Pulaski have been destroyed. A large rebel force is said to be north of +the Tennessee. It crossed the river at Chattanooga. + +18. The star of the Confederacy appears to be rising, and I doubt not it +will continue to ascend until the rose-water policy now pursued by the +Northern army is superseded by one more determined and vigorous. We +should look more to the interests of the North, and less to those of the +South. We should visit on the aiders, abettors, and supporters of the +Southern army somewhat of the severity which hitherto has been aimed at +that army only. Who are most deserving of our leniency, those who take +arms and go to the field, or those who remain at home, raising corn, +oats, and bacon to subsist them? Plain people, who know little of +constitutional hair-splitting, could decide this question only one way; +but it seems those who have charge of our armies can not decide it in +any sensible way. They say: "You would not disturb peaceable citizens by +levying contributions from them?" Why not? If the husbands, brothers, +and fathers of these people, their natural leaders and guardians, do not +care for them, why should we? If they disregard and trample upon that +law which gave all protection, and plunge the country into war, why +should we be perpetually hindered and thwarted in our efforts to secure +peace by our care for those whom they have abandoned? If we make the +country through which we pass furnish supplies to our army, the +inhabitants will have less to furnish our enemies. The surplus products +of the country should be gathered into the Federal granaries, so that +they could not, by possibility, go to feed the rebels. The loyal and +innocent might occasionally and for the present suffer, but peace when +once established would afford ample opportunity to investigate and repay +these sufferers. Shall we continue to protect the property of our +enemies, and lose the lives of our friends? It is said that it is hard +to deprive men of their horses, cattle, grain, simply because they +differ from us in opinion; but is it not harder still to deprive men of +their lives for the same reason? The opinions from which we differ in +this instance are treasonable. The man who, of his own free will, +supplies the wood is no whit better than he who kindles the fire; and +the man who supplies the ammunition neither better nor worse than he who +does the killing. The severest punishment should be inflicted upon the +soldier who appropriates either private or public property to his own +use; but the Government should lay its mailed hand upon treasonable +communities, and teach them that war is no holiday pastime. + +19. Returned to Huntsville this afternoon; General Garfield with me. He +will visit our quarters to-morrow and dine with us. + +General Rousseau has been assigned to the command of our division. I am +glad to hear that he discards the rose-water policy of General Buell +under his nose, and is a great deal more thorough and severe in his +treatment of rebels than General Mitchell. He sent the Rev. Mr. Ross to +jail to-day for preaching a secession sermon last Sunday. He damns the +rebel sympathizers, and says if the negro stands in the way of the Union +he must get out. Rousseau is a Kentuckian, and it is very encouraging to +learn that he talks as he does. + +Turchin has been made a brigadier. + +21. An order issued late last evening transferring our court from Athens +to Huntsville. + +Colonel Turchin's case is still before us. No official notice of his +promotion has been communicated to the court. + +23. Garfield and Ammen are our guests. They are sitting with Colonel +Keifer, in the open air, in front of our tent. We have eaten supper, and +Colonel Ammen has the floor; he always has it. He is somewhat +superstitious. He never likes to see the moon through brush. He is to +some extent a believer in dreams. On one occasion he dreamed that his +father, who was drowned, came up from the muddy water, looked angrily at +him, and endeavored to stab him with a rusty knife. In his effort to +escape he awoke. Falling to sleep again, his father reappeared and made +a second attempt to stab him. This so thoroughly aroused and troubled +him that he could not sleep. In the morning he told this dream to a +friend, and was informed that two members of his family would soon die. +Soon after he was summoned home, when he found his mother dead and his +sister dying of cholera. At another time he felt a sharp pain in the +back of his neck, and was impressed with the idea that he had been shot. +Soon afterward he learned that his brother in the South had been shot in +the back of the neck and killed. He believes that his own sensation of +pain was experienced at the very instant when his brother received the +fatal wound; but as he could not remember the precise hour when he was +startled by the disagreeable impression, he could not be positive that +the occurrences were simultaneous. When going into battle at Greenbrier +and at Shiloh, the belief that his time to die had not come rendered him +cool and fearless. He never felt more at ease or more secure. So when, +at two different times, he was very ill, and informed that he could not +live through the night, he felt absolutely sure that he would recover. + +Garfield had a very impressionable relative. The night before his fight +with Humphrey Marshall, she wrote a very accurate general description of +the battle, giving the position of the troops; referring to the +reinforcements which came up, and the great shout with which they were +welcomed. + +These mysterious impressions suggested the existence of an undiscovered, +or possibly an undeveloped principle in nature, which time and +investigation would ultimately make familiar. + +Colonel Ammen says, "If superstition, or a belief in the supernatural, +is an indication of weakness, Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott were the +weakest of men." + +With General Garfield I called on General Rousseau this morning. He is a +larger and handsomer man than Mitchell, but I think lacks the latter's +energy, culture, system, and industry. + +24. We can not boast of what is occurring in this department. The tide +seems to have set against us every-where. The week of battles before +Richmond was a week of defeats. I trust the new policy indicated by the +confiscation act, just passed by Congress, will have good effect. It +will, at least, enable us to weaken the enemy, as we have not thus far +done, and strengthen ourselves, as we have hitherto not been able to do. +Slavery is the enemy's weak point, the key to his position. If we can +tear down this institution, the rebels will lose all interest in the +Confederacy, and be too glad to escape with their lives, to be very +particular about what they call their rights. + +Colonel Ammen has just received notice of his confirmation as brigadier. +He is a strange combination of simplicity and wisdom, full of good +stories, and tells those against himself with a great deal more pleasure +than any others. + +Colonels Turchin, Mihalotzy, Gazley, and Captain Edgerton form a group +by the window; all are smoking vigorously, and speculating probably on +the result of the present and prospective trials. Mihalotzy is what is +commonly termed "Dutch;" but whether he is from the German States, +Russia, Prussia, or Poland, I know not. + +Ammen left camp early this morning, saying he would go to town and see +if he could find an idea, he was pretty nearly run out. He talks +incessantly; his narratives abound in episode, parenthesis, switches, +side-cuts, and before he gets through, one will conclude a dozen times +that he has forgotten the tale he entered upon, but he never does. + +Colonel Stanley, Eighteenth Ohio, has just come in. He has in his time +been a grave and reverend senator of Ohio; he never loses sight of this +fact, and never fails to impress it upon those with whom he comes in +contact. + +An order has just been issued, and is now being circulated among the +members of the court, purporting to come from General Ammen, and signed +with his name. It recites the fact of his promotion, and forbids any one +hereafter to call him Uncle Jacob, that title being entirely too +familiar and undignified for one of his rank. All who violate the order +are threatened with the direst punishment. + +The General says if such orders please the court, he will not object to +their being issued; it certainly requires but very little ability to get +them up. + +The General prides himself on what he calls delicate irony. He says, in +the town of Ripley, men who can not manage a dray successfully criticise +the conduct of this and that general with great severity; when they +appeal to him, he tells them quietly he has not the capacity to judge of +such matters; it requires a great mind and a thorough understanding of +all the circumstances. + +After all I have said about General Ammen, it is hardly necessary to +remark that he does most of the talking. + +To-day Garfield and Keifer, who of course entertain the kindliest +feelings, and the greatest respect for the General, in a spirit of fun, +entered into a conspiracy against him. They proposed for one night to do +all the talking themselves, and not allow him to edge in even a word. +After supper Garfield was to commence with the earliest incidents of his +childhood, and without allowing himself to be interrupted, continue +until he had given a complete narrative of his life and adventures; then +Keifer was to strike in and finish up the night. General Ammen was not +to be permitted to open his mouth except to yawn. + +We ate supper and immediately adjourned to the adjoining tent. Before +Garfield was fairly seated on his camp stool, he began to talk with the +easy and deliberate manner of a man who had much to say. He dwelt +eloquently on the minutest details of his early life, as if they were +matters of the utmost importance. Keifer was not only an attentive +listener, but seemed wonderfully interested. Uncle Jacob undertook to +thrust in a word here and there, but Garfield was too much absorbed to +notice him, and so pushed on steadily, warming up as he proceeded. +Unfortunately for his scheme, however, before he had gone far he made a +touching reference to his mother, when Uncle Jacob, gesticulating +energetically, and with his forefinger leveled at the speaker, cried: +"Just a word--just one word right there," and so persisted until +Garfield was compelled either to yield or be absolutely discourteous. +The General, therefore, got in his word; nay, he held the floor for the +remainder of the evening. The conspirators made brave efforts to put him +down and cut him off, but they were unsuccessful. At midnight, when +Keifer and I left, he was still talking; and after we had got into bed, +he, with his suspenders dangling about his legs, thrust his head into +our tent-door, and favored us with the few observations we had lost by +reason of our hasty departure. Keifer turned his face to the wall and +groaned. Poor man! he had been hoisted by his own petard. I think Uncle +Jacob suspected that the young men had set up a job on him. + +The regiment went on a foraging expedition yesterday, under Colonel +Keifer, and was some fifteen miles from Huntsville, in the direction of +the Tennessee river. + +At one o'clock last night our picket was confronted by about one hundred +and fifty of the enemy's cavalry; but no shots were exchanged. + +29. The rebel cavalry were riding in the mountains south of us last +night. A heavy mounted patrol of our troops was making the rounds at +midnight. There was some picket firing along toward morning; but nothing +occurred of importance. + +Our forces are holding the great scope of country between Memphis and +Bridgeport, guarding bridges, railroads, and towns, frittering away the +strength of a great army, and wasting our men by permitting them to be +picked up in detail. In short, we put down from fifty to one hundred, +here and there, at points convenient to the enemy, as bait for them. +They take the bait frequently, and always when they run no risk of being +caught. The climate, and the insane effort to garrison the whole +country, consumes our troops, and we make no progress. May the good Lord +be with us, and deliver us from idleness and imbecility; and especially, +O! Lord, grant a little every-day sense--that very common sense which +plain people use in the management of their business affairs--to the +illustrious generals who have our armies in hand! + +30. We have just concluded Colonel Turchin's case, and forwarded the +proceedings to General Buell. + +General Ammen for many years belonged to a club, the members of which +were required either to sing a song or tell a story. He could not sing, +and, consequently, took to stories, and very few can tell one better. +The General is a member of the Episcopal Church, and, although a pious +man, emphasizes his language occasionally by an oath. When conducting +his brigade from the boat at Pittsburg Landing to position on the field, +he was compelled to pass through the immense crowd of skedaddlers who +had sought shelter under the bluffs from the storm of bullets. A +chaplain of one of the disorganized regiments was haranguing the mob in +what may be termed the whangdoodle style: "Rally, men; rally, and we may +yet be saved. O! rally! For God and your country's sake rally! +R-a-l-l-y! O-h! r-a-l-l-y around the flag of your c-o-w-n-try, my +c-o-wn-tryme-n!" "Shut up, you God damned old fool!" said Ammen, "or +I'll break your head! Get out of the way!" + +General Garfield is lying on the lounge unwell. He has an attack of the +jaundice, and will, I think, start home to-morrow. + +I find an article on the tables of the South, which, with coffee, I like +very much. The wheat dough is rolled very thin, cut in strips the width +of a table-knife, and about as long, baked until well done; if browned, +all the better. They become crisp and brittle, and better than the best +of crackers. + +31. General Ammen is so interesting to me that I can not avoid talking +about him, especially when items are scarce, as they are now. Our court +takes a recess at one, and assembles again at half-past three, giving us +two hours and a half for dinner. To-day the conversation turned on the +various grasses North and South. After the General had described the +peculiar grasses of many sections, he drifted to the people South who +lived on farms, where he had seen a variety of grass unknown in the +North, and the following story was told: + +In the part of Mississippi where he resided for a number of years, there +lived a Northern family named Greenfield. When he was there the farm was +known as the Greenfield farm. It was the peculiar grass on this farm +which suggested the story. The Greenfields were Quakers, originally from +Philadelphia. One of the wealthiest members of the family was a little +weazen-faced old maid, of fifty years or more. Her overseer was a large, +fine looking young man named Roach. After he had been in her service a +year she took a fancy to him, and proposed to give him twenty thousand +dollars if he would marry her. He accepted, and they were duly married. +A year after she grew tired of wedlock, and proposed to give thirty +thousand dollars to be unmarried. He accepted this proposition also. +They united in a petition for a divorce and obtained it. Roach took the +fifty thousand dollars thus made and invested it in the Yazoo country. +The property increased in value rapidly, and he soon became a +millionaire. When General Ammen saw him, he had married again more to +his liking, and was one of the prominent men in his section. + +The farm of the Gillyards lay near that of the Greenfields, and this +suggested another story. A Miss Gillyard was a great heiress; owned +plantations in Mississippi, and an interest in a large estate in South +Carolina. A doctor of prepossessing appearance came from the latter +State, and commenced practice in the neighborhood, and an acquaintance +of a few months resulted in a marriage. After living together a year +very happily, they started on a visit to South Carolina; she to visit +relatives and look after her interest in the estate mentioned, and he to +see his friends. On the way it was agreed that he should attend to his +wife's business, and so full power to sell or dispose of the property, +or her interest therein, was given him. At Charleston she was met by the +relatives with whom she was to remain, while the Doctor proceeded to a +different part of the State to see his friends, and afterward attend to +business. When about to separate, like a jolly soul, he proposed that +they should drink to each other's health during the separation. The wine +was produced; they touched glasses, and raised them to their lips, when +the door opened suddenly and the Doctor was called. Setting his wine on +the table, he stepped out of the room, and the wife, more affectionate, +possibly, than most women, took the glass which his lips had touched and +put her own in its place. The husband reappeared shortly, and they drank +off the wine. In an hour he was dead, and she in the deepest affliction. +After she had recovered somewhat from the shock, she left Charleston to +visit his people. She found them poor, and that he had a wife and three +children. The truth then broke in upon her; he had drank the wine +prepared for her. + +This story suggested one involving some of Miss Gillyard's relations. + +Two lady cousins resided in the same town. The father of one had amassed +a handsome fortune in the tailoring business. The father of the other +had been a saddler, and, carrying on the business extensively, had also +become wealthy. The descendant of the saddler would refer to her +cousin's father as the tailor, and intimate that his calling was +certainly not that of a gentleman. The other hearing of this, and +meeting her one evening at a large party, said: "Cousin Julia, I hear +that you have said my father was nothing but a tailor. Now, this is +true; he was a tailor, and a very good one, too. By his industry and +judgment he made a large fortune, which I am enjoying. I respect him; am +grateful, and not ashamed of him, if he was a tailor. Your father was a +saddler, and a very good one. He, by industry and good management, +accumulated great wealth, which you are enjoying. I see no reason, +therefore, why we should not both be proud of our fathers, and I +certainly can see no reason why a man-tailor should not be just as good +as a horse-tailor." + + + + +AUGUST, 1862. + + +1. The Judge-Advocate, Captain Swayne, was unwell this morning. The +court, therefore, took a recess until three o'clock. Captain Edgerton's +case was disposed of last evening. Colonel Mihalotzy's will come before +us to-day. A court-martial proceeds always with due respect to red tape. +The questions to witnesses are written out; the answers are written +down; the statement of the accused is in writing, and the defense of the +accused's counsel is written; so that the court snaps its fingers at +time, as if it were of no consequence, and seven men, against whom there +are no charges, are likely to spend their natural lives in investigating +seven men, more or less, against whom there are charges. It is thus the +rebels are being subjugated, the Union re-united, the Constitution and +the laws enforced. + +3. Among the curiosities in camp are two young coons and a pet opossum. +The latter is the property of Augustus Cæsar, the esquire of Adjutant +Wilson. Cæsar restrains the opossum with a string, and looks forward +with great pleasure to the time when he will be fat enough to eat. The +coons are just now playing on the wild cherry tree in front of my tent, +and several colored boys are watching them with great interest. One of +these, a native Alabamian, tells me "de coon am a great fiter; he can +wip a dog berry often; but de possum can wip de coon, for he jist takes +one holt on de coon, goes to sleep, an' nebber lets go; de coon he +scratch an' bite, but de possum he nebber min'; he keeps his holt, shuts +his eyes, and bimeby de coon he knocks under. De she coon am savager dan +de he coon. I climbed a tree onct, an' de she coon come out ob her hole +mitey savage, an' I leg go, an' tumbled down to de groun', and like ter +busted my head. De she coon am berry savage. De possum can't run berry +fast, but de coon can run faster'n a dog. You can tote a possum, but you +can't tote a coon, he scratch an' bite so." + +The gentlemen of the South have a great fondness for jewelry, canes, +cigars, and dogs. Out of forty white men thirty-nine, at least, will +have canes, and on Sunday the fortieth will have one also. White men +rarely work here. There are, it is true, tailors, merchants, saddlers, +and jewelers, but the whites never drive teams, work in the fields, or +engage in what may be termed rough work. + +Judging from the number of stores and present stocks, Huntsville, in the +better times, does a heavier retail jewelry business than Cleveland or +Columbus. Every planter, and every wealthy or even well-to-do man, has +plate. Diamonds, rings, gold watches, chains, and bracelets are to be +found in every family. The negroes buy large amounts of cheap jewelry, +and the trade in this branch is enormous. One may walk a whole day in a +Northern city without seeing a ruffled shirt. Here they are very common. + +The case of Colonel Mihalotzy was concluded to-day. + +5. General Ammen was a teacher for years at West Point, at Natchez, +Mississippi, in Kentucky, Indiana, and recently at Ripley, Ohio. He has +devoted particular attention to the education of children, and has no +confidence in the usual mode of teaching them. He labors to strengthen +or cultivate, first: _attention_, and to this end never allows their +interest in anything to flag; whenever he discovers that their minds +have become weary of a subject, he takes the book from them and turns +their thought in a new direction. Nor does he allow their attention to +be divided between two or three objects at the same time. By his method +they acquire the power to concentrate their whole mind upon a given +subject. The next thing to be cultivated is _observation_; teach them to +notice whatever may be around, and describe it. What did you see when +you came up street? The child may answer a pig. What is a pig, how did +it look, describe it. Saw a man, did you? Was he large or small? How was +he dressed? A room? What is a room? Thus will they be taught to observe +everything, and to talk about what they observe, and learn not only to +think but to express their thoughts. He often amuses them by what he +terms opposites. To illustrate: He will say "black," the child will +answer "white." Long, short; good, bad; heavy, light; dark, light. +"What kind of light," he will ask, "is that kind which is the opposite +of heavy?" Here is a puzzle for them. Next in importance to observation, +and to be strengthened at the same time, is the _memory_. They are +required to learn little pieces; short stories perhaps, or songs that +their minds can comprehend; not too long, for neither the memory nor the +attention should be overtaxed. + +7. As General Ammen and I were returning to camp this evening, we were +joined by Colonel Fry, of General Buell's staff, who informed us that +General Robert McCook was murdered, near Winchester, yesterday, by a +small band of guerrillas. McCook was unwell, riding in an ambulance some +distance in advance of the column; while stopping in front of a +farm-house to make some enquiry, the guerrillas made a sudden dash, the +escort fled, and McCook was killed while lying in the ambulance +defenseless. When the Dutchmen of his old regiment learned of the +unfortunate occurrence they became uncontrollable, and destroyed the +buildings and property on five plantations near the scene of the murder. +McCook had recently been promoted for gallantry at Mill Springs. He was +a brave, bluff, talented man, and his loss will be sorely felt. + +Captain Mitchell started home in charge of a recruiting party this +morning. I am anxious to fill the regiment to a thousand strong. + +8. General Ammen was at Buell's quarters this evening, and ascertains +that hot work is expected soon. The enemy is concentrating a heavy +force between Bridgeport and Chattanooga. + +The night is exceedingly beautiful; our camp lies at the foot of a low +range of mountains called the Montesano; the sky seems supported by +them. A cavalry patrol is just coming down the road, on its return to +camp, and the men are singing: + + "An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain, + Oh! give me my lowly thatched cottage again; + The birds singing gayly, that came at my call, + Give me them, with the peace of mind dearer than all. + Home, home, sweet home, there is no place like home; + There is no place like home." + +9. I have sometimes wondered how unimportant occurrences could suggest +so much, but the faculty of association brings similar things before the +mind, and a thousand collateral subjects as well. The band of the Tenth +Ohio is playing. Where, and under what circumstances, have I heard other +bands? The question carries my thoughts into half the States of the +Union, into a multitude of places, into an innumerable variety of +scenes--faces, conversations, theatres, balls, speeches, songs--the +chain is endless, and it might be followed for a lifetime. + +10. The enemy, a thousand strong, is said to be within five miles of us. +One hundred and sixty-five men of the Third, under Major Lawson, and +five companies of cavalry, the whole commanded by Colonel Kennett, left +at two o'clock to reconnoiter the front; they will probably go to the +river unless the enemy is met on the way. + +A negro came in about four o'clock to report that the enemy's pickets +were at his master's house, five miles from here, at the foot of the +other slope of the mountain. He was such an ignorant fellow that his +report was hardly intelligible. We sent him back, telling him to bring +us more definite information. He was a field hand, bare-footed, +horny-handed, and very black, but he knew all about "de mountings; dey +can't kotch him nohow. If de sesesh am at Massa Bob's when I git back, I +come to-night an' tell yer all." With these words, this poor proprietor +of a dilapidated pair of pants and shirt, started over the mountains. +What are his thoughts about the war, and its probable effects on his own +fortunes, as he trudges along over the hills? Is it the desire for +freedom, or the dislike for his overseer, that prompts him to run five +miles of a Sunday to give this information? Possibly both. + +Cæsar said to the Adjutant, "Massa Wilson, may I go to church?" "What do +you want to go church for, Cæsar?" "To hear de Gospel." One day Cæsar +said to me, "Co'nel, you belongs to de meetin don't you?" "Why so, +Cæsar?" "Kase I nebber heard you swar any." + +To-day one of the pet coons got after a chicken. A young half-naked +negro took after the coon; and a long and crooked chase the chicken, +coon, and negro had of it. + +12. At five o'clock the members of the court met to say good-by, and +drink a dozen bottles of Scotch ale at General Ammen's expense. This was +quite a spree for the General, and quite his own spree. It was a big +thing, equal almost to the battle of "Shealoh." They were pint bottles, +and the General would persist in acting upon the theory that one bottle +would fill all our glasses. Seeing the glasses empty he would call for +another bottle, and say to us, "Gentlemen, I have ordered another +bottle." The General evidently drinks, when he imbibes at all, simply to +be social, and a thimble-full would answer his purpose as well as a +barrel. + +The court called on General Buell; he is cold, smooth-toned, silent, the +opposite of Nelson, who is ardent, loud-mouthed, and violent. + +17. Colonel Keifer has just received a telegram informing him that he +has been appointed Colonel of the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio. I regret +his departure too much to rejoice over his promotion. He has been a +faithful officer, always prompt and cheerful; much better qualified to +command the regiment than its Colonel. + +Watermelons, peaches, nectarines, are abundant. Peaches thrive better in +this climate than apples. I have eaten almost the whole of a watermelon +to-day, and am somewhat satiated. The melon had a cross (+) on the rind. +I enquired of the negro who brought it in, what the mark meant, and he +replied, "de patch war owned principally by a good many niggars, sah, +an' dey dewided dem afore day got ripe, an' put de mark on de rine, to +show dat de p'tic'lar melon belonged to a p'tic'lar niggar, sah." + +Governor Tod is damaging the old regiments by injudicious promotions. He +does in some instances, it is true, reward faithful soldiers; but often +complaining, unwilling, incompetent fellows are promoted, who get upon +the sick list to avoid duty; lay upon their backs when they should be on +their feet, and are carousing when they should be asleep. On the march, +instead of pushing along resolutely at the head of their command, they +fall back and get into an ambulance. The troops have no confidence in +them; their presence renders a whole company worthless, and this company +contributes greatly to the demoralization of a regiment. + +22. A little vine has crept into my tent and put out a handsome flower. + +General Buell and staff, with bag and baggage, left this morning. + +25. Ordered to move. + +29. We are at Decherd, Tennessee. I am weak, discouraged, and worn out +with idleness. + +The negroes are busily engaged throwing up earth works and building +stockades. To-night, as they were in line, I stopped a moment to hear +the sergeant call the roll, "Scipio McDonald." "Here I is, sah." +"Cæsar--Cæsar McDonald." "Cæsar was 'sleep las' I saw ob him, sah." +These negroes take the family name of their masters. + +The whole army is concentrated here, or near here; but nobody knows +anything, except that the water is bad, whisky scarce, dust abundant, +and the air loaded with the scent and melody of a thousand mules. These +long-eared creatures give us every variety of sound of which they are +capable, from the deep bass bray to the most attenuated whinny. + +The Thirty-third Ohio was shelled out of its fortifications at Battle +creek yesterday. Colonel Moore is in the adjoining tent, giving an +account of his trials and tribulations to Shanks of the New York Herald. + +Fifty of the Third, under Lieutenant Carpenter, went to Stevenson +yesterday; on their return they were fired upon by guerrillas. Jack +Boston shot a man and captured a horse. + + + + +SEPTEMBER, 1862. + + +4. Army has fallen back to Murfreesboro. + +5. At Nashville. + +6. To-night we cross the Cumberland. + +7. Bivouacked in Edgefield, at the north end of the railroad bridge. +Troops pouring over the bridge and pushing North rapidly. One of Loomis' +men was shot dead last night while attempting to run by a sentinel. + +10. The moving army with its immense transportation train, raises such a +cloud of dust that it is impossible to see fifty yards ahead. + +11. Arrived at Bowling Green. The two armies are running a race for the +Ohio river. At this time Bragg has the lead. + + + + +OCTOBER, 1862. + + +3. At Taylorsville, Kentucky. Our first day's march out of Louisville +was disagreeable beyond precedent. The boys had been full of whisky for +three days, and fell out of the ranks by scores. The road for sixteen +miles was lined with stragglers. The new men bore the march badly. Rain +fell yesterday afternoon and during the night; I awoke at three o'clock +this morning to find myself lying in a puddle of water. A soldier of +Captain Rossman's company was wrestling with another, and being thrown, +died almost instantly from the effect of the fall. + +4. At Bloomfield. Shelled the rebels out of the woods in which we are +now bivouacking, and picked up a few prisoners. The greater part of the +rebel army is, we are told, at Bardstown--twelve miles away. + +5. Still at Bloomfield, in readiness to move at a moment's notice. + +7. Moved to Maxville, and bivouacked for the night. + + +PERRYVILLE. + +8. Started in the early morning toward Perryville. The occasional boom +of guns at the front notified us that the enemy was not far distant. A +little later the rattle of musketry mingled with the roar of artillery, +and we knew the vanguard was having lively work. The boys marched well +and were in high spirits; the long-looked for battle appeared really +near, and that old notion that the Third was fated never to see a fight +seemed now likely to be exploded. At ten o'clock we were hastened +forward and placed in battle line on the left of the Maxville and +Perryville road; the cavalry in our front appeared to be seriously +engaged, and every eye peered eagerly through the woods to catch a +glimpse of the enemy. But in a little while the firing ceased, and with +a feeling of disappointment the boys lounged about on the ground and +logs awaiting further orders. + +They came very soon. At 11 A. M. the Third was directed to take the head +of the column and move forward. We anticipated no danger, for Rousseau +and his staff were in advance of us, followed by Lytle and his staff. +The regiment was marching by the flank, and had proceeded to the brow of +the hill overlooking a branch of the Chaplin river, and was about to +descend into the valley, when the enemy's artillery opened in front with +great fury. Rousseau and his staff wheeled suddenly out of the road to +the left, accompanied by Lytle. After a moment spent by them in +consultation, I was ordered to countermarch my regiment to the bottom of +the hill we had just ascended, and file off to the right of the road. + +Loomis' and Simonson's Batteries were soon put in position, and began +to reply to the enemy. A furious interchange of shell and solid shot +occurred, but after a little while our batteries ceased firing, and we +had comparative silence. + +About 2 o'clock the rebel infantry was seen advancing across the valley, +and I ordered the Third to ascend the hill and take position on the +crest. The enemy's batteries now reopened with redoubled fury, and the +air seemed filled with shot and exploding shells. Finding the rebels +were still too far away to make our muskets effective, I ordered the +boys to lie down and await their nearer approach. They advanced under +cover of a house on the side hill, and having reached a point one +hundred and fifty yards distant, deployed behind a stone fence which was +hidden from us by standing corn. At this time the left of my regiment +rested on the Maxville and Perryville road; the line extending along the +crest of the hill, and the right passing somewhat behind a barn filled +with hay. In this position, with the enemy's batteries pouring upon us a +most destructive fire, the Third arose and delivered its first volley. +For a time, I do not know how long thereafter, it seemed as if all hell +had broken loose; the air was filled with hissing balls; shells were +exploding continuously, and the noise of the guns was deafening; finally +the barn on the right took fire, and the flames bursting from roof, +windows, doors, and interstices between the logs, threw the right of the +regiment into disorder; the confusion, however, was but temporary. The +boys closed up to the left, steadied themselves on the colors, and stood +bravely to the work. Nearly two hundred of my five hundred men now lay +dead and wounded on the little strip of ground over which we fought. + +Colonel Curren Pope, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, whose regiment was being +held in reserve at the bottom of the hill, had already twice requested +me to retire my men and allow him to take the position. Finding now that +our ammunition was exhausted, I sent him notice, and as his regiment +marched to the crest the Third was withdrawn in as perfect order, I +think, as it ever moved from the drill-ground. The Fifteenth made a +gallant fight, and lost heavily both in officers and men; in fact, the +Lieutenant-Colonel and Major fell mortally wounded while it was moving +into position. Colonel Pope was also wounded, but not so seriously as to +prevent his continuing in command. The enemy getting now upon its right +and rear, the regiment was compelled to retire from the crest. + +After consultation with Colonel Pope, it was determined to move our +regiments to the left, and form a line perpendicular to the one +originally taken, and thus give protection to the rear and right of the +troops on our left. The enemy observing this movement, and accepting it +as an indication of withdrawal, advanced rapidly toward us, when I about +faced my regiment, and ordered the men to fix bayonets and move forward +to meet him; but before we had proceeded many yards, I was overtaken by +Lieutenant Grover, of Colonel Lytle's staff, with an order to retire. + +Turning into a ravine a few rods distant, we found an ammunition wagon, +and, under a dropping fire from the enemy, refilled our empty cartridge +boxes. Ascertaining while here that Colonel Lytle was certainly wounded, +and probably killed, I reported at once for duty to Colonel Len. Harris, +commanding Ninth Brigade of our division; but night soon thereafter put +an end to the engagement. + +We bivouacked in a corn-field. The regiment had grown suddenly small. It +was a sorry night for us indeed. Every company had its long list of +killed, wounded, and missing. Over two hundred were gone. Nearly two +hundred, we felt quite sure, had fallen dead or disabled on the field. +Many eyes were in tears, and many hearts were bleeding for lost comrades +and dear friends. General Rousseau rides up in the darkness, and, as we +gather around him, says, in a voice tremulous with emotion: "Boys of the +Third, you stood in that withering fire like men of iron." They did. + +They are thirsty and hungry. Few, however, think either of food or +water. Their thoughts are on the crest of that little hill, where +Cunard, McDougal, St. John, Starr, and scores of others lie cold in +death. They think of the wounded and suffering, and speak to each other +of the terrible ordeal through which they have passed, with bated breath +and in solemn tones, as if a laugh, or jest, or frivolous word, would be +an insult to the slain. + +They have long sought for a battle, and often been disappointed and sore +because they failed to find one; but now, for the first time, they +really realize what a battle is. They see it is to men what an arctic +wind is to autumn leaves, and are astonished to find that any have +outlived the furious storm of deadly missiles. + +The enemy is in the woods before us, and as the sentinels occasionally +exchange shots, we can see the flash of their guns and hear the whistle +of bullets above our heads. The two armies are too near to sleep +comfortably, or even safely, so the boys cling to their muskets and keep +ready for action. It is a long night, but it finally comes to an end. + +9. The enemy has disappeared, and we go to the hill where our fight +occurred. Within the compass of a few rods we find a hundred men of the +Third and Fifteenth lying stiff and cold. Beside these there are many +wounded, whom we pick up tenderly, carry off and provide for. Men are +already digging trenches, and in a little while the dead are gathered +together for interment. We have looked upon such scenes before; but then +the faces were strange to us. Now they are the familiar faces of +intimate personal friends, to whom we are indebted for many kindly acts. +We hear convulsive sobs, see eyes swollen and streaming with tears, and +as our fallen comrades are deposited in their narrow grave, the lines of +Wolfe recur to us: + + "No useless coffin inclosed his breast; + Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him, + But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, + With his martial cloak around him. + + * * * * * + + Slowly and sadly we laid him down + From the field of his fame fresh and gory; + We carved not a line, we raised not a stone, + But left him alone with his glory." + +13. We are in a field near Harrodsburg. Moved yesterday from Perryville. +We are without tents. Rain is falling, and the men uncomfortable. + +Many, perhaps most, of the boys of the regiment disliked me thoroughly. +They thought me too strict, too rigid in the enforcement of orders; but +now they are, without exception, my fast friends. During the battle of +Chaplin Hills, while the enemy's artillery was playing upon us with +terrible effect, I ordered them to lie down. The shot, shell, and +canister came thick as hail, hissing, exploding, and tearing up the +ground around us. There was a universal cry from the boys that I should +lie down also; but I continued to walk up and down the line, watching +the approaching enemy, and replied to their entreaties, "No; it is my +time to stand guard now, and I will not lie down." + +Meeting Captain Loomis yesterday, he said: "Do you know you captured a +regiment at Chaplin Hills?" "I do not." "Yes, you captured the Third. +You have not a man now who wouldn't die for you." + +I have been too much occupied of late to record even the most +interesting and important events. I should like to preserve the names of +the private soldiers who behaved like heroes in the battle; but I have +only time to mention the fact that our colors changed hands seven times +during the engagement. Six of our color bearers were either killed or +wounded, and as the sixth man was falling, a soldier of Company C, named +David C. Walker, a boyish fellow, whose cheeks were ruddy as a girl's, +and who had lost his hat in the fight, sprang forward, caught the +falling flag, then stepping out in front of the regiment, waved it +triumphantly, and carried it to the end of the battle. + +On the next morning I made him color bearer, and undertook to thank him +for his gallantry, but my eyes filled and voice choked, and I was unable +to articulate a word. He understood me, doubtless. + +If it had not been for McCook's foolish haste, it is more than probable +that Bragg would have been most thoroughly whipped and utterly routed. +As it was, two or three divisions had to contend for half a day with one +of the largest and best disciplined of the Confederate armies, and that, +too, when our troops in force were lying but a few miles in the rear, +ready and eager to be led into the engagement. The whole affair is a +mystery to me. McCook is, doubtless, to blame for being hasty; but may +not Buell be censurable for being slow? And may it not be true that this +butchery of men has resulted from the petty jealousies existing between +the commanders of different army corps and divisions? + +19. Encamped in a broken, hilly field, five miles south of Crab Orchard. +From Perryville to this place, there has been each day occasional +cannonading; but this morning I have heard no guns. The Cumberland +mountains are in sight. We are pushing forward as fast probably as it is +possible for a great army to move. Buell is here superintending the +movement. + +24. In the woods near Lebanon, and still without tents. Bragg has left +Kentucky, and is thought to be hastening toward Nashville. We shall +follow him. Having now twice traveled the road, the march is likely to +prove tedious and uninteresting. The army has been marching almost +constantly for two months, and bivouacking at night with an +insufficiency of clothing. + +The troops are lying in an immense grove of large beech. We have had +supper, and a very good one, by the way: pickled salmon, currant jelly, +fried ham, butter, coffee, and crackers. It is now long after nightfall, +and the forest is aglow with a thousand camp-fires. The hum of ten +thousand voices strikes the ear like the roar of a distant sea. A band +away off to the right is mingling its music with the noise, and a mule +now and then breaks in with a voice not governed by any rules of melody +known to man. + + + + +NOVEMBER, 1862. + + +9. In camp at Sinking Spring, Kentucky. Thomas commands the Fourteenth +Army Corps, consisting of Rousseau's, Palmer's, Dumont's, Negley's, and +Fry's divisions; say 40,000 men. McCook has Sill's, Jeff C. Davis', and +Granger's; say 24,000. Crittenden has three divisions, say 24,000. A +large army, which ought to sweep to Mobile without difficulty. + +Sinking Spring, as it is called by some, Mill Spring by others, and by +still others Lost river, is quite a large stream. It rises from the +ground, runs forty rods or more, enters a cave, and is lost. The wreck +of an old mill stands on its banks. Bowling Green is three miles +southward. + +When we get a little further south, we shall find at this season of the +year persimmons and opossums in abundance. Jack says: "Possum am better +dan chicken. In de fall we hunt de possum ebbery night 'cept Sunday. He +am mitey good an' fat, sah; sometimes he too fat." + +We move at ten o'clock to-morrow. + +11. We have settled down at Mitchellville for a few days. After dinner +Furay and I rode six miles beyond this, on the road to Nashville, to the +house of a Union farmer whose acquaintance I made last spring. The old +gentleman was very glad to see us, and insisted upon our remaining until +after supper. In fact, he urged us to stay all night; but we consented +to remain for supper only, and would not allow him to put our horses in +the stable. + +We learned that a little over a week ago the rebels endeavored to +enforce the conscription law in this neighborhood, and one of Mr. +Baily's sons was notified to appear at Gallatin to enter the Southern +army. He was informed that if he did not appear voluntarily at the +appointed time, he would be taken, either dead or alive. He did not go, +and since has been constantly on the watch, expecting the guerrilla +bands, which rendezvous at Tyree Springs, ten miles distant, to come for +the purpose of taking him away. When, therefore, he saw Furay and me +galloping up to the house, he mounted his horse and rode for the woods +as fast as his steed could carry him. After we had been there half an +hour, he returned, and, while shaking hands with us, said: "You scared +me out of a full year's growth." + +Morgan, with a force, the strength of which is variously estimated, +passed near this a few days ago. Many of Mr. Baily's neighbors are +members of the guerrilla bands, and all of them willing spies and +informers. + +We had a splendid supper: chicken, pork, ham, milk, pumpkin pie; in +short, there was every thing on the table that a hungry man could +desire. + +I had introduced Mr. Furay as the correspondent of the Cincinnati +Gazette; but the good folks, not understanding this long title exactly, +dubbed him Doctor. There were three strapping girls in the family, who +did not make their appearance until they had taken time to put on their +Sunday clothes. To one of these the Doctor paid special attention, and +finally won his way so far into her good favor as to induce her to play +him a tune on the dulcimer, an abominable instrument, which she pounded +with two little sticks. The Doctor declared that the music was +good--excellent--charming. He now attempts to get out of this outrageous +falsehood by affirming that he referred simply to the air--the tune--and +not to the manner in which it was executed by the young lady. This, +however, is a mere quibble. + +It was quite dark when we said good-by to this kind-hearted, excellent +family, and started on our way back to camp. The woods were on fire for +miles along the road. Many fences and farm buildings had caught. One +large house tumbled in as we were passing, and the fences, +out-buildings, and trees were all enveloped in flames. While riding +slowly forward, and looking back upon the dense cloud of smoke, the +flames stretching as far almost as the eye could reach, the dry trees +standing up like immense pillars of fire, we were startled not a little +by the sentinel's challenge, "Halt!" There had been no pickets on the +road when we were going out, and we were, therefore, uncertain whether +the challenge came from our own men or those of John Morgan. "Who comes +there?" continued the sentinel. "Friends." "Advance friends, and give +the countersign." Going up to the sentinel, I told him who we were, and +that we had not the countersign. After a little delay, the officer of +the guard came and allowed us to proceed. + +12. To-day farmer Baily came to see us. I sent his good wife a haversack +of coffee, to remunerate her somewhat for the excellent dinner she had +given us. He urged us to come again, and said they would have a turkey +prepared for us this afternoon; but I declined with thanks. + +15. At eight o'clock to-morrow morning we shall move to Tyree Springs, a +little village situated in the heart of a wild, broken tract of country, +which, of late, has been a favorite rendezvous for guerrillas and +highwaymen. Citizens and soldiers traveling to and from Nashville, +during the last two months, have, at or near this place, been compelled +to empty their pockets, and when their clothes were better than those of +their captors, have been compelled to spare them also. + +We have no certain information as to the enemy's whereabouts. One rumor +says he is at Lavergne, another locates him at Murfreesboro, and still +another puts him at Chattanooga. General Rosecrans is now in command, +and, urged on by the desires of the North, may follow him to the latter +place this winter. A man from whom the people are each day expecting +some extraordinary action, some tremendous battle, in which the enemy +shall be annihilated, is unfortunately situated, and likely very soon to +become unpopular. It takes two to make a fight, as it does to make a +bargain. General John Pope is the only warrior of modern times who can +find a battle whenever he wants to, and take any number of prisoners his +heart desires. Even his brilliant achievements, however, afford the +people but temporary satisfaction, for, upon investigation, they are +unable to find either the captives or the discomfited hosts. + +I predict that in twelve months Rosecrans will be as unpopular as Buell. +After the affair at Rich mountain, the former was a great favorite. When +placed in command of the forces in Western Virginia, the people expected +hourly to hear of Floyd's destruction; but after a whole summer was +spent in the vain endeavor to chase down the enemy and bring him to +battle, they began to abuse Rosecrans, and he finally left that +department, much as Buell has left this. Our generals should, +undoubtedly, do more, but our people should certainly expect less. + +19. At Tyree Springs. Am the presiding officer of a court-martial. + +The supplies for the great army at Nashville and beyond, are wagoned +over this road from Mitchellville to Edgefield Junction. Immense trains +are passing continually. + +20. General Bob Mitchell dined with me to-day. He is on the way to +Nashville. Blows his own trumpet, as of old, and expects that a division +will be given him. + +30. This is a delightful Indian summer day. I have been in the forest, +under the persimmon and butternut trees. It is the first ramble I have +had at this season for years, and I thought of the many quiet places in +the thick woods of the old homestead, where long ago I hunted for +hickory-nuts and walnuts; then of its hazel thickets, through which were +scattered the wild plum, black-haw, and thorn-apple--perfect solitudes, +in which the squirrels and birds had the happiest of times. How pleasant +it is to recur to those days; and how well I remember every path through +the dense woods, and every little open grassy plot, made brilliant by +the summer sunshine. + + + + +DECEMBER, 1862. + + +2. We move to-morrow, at six o'clock in the morning, to Nashville. + +9. Nashville. Every thing indicates an early movement. Whether a +reconnoissance is intended or a permanent advance, I do not even +undertake to guess. The capture of a brigade, at Hartsville, by John +Morgan, has awakened the army into something like life; before it was +idly awaiting the rise of the Cumberland, but this bold dash of the +rebels has made it bristle up like an angry boar; and this morning, I am +told, it starts out to show its tusks to the enemy. Our division has +been ordered to be in readiness. + +The kind of weather we desire now, is that which is generally considered +the most disagreeable, namely, a long rain; two weeks of rain-fall is +necessary to make the Cumberland navigable, and thus ensure to us +abundant supplies. + +The whole army feels deeply mortified over the loss of the brigade at +Hartsville; report says it was captured by an inferior force. One of our +regiments did not fire a gun, and certainly the other two could not have +made a very obstinate resistance. I am glad Ohio does not have to bear +the whole blame; two-thirds is rather too much. + +10. During all of the latter part of last night troops were pouring +through Nashville, and going southward. Our division, Rousseau's, moved +three miles beyond the city, and went into camp on the Franklin road. + +14. Our court has been holding its sessions in the city, but to-day it +adjourned to meet at division head-quarters to-morrow at ten o'clock A. +M. + +The most interesting character of our court-martial is Colonel H. C. +Hobart, of the Twenty-first Wisconsin; a gentleman who has held many +important public positions in his own State, and whose knowledge of the +law, fondness for debate, obstinacy in the maintenance of his opinions, +love of fun, and kind-heartedness, are immense. He makes use of the +phrase, "in my country," when he refers to any thing which has taken +place in Wisconsin; from this we infer that he is a foreigner, and +pretend to regard him as a savage from the great West. He has, +therefore, been dubbed Chief of the Wisconsins. The court occasionally +becomes exceedingly mellow of an evening, and then the favorite theme is +the "injin." Such horrible practices as dog eating and cannibalism are +imputed to the Chief. To-night we visited the theater to witness +Ingomar. On returning to our room at Bassay's restaurant, the members +took solemn Irish oaths that the man with the sheep-skin on his back, +purporting to be Ingomar, was no other than Hobart, the Wisconsin +savage; and the supposition that such an individual could ever reform, +and become fitted for civilized society, was a monstrous fiction, too +improbable even for the stage. + +It should not be presumed from this, however, that the subject of our +raillery holds his tongue all the time. On the contrary, he expresses +the liveliest contempt for the opinions of his colleagues of the +court-martial, and professes to think if it were not for the aid which +the Nation receives from his countrymen, the Wisconsins, the effort to +restore the Union would be an utter failure. + +Bassay's restaurant is a famous resort for military gentlemen. +Major-General Hamilton just now took dinner; Major-General Lew Wallace, +Brigadier-Generals Tyler and Schoepf, and Major Donn Piatt occupy rooms +on the floor above us, and take their meals here; so that we move in the +vicinity of the most illustrious of men. We are hardly prepared now to +say that we are on intimate terms with the gentlemen who bear these +historic names; but we are at least allowed to look at them from a +respectful distance. A few years hence, when they are so far away as to +make contradiction improbable, if not impossible, we may claim to have +been their boon companions, and to have drank and played whist with them +in the most genial and friendly way. + +16. This afternoon Negley sent over a request for help, stating that his +forage train had been attacked. The alarm, however, proved groundless. A +few shots only had been fired at the foragers. + +17. The news from Fredericksburg has cast a shadow over the army. We +did hope that Burnside would be successful, and thus brighten the +prospect for a speedy peace; but we are in deeper gloom now than ever. +The repulse at Fredericksburg, while it has disabled thousands, has +disheartened, if not demoralized a great army, and given confidence and +strength to the rebels every-where. It may be, however, that this defeat +was necessary to bring us clearly to the point of extinguishing slavery +in all the States. The time is near when the strength of the President's +resolution in this regard will be put to the test. I trust he will be +firm. The mere reconstruction of the Union on the old basis would not +pay humanity for all the blood shed since the war began. The extinction +of slavery, perhaps, will. + +While the North raises immense numbers of men, and scatters them to the +four winds, the enemy concentrates, fortifies, and awaits attack. Will +the man ever come to consolidate these innumerable detachments of the +National army, and then sweep through the Confederacy like a tornado? + +It is said that many regiments in the Eastern army number less than one +hundred men, and yet have a full complement of field and company +officers. This is ridiculous; nay, it is an outrage upon the tax-payers +of the North. Worse still, so long as such a skeleton is called a +regiment, it is likely to bring discredit upon the State and Nation; for +how can it perform the work of a regiment when it has but one-tenth of a +regiment's strength? These regiments should be consolidated, and the +superfluous officers either sent home or put into the ranks. + +20. This morning, at one o'clock, we were ordered to hold ourselves in +readiness to march at a moment's notice, with five days' rations. Court +has adjourned to meet at nine o'clock A. M. Monday. It is disposing of +cases quite rapidly, and I think next week, if there be no +interruptions, it will be able to clear the docket. + +A brigade, which went out with a forage train yesterday, captured a +Confederate lieutenant at a private house. He was engaged at the moment +of his capture in writing a letter to his sweetheart. The letter was +headed Nashville, and he was evidently intent upon deceiving his +lady-love into the belief that he had penetrated the Yankee lines, and +was surrounded by foes. Had the letter reached her fair hands, what +earnest prayers would have gone up for the succor of this bold and +reckless youth. + +There was a meeting of the generals yesterday, but for what purpose they +only know. + +21. The dispatches from Indianapolis speak of the probable promotion of +Colonel Jones, Forty-second Indiana. This seems like a joke to those who +know him. He can not manage a regiment, and not even his best friends +have any confidence in his military capacity. In Indiana, however, they +promote every body to brigadierships. Sol Meredith, who went into the +service long after the war began, and who, in drilling his regiment, +would say: "Battalion, right or left face, as the case may be, march," +was made a brigadier some time ago. Milroy, Crittenden, and many others +were promoted for inconsiderable services in engagements which have long +since been forgotten by the public. Their promotions were not made for +the benefit of the service, but for the political advancement of the men +who caused them to be made. + +Last evening, a little after dark, we were startled by heavy cannonading +on our left, and thought the enemy was making an attack. The boys in our +division were all aglow with excitement, and cheered loudly; but after +ten or fifteen minutes the firing ceased, and I have heard no more about +it. + +The rebels are before us in force. The old game of concentration is +probably being played. The repulse of our army at Fredericksburg will +embolden them. It will also enable them to spare troops to reinforce +Bragg. The Confederates are on the inside of the circle, while we are on +the outside, scattered far and wide. They can cut across and concentrate +rapidly, while we must move around. They can meet Burnside at +Fredericksburg, and then whip across the country and face us, thus +making a smaller army than ours outnumber us in every battle. + +In the South the army makes public opinion, and moves along unaffected +by it. In the North the army has little or nothing to do with the +creation of public sentiment, and yet is its servant. The people of the +North, who were clamoring for action, are probably responsible for the +fatal repulse at Fredericksburg and the defeat at Bull run. The North +must be patient, and get to understand that the work before us is not +one that can be accomplished in a day or month. It should be pushed +deliberately, yet persistently. We should get rid of a vast number of +men who are forever in hospital. They are an expense to the country, and +an incumbrance to the army. We should consolidate regiments, and send +home thousands of unnecessary officers, who draw pay and yet make no +adequate return for it. + +23. The court met this morning as usual. We are now going on the fifth +week of the session. New cases arise just about as fast as old ones are +disposed of. + +The boys in front of my tent are singing: + + "We are going home, we are going home, + To die no more." + +Were they to devote as much time to praying as they do to singing, they +would soon establish a reputation for piety; but, unfortunately for +them, after the hymn they generally proceed to swear, instead of prayer, +and one is left in doubt as to what home they propose to go to. + +25. About noon there were several discharges of artillery in our front, +and last night occasional shots served as cheerful reminders that the +enemy was near. + +At an expense of one dollar and seventy-five cents, I procured a small +turkey and had a Christmas dinner; but it lacked the collaterals, and +was a failure. + +For twenty months now I have been a sojourner in camps, a dweller in +tents, going hither and yon, at all hours of the day and night, in all +sorts of weather, sleeping for weeks at a stretch without shelter, and +yet I have been strong and healthy. How very thankful I should feel on +this Christmas night! There goes the boom of a cannon at the front. + +26. This morning we started south on the Franklin road. When some ten +miles away from Nashville, we turned toward Murfreesboro, and are now +encamped in the woods, near the head-waters of the Little Harpeth. The +march was exceedingly unpleasant. Rain began to fall about the time of +starting, and continued to pour down heavily for four hours, wetting us +all thoroughly. + +I have command of the brigade. + +27. We moved at eight o'clock this morning, over a very bad dirt road, +from Wilson's pike to the Nolansville road, where we are now +bivouacking. About ten the artillery commenced thundering in our front, +and continued during the greater portion of the day. Marched two miles +toward Triune to support McCook, who was having a little bout with the +enemy; but the engagement ending, we returned to our present quarters in +a drenching rain. Saw General Thomas, our corps commander, going to and +returning from the front. We are sixteen miles from Nashville, on a road +running midway between Franklin and Murfreesboro. The enemy is supposed +to be in force at the latter place. + +28. At four o'clock P. M. we were ordered to leave baggage and teams +behind, and march to Stewart's creek, a point twenty miles from +Nashville. Night had set in before the brigade got fairly under way. The +road runs through a barren, hilly, pine district, and was exceedingly +bad. At eleven o'clock at night we reached the place indicated, and lay +on the damp ground until morning. + +29. At eight o'clock A. M. the artillery opened in our front; but after +perhaps two hours of irregular firing, it ceased altogether, and we were +led to the conclusion that but few rebels were in this vicinity, the +main body being at Murfreesboro, probably. Going to the front about ten +o'clock, I met General Hascall. He had had a little fight at Lavergne, +the Twenty-sixth Ohio losing twenty men, and his brigade thirty +altogether. He also had a skirmish at this place, in which he captured a +few prisoners. Saw General Thomas riding to the front. Rosecrans is +here, and most of the Army of the Cumberland either here or hereabouts. +McCook's corps had an inconsiderable engagement at Triune on Saturday. +Loss small on both sides. + +Riding by a farm-house this afternoon, I caught a glimpse of Miss +Harris, of Lavergne, at the window, and stopped to talk with her a +minute. The young lady and her mother have experienced a great deal of +trouble recently. They were shelled out of Lavergne three times, two of +the shells passing through her mother's house. She claims to have been +shot at once by a soldier of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois, +the ball splintering the window-sill near her head. Her mother's house +has been converted into a hospital, and the clothes of the family taken +for bandages. She is, therefore, more rebellious now than ever. She is +getting her rights, poor girl! + +30. A little after daylight the brigade moved, and proceeded to within +three miles of Murfreesboro, where we have been awaiting orders since +ten o'clock A. M. + +The first boom of artillery was heard at ten o'clock. Since then there +has been almost a continuous roar. McCook's corps is in advance of us, +perhaps a mile and a half, and, with divisions from other corps, has +been gradually approaching the enemy all day, driving his skirmishers +from one point to another. + +About four o'clock in the afternoon the artillery firing became more +vigorous, and, with Colonel Foreman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, I rode +to the front, and then along our advanced line from right to left. Our +artillery stationed on the higher points was being fired rapidly. The +skirmishers were advancing cautiously, and the contest between the two +lines was quite exciting. As I supposed, our army is feeling its way +into position. To-morrow, doubtless, the grand battle will be fought, +when I trust the good Lord will grant us a glorious victory, and one +that will make glad the hearts of all loyal people on New-Year's Day. + +I saw Lieutenant-Colonel Given, Eighteenth Ohio. Twelve of his men had +been wounded. Met Colonel Wagner, Fifteenth Indiana. Starkweather's +brigade lost its wagon train this forenoon. Jeff C. Davis, I am told, +was wounded this evening. A shell exploded near a group, consisting of +General Rosecrans and staff, killing two horses and wounding two men. + + +STONE RIVER. + +31. At six o'clock in the morning my brigade marches to the front and +forms in line of battle. The roar of musketry and artillery is +incessant. At nine o'clock we move into the cedar woods on the right to +support McCook, who is reported to be giving way. General Rousseau +points me to the place he desires me to defend, and enjoins me to "hold +it until hell freezes over," at the same time telling me that he may be +found immediately on the left of my brigade with Loomis' battery. I take +position. An open wood is in my front; but where the line is formed, and +to the right and left, the cedar thicket is so dense as to render it +impossible to see the length of a regiment. The enemy comes up directly, +and the fight begins. The roar of the guns to the right, left, and front +of my brigade sounds like the continuous pounding on a thousand anvils. +My men are favorably situated, being concealed by the cedars, while the +enemy, advancing through the open woods, is fully exposed. Early in the +action Colonel Foreman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, is killed, and his +regiment retires in disorder. The Third Ohio, Eighty-eighth, and +Forty-second Indiana, hold the position, and deliver their fire so +effectively that the enemy is finally forced back. I find a Michigan +regiment and attach it to my command, and send a staff officer to +General Rousseau to report progress; but before he has time to return, +the enemy makes another and more furious assault upon my line. After a +fierce struggle, lasting from forty to sixty minutes, we succeed in +repelling this also. I send again to General Rousseau, and am soon after +informed that neither he nor Loomis' battery can be found. Troops are +reported to be falling back hastily, and in disorder, on my left. I send +a staff officer to the right, and ascertain that Scribner's and +Shepperd's brigades are gone. I conclude that the contingency has arisen +to which General Rousseau referred--that is to say, that hell has frozen +over--and about face my brigade and march to the rear, where the guns +appear to be hammering away with redoubled fury. In the edge of the +woods, and not far from the Murfreesboro pike, I find the new line of +battle, and take position. Five minutes after the enemy strike us. For a +time--I can not even guess how long--the line stands bravely to the +work; but the regiments on our left get into disorder, and finally +become panic-stricken. The fright spreads, and my brigade sweeps by me +to the open field in our rear. I hasten to the colors, stop them, and +endeavor to rally the men. The field is by this time covered with flying +troops, and the enemy's fire is most deadly. My brigade, however, begins +to steady itself on the colors, when my horse is shot under me, and I +fall heavily to the ground. Before I have time to recover my feet, my +troops, with thousands of others, sweep in disorder to the rear, and I +am left standing alone. Going back to the railroad, I find my men, +General Rousseau, Loomis, and, in fact, the larger part of the army. The +artillery has been concentrated at this point, and now opens upon the +advancing columns of the enemy with fearful effect, and continues its +thunders until nightfall. The artillery saved the army. The battle +during the whole day was terrific. + +I find that soon after the fight began in the cedars, our division was +ordered back to a new line, and that the order had been delivered to +Scribner and Shepperd, but not to me. They had, consequently, retired to +the second position under fire, and had suffered most terribly in the +operation; while my brigade, being forgotten by the division commander, +or by the officer whose duty it was to convey the order, had held its +ground until it had twice repulsed the enemy, and then changed position +in comparative safety. A retrograde movement under fire must necessarily +be extremely hazardous. It demoralizes your own men, who can not, at the +moment, understand the purpose of the movement, while it encourages the +enemy. The one accepts it as an indication of defeat; the other as an +assurance of victory. + +McCook had been surprised and shattered in the morning. This unexpected +success had inspired the rebels and dispirited us. They fought like +devils, and the victory--if victory there was to either army--belonged +to them. + +When the sun went down, and the firing ceased, the Union army, +despondent, but not despairing, weary and hungry, but still hopeful, lay +on its arms, ready to renew the conflict on the morrow. + + + + +JANUARY, 1863. + + +1. At dawn we are all in line, expecting every moment the +re-commencement of the fearful struggle. Occasionally a battery engages +a battery opposite, and the skirmishers keep up a continual roar of +small arms; but until nearly night there is no heavy fighting. Both +armies want rest; both have suffered terribly. Here and there little +parties are engaged burying the dead, which lie thick around us. Now the +mangled remains of a poor boy of the Third is being deposited in a +shallow grave. A whole charge of canister seems to have gone through +him. Generals Rosecrans and Thomas are riding over the field, now +halting to speak words of encouragement to the troops, then going on to +inspect portions of the line. I have been supplied with a new horse, but +one far inferior to the dead stallion. A little before sun-down all hell +seems to break loose again, and for about an hour the thunder of the +artillery and volleys of musketry are deafening; but it is simply the +evening salutation of the combatants. The darkness deepens; the weather +is raw and disagreeable. Fifty thousand hungry men are stretched beside +their guns again on the field. Fortunately I have a piece of raw pork +and a few crackers in my pocket. No food ever tasted sweeter. The night +is gloomy enough; but our spirits are rising. We all glory in the +obstinacy with which Rosecrans has clung to his position. I draw closer +to the camp-fire, and, pushing the brands together, take out my little +Bible, and as I open it my eyes fall on the xci Psalm: + +"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him +will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, +and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, +and under His wings shall be thy trust. His truth shall be thy shield +and buckler. Thou shalt not be, afraid for the terror by night, nor for +the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in +darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand +shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall +not come nigh thee." + +Camp-fires innumerable are glimmering in the darkness. Now and then a +few mounted men gallop by. Scattering shots are heard along the picket +line. The gloom has lifted, and I wrap myself in my blanket and lie down +contentedly for the night. + +2. At sunrise we have a shower of solid shot and shell. The Chicago +Board of Trade battery is silenced. The shot roll up the Murfreesboro +pike like balls on a bowling alley. Many horses are killed. A soldier +near me, while walking deliberately to the rear, to seek a place of +greater safety, is struck between the shoulders by a ricochetting ball, +and instantly killed. We are ordered to be in readiness to repel an +attack, and form line of battle amid this fearful storm of iron. +Gaunther and Loomis get their batteries in position, and, after twenty +or thirty minutes' active work, silence the enemy and compel him to +withdraw. Then we have a lull until one or two o'clock, when Van Cleve's +division on the left is attacked. As the volume of musketry increases, +and the sound grows nearer, we understand that our troops are being +driven back, and brigade after brigade double quicks from the right and +center, across the open field, to render aid. Battery after battery goes +in the same direction on the run, the drivers lashing the horses to +their utmost speed. The thunder of the guns becomes more violent; the +volleys of musketry grow into one prolonged and unceasing roll. Now we +hear the yell which betokens encouraged hearts; but whose yell? Thank +God, it is ours! The conflict is working southward; the enemy has been +checked, repulsed, and is now in retreat. So ends another day. + +The hungry soldiers cut steaks from the slain horses, and, with the +scanty supplies which have come forward, gather around the fires to +prepare supper, and talk over the incidents of the day. The prospect +seems brighter. We have held the ground, and in this last encounter have +whipped the enemy. There is more cheerful conversation among the men. +They discuss the battle, the officers, and each other, and give us now +and then a snatch of song. Officers come over from adjoining brigades, +hoping to find a little whisky, but learn, with apparent resignation +and well-feigned composure, that the canteens have been long empty; that +even the private flasks, which officers carry with the photographs of +their sweethearts, in a side pocket next to their hearts, are destitute +of even the flavor of this article of prime necessity. My much-esteemed +colleague of the court-martial, Colonel Hobart, stumbles up in the thick +darkness to pay his respects. The sentinel, mistaking him for a private, +tells him, with an oath, that this is neither the time nor place for +stragglers, and orders him back to his regiment; and so the night wears +on, and fifty thousand men lay upon their guns again. + +3. Colonel Shanklin, with a strong detachment from my brigade, was +captured last night while on picket. Rifle pits are being dug, and I am +ordered to protect the workmen. The rebels hold a strip of woods in our +immediate front, and we get up a lively skirmish with them. Our men, +however, appear loth to advance far enough to afford the necessary +protection to the workers. Vexed at their unwillingness to venture out, +I ride forward and start over a line to which I desire the skirmishers +to advance, and discover, before I have gone twenty yards, that I have +done a foolish thing. A hundred muskets open on me from the woods; but +the eyes of my own brigade and of other troops are on me, and I can not +back out. I quicken the pace of my horse somewhat, and continue my +perilous course. The bullets whistle like bees about my head, but I ride +the whole length of the proposed skirmish line, and get back to the +brigade in safety. Colonel Humphrey, of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, comes +up to me, and with a tremor in his voice, which indicates much feeling, +says: "My God, Colonel, never do that again!" The caution is +unnecessary. I had already made up my mind never to do it again. We keep +up a vigorous skirmish with the enemy for hours, losing now and then a +man; but later in the day we are relieved from this duty, and retire to +a quieter place. + +About nightfall General Rousseau desires me to get two regiments in +readiness, and, as soon as it becomes quite dark, charge upon and clean +out the woods in our front. I select the Third Ohio and Eighty-eighth +Indiana for this duty, and at the appointed time we form line in the +open field in front of Gaunther's battery, and as we start, the battery +commences to shell the woods. As we get nearer the objective point, I +put the men on the double quick. The rebels, discovering our approach, +open a heavy fire, but in the darkness shoot too high. The blaze of +their guns reveals their exact position to us. We reach the rude log +breastworks behind which they are standing and grapple with them. +Colonel Humphrey receives a severe thrust from a bayonet; others are +wounded, and some killed. It is pitch dark under the trees. Some of +Gaunther's shells fall short, and alarm the men. Unable to find either +staff officer or orderly, I ride back and request him to elevate his +guns. Returning, I find my troops blazing away with great energy; but, +so far as I can discover, their fire is not returned. It is difficult, +however, in the noise, confusion, and darkness, to direct their +movements, and impossible to stop the firing. In the meantime a new +danger threatens. Spear's Tennesseeans have been sent to support us, +probably without any definite instructions. They are, most of them, raw +troops, and, becoming either excited or alarmed at the terrible racket +in the woods, deliver scattering shots in our rear. I ride back and urge +them either to cease firing or move to the left, go forward and look +after our flank. One regiment does move as directed; but the others are +immovable, and it is with great difficulty that I succeed in making them +understand that in firing they are more likely to injure friends than +foes. Fortunately, soon after this, the ammunition of the Third and +Eighty-eighth becoming exhausted, the firing in the woods ceases, and, +as the enemy has already abandoned the field, the affair ends. I try to +find General Rousseau to report results, but can not; and so, worn out +with fatigue and excitement, lie down for another night. + +4. Every thing quiet in our front. It is reported that the enemy has +disappeared. Investigation confirms the report, and the cavalry push +into Murfreesboro and beyond. + +During the forenoon the army crosses Stone River, and with music, +banners, and rejoicings, takes possession of the old camps of the enemy. +So the long and doubtful struggle ends. + +5. I ride over the battle-field. In one place a caisson and five horses +are lying, the latter killed in harness, and all fallen together. +Nationals and Confederates, young, middle-aged, and old, are scattered +over the woods and fields for miles. Poor Wright, of my old company, lay +at the barricade in the woods which we stormed on the night of the last +day. Many others lay about him. Further on we find men with their legs +shot off; one with brains scooped out with a cannon ball; another with +half a face gone; another with entrails protruding; young Winnegard, of +the Third, has one foot off and both legs pierced by grape at the +thighs; another boy lies with his hands clasped above his head, +indicating that his last words were a prayer. Many Confederate +sharpshooters lay behind stumps, rails, and logs, shot in the head. A +young boy, dressed in the Confederate uniform, lies with his face turned +to the sky, and looks as if he might be sleeping. Poor boy! what +thoughts of home, mother, death, and eternity, commingled in his brain +as the life-blood ebbed away! Many wounded horses are limping over the +field. One mule, I heard of, had a leg blown off on the first day's +battle; next morning it was on the spot where first wounded; at night it +was still standing there, not having moved an inch all day, patiently +suffering, it knew not why nor for what. How many poor men moaned +through the cold nights in the thick woods, where the first day's battle +occurred, calling in vain to man for help, and finally making their last +solemn petition to God! + +In the evening I met Rousseau, McCook, and Crittenden. They had been +imbibing freely. Rousseau insisted upon my turning back and going with +them to his quarters. Crittenden was the merriest of the party. On the +way he sang, in a voice far from melodious, a pastorial ditty with which +childhood is familiar: + + "Mary had a little lamb, + His fleece was white as snow, + And every-where that Mary went + The lamb was sure to go." + +Evidently the lion had left the chieftain's heart, and the lamb had +entered and taken possession. + +McCook complimented me by saying that my brigade fought well. He should +know, for he sat behind it at the commencement of the second assault of +the enemy in the cedars, on the first day; but very soon thereafter +disappeared. Just when he left, and why he did so, I do not know. + +At Rousseau's we found a large number of staff and line officers. The +demijohn was introduced, and all paid their respects to it. The +ludicrous incidents, of which there are more or less even in battles, of +the last five days, were referred to, and much merriment prevailed. + +6. The army is being reorganized, and we are busily engaged repairing +the damages sustained in the battle. + +Visited the hospitals, and, so far as possible, looked after the wounded +of my brigade. To-morrow the chaplains will endeavor to hunt them all +up, and report their whereabouts and condition. + +7. I was called upon late in the evening to make a report of the +operations of my brigade immediately, as General Rousseau intends to +leave for Louisville in the morning. It is impossible to collect the +information necessary in the short time allowed me. One of my regimental +commanders, Colonel Foreman, was killed; another, Colonel Humphrey, was +wounded, and is in hospital; another, Lieutenant-Colonel Shanklin, was +captured, and is absent; but I gathered up hastily what facts I could +obtain as to the casualties in the several regiments, and wrote my +report in the few minutes which remained for me to do so, and sent it +in. I have not had an opportunity to do justice either to my brigade or +myself. + +13. Move in the direction of Columbia, on a reconnoitering expedition. +My brigade stops at Salem, and the cavalry pushes on. + +14. Have been exposed to a drenching rain for thirty hours. The men are +cold, hungry, and mutinous. + +15. Ordered back to Murfreesboro, and march thither in a storm of snow +and sleet. It is decidedly the coldest day we have experienced since +last winter. + +I find two numbers of Harper's Weekly on my return. They abound in war +stories. The two heroes, of whom I read to-night, received saber cuts on +the face and head, obtained leave of absence, returned home, and married +forthwith. Saber cuts are very rare in the Army of the Cumberland, and +if young officers were compelled to defer entering into wedlock until +they got wounds of this kind, there would be precious few soldiers +married. Bullet wounds are common enough; but the hand-to-hand +encounters, knightly contests of swords, the cleaving of head-pieces and +shattering of spears, are not incidents of modern warfare. + +The long rain has completely saturated the ground. The floor of my tent +is muddy; but my bed will be dry, and as I have not had my clothes off +for three days, I look forward to a comfortable night's rest. + +The picture in Harper, of "Christmas Eve," will bring tears to the eyes +of many a poor fellow shivering over the camp-fire in this winter +season. The children in the crib, the stockings in which Santa Claus +deposits his treasures, recall the pleasantest night of the year. + +Speaking of Christmas reminds me of the mistletoe bough. Mistletoe +abounds here. Old, leafless trees are covered and green with it. It was +in blossom a week or two ago, if we may call its white wax-like berries +blossoms. They are known as Christmas blossoms. The vine takes root in +the bark--in any crack, hole, or crevice of the tree--and continues +green all winter. The berries grow in clusters. + +16. I have as guests Mr. and Mrs. Johnson House, my old neighbors. They +have come from their quiet home in Ohio to look over a battle-field, and +I take pleasure in showing them the points of interest. Mr. House, with +great frankness, tells me, in the presence of my staff, that he had been +afraid I was not qualified for the high position I hold, and that I was +getting along too fast; but he now feels satisfied that I am capable +and worthy, and would be well pleased to see me again promoted. I +introduced my friends to Lieutenant Van Pelt, of Loomis' battery, and +Mr. House asked: "Lieutenant, will these guns shoot with any kind of +decision?" "Precision," I suggested. "Yes," Van Pelt replied, "they will +throw a ball pretty close to the mark." + +17. Dr. Peck tells me that the wounded of the Third are doing well, and +all comfortably quartered. He is an excellent physician and surgeon, and +the boys are well pleased with him. + + + + +FEBRUARY, 1863. + + +3. This has been the coldest day of the season in this latitude. The +ground is frozen hard. I made the round of the picket line after dinner, +and was thoroughly chilled. Visited the hospital this evening. Young +Willets, of the Third, whom I thought getting along well before I left +for home, died two days before my return. Benedict is dead, and Glenn, +poor fellow, will go next. His leg is in a sling, and he is compelled to +lie in one position all the time. Mortification has set in, and he can +not last more than a day or two. Murfreesboro is one great hospital, +filled with Nationals and Confederates. + +4. At noon cannonading began on our left and front, and continued with +intervals until sunset. I have heard no explanation of the firing, but +think it probable our troops started up the Shelbyville road to +reconnoiter, discovered the enemy, and a small fight ensued. + +5. It is said the enemy came within six miles of Murfreesboro yesterday, +and attacked a forage train. + +The weather has been somewhat undecided, and far from agreeable. + +6. A lot of rebel papers, dated January 31st, have been brought in. +They contain many extracts clipped from the Northern Democratic press, +and the Southern soul is jubilant over the fact that a large party in +Ohio and Indiana denounce President Lincoln. The rebels infer from this +that the war must end soon, and the independence of the Southern States +be acknowledged. Our friends at home should not give aid and comfort to +the enemy. They may excite hopes which, in time, they will themselves be +compelled to help crush. + +7. Few of the men who started home when I did have returned. The General +is becoming excited on the subject of absentees. From General Thomas' +corps alone there are sixteen thousand men absent, sick, pretending to +be sick, or otherwise. Of my brigade there are sixteen hundred men +present for duty, and over thirteen hundred absent--nearly one-half +away. The condition of other brigades is similar. If a man once gets +away, either into hospital or on detached duty, it is almost impossible +to get him back again to his regiment. A false excuse, backed up by the +false statement of a family physician, has hitherto been accepted; but +hereafter, I am told, it will not be. Uncle Sam can not much longer +stand the drain upon his finances which these malingerers occasion, and +his reputation suffers also, for he can not do with fifty thousand men +what it requires one hundred thousand to accomplish. + +People may say Rosecrans had at the battle of Murfreesboro nearly one +hundred regiments. A regiment should contain a thousand men; in a +hundred regiments, therefore, there should have been one hundred +thousand men. With this force he should have swallowed Bragg; but they +must understand that the largest of these regiments did not contain over +five hundred men fit for duty, and very many not over three hundred. The +men in hospital, the skulkers at home, and the skedaddlers here, count +only on the muster and pay-rolls; our friends at home should remember, +therefore, that when they take a soldier by the hand who should be with +his regiment, and say to him, "Poor fellow, you have seen hard times +enough, stay a little longer, the army will not miss you," that some +other poor fellow, too brave and manly to shirk, shivers through the +long winter hours at his own post, and then through other long hours at +the post of the absentee, thus doing double duty; and they should bear +in mind, also, that in battle this same poor fellow has to fight for +two, and that battles are lost, the war prolonged, and the National arms +often disgraced, by reason of the absence of the men whom they encourage +to remain at home a day or two longer. If every Northern soldier able to +do duty would do it, Rosecrans could sweep to Mobile in ninety days; but +with this skeleton of an army, we rest in doubt and idleness. There is a +screw loose somewhere. + +10. Fortifications are being constructed. My men are working on them. + +Just now I heard the whistle of a locomotive, on the opposite side of +the river. This is the first intimation we have had of the completion +of the road to this point. The bridge will be finished in a day or two, +and then the trains will arrive and depart from Murfreesboro regularly. + +11. Called at Colonel Wilder's quarters, and while there met General J. +J. Reynolds. He made a brief allusion to the Stalnaker times. On my +return to camp, I stopped for a few minutes at Department head-quarters +to see Garfield. General Rosecrans came into the room; but, as I was +dressed in citizens' clothes, did not at first recognize me. Garfield +said: "General Rosecrans, Colonel Beatty." The General took me by the +hand, turned my face to the light, and said he did not have a fair view +of me before. "Well," he continued, "you are a general now, are you?" I +told him I was not sure yet, and he said: "Is it uncertainty or modesty +that makes you doubt?" "Uncertainty." "Well," he replied, "you and Sam +Beatty have both been recommended. I guess it will be all right." He +invited me to remain for supper, but I declined. + +16. To-day I rode over the battle-field, starting at the river and +following the enemy's line off to their left, then crossing over on to +the right of our line, and following it to the left. For miles through +the woods evidences of the terrible conflict meet one at every step. +Trees peppered with bullet and buckshot, and now and then one cut down +by cannon ball; unexploded shell, solid shot, dead horses, broken +caissons, haversacks, old shoes, hats, fragments of muskets, and unused +cartridges, are to be seen every-where. In an open space in the oak +woods is a long strip of fresh earth, in which forty-one sticks are +standing, with intervals between them of perhaps a foot. Here forty-one +poor fellows lie under the fresh earth, with nothing but the forty-one +little sticks above to mark the spot. Just beyond this are twenty-five +sticks, to indicate the last resting-place of twenty-five brave men; and +so we found these graves in the woods, meadows, corn-fields, +cotton-fields, every-where. We stumbled on one grave in a solitary spot +in the thick cedars, where the sunshine never penetrates. At the head of +the little mound of fresh earth a round stick was standing, and on the +top of this was an old felt hat; the hat still doing duty over the head, +if not on the head, of the dead soldier who lay there. The rain and sun +and growing vegetation of one summer will render it impossible to find +these graves. The grass will cover the fresh earth, the sticks will +either rot or become displaced, and then there will be nothing to +indicate that-- + + "Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid + Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; + Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, + Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre." + +17. The army is turning its attention to politics somewhat. Generals and +colonels are ventilating their opinions through the press. I think their +letters may have good effect upon the people at home, and prevent them +from discouraging the army and crippling the Administration. Surely the +effort now being put forth by a great party in the North to convince +the troops in the field that this is an unjust war, an abolition or +nigger war, must have a tendency to injure the army, and, if persisted +in, may finally ruin it. + +19. Work on the fortifications still continues. This is to be a depot of +supplies, and there are provisions enough already here to subsist the +army for a month. Now that the Cumberland is high, and the railroads in +running order, any amount of supplies may be brought through. + +Expeditions go out occasionally to different parts of the country, and +slight affairs occur, which are magnified into serious engagements; but +really nothing of any importance has transpired since we obtained +possession of Murfreesboro. A day or two ago we had an account of an +expedition into the enemy's country by the One Hundred and Twenty-third +Illinois, Colonel Monroe commanding. According to this veracious report, +the Colonel had a severe fight, killed a large number of the enemy, and +captured three hundred stand of arms; but the truth is, that he did not +take time to count the rebel dead, and the arms taken were one hundred +old muskets found in a house by the roadside. + +The expeditions sent out to capture John Morgan have all been failures. +His own knowledge of the country is thorough, and besides, he has in his +command men from every neighborhood, who know not only every road and +cow-path in the locality, but every man, woman, and child. The people +serve him also, by advising him of all our movements. They guide him to +our detachments when they are weak, and warn him away from them when +strong. Were the rebel army in Ohio, and as bitterly hated by the people +of that State as the Nationals are by those of Kentucky and Tennessee, +it would be an easy matter indeed to hang upon the skirts of that army, +pick up stragglers, burn bridges, attack wagon trains, and now and then +pounce down on an outlying picket and take it in. + +20. Colonel Lytle, my old brigade commander, called on me to-day. He +informed me that he had not been assigned yet. I inferred from this that +he thought it utterly impossible for one so distinguished as himself to +come down to a regiment. His own regiment, the Tenth Ohio, is here, and +nominally a part of my brigade, although it has not acted with it since +Rosecrans assumed command of the Army of the Cumberland. Under +Lieutenant-Colonel Burke, it is doing guard duty at Department +head-quarters. + + + + +MARCH, 1863. + + +1. There is talk of consolidation at Washington. This is a sensible +idea, and should be carried into effect at once. There are too many +officers and too few men. The regiments should be consolidated, and kept +full by conscription, if it can not be done otherwise. The best officers +should be retained, and the others sent home to stand their chances of +the draft. + +A major of the Fifteenth Kentucky sent in his resignation a few days +ago, assigning as a reason for so doing that the object of the war was +now the elevation of the negro. The concluding paragraph of his letter +was in these words: "The service can not possibly suffer by my +resignation." The document passed through my hands on its way to +Department head-quarters, and I indorsed it as follows: + +"Major H. F. Kalfus, Fifteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, being +'painfully and reluctantly convinced' that the party in power is +disposed to elevate the negro, desires to quit the service. I trust he +will be allowed to do so, and cheerfully certify to the correctness of +one statement which he makes herein, to-wit: The service can not +possibly suffer by his resignation." + +General Rosecrans has just sent me an order to arrest the Major, and +send him under guard to the Provost-Marshal General. The arrest will be +made in a few minutes, and may create some excitement among our Kentucky +friends. + +3. The fortifications are progressing. The men work four hours each day +in the trenches. The remainder of the time they spend pretty much as +they see fit. + +General Garfield is now chief of staff. It is the first instance in the +West of an officer of his rank being assigned to that position. It is an +important place, however, and one too often held not merely by officers +of inferior rank, but of decidedly inferior ability. General Buell had a +colonel as chief of staff, and, until the appointment of Garfield, +General Rosecrans had a lieutenant-colonel or major. + +To-night an ugly and most singular specimen of the negro called to +obtain employment. He was not over three feet and a half high, +hump-backed, crooked-legged, and quite forty years old. Poking his head +into my tent, and, taking off his hat, he said: "Is de Co'nel in?" +"Yes." "Hurd you wants a boy, sah. Man tole me Co'nel Eighty-eighth +Olehio wants a boy, sah." "What can you do? Can you cook?" "Yas, sah." +"Where did you learn to cook?" "On de plantation, sah." "What is your +master's name?" "Rucker, sah." "Is he a loyal man?" "No, sah, he not a +lawyer; his brudder, de cussen one, is de lawyer." "Is he secesh?" "O, +yas, sah; yas, he sesesh." "It is the Colonel of the Eighty-eighth +Indiana you should see;" and I directed him to the Colonel's tent. As he +turned to leave, he muttered, "Man tole me Eighty-eighth Olehio;" but he +went hobbling over to the Eighty-eighth, with fear, anxiety, and hope +struggling in his old face. + +4. Major Kalfus, Fifteenth Kentucky, arrested on Sunday, and since held +in close confinement, was dishonorably dismissed from the service to-day +for using treasonable language in tendering his resignation. He was +escorted outside the lines and turned loose. The Major is a cross-roads +politician, and will, I doubt not, be a lion among his half-loyal +neighbors when he returns home. + +5. Our picket on the Manchester pike was driven in to-day. The cavalry, +under General Stanley, went to the rescue, when a fight occurred. No +particulars. + +9. T. Buchanan Reid, the poet, entertained us at the court-house this +evening. The room had been trimmed up by the rebels for a ball. The +words, "Shiloh," "Fort Donelson," "Hartsville," "Santa Rosa," +"Pensacola," were surrounded with evergreens. The letter "B," painted on +the walls in a dozen places, was encompassed by wreaths of flowers, now +faded and yellow. My native modesty led me to conclude that the letter +so highly honored stood for Bragg, and not for the commander of the +Seventeenth Brigade, U. S. A. + +General Garfield introduced Mr. Reid by a short speech, not delivered in +his usual happy style. I was impressed with the idea all the time, that +he had too many buttons on his coat--he certainly had a great many +buttons--and the splendor of the double row possibly detracted somewhat +from the splendor of his remarks. + +Mr. Reid is a small man, and has not sufficient voice to make himself +heard distinctly in so large a hall. In a parlor his recitations would +be capital. He read from his own poem, "The Wagoner," a description of +the battle of Brandywine. It is possibly a very good representation of +that battle; but, if so, the battle of Brandywine was very unlike that +of Stone river. At Brandywine, it appears, the generals slashed around +among the enemy's infantry with drawn swords, doing most of the hard +fighting and most of the killing themselves. I did not discover anything +of that kind at Stone river. It is possible the style went out of +fashion before the rebellion began. It would, however, be very +satisfactory to the rank and file to see it restored. Mr. Reid said some +good things in his lecture, and was well applauded; but, in the main, he +was too ethereal, vapory, and fanciful for the most of us leather-heads. +When he puts a soldier-boy on the top of a high mountain to sing +patriotic songs, and bid defiance to King George because "Eagle is +King," we are impressed with the idea that that soldier could have been +put to better use; that, in fact, he is entirely out of the line of +duty. The position assigned him is unnatural, and the modern soldier-boy +will be apt to conclude that nobody but a simpleton would be likely to +wander about in solitary places, extemporizing in measured sentences; +besides it is hard work, as I know from experience. I tried my hand at +it the other day until my head ached, and this is the best I could do: + + O! Lord, when will this war end? + These days of marchings, nights of lonely guard? + This terrible expenditure of health and life? + Where is the glory? Where is the reward, + For sacrifice of comfort, quiet, peace? + For sacrifice of children, wife, and friends? + For sacrifice of firesides--genial homes? + What hour, what gift, will ever make amends + For broken health, for bruised flesh and bones, + For lives cut short by bullet, blade, disease? + Where balm to heal the widow's heart, or what + Shall soothe a mother's grief for woes like these? + Hold, murmurer, hold! Is country naught to thee? + Is freedom nothing? Naught an honored name? + What though the days be cold, or the nights dark, + The brave heart kindles for itself a flame + That warms and lightens up the world! + Home! What's home, if in craven shame + We seek its hearthstone? Bitterest of cold. + Better creep thither bruised, and torn, and lame, + Than seek it in health when justice needs our aid. + Where is the glory? Where is the reward? + Think of the generations that will come + To praise and bless the hero. Think of God, + Who in due time will call His soldiers home. + How comfort mother for the loss of son? + What balm to which her heaviest grief must yield? + Ah! the plain, simple, ever-glorious words: + "Your son died nobly on the battle-field!" + What balm to soothe a widow's aching heart? + The grand assurance that in the battle shock + Foremost her husband stood, defying all, + For freedom and truth, unyielding as the rock. + Then, courage, all, and when the strife is past, + And grief for lost ones takes a milder hue, + This thought shall crown the living and the dead: + "He lived, he died, to God and duty true." + +10. Rain has been descending most of the day, and just now is pouring +down with great violence. A happy party in the adjoining tent are +exercising their lungs on a negro melody, of which this is something +like the chorus: + + "De massa run, ha, ha! + De nigger stay, ho, ho! + It mus' be now de kingdom comin', + And de year of jubelo." + +I can not affirm that the music with which these gentlemen so abound, on +this rainy and dismal night, has that soothing effect on the human heart +ascribed to music in general; but, however little I may feel like +rejoicing now, I am quite sure I shall feel happier when the concert +ends. The singers have concluded the negro melody, and are breathing out +their souls in a sentimental piece. Now and then, when more than +ordinarily successful in the higher strains, they nearly equal the most +exalted efforts of the tom-cat; and then, again, in the execution of the +lower notes and more pathetic passages, we are brought nigh unto tears +by an inimitable imitation of the wailings of a very young and sick +kitten. + + "Do they miss me at home; do they miss me?" + +I venture to say they do, and with much gratification if, when there, +you favored them often with this infernal noise. + +14. The weather is remarkably fine to-day. I saw Mrs. and Major-General +McCook and Mrs. and Major-General Wood going out to the battle-field, on +horseback, this morning. Mrs. General Rosecrans arrived last night on a +special train. + +16. The roads are becoming good, and every body is on horseback. Many +officers have their wives here. On the way to Murfreesboro this morning, +I met two ladies with an escort going to the battle-field. Returning I +met General Rosecrans and wife. The General hallooed after me, "How d'ye +do?" to which I shouted back, at the top of my voice, the very original +reply, "Very well, thank you." From the number of ladies gathering in, +one might very reasonably conclude that no advance was contemplated +soon. Still all signs fail in war times, as they do in dry weather. As a +rule, perhaps, when a movement appears most improbable, we should be on +the lookout for orders to start. + +The army, under Rosecrans' administration, looks better than it ever did +before. He certainly enters into his work with his whole soul, and +unless some unlucky mishap knocks his feet from under him, he will soon +be recognized as the first general of the Union. I account for his +success thus far, in part at least, by the fact that he has been long +enough away from West Point, mixing with the people, to get a little +common sense rubbed into him. + +While writing the last word above, the string band of the Third struck +up at the door of my tent. Going out, I found all the commissioned +officers of that regiment standing in line. Adjutant Wilson nudged me, +and said they expected a speech. I asked if beer would not suit them +better. He thought not. I have not attempted to make a speech for two +years, and never made a successful attempt in my life; but I knocked the +ashes out of my pipe and began: + +"GENTLEMEN: I am informed that all the officers of the Third are here. I +am certainly very glad to see you, and extremely sorry that I am not +better prepared to receive and entertain you. The press informs us that +I have been very highly honored. If the report that I have been promoted +is true, I am indebted to your gallantry, and that of the brave men of +the Third, for the honor. You gave me my first position, and then were +kind enough to deem me worthy of a second; and if now I have obtained a +third, and higher one, it is because I have had the good fortune to +command good soldiers. The step upward in rank will simply increase my +debt of gratitude to you." + +The officers responded cordially, by assuring me that they rejoiced over +my promotion, and were anxious that I should continue in command of the +brigade to which the Third is attached. + +Charlie Davison can sing as many songs as Mickey Free, of "Charles +O'Malley," and sing them well. In Irish melodies he is especially happy. +Hark! + + "Dear Erin, how sweetly thy green bosom rises, + An emerald set in the ring of the sea; + Each blade of thy meadows my faithful heart prizes, + Thou Queen of the West, the world's cush la machree. + + * * * * * + + Thy sons they are brave; but the battle once over, + In brotherly peace with their foes they agree, + And the roseate cheeks of thy daughters discover, + The soul-speaking blush that says cush la machree." + +17. Dined with General Wagner, and, in company with Wagner and General +Palmer, witnessed an artillery review. + +18. My brigade is still at work on the fortifications. They are, +however, nearly completed. + +Shelter tents were issued to our division to-day. We are still using the +larger tent; but it is evidently the intention to leave these behind +when we move. Last fall the shelter tents were used for a time by the +Pioneer Brigade. They are so small that a man can not stand up in them. +The boys were then very bitter in condemnation of them, and called them +dog tents and dog pens. Almost every one of these tents was marked in a +way to indicate the unfavorable opinion which the boys entertained of +them, and in riding through the company quarters of the Pioneer +Brigade, the eye would fall on inscriptions of this sort: + + PUPS FOR SALE--RAT TERRIERS--BULL PUPS + HERE--DOG-HOLE NO. 1--SONS OF BITCHES + WITHIN--DOGS--PURPS. + +General Rosecrans and staff, while riding by one day, were greeted with +a tremendous bow-wow. The boys were on their hands and knees, stretching +their heads out of the ends of the tents, barking furiously at the +passing cavalcade. The General laughed heartily, and promised them +better accommodations. + +The news from Vicksburg is somewhat encouraging, but certainly very +indefinite, and far from satisfactory. + +19. Reviews are the order of the hour. All the brigades of our division, +except mine, were reviewed by General Rosecrans this afternoon. It was a +fine display, but hard on the soldiers; they were kept so long standing. + +At Middletown, sixteen miles away, the rebels are four thousand strong, +and within a day or two they have ventured to Salem, five miles distant. + +20. Loomis, who has just returned from home, called this evening, and we +drank a bottle of wine over the promotion. He is in trouble about his +commission as colonel of artillery. Two months ago the Governor of +Michigan gave him the commission, and since that time he has been +wearing a colonel's uniform; but General Rosecrans has expressed doubts +about his right to assume the rank. Loomis is all right, doubtless, and +to-morrow, when the matter is talked over between the General and +himself, it will be settled satisfactorily. + +21. I have been running over Russell's diary, "North and South," and +must say the Yankee Nation, when looked at through Mr. Russell's +spectacles, does not appear enveloped in that star-spangled glory and +super-celestial blue with which it is wont to loom up before patriotic +eyes on Fourth of July occasions. He has treated us, however, fully as +well as we have treated him. We became angry because he told unpleasant +truths about us, and he became enraged because we abused him for it. He +thanks God that he is not an American; and should not we, in a spirit of +conciliation, meet him half way, and feel thankful that he is not? + +Flaming dispatches will appear in the Northern papers to-morrow +respecting the defeat of John Morgan, by a small brigade of our troops +under Colonel Hall. The report will say that forty of the enemy were +killed, one hundred and fifty wounded, and one hundred and twenty +captured; loss on our side inconsiderable. The reporters have probably +contributed largely to the brilliancy of this affair. It is always safe +to accept with distrust all reports which affirm that a few men, with +little loss, routed, slaughtered, or captured a large force. + +Peach and cherry trees are in full bloom. The grass is beginning to +creep out. Summer birds occasionally sing around us. In a few weeks +more the trees will be in full leaf again. + +23. General Negley, who went home some time ago, returned to-day, and, I +see, wears two stars. + +General Brannan arrived a day or two ago. He was on the train captured +by guerrillas, but was rescued a few minutes after. + +The boys have a rumor that Bragg is near, and has sent General Rosecrans +a very polite note requesting him to surrender Murfreesboro at once. If +the latter refuses to accept this most gentlemanly invitation to deliver +up all his forces, Bragg proposes to commence an assault upon our works +at twelve M., and show us no mercy. This, of course, is reliable. + +At sunset rain began to fall, and has continued to pour down steadily +ever since. The night is gloomy. Adjutant Wilson, in the next tent, is +endeavoring to lift himself from the slough of despond by humming a +ditty of true love; but the effort is evidently a failure. + +This morning I stood on the bank of the river and observed the +pontoniers as they threw their bridge of boats across the stream. Twice +each week they unload the pontoons from the wagons, run them into the +water, put the scantling from boat to boat, lay down the plank, and thus +make a good bridge on which men, horses, and wagons can cross. After +completing the bridge, they immediately begin to take it up, load the +lumber and pontoons on the wagons, and return to camp. They can bridge +any stream between this and the Tennessee in an hour, and can put a +bridge over that in probably three hours. + +General Rosecrans makes a fine display in his visits about the camps. He +is accompanied by his staff and a large and well-equipped escort, with +outriders in front and rear. The National flag is borne at the head of +the column. + +Rosecrans is of medium height and stout, not quite so tall as McCook, +and not nearly so heavy. McCook is young, and very fleshy. Rousseau is +by far the handsomest man in the army; tall and well-proportioned, but +possibly a little too bulky. R. S. Granger is a little man, with a +heavy, light sandy mustache. Wood is a small man, short and slim, with +dark complexion, and black whiskers. Crittenden, the major-general, is a +spare man, medium height, lank, common sort of face, well whiskered. +Major-General Stanley, the cavalryman, is of good size, gentlemanly in +bearing, light complexion, brown hair. McCook and Wood swear like +pirates, and affect the rough-and-ready style. Rousseau is given to +profanity somewhat, and blusters occasionally. Rosecrans indulges in an +oath now and then; but is a member of the Catholic Church in good +standing. Crittenden, I doubt not, swears like a trooper, and yet I have +never heard him do so. He is a good drinker; and the same can be said of +Rousseau. Rosecrans is an educated officer, who has rubbed much against +the world, and has experience. Rousseau is brave, but knows little of +military science. McCook is a chucklehead. Wood and Crittenden know how +to blow their own horns exceedingly well. Major-General Thomas is tall, +heavy, sedate; whiskers and head grayish. Puts on less style than any of +those named, and is a gentlemanly, modest, reliable soldier. Rosecrans +and McCook shave clean; Crittenden and Wood go the whole whisker; Thomas +shaves the upper lip. Rosecrans' nose is large, and curves down; +Rousseau's is large, and curves up; McCook has a weak nose, that would +do no credit to a baby. Rosecrans' laugh is not one of the free, open, +hearty kind; Rousseau has a good laugh, but shows poor teeth; McCook has +a grin, which excites the suspicion that he is either still very green +or deficient in the upper story. + +22. Colonels Wilder and Funkhauser called. We had just disposed of a +bottle of wine, when Colonel Harker made his appearance, and we entered +forthwith upon another. Colonel Wilder expects to accomplish a great +work with his mounted infantry. He is endeavoring to arm them with the +Henry rifle, a gun which, with a slight twist of the wrist, will throw +sixteen bullets in almost that many seconds. I have no doubt he will +render his command very efficient and useful, for he has wonderful +energy and nerve, and is, besides, sensible and practical. Colonel +Harker is greatly disappointed because he was not confirmed as +brigadier-general during the last session of Congress. He is certainly +young enough to afford to wait; but he seems to fear that, after +commanding a brigade for nine months, he may have to go back to a +regiment. He feels, too, that, being a New Jersey man, commanding Ohio +troops, neither State will take an interest in him, and render him that +assistance which, under other circumstances, either of them might do. +These gentlemen dined with me. Harker and Wilder expressed a high +opinion of General Buell. Wilder says Gilbert is a d--d scoundrel, and +responsible for the loss at Mumfordsville. Harker, however, defended +Gilbert, and is the only man I have ever heard speak favorably of him. + +The train coming from Nashville to-day was fired upon and four men +wounded. Yesterday there was a force of the enemy along the whole south +front of our picket line. + +From the cook's tent, in the rear, comes a devotional refrain: + + "I'm gui-en home, I'm gui-en home, + To d-i-e no mo'." + +24. We are still pursuing the even tenor of our way on the +fortifications. There are no indications of an advance. The army, +however, is well equipped, in good spirits, and prepared to move at an +hour's notice. Its confidence in Rosecrans is boundless, and whatever it +may be required to do, it will, I doubt not, do with a will. + +The conscript law, and that clause especially which provides for the +granting of a limited number of furloughs, gives great satisfaction to +the men. They not only feel that they will soon have help, but that if +their conduct be good, there will be a fair chance for them to see home +before the expiration of their term of enlistment. Hitherto they have +been something like prisoners without hope. + +26. Another little misfortune has occurred to our arms at Brentwood. The +Twenty-second Wisconsin, numbering four hundred men, was captured by +General Forrest. The rebels succeed admirably in gathering up and +consolidating our scattered troops. + +The Adjutant and others are having a concert in the next tent, and +certainly laugh more over their own performance than singers do +generally. They have just executed + + "The foin ould Irish gintleman," + +And are at this present writing shouting + + "Vive l' America, home of the free." + +I think it more than probable that as their enthusiasm increases, the +punch in their punch-bowl diminishes. + +27. A mule has just broken the stillness of the night by a most +discordant bray, and I am reminded that all horses are to be turned over +to the mounted infantry regiments, and mules used in the teams in their +stead. Mules are far better for the wagons than horses. They require +less food, are hardier, and stand up better under rough work and +irregular feeding. + +I catch the faintest possible sound of a violin. Some indomitable spirit +is enlivening the night, and trenching upon the Sabbath, by giving loose +rein to his genius. + +During the light baggage and rapid marches of the latter part of Buell's +administration, together with the mishaps at Perryville, the string band +of the Third was very considerably damaged; but the boys have recently +resuscitated and revived it to all the glory and usefulness of former +days. One of its sweetest singers, however, has either deserted or +retired to hospital or barracks, where the duties are less onerous and +life more safe. His greatest hit was a song known as "The Warble," in +which the following lines occurred: + + "Mein fadter, mein modter, mein sister, mein frau, + Und zwi glass of beer for meinself. + Dey called mein frau one blacksmit-schopt; + Und such dings I never did see in my life." + +When, at Shelbyville and Huntsville, this melody mingled with the +moonlight of summer evenings, people generally were deluded into the +supposition that an ethereal songster was on the wing, enrapturing them +with harmonies of other spheres. But sutlers, it is well known, are men +of little or no refinement, with ears for money rather than music. To +their unappreciative and perverted senses the warble seemed simply a +dolorous appeal for more whisky; and while delivering up their last +bottle to get rid of the warbler and his friends, in order that they +might get sleep themselves, they have been known to express the hope +that both song and singers might, without unnecessary delay, go to that +region which we are told is paved with good intentions. + +The voice of a colored person in the rear breaks in upon my +recollections of the warbler. The most interesting and ugliest negro now +in camp, is known as Simon Bolivar Buckner. He is an animal that has +been worth in his day eighteen hundred dollars, an estray from the +estate of General S. B. Buckner. He manages, by blacking boots and +baking leather pies, to make money. He deluded me into buying a second +pie from him one day, by assuring me, "on honah, sah, dat de las pie was +better'n de fus', case he hab strawberries in him." True, the pie had +"strawberries in him," but not enough to pay one for chewing the +whit-leather crust. + +30. Read Judge Holt's review of the proceedings and findings in the case +of Fitzjohn Porter. If the review presents the facts fairly, Porter +should have been not only dismissed, but hung. An officer who, with +thirteen thousand men, will remain idle when within sight of the dust +and in hearing of the shouts of the enemy and the noise of battle, +knowing that his friends are contending against superior numbers, and +having good reason to believe that they are likely to be overwhelmed, +deserves no mercy. + +It is dull. I have hardly enough to do to keep me awake. The members of +the staff each have their separate duties to perform, which keep them +more or less engaged. The quartermaster issues clothing to the troops; +the commissary of subsistence issues food; the inspector looks into the +condition of each regiment as to clothing, arms, and camp equipage; the +adjutant makes out the detail for guard and other duties, and transmits +orders received from the division commander to the regiments. All of +these officers have certain reports to make also, which consumes much of +their time. + + + + +APRIL, 1863. + + +1. Adjutant Wilson received a letter to-day, written in a hand that +bespoke the writer to be feminine. He looked at the name, but could not +recollect having heard it before. The writer assured him, however, that +she was an old friend, and said many tender and complimentary things of +him. He tried to think; called the roll of his lady friends, but the +advantage, as people say, which the writer had of him was entirely too +great. If he had ever heard the name, he found it impossible now to +recall it. Finally, as he was going to fold the letter and put it away, +he noticed one line at the top, written upside down. On reading it the +mystery was solved: "If this reaches you on the first day of April, a +reply to it is not expected." + +The colored gentlemen of the staff are in a great state of excitement. +One of the number has been illustrating the truth of that maxim which +affirms that a nigger will steal. The war of words is terrible. "Yer +d--d ole nigger thief," says one. "Hush! I'll break yer black jaw fer +yer," says another. They say very few harder things of each other than +"you dam nigger." One would think the pot in this instance would hardly +take to calling the kettle black, but it does. They use the word nigger +to express contempt, dislike, or defiance, as often and freely as the +whites. Finally, the parties to this controversy agree to leave the +matter to "de Co'nel." The accused was the first to thrust his head into +my tent, and ask permission to enter. "Dey is a gwine to tell yer as I +stole some money from ole Hason. I didn't done it, Co'nel; as sure as +I'm a livin' I didn't done it." "Yaas, yer did, you lyin' nigger!" broke +in old Hason. "Now, Co'nel, I want ter tell you the straight of it." I +listened patiently to the old man's statement and to the evidence +adduced, and as it was very clear that the accused was guilty, put him +under guard. + +The first day of April has been very pleasant, cool but clear. The night +is beautiful; the moon is at its full almost, and its light falls mellow +and soft on the scene around me. The redoubt is near, with its guns +standing sentinel at each corner, the long line of earthworks stretches +off to the right and left; the river gleams and sparkles as it flows +between its rugged banks of stone; the shadowy flags rise and fall +lazily; the sentinels walk to and fro on their beats with silvered +bayonets, and the dull glare of the camp-fires, and the snow-white +tents, are seen every-where. + +Somebody, possibly the Adjutant, whose thoughts may be still running on +the fair unknown, breaks forth: + + "O why did she flatter my boyish pride, + She is going to leave me now;" + +And then, with a vehemence which betokens desperation, + + "I'll hang my harp on a willow tree, + And off to the wars again." + +From which I infer it would be highly satisfactory to the young man to +be demolished at the enemy's earliest convenience. + +A large amount of stores are accumulated here. Forty thousand boxes of +hard bread are stacked in one pile at the depot, and greater quantities +of flour, pork, vinegar, and molasses, than I have ever seen before. + +3. An Indiana newspaper reached camp to-day containing an obituary +notice of a lieutenant of the Eighty-eighth Indiana. It gives quite a +lengthy biographical sketch of the deceased, and closes with a letter +which purports to have been written on the battle-field by one +Lieutenant John Thomas, in which Lieutenant Wildman, the subject of the +sketch, is said to have been shot near Murfreesboro, and that his last +words were: "Bury me where I have fallen, and do not allow my body to be +removed." The letter is exceedingly complimentary to the said lamented +young man, and affirms that "he was the hero of heroes, noted for his +reckless daring, and universally beloved." The singular feature about +this whole matter is that the letter was written by the lamented young +officer himself to his own uncle. The deceased justifies his action by +saying that he had expended two dollars for foolscap and one dollar for +postage stamps in writing to the d--d old fool, and never received a +reply, and he concluded finally he would write a letter which would +interest him. It appears by the paper referred to that the lieutenant +succeeded. The uncle and his family are in mourning for another martyr +gone--the hero of heroes and the universally beloved. + +Lieutenant DuBarry, topographical engineer, has just been promenading +the line of tents in his nightshirt, with a club, in search of some +scoundrel, supposed to be the Adjutant, who has stuffed his bed with +stove-wood and stones. Wilson, on seeing the ghostly apparition +approach, breaks into song: + + "Meet me by moonlight alone, + And there I will tell you a tale." + +Lieutenant Orr, commissary of subsistence, coming up at this time, +remarks to DuBarry that he "is surprised to see him take it so coolly," +whereupon the latter, notwithstanding the chilliness of the atmosphere, +and the extreme thinness of his dress, expresses himself with very +considerable warmth. Patterson, a clerk, and as likely to be the +offender as any one, now joins the party, and affirms, with great +earnestness, that "this practical joke business must end, or somebody +will get hurt." + +4. Saw Major-General McCook, wife, and staff riding out this morning. +General Rosecrans was out this afternoon, but I did not see him. At this +hour the signal corps is communicating from the dome of the court-house +with the forces at Triune, sixteen miles away, and with the troops at +Readyville and other points. In daylight this is done by flags, at night +by torches. + +5. There are many fine residences in Murfreesboro and vicinity; but the +trees and shrubbery, which contributed in a great degree to their beauty +and comfort, have been cut or trampled down and destroyed. Many frame +houses, and very good ones, too, have been torn down, and the lumber and +timber used in the construction of hospitals. + +There is a fearful stench in many places near here, arising from +decaying horses and mules, which have not been properly buried, or +probably not buried at all. The camps, as a rule, are well policed and +kept clean; but the country for miles around is strewn with dead +animals, and the warm weather is beginning to tell on them. + +6. It is said that the Third Regiment, with others, is to leave +to-morrow on an expedition which may keep it away for months. No +official notice of the matter has been given me, and I trust the report +may be unfounded. I should be sorry indeed to be separated from the +regiment. I have been with it now two years, and to lose it would be +like losing the greater number of my army friends and acquaintances. + +7. The incident of the day, to me at least, is the departure of the +Third. It left on the two P. M. train for Nashville. I do not think I +have been properly treated. They should at least have consulted me +before detaching my old regiment. I am informed that Colonel Streight, +who is in command of the expedition, was permitted to select the +regiments, and the matter has been conducted so secretly that, before I +had an intimation of what was contemplated, it was too late to take any +steps to keep the Third. I never expect to be in command of it again. It +will get into another current, and drift into other brigades, divisions, +and army corps. The idea of being mounted was very agreeable to both +officers and men; but a little experience in that branch of the service +will probably lead them to regret the choice they have made. My best +wishes go with them. + +All are looking with eager eyes toward Vicksburg. Its fall would send a +thrill of joy through the loyal heart of the country, especially if +accompanied by the capture of the Confederate troops now in possession. + +8. Six months ago this night, parching with thirst and pinched with +hunger, we were lying on Chaplin Hills, thinking over the terrible +battle of the afternoon, expecting its renewal in the morning, listening +to the shots on the picket line, and notified by an occasional bullet +that the enemy was occupying the thick woods just in our front, and very +near. A little over three months ago we were in the hurry, confusion, +anxiety, and suspense of an undecided battle, surrounded by the dead and +dying, with the enemy's long line of camp-fires before us. Since then we +have had a quiet time, each succeeding day seeming the dullest. + +Rode into town this afternoon; invested twenty-five cents in two red +apples; spoke to Captain Blair, of Reynolds' staff; exchanged nods with +W. D. B., of the Commercial; saw a saddle horse run away with its rider; +returned to camp; entertained Shanks, of the New York Herald, for ten +minutes; drank a glass of wine with Colonel Taylor, Fifteenth Kentucky, +and soon after dropped off to sleep. + +A brass band is now playing, away over on the Lebanon pike. The +pontoniers are singing a psalm, with a view, doubtless, to making the +oaths with which they intend to close the night appear more forcible. +The signal lights are waving to and fro from the dome of the +court-house. The hungry mules of the Pioneer Corps are making the night +hideous with howls. So, and amid such scenes, the tedious hours pass by. + +10. A soldier of the Fortieth Indiana, who, during the battle of Stone +river, abandoned his company and regiment, and remained away until the +fight ended, was shot this afternoon. Another will be shot on the 14th +instant for deserting last fall. A man in our division who was sentenced +to be shot, made his escape. + +It seems these cases were not affected by the new law, and the +President's proclamation to deserters. Hitherto deserters have been +seldom punished, and, as a rule, never as severely as the law allowed. + +My parchment arrived to-day, and I have written the necessary letter of +acceptance and taken the oath, and henceforth shall subscribe myself +yours, very respectfully, B. G., which, in my case, will probably stand +for big goose. + +General Rosecrans halted a moment before my quarters this evening, shook +hands with me very cordially, and introduced me to his brother, the +Bishop, as a young general. The General asked why I had not called. I +replied that I knew he must be busy, and did not care to intrude. +"True," said he, "I am busy, but have always time to say how d'ye do." +He promised me another regiment to replace the Third, and said my boys +looked fat enough to kick up their heels. The General's popularity with +the army is immense. On review, the other day, he saw a sergeant who had +no haversack; calling the attention of the boys to it he said: "This +sergeant is without a haversack; he depends on you for food; don't give +him a bite; let him starve." + +The General appears to be well pleased with his fortifications, and +asked me if I did not think it looked like remaining. I replied that the +works were strong, and a small force could hold them, and that I should +be well pleased if the enemy would attack us here, instead of compelling +us to go further south. "Yes," said he, "I wish they would." + +General Lytle is to be assigned to Stanley Matthews' brigade. The latter +was recently elected judge, and will resign and return to Cincinnati. + +The anti-Copperhead resolution business of the army must be pretty well +exhausted. All the resolutions and letters on this subject that may +appear hereafter may be accepted as bids for office. They have, +however, done a great deal of good, and I trust the public will not be +forced to swallow an overdose. I had a faint inclination, at one time, +to follow the example of my brother officers, and write a patriotic +letter, but concluded to reserve my fire, and have had reason to +congratulate myself since that I did so, for these letters have been as +plenty as blackberries, and many of them not half so good. + +A Republican has not much need to write. His patriotism is taken for +granted. He is understood to be willing to go the whole nigger, and, +like the ogre of the story books, to whom the most delicious morsel was +an old woman, lick his chops and ask for more. + +Wilder came in yesterday, with his mounted infantry, from a scout of +eight or ten days, bringing sixty or seventy prisoners and a large +number of horses. + +11. A railway train was destroyed by the rebels near Lavergne yesterday. +One hundred officers fell into the hands of the enemy, and probably one +hundred thousand dollars in money, on the way to soldiers' families, was +taken. This feat was accomplished right under the nose of our troops. + +To the uninitiated army life is very fascinating. The long marches, +nights of picket, and ordeal of battle are so festooned by the +imagination of the inexperienced with shoulder straps, glittering +blades, music, banners, and glory, as to be irresistible; but when we +sit down to the hard crackers and salt pork, with which the soldier is +wont to regale himself, we can not avoid recurring to the loaded tables +and delicious morsels of other days, and are likely at such times to +put hard crackers and glory on one side, the good things of home and +peace on the other and owing probably to the unsubstantial quality of +glory, and the adamantine quality of the crackers, arrive at conclusions +not at all favorable to army life. + +A fellow claiming to have been sent here by the Governor of Maine to +write songs for the army, and who wrote songs for quite a number of +regiments, was arrested some days ago on the charge of being a spy. Last +night he attempted to get away from the guard, and was shot. Drawings of +our fortifications were found in his boots. He was quite well known +throughout the army, and for a long time unsuspected. + +12. Called on General Rousseau. He referred to his trip to Washington, +and dwelt with great pleasure on the various efforts of the people along +the route to do him honor. At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they stood in the +cold an hour and a half awaiting his appearance. Our division, he +informs me, is understood to possess the chivalric and dashing qualities +which the people admire. With all due respect, I suggested that dash was +a good thing, doubtless, but steady, obstinate, well-directed fighting +was better, and, in the end, would always succeed. + +W. D. B., of the Commercial, Major McDowell, of Rousseau's staff, and +Lieutenant Porter, called this afternoon. My report of the operations of +my brigade at Stone river was referred to. Bickham thought it did not do +justice to my command, and I have no doubt it is a sorry affair, +compared with the elaborate reports of many others. The historian who +accepts these reports as reliable, and permits himself to be guided by +them through all the windings of a five-days' battle, with the +expectation of finally allotting to each one of forty brigades the +proper credit, will probably not be successful. My report was called for +late one evening, written hastily, without having before me the reports +of my regimental commanders, and is incomplete, unsatisfactory to me, +and unjust to my brigade. + +13. General Thomas called for a moment this evening, to congratulate me +on my promotion. + +The practical-joke business is occasionally resumed. Quartermaster Wells +was astonished to find that his stove would not draw, or, rather, that +the smoke, contrary to rule, insisted upon coming down instead of going +up. Examination led to the discovery that the pipe was stuffed with old +newspapers. Their removal heated the stove and his temper at the same +time, but produced a coolness elsewhere, which the practical joker +affected to think quite unaccountable. + +14. Colonel Dodge, commanding the Second Brigade of Johnson's division, +called this afternoon. The Colonel is a very industrious talker, chewer, +spitter, and drinker. He has been under some tremendous hot firing, I +can tell you! Well, if he don't know what heavy firing is, and the +d--dest hottest work, too, then there is no use for men to talk! The +truth is, however much other men may try to conceal it, his command +stood its ground at Shiloh, and never gave back an inch. No, sir! Every +other brigade faltered or fell back, damned if they didn't; but he +drove the enemy, got 'em started, other brigades took courage and joined +in the chase. At Stone river he drove the enemy again. Bullets came +thicker'n hail; but his men stood up. He was with 'em. Damned hot, you +better believe! Well, if he must say it himself, he knew what hard +fighting was. Why, sir, one of his men has five bullets in him; dam' me +if he hasn't five! Says he, Dick says he, how did they hit you so many +times? The first time I fired, says Dick, I killed an officer; yes, sir, +killed him dead; saw him fall, dam me, if he didn't, sir; and at the +same time, says Dick, I got a ball in my leg; rose up to fire again, and +got one in my other leg, and one in my thigh, and fell; got on my knees +to fire the third time, says Dick, and received two more. Well, you see, +the firing was hotter'n hell, and Colonel Dodge knows what hot firing +is, sir! + +15. Since the fight at Franklin, and the capture of the passenger train +at Lavergne, nothing of interest has occurred. There were only fifteen +or twenty officers on the captured train. A large amount of money, +however, fell into rebel hands. The postmaster of our division was on +the train, and the Confederates compelled him to accompany them ten +miles. He says they could have been traced very easily by the letters +which they opened and scattered along the road. + +16. Morgan, with a considerable force, has taken possession of Lebanon, +and troops are on the way thither to rout him. The tunnel near Gallatin +has been blown up, and in consequence trains on the Nashville and +Louisville Railroad are not running. + +17. Am member of a board whose duty it will be to inquire into the +competency, qualifications, and conduct of volunteer officers. The other +members are Colonels Scribner, Hambright, and Taylor. We called in a +body on General Rousseau, and found him reading "Les Miserables." He +apologized for his shabby appearance by saying that he had become +interested in a foolish novel. Colonel Scribner expressed great +admiration for the characters Jean Val Jean and Javort, when the General +confessed to a very decided anxiety to have Javort's neck twisted. This +is the feeling of the reader at first; but when he finds the old granite +man taking his own life as punishment for swerving once from what he +considered to be the line of duty, our admiration for him is scarcely +less than that we entertain for Jean Val Jean. + +18. The Columbus (Ohio) Journal, of late date, under the head of +"Arrivals," says: "General John Beatty has just married one of Ohio's +loveliest daughters, and is stopping at the Neil House. Good for the +General." This is a slander. I trust the paper of the next day made +proper correction, and laid the charge, where it belongs, to wit: on +General Samuel. If General Sam continues to demean himself in this +youthful manner, I shall have to beg him to change his name. My +reputation can not stand many more such blows. What must those who know +I have a wife and children think, when they see it announced that I +have married again, and am stopping at the Neil with "one of Ohio's +loveliest daughters?" What a horrible reflection upon the character of a +constant and faithful husband! (This last sentence is written for my +wife.) + +19. Colonel Taylor and I rode over to General Rousseau's this morning. +Returning, we were joined by Colonel Nicholas, Second Kentucky; Colonel +Hobart, Twenty-first Wisconsin, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham, First +Wisconsin, all of whom took dinner with me. We had a right pleasant +party, but rather boisterous, possibly, for the Sabbath day. + +There is at this moment a lively discussion in progress in the cook's +tent, between two African gentlemen, in regard to military affairs. Old +Hason says: "Oh, hush, darkey!" Buckner replies: "Yer done no what'r +talkin' about, nigger." "I'll bet yer a thousand dollars." "Hush! yer +ain't got five cents." "Gor way, yer don't no nuffin'." And so the +debate continues; but, like many others, leads simply to confusion and +bitterness. + +20. This evening an order came transferring my brigade to Negley's +division. It will be known hereafter as the Second Brigade, Second +Division, Fourteenth Army Corps. + +28. Late last Monday night an officer from Stokes' battery reported to +me for duty. I told him I had received no orders, and knew of no reason +why he should report to me, and that in all probability General Samuel +Beatty, of Van Cleve's division, was the person to whom he should +report. I regarded the matter as simply one of the many blunders which +were occurring because there were two men of the same name and rank +commanding brigades in this army; and so, soon after the officer left, I +went to bed. Before I had gotten fairly to sleep, some one knocked again +at my tent-door. While rising to strike a light the person entered, and +said that he had been ordered to report to me. Supposing it to be the +officer of the battery persisting in his mistake, I replied as before, +and then turned over and went to sleep. I thought no more of the matter +until 11:30 A. M. next day, when an order came which should have been +delivered twenty-four hours before, requiring me to get my brigade in +readiness, and with one regiment of Colonel Harker's command and the +Chicago Board of Trade Battery, move toward Nashville at two o'clock +Tuesday morning. Then, of course, I knew why the two officers had +reported to me on the night previous, and saw that there had been an +inexcusable delay in the transmission of the order to me. Giving the +necessary directions to the regimental commanders, and sending notice to +Harker and the battery, I proceeded with all dispatch direct to +Department head-quarters, whence the order had issued, to explain the +delay. When I entered General Rosecrans shook hands with me cordially, +and seemed pleased to see me; but I had no sooner announced my business, +and informed him that the order had been delivered to me not ten minutes +before, than he flew into a violent passion, and asked if a battery and +regiment had not reported to me the night before. I replied yes, and +was proceeding to give my reasons for supposing that the officers +reporting them were in error, when he shouted: "Why, in hell and +damnation, did you not mount your horse and come to head-quarters to +inquire what it meant?" I undertook again to tell him I had received no +order, and as my brigade had been detailed to work on fortifications I +was expecting none; that I had taken it for granted that it was another +of the many mistakes occurring constantly because there were two +officers of the same name and rank in the army, and had so told the +parties reporting; but he would not listen to me. His face was inflamed +with anger, his rage uncontrollable, his language most ungentlemanly, +abusive, and insulting. Garfield and many officers, commissioned and +non-commissioned, and possibly not a few civilians, were present to +witness my humiliation. For an instant I was tempted to strike him; but +my better sense checked me. I turned on my heel and left the room. Death +would have had few terrors for me just then. I had never felt such +bitter mortification before, and it seemed to me that I was utterly and +irreparably disgraced. However, I had a duty to perform, and while in +the execution of that I would have time to think. + +My brigade, one regiment of Colonel Harker's brigade, and the Chicago +Board of Trade Battery, were already on the road. We marched rapidly, +and that night (Tuesday) encamped in the woods north of Lavergne. Rain +fell most of the night; but the men had shelter tents, and I passed the +time comfortably in a wagon. The next morning at daylight we started +again, and a little after sunrise arrived at Scrougeville. Here my +orders directed me to halt and watch the movements of the enemy. The +rebel cavalry, in pretty strong force, had been in the vicinity during +the day and evening before; but on learning of our approach had galloped +away. We were exceedingly active, and scoured the country for miles +around, but did not succeed in getting sight of even one of these +dashing cavaliers. + +The sky cleared, the weather became delightful, and the five days spent +in the neighborhood of Scrougeville were very agreeable. It was a +pleasant change from the dull routine of camp duty, and my men were in +exuberant spirits, excessively merry and gay. While there, a +good-looking non-commissioned officer of the battery came up to me, and, +extending his hand, said: "How do you do, General?" I shook him by the +hand, but could not for the life of me recollect that I had ever seen +him before. Seeing that I failed to recognize him, he said: "My name is +Concklin. I knew you at Sandusky, and used to know your wife well." +Still I could not remember him. "You knew General Patterson?" he asked. +"Yes." "Mary Patterson?" "Yes; I shall never forget her." "Do you +recollect a stroll down to the bay shore one moonlight night?" Of course +I remembered it. This was John Concklin, Mary's cousin. I remembered +very well how he devoted himself to one I felt considerable interest in, +while his cousin Mary and I talked in a jocular way about the cost of +housekeeping, both agreeing that it would require but a very small sum +to set up such an establishment as our modest ambition demanded. I was +heartily glad to meet the young man. He looks very different from the +smooth-faced boy of ten years ago. I was slightly jealous of him then, +and I do not know but I might have reason to be now, for he is a fine, +manly fellow. + +At Scrougeville--how softly the name ripples on the ear!--we were +entertained magnificently. Above us was the azure canopy; around us a +dense forest of cedars, and in a shady nook, a sylvan retreat as it +were, a barrel of choice beer. The mocking-birds caroled from the +evergreen boughs. The plaintive melody of the dove came to us from over +the hills, and pies at a quarter each poured in upon us in profusion; +and such pies! When night threw over us her shadowy mantle, and the +crescent moon blessed us with her mellow light, the notes of the +whip-poor-will mingling with the bark of watch-dogs and the barbaric +melody of the Ethiopian, floated out on the genial air, and, as +stretched on the green sward, we smoked our pipes and drank our beer, +thoughts of fairy land possessed us, and we looked wonderingly around +and inquired, is Scrougeville a reality or a vision? I fear we shall +never see the like of Scrougeville again. + +On the morning of the 26th instant I received a telegram ordering our +immediate return, and we reached Murfreesboro at two o'clock P. M. same +day. + +I had not forgotten the terrible scolding received from the General just +before starting on this expedition; in fact, I am not likely ever to +forget it. It had now been a millstone on my heart for a week. I could +not stand it. What could I do? At first I thought I would send in my +resignation, but that I concluded would afford me no relief; on the +contrary, it would look as if I had been driven out of the army. My next +impulse was to ask to be relieved from duty in this department, and +assigned elsewhere; but on second thought this did not seem desirable. +It would appear as if I was running away from the displeasure of the +commanding general, and would affect me unfavorably wherever I might go. +I felt that if I was to blame at all in this matter, it was in a very +slight degree. The General's language was utterly inexcusable. He was a +man simply, and I concluded finally that I would not leave either the +army or the department under a cloud. I, therefore, sat down and wrote +the following letter: + + + "MURFREESBORO, _April 27, 1863_. + "MAJOR-GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS, + "_Commanding Department of the Cumberland_: + + "SIR--Your attack upon me, on the morning of the + 21st instant, has been the subject of thought + since. I have been absent on duty five days, and, + therefore, have not referred to it before. It is + the first time since I entered the army, two years + ago, as it is the first time in my life, that it + has been my misfortune to listen to abuse so + violent and unreasonable as that with which you + were pleased to favor me in the presence of the + aids, orderlies, officers, and visitors, at your + quarters. While I am unwilling to rest quietly + under the disgrace and ridicule which attaches to + the subject of such a tirade, I do not question + your right to censure when there has been + remissness in the discharge of duties; and to such + reasonable admonition I am ever ready to yield + respectful and earnest attention; but I know of no + rule, principle, or precedent, which confers upon + the General commanding this Department the right + to address language to an officer which, if used + by a private soldier to his company officer, or by + a company officer to a private soldier, would be + deemed disgraceful and lead to the punishment of + the one or the dismissal of the other. Insisting, + therefore, upon that right, which I conceive + belongs to the private in the ranks, as well at to + every subordinate officer in the army who has been + aggrieved, I demand from you an apology for the + insulting language addressed to me on the morning + of the 21st instant. + + "I am, sir, respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "JOHN BEATTY, Brig.-Gen'l." + +I sent this. Would it be regarded as an act of presumption and treated +with ridicule and contempt? I feared it might, and sat thinking +anxiously over the matter until my orderly returned, with the envelope +marked "W. S. R.," the army mode of acknowledging receipt of letter or +order. Fifteen minutes later this reply came: + + + "HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,} + "MURFREESBORO, _April, 1863_. } + + "MY DEAR GENERAL--I have just received the + inclosed note, marked "Private," but addressed to + me as commanding the Department of the Cumberland. + It compromises you in so many ways that I return + it to you. I am your friend, and regretted that + the circumstances of the case compelled me, as a + commanding officer, to express myself warmly about + a matter which might have cost us dearly, to one + for whom I felt so kindly. You will report to me + in person, without delay. + + W. S. ROSECRANS, Maj.-Gen'l. + "BRIG.-GEN'L JOHN BEATTY, Fortifications, Stone + river. + + "P. S.--It might be well to bring this inclosure + with you." + +The inclosure referred to was, of course, my letter to him. The answer +was not, by any means, an apology. On the contrary, it assumed that he +was justifiable in censuring me as he did, and yet it expressed good +feeling for me. It was probably written in haste, and without thought. +It was not satisfactory; but I was led by it to hope that I could reach +a point which would be. + +I obeyed the order to report promptly. He took me into his private +office, where we talked over the whole affair together. He expressed +regret that he had not known all the circumstances before, and said, in +conclusion: "I am your friend. Some men I like to scold, for I don't +like them; but I have always entertained the best of feeling for you." +Taking me, at the close of our interview, from his private office into +the public room, where General Garfield and others were, he turned and +asked if it was all right--if I was satisfied. I expressed my thanks, +shook hands with him, and left, feeling a thousand times more attached +to him, and more respect for him than I had ever felt before. He had the +power to crush me, for at this time he is almost omnipotent in this +department, and by a simple word he might have driven me from the army, +disgraced in the estimation of both soldiers and citizens. His +magnanimity and kindness, however, lifted a great load from my spirits, +and made me feel like a new man; and I am very sure that he felt better +and happier also, for no man does a generous act to one below him in +rank or station, without being recompensed therefor by a feeling of the +liveliest satisfaction. I may have been too sensitive, and may not, +probably did not, realize fully the necessity for prompt action, and the +weight of responsibility which rested upon the General. There are times +when there is no time for explanation; great exigencies, in the presence +of which lives, fortunes, friendships, and all matters of lesser +importance must give way; moments when men's thoughts are so +concentrated on a single object, and their whole being so wrought up, +that they can see nothing, know nothing, but the calamity they desire to +avert, or the victory they desire to achieve. Nashville had been +threatened. To have lost it, or allowed it to be gutted by the enemy, +would have been a great misfortune to the army, and brought down upon +Rosecrans not only the anathemas of the War Department, but would have +gone far to lose him the confidence of the whole people. He supposed the +enemy's movements had been checked, and was startled and thrown off his +balance by discovering that they were still unopposed. The error was +attributable in part possibly to me, in part to a series of blunders, +which had resulted from the fact that there were two persons in the army +of the same name and rank, but mainly to those who failed to transmit +the order in proper time. + +29. Our large tents have been taken away, and shelter tents substituted. +This evening, when the boys crawled into the latter, they gave +utterance, good-humoredly, to every variety of howl, bark, snap, whine, +and growl of which the dog is supposed to be capable. + +Colonel George Humphreys, Eighty-eighth Indiana, whom I supposed to be a +full-blooded Hoosier, tells me he is a Scotchman, and was born in +Ayrshire, in the same house in which Robert Burns had birth. His +grandfather, James Humphreys, was the neighbor and companion of the +poet. It was of him he wrote this epitaph, at an ale-house, in the way +of pleasantry: + + "Below these stanes lie Jamie's banes. + O! Death, in my opinion, + You ne'er took sic a blither'n bitch + Into thy dark dominion." + +30. This afternoon called on General Thomas; met General R. S. Granger; +paid my respects to General Negley, and stopped for a moment at General +Rousseau's. The latter was about to take a horseback ride with his +daughter, to whom I was introduced. + + + + +MAY, 1863. + + +1. The One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio is at Franklin. Colonel Wilcox +has resigned; Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell will succeed to the colonelcy. +I rode over the battle-field with the latter this afternoon. + +4. Two men from Breckenridge's command strayed into our lines to-day. + +7. Colonels Hobart, Taylor, Nicholas, and Captain Nevin spent the +afternoon with me. + +The intelligence from Hooker's army is contradictory and unintelligible. +We hope it was successful, and yet find little beside the headlines in +the telegraphic column to sustain that hope. The German regiments are +said to have behaved badly. This is, probably, an error. Germans, as a +rule, are reliable soldiers. This, I think, is Carl Schurz's first +battle; an unfortunate beginning for him. + +9. The arrest of Vallandingham, we learn from the newspapers, is +creating a great deal of excitement in the North. I am pleased to see +the authorities commencing at the root and not among the branches. + +I have just read Consul Anderson's appeal to the people of the United +States in favor of an extensive representation of American live stock, +machinery, and manufactures, at the coming fair in Hamburg. Friend James +made a long letter of it; and, I doubt not, drank a gallon of good Dutch +beer after each paragraph. + +11. The Confederate papers say Streight's command was surrendered to +four hundred and fifty rebels. I do not believe it. The Third Ohio +would have whipped that many of the enemy on any field and under any +circumstances. The expedition was a foolish one. Colonel Harker, who +knows Streight well, predicted the fate which has overtaken him. He +is brave, but deficient in judgment. The statement that his command +surrendered to an inferior force is, doubtless, false. Forrest had, +I venture to say, nearer four thousand and fifty than four hundred +and fifty. The rebels always have a great many men before a battle, +but not many after. They profess still to believe in the +one-rebel-to-three-Yankee theory, and make their statements to +correspond. The facts when ascertained will, I have no doubt, show that +the Union brigade was pursued by an overwhelming force, and being +exhausted by constant riding, repeated fights, want of food and sleep, +surrendered after ammunition had given out and all possibility of escape +gone. The enemy is strong in cavalry, and it is not at all probable that +he would have sent but four hundred and fifty men to look after a +brigade, which had boldly ventured hundreds of miles inside his lines. +In fact, General Forrest seldom, if ever, travels with so small a +command as he is said to have had on this occasion. + +13. An order has been issued prohibiting women from visiting the army. I +infer from this that a movement is contemplated. + +14. General Negley called to-day, and remained for half an hour. He is a +large, rosy-cheeked, handsome, affable man, and a good disciplinarian. + +I am going to have a horse-race in the morning with Major McDowell, of +Rousseau's staff. Stakes two bottles of wine. + +When we entered Murfreesboro, nearly a year ago, the boys brought in a +lame horse, which they had picked up on the road. The horse hobbled +along with difficulty, and for a long time was used to carry the +knapsacks and guns of soldiers who were either too unwell or too lazy to +transport these burdens themselves. The horse had belonged to a Texas +cavalryman, and had been abandoned when so lame as to be unfit for +service. Finally, when his shattered hoof got well, he was transferred +from the hospital department to the quartermaster's, where he became a +favorite. The quartermaster called my attention to the horse, and I had +him appraised and took him for my own use. Under the skillful and +attentive hands of my hostler he soon shook off his shaggy coat of ugly +brown, and put on one of velvety black. After a few days of trial I +discovered not only that he was an easy goer, but had the speed of the +wind. When at his fastest pace he is liable to overreach; it was thus +that his left fore hoof had been shattered. To prevent a recurrence of +the accident, I keep his hoof protected by leathers. I believe he is the +fastest horse in the Army of the Cumberland. + +15. Major McDowell did not put in an appearance until after I had +returned from my morning ride. He brought Colonel Loomis with him to +witness the grand affair; but as it was late, we finally concluded to +postpone the race until another morning. + +Some one has been kind enough to lay on my table a handsome bunch of red +pinks and yellow roses. + +My staff has been increased, the late addition being "U. S.," a large +and very lazy yellow dog. The two letters which give him his title are +branded on his shoulder. He sticks very close to me, for the reason, +possibly, that I do not kick him, and say "Get out," as most persons are +tempted to do when they look upon his most unprepossessing visage. He is +a solemn dog, and probably has had a rough row to hoe through life. At +times, when I speak an encouraging word, he brightens up, and makes an +effort to be playful; but cheerfulness is his forte no more than "fiten" +was A. Ward's, and he soon relapses into the deepest melancholy. + +16. Read Emil Schalk's article on Hooker. It is an easy matter for that +gentleman to sit in his library, plan a campaign, and win a battle. I +could do that myself; but when we undertake to make the campaign, fight +the battle, and win the victory, we find it very much more difficult. +Book farmers are wonderfully successful on paper, and show how fortunes +may be gathered in a single season, but when they come down to +practical farming, they discover quite often that frost, or rain, or +drouth, plays the mischief with their theories, and renders them +bankrupt. + +It can be demonstrated, doubtless, that a certain blow, delivered at a +certain place and time, against a certain force, will crush it; but does +it not require infinite skill and power to select the place and time +with certainty? A broken bridge, swollen stream, or even the most +trifling incident, which no man can foresee or overrule, may disarrange +and render futile the best-laid plans, and lead to defeat and disaster. +After a battle we can easily look back and see where mistakes have been +made; but it is more difficult, if not impossible, to look forward and +avoid them. War is a blind and uncertain game at best, and whoever plays +it successfully must not only hold good cards, but play them discreetly, +and under the most favorable circumstances. + +17. Starkweather informs me that he has been urged to return to +Wisconsin and become a candidate for governor, and for fear he might +accede to the wishes of the people in this regard, the present governor +was urging his promotion. He is still undecided whether to accept a +brigadier's commission or the nomination for this high civil office. +Wind. + +18. Two deserters came into our lines to-day. They were members of a +regiment in Cleburne's division, and left their command at Fosterville, +ten or fifteen miles out. They represent the Southern army in our front +as very strong, in good condition and fine spirits. The rebel successes +on the Rappahannock have inspired them with new life, and have, to some +extent, dispirited us. We do not, however, build largely on the Eastern +army. It is an excellent body of men, in good discipline, but for some +reason it has been unfortunate. When we hear, therefore, that the +Eastern army is going to fight, we make up our minds that it is going to +be defeated, and when the result is announced we feel sad enough, but +not disappointed. + +19. Generals Rosecrans, Negley, and Garfield, with the staffs of the two +former, appeared on the field where I was drilling the brigade. General +Rosecrans greeted me very cordially. I am satisfied that those who allow +themselves to be damned once without remonstrance are very likely to be +damned always. + +I am becoming quite an early riser; have seen the sun rise every morning +for two weeks. Saw the moon over my right shoulder. Lucky month ahead. +Am devoting a little more time than usual to my military books. + +Colonel Moody, Seventy-fourth Ohio, has resigned. + +20. This afternoon I received orders to be in readiness to move at a +moment's notice. + +21. The days now give us a specimen of the four seasons. At sunrise it +is pretty fair winter for this latitude. An hour after, good spring; at +noon, midsummer; at sunset, fall. Flies are too numerous to mention even +by the million. They come on drill at 8 A. M., and continue their +evolutions until sun-down. + +Wilson, Orr, and DuBarry are indisposed. My cast-iron constitution +holds good. As a rule, I take no medicine or medical advice. In a few +instances I have acceded to the wishes of my friends, and applied to the +doctors; but have been careful not to allow their prescriptions to get +further than my vest pocket. + +The colt has just whinnied in response to another horse. He is in fine +condition; coat as sleek and glossy as that of a bridegroom. Yesterday I +rode him on drill, and the little scamp got into a quarrel with another +horse, reared up, and made a plunge that came near unseating me. He +agrees with Wilson's horse very well, but seems to think it his duty to +exercise a sort of paternal care over him; and so on all occasions when +possible he takes the reins of Wilson's bridle between his teeth and +holds it tightly, as if determined that the speed of the Adjutant's +horse should be regulated by his own. My black is also in excellent +condition, and certainly very fast. My race has not yet come off. + +23. Received a box of catawba wine and pawpaw brandy from Colonel James +G. Jones, half of which I was requested to deliver to General Rosecrans, +and the other half keep to drink to the Colonel's health, which at +present is very poor. + +Colonel Gus Wood called this afternoon. He is one of those who were +captured on the railroad train near Lavergne, 10th of last April, and +has returned to camp via Tullahoma, Chattanooga, and Richmond. He says +the rebel troops are in good condition and good spirits; thinks there is +an immense force in our front, and that it would not be advisable to +advance. + +The enlisted men of the Third are at Annapolis, Maryland, and will soon +be at Camp Chase, Ohio. The officers are in Libby. + +The box of cigars presented to me by my old friend, W. H. Marvin, still +holds out. Whenever I am in a great straight for a smoke I try one; but +I have not yet succeeded in finding a good one. I affect to be very +liberal, and pass the box around freely; but all who have tried the +cigars once insist that they do not smoke. They will probably last to +the end of the war. + +26. The privates of the Eighty-eighth Indiana presented a +two-hundred-dollar sword to Colonel Humphreys, and the Colonel felt it +to be his duty to invest the price of the sword in beer for the boys. + +Lieutenant Orr was kind enough to give me a field glass. + +Hewitt's Kentucky battery has been assigned to me. Colonel Loomis has +assumed command of his battery again. His commission as colonel was +simply a complimentary one, conferred by the Governor of Michigan. He +should be recognized by the War Department as colonel. No man in the +army is better entitled to the position. His services at Perryville and +Stone river, to say nothing of those in West Virginia and North Alabama, +would be but poorly requited by promotion. + +Hewitt's battery has not been fortunate in the past. It was captured at +this place last summer, when General T. T. Crittenden was taken, and +lost quite a number of men, horses, and one gun, in the battle of Stone +river. + +28. At midnight orderlies went clattering around the camps with orders +for the troops to be supplied with five days' provisions, and in +readiness to march at a moment's notice. We expected to be sent away +this morning, but no orders have yet come to move. + +Mrs. Colonel B. F. Scribner sent me a very handsome bouquet with her +compliments. + +Mr. Furay accompanied Vallandingham outside the Federal lines, and +received from him a parting declaration, written in pencil and signed by +himself, wherein he claimed that he was a citizen of Ohio and of the +United States, brought there by force and against his will, and that he +delivered himself up as a prisoner of war. + +30. Captain Gilbert E. Winters, A. C. S., took tea with me. He is as +jovial as the most successful man in the world, and overruns with small +jokes and stories, many of which he claims were told him by President +Lincoln. From this we might infer that the President has very little to +do but entertain and amuse gentlemen, who apply to him for appointments, +with conversation so coarse that it would be discreditable to a stable +boy. + +31. Received a letter from daughter Nellie, a little school girl. She +"wishes the war was out." So do I. + + + + +JUNE, 1863. + + +1. By invitation, the mounted officers of our brigade accompanied +General Negley to witness the review of Rousseau's division. There were +quite a large number of spectators, including a few ladies. I was +introduced to General Wood for the first time, although I have known him +by sight, and known of him well, for months. Many officers of Wood's and +Negley's divisions were present. After the review, and while the troops +were leaving the field, Colonel Ducat, Inspector-General on General +Rosecrans' staff, and Colonel Harker, challenged me for a race. Soon +after, Major McDowell, of Rousseau's staff, joined the party; and, while +we were getting into position for the start, General Wagner, who has a +long-legged white horse, which, he insisted, could beat any thing on the +ground, took place in the line. McCook, Wood, Loomis, and many others, +stopped to witness the race. The horses were all pacers; it was, in +fact, a gathering of the best horses in the army, and each man felt +confident. I was absolutely sure my black would win, and the result +proved that I was correct. + +The only time during the race that I was honored with the company of my +competitors, was at the starting; then, I observed, they were all up; +but a half a minute later the black took the lead. The old fellow had +evidently been on the track before, and felt as much interest in the +contest as his owner. He knew what was expected of him, and as he went +flying over the ground astonished me, as he did every body else. Loomis, +who professes to know much about horses, said to me before the race took +place, "Your's is a good-looking horse, but he can't beat McDowell's." +Before leaving the field, however, he admitted that he had been +mistaken. My horse was quicker of foot than he supposed. + +2. Called on Colonel Scribner and wife, where I met also Colonel Griffin +and wife; had a long conversation about spiritualism, mesmerism, +clairvoyance, and subjects of that ilk. At night there was a fearful +thunder-storm. The rain descended in torrents, and the peals of thunder +were, I think, louder and more frequent than I ever heard before. + +Met Loomis; he had accompanied General Rosecrans and others to witness +the trial of a machine, invented by Wilder, for tearing up railroad +tracks and injuring the rails in such a manner as to render them +worthless. Hitherto the rebels, when they have torn up our railroads, +have placed the bars crosswise on a pile of ties, set fire to the +latter, and so heated and bent the rails; but by heating them again they +could be easily straightened and made good. Wilder's instrument twists +them so they can not be used again. + +The New York Herald, I observe, refers with great severity to General +Hascall's administration of affairs in Indiana; saying that "to place +such a brainless fool in a military command is not simply an error, it +is a crime." This is grossly unjust. Hascall is not only a gallant +soldier, but a man of education and excellent sense. He has been active, +and possibly severe, in his opposition to treasonable organizations and +notoriously disloyal men, whose influence was exerted to discourage +enlistments and retard the enforcement of the draft. Unfortunately, in +time of civil war, besides the great exigencies which arise to threaten +the commonwealth, innumerable lesser evils gather like flies about an +open wound, to annoy, irritate, and kill. Against these the law has made +no adequate provision. The military must, therefore, often interpose for +the public good, without waiting for legislative authority, or the slow +processes of the civil law, just as the fireman must proceed to batter +down the doors of a burning edifice, without stopping to obtain the +owner's permission to enter and subdue the flames. + +3. Our division was reviewed to-day. The spectators were numerous, +numbering among other distinguished personages Generals Rosecrans, +Thomas, Crittenden, Rousseau, Sheridan, and Wood. The weather was +favorable, and the review a success. In the evening, a large party +gathered at Negley's quarters, where lunch and punch were provided in +abundance. + +Generals Wood and Crittenden, of the Twenty-first Army Corps, claimed +that I did not beat Wagner fairly in the horse-race the other day. I +expressed a willingness to satisfy them that I could do so any day; and, +further, that my horse could out-go any thing in the Twenty-first Corps. +The upshot of the matter is that we have a race arranged for Friday +afternoon at four o'clock. + +The party was a merry one; gentlemen imbibed freely. General Rosecrans' +face was as red as a beet; he had, however, been talking with ladies, +and being a diffident man, was possibly blushing. Wood persisted that +the Twenty-first Corps could not be beaten in a horse-race, and that +Wagner's long-legged white was the most wonderful pacer he ever saw. +Negley seemed possessed with the idea that every body was trying to +escape, and that it was necessary for him to seize them by the arm and +haul them back to the table; he seemed also to be laboring under the +delusion that his guests would not drink unless he kept his eye on them, +and forced them to do so. Lieutenant-Colonel Ducat, an Irishman of the +Charles O'Malley school, insisted upon introducing me to the ladies, but +fortunately I was sober enough to decline the invitation. Harker, late +in the evening, thought he discovered a disposition on the part of +others to play off on him; he felt in duty bound to empty a full +tumbler, while they shirked by taking only half of one, which he +affirmed was unfair and inexcusable. General Thomas, after sitting at +his wine an hour, conversing the while with a lady, arose from the table +evidently very much refreshed, and proceeded to make himself exceedingly +agreeable. I never knew the old gentleman to be so affable, cordial, and +complimentary before. + +4. The guns have been reverberating in our front all day. I am told that +Sheridan's division advanced on the Shelbyville road. It is probable +that a part, if not the whole, of the firing is in his front. + +5. Read the Autobiography of Peter Cartright. It is written in the +language of the frontier, and presents a rough, strong, uneducated man, +full of vanity, courage, and religious zeal. He never reached the full +measure of dignity requisite to a minister of the Gospel. There are many +amusing incidents in the volume, and many tales of adventures with +sinners, in the cabin, on the road, and at camp meeting, in all of which +Cartright gets the better of the sons of Belial, and triumphs in the +Lord. + +8. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, Colonel Moore, reported to me +for duty, so that I have now four regiments and a battery. This Colonel +Moore is the same who was in command at Hartsville, and whose regiment +and brigade were captured by the ubiquitous John Morgan last winter. He +has but recently returned from the South, where, for a time, he was +confined in Libby prison. + +The rebels are still prowling about our lines, but making no great +demonstrations of power. + +9. Governor (?) Billy Williams;, of Indiana, dined with me to-day; he +resides in Warsaw, is a politician, a fair speaker, and an inveterate +story teller. + +Wilson has been appointed Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of +captain. + +13. Had brigade drill in a large clover field, just outside the picket +line. The men were in fine condition, well dressed, and well equipped. I +kept them on the jump for two hours. Generals Thomas and Negley were +present, and were well pleased. I doubt if any brigade in the army, can +execute a greater variety of movements than mine, or go through them in +better style. My voice is excellent, I can make myself heard distinctly +by a whole brigade, without becoming hoarse by hours of exertion. +Starkweather has the best voice in the army; he can be heard a mile +away. + +Our division and brigade flags have been changed from light to dark +blue. They look almost like a black no-quarter flag. + +We have one solitary rooster: he crows early in the morning, all day, +and through the night if it be moonlight. He mounted a stump near my +door this morning, stood between the tent and the sun, so that his +shadow fell on the canvas, and crowed for half an hour at the top of his +voice. I think the scamp knew I was lying abed longer than usual, and +was determined to make me get up. He is on the most intimate terms with +the soldiers, and struts about the camp with an air of as much +importance as if he wore shoulder-straps, and had been reared at West +Point. He enters the boys' tents, and inspects their quarters with all +the freedom and independence of a regularly detailed inspecting officer. +He is a fine type of the soldier, proud and vain, with a tremendous +opinion of his own fighting qualities. + +16. Had a grand corps drill. The line of troops, when stretched out, was +over a mile in length. The Corps was like a clumsy giant, and hours were +required to execute the simplest movement. When, for instance, we +changed front, my brigade marched nearly, if not quite, a mile to take +position in the new line. The waving of banners, the flashing of sabers +and bayonets, the clattering to and fro of muddle-headed aids-de-camp on +impatient steeds, the heavy rumble of artillery wagons, the blue coats +of the soldiers, the golden trappings of the field and staff, made a +grand scene for the disinterested spectator to look upon; but with the +thermometer ranging from eighty-five to one hundred, it was hard work +for the soldier who bore knapsack, haversack, and gun, and calculated to +produce an unusual amount of perspiration, and not a little profanity. +Major-General Thomas guided the immense mass of men, while the +operations of the divisions were superintended by their respective +commanders. I fear the brigade and regimental commanders profited little +by the drill, but I hope the major-generals learned something. The +latter, in their devotion to strategy, have evidently neglected tactics, +and failed to unravel the mysteries of the school of the battalion. + +In the morning, with my division commander, I called on General Thomas, +at his quarters, and had the honor to accept from his hands the most +abominable cigar it has ever been my misfortune to attempt to smoke. + +19. The army has been lying here now nearly six months. It has of late +been kept pretty busy. Sunday morning inspections, monthly inspections +of troops, frequent inspections of arms and ammunition, innumerable +drills, and constant picketing. + +Colonel Miller assumes command of a brigade in Johnson's division. Since +the troops were at Nashville he has been commanding what was known as +the Second Brigade of Negley's division; but the colonels of the brigade +objected to having an imported colonel placed over them, and so Miller +takes command of the brigade to which his regiment is attached. He is a +brave man and a good officer. Colonel Harker's brigade has been relieved +from duty at the fortifications, and is now encamped near us, on the +Liberty road. + +21. Mrs. Colonel Scribner and Mrs. Colonel Griffin stopped at my +tent-door for a moment this morning. They were on horseback, and each +had a child on the saddle. They were giving Mrs. Scribner's children a +little ride. + +Attended divine service in the camp of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, and +afterward called for a few minutes on Colonel Moore, of the One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois. On returning to my quarters I found Colonels Hobart +and Taylor awaiting me. They were about to visit Colonel T. P. Nicholas, +of the Second Kentucky Cavalry, and desired me to accompany them. We +dined with Colonel Nicholas, and, as is the custom, observed the +apostolic injunction of taking something for the stomach's sake. Toward +evening we visited the field hospital, and paid our respects to Surgeon +Finley and lady. Here, much against our wills, we were compelled to +empty a bottle of sherry. On the way to our own quarters Colonel Taylor +insisted upon our calling with him to see a friend, with whom we were +obliged to take a glass of ale. So that it was about dark when we three +sober gentlemen drew near to our respective quarters. We had become +immensely eloquent on the conduct of the war, and with great unanimity +concluded that if Grant were to take Vicksburg he would be entitled to +our profoundest admiration and respect. Hobart, as usual, spoke of his +State as if it were a separate and independent nation, whose sons, in +imitation of LaFayette, Kosciusko and DeKalb, were devoting their best +blood to the maintenance of free government in a foreign land; while +Taylor, incited thereto by this eulogy on Wisconsin, took up the cudgel +for Kentucky, and dwelt enthusiastically on the gallantry of her men and +the unrivaled beauty of her women. + +When I dismounted and turned my horse over to the servant, I caught a +glimpse of the signal lights on the dome of the court-house, and was +astonished to find just double the usual number, in the act of +performing a Dutch waltz. I concluded that the Signal Corps must be +drunk. Saddened by the reflection that those occupying high places, +whose duty it was to let their light shine before men, should be found +in this condition of hopeless inebriety, I heaved a sigh which might +have been mistaken by the uncharitable for a hic-cough, and lay down to +rest. + +23. My colt had a sore eye a day or two ago, but it is now getting well. +The boys pet him, and by pinching him have taught him to bite. I fear +they will spoil him. I have not ridden him much of late. He has a way of +walking on his hind legs, for which the saddles in use are not +calculated, and there is, consequently, a constant tendency, on the part +of the rider, to slip over his tail. + +Captain Wells sent a colored teamster, who had just come in, tired and +hungry, to his quarters for dinner. Simon Bolivar Buckner, who now has +charge of the commissary and culinary branch of the Captain's +establishment, was in the act of dining when the teamster entered the +tent and seated himself at the table. Buckner, astonished at this +unceremonious intrusion, exclaimed: "What you doin' har, sah?" "De Capin +tole me fer to come and get my dinnah." "Hell," shouted Buckner, "does +de Capin 'spose I'm guiane to eat wid a d--n common nigger? Git out'er +har, till I'm done got through." + +Buckner gets married every time we move camp. On last Sunday Captain +Wells found him dressed very elaborately, in white vest and clean linen, +and said to him: "What's in the wind, Buckner?" "Gwine to be married dis +ebening, sah." "What time?" "Five o'clock, sah." "Can't spare you, +Buckner. Expect friends here to dine at six, and want a good dinner +gotten up." "Berry well, sah; can pos'pone de wedin', sah. Dis'pintment +to lady, sah; but it'll be all right." + +24. The note of preparation for a general advance sounded late last +night. Reynolds moved at 4 A. M.; Rousseau at 7; our division will leave +at 10. A long line of cavalry is at this moment going out on the +Manchester pike. + + * * * * * + +Rain commenced falling soon after we left Murfreesboro, and continued +the remainder of the day. The roads were sloppy, and marching +disagreeable. Encamped at Big creek for the night; Rousseau and Reynolds +in advance. + +Before leaving Murfreesboro I handed John what I supposed to be a +package of tea, and told him to fill my canteen with cold tea. On the +road I took two or three drinks, and thought it tasted strongly of +tobacco; but I accounted for it on the supposition that I had been +smoking too much, and that the tobacco taste was in my mouth, and not in +the tea. After getting into camp I drank of it again, when it occurred +to me that John had neglected to cleanse the canteen before putting the +tea in, and go I began to scold him. "I did clean it, sah," retorted +John. "Well, this tea," I replied, "tastes very much like tobacco +juice." "It is terbacker juice, sah." "Why, how is that?" "You gib me +paper terbacker, an' tole me hab some tea made, sah, and I done jes as +you tole me, sah." "Why you are a fool, John; did you suppose I wanted +you to make me tea out of tobacco?" "Don know, sah; dat's what you tole +me, sah; done jes as you tole me, sah." + +25. Marched to Hoover's Gap. Heavy skirmishing in front during the day. +Reynolds lost fifteen killed, and quite a number wounded. A stubborn +fight was expected, and our division moved up to take part in it; but +the enemy fell back. Rain has been falling most of the day. A pain in my +side admonishes me that I should have worn heavier boots. + +26. Moved to Beech Grove. Cannonading in front during the whole day; but +we have now become so accustomed to the noise of the guns that it hardly +excites remark. The sky is still cloudy, and I fear we shall have more +rain to-night. The boys are busy gathering leaves and twigs to keep them +from the damp ground. General Negley's quarters are a few rods to my +left, and General Thomas' just below us, at the bottom of the hill. +Reynolds is four miles in advance. + +27. We left Beech Grove, or Jacob's Store, this morning, at five +o'clock, and conducted the wagon train of our division through to +Manchester. Rosecrans and Reynolds are here. The latter took possession +of the place two or three hours before my brigade reached it, and the +former came up three hours after we had gone into camp. We are now +twelve miles from Tullahoma. The guns are thundering off in the +direction of Wartrace. Hardee's corps was driven from Fairfield this +morning. My baggage has not come, and I am compelled to sleep on the +wet ground in a still wetter overcoat. + +28. My baggage arrived during the night, and this morning I changed my +clothes and expected to spend the Sabbath quietly; but about 10 A. M. I +was ordered to proceed to Hillsboro, a place eight miles from +Manchester, on the old stage road to Chattanooga. When we were moving +out I met Durbin Ward, who asked me where I was going. I told him. +"Why," said he, "I thought, from the rose in your button-hole, that you +were going to a wedding." "No," I replied; "but I hope we are going to +nothing more serious." + +29. My position is one of great danger, being so far from support and so +near the enemy. Last night my pickets on the Tullahoma road were driven +in, after a sharp fight, and my command was put in line of battle, and +so remained for an hour or more; but we were not again disturbed. No +fires were built, and the darkness was impenetrable. + +At noon I received orders to proceed to Bobo's Cross-roads, and reach +that point before nightfall. There were two ways of going there: the one +via Manchester was comparatively safe, although considerably out of the +direct line; the other was direct, but somewhat unsafe, because it would +take me near the enemy's front. The distance by this shorter route was +eleven miles. I chose the latter. It led through a sparsely settled, +open oak country. Two regiments of Wheeler's cavalry had been hovering +about Hillsboro during the day, evidently watching our movements. After +proceeding about three miles, a dash was made upon my skirmish line, +which resulted in the killing of a lieutenant, the capture of one man, +and the wounding of several others. I instantly formed line of battle, +and pushed forward as rapidly as the nature of the ground would admit; +but the enemy fell back. + +About five o'clock, as we drew near Bobo's, two cannon shots and quite a +brisk fire of musketry advised us that the rebels were either still in +possession of the Cross-roads or our friends were mistaking us for the +enemy. I formed line of battle, and ordered the few cavalrymen who +accompanied me to make a detour to the right and rear, and ascertain, if +possible, who were in our front. The videttes soon after reported the +enemy advancing, with a squadron of cavalry in the lead, and I put my +artillery in position to give them a raking fire when they should reach +a bend of the road. At this moment when life and death seemed to hang in +the balance, and when we supposed we were in the presence of a very +considerable, if not an overwhelming, force of the enemy, a half-grown +hog emerged from the woods, and ran across the road. Fifty men sprang +from the ranks and gave it chase, and before order was fully restored, +and the line readjusted, my cavalry returned with the information that +the troops in front were our own. + +The incidents of the last six days would fill a volume; but I have been +on horseback so much, and otherwise so thoroughly engaged, that I have +been, and am now, too weary to note them down, even if I had the +conveniences at hand for so doing. + + + + +JULY, 1863. + + +1. My brigade, with a battalion of cavalry attached, started from Bobo's +Cross-roads in the direction of Winchester. When one mile out we picked +up three deserters, who reported that the rebels had evacuated +Tullahoma, and were in full retreat. Half a mile further along I +overtook the enemy's rear guard, when a sharp fight occurred between the +cavalry, resulting, I think, in very little injury to either party. The +enemy fell back a mile or more, when he opened on us with artillery, and +a sharp artillery fight took place, which lasted for perhaps thirty +minutes. Several men on both sides were killed and wounded. The enemy +finally retired, and taking a second position awaited our arrival, and +opened on us again. I pushed forward in the thick woods, and drove him +from point to point for seven miles. Negley followed with the other +brigades of the division, ready to support me in case the enemy proved +too strong, but I did not need assistance. The force opposed to us +simply desired to retard pursuit; and whenever we pushed against it +vigorously fell back. + +2. This morning we discover that we bivouacked during the night within +half a mile of a large force of rebel cavalry and infantry. After +proceeding a little way, we found the enemy in position on the bluffs on +the opposite side of Elk river, with his artillery planted so as to +sweep the road leading to the bridge. Halting my infantry and cavalry +under the cover of the hill, I sent to the rear for an additional +battery, and, before the enemy seemed to be aware of what we were doing, +I got ten guns in position on the crest of the hill and commenced +firing. The enemy's cavalry and infantry, which up to this time had +lined the opposite hills, began to scatter in great confusion; but we +did not have it all our own way by any means. The rebels replied with +shot and shell very vigorously, and for half an hour the fight was very +interesting; at the end of that time, however, their batteries limbered +up and left on the double quick. In the meantime, I had sent a +detachment of infantry to occupy a stockade which the enemy had +constructed near the bridge, and from this position good work was done +by driving off his sharpshooters. We found the bridge partially burned, +and the river too much swollen for either the men or trains to ford it. +Rousseau and Brannan, I understand, succeeded in crossing at an upper +ford, and are in hot pursuit. + +3. Repaired the bridge, and crossed the river this morning; and are now +bivouacking on the ground over which the cavalry fought yesterday +afternoon--quite a number of the dead were discovered in the woods and +fields. We picked up, at Elk river, an order of Brigadier-General +Wharton, commanding the troops which have been serving as the rear +guard of the enemy's column. It reads as follows: + + "COLONEL HAMAR: Retire the artillery when you + think best. Hold the position as long as you can + with your sharpshooters; when forced back, write + to Crew to that effect. Anderson is on your right. + Report all movements to me on this road. + + "JNO. A. WHARTON, Brigadier-General. + "July 2d, 1863." + +I have been almost constantly in the saddle, and have hardly slept a +quiet three hours since we started on this expedition. My brigade has +picked up probably a hundred prisoners. + +4. At twelve o'clock, noon, my brigade was ordered to take the advance, +and make the top of the Cumberland before nightfall; proceeding four +miles, we reached the base of the mountain, and began the ascent. The +road was exceedingly rough, and the rebels had made it impassable, for +artillery, by rolling great rocks into it and felling trees across it. +The axmen were ordered up, and while they were clearing away the +obstructions I rode ahead with the cavalry to the summit, and some four +miles on the ridge beyond. In the meantime, General Negley ordered the +artillery and infantry to return to the foot of the mountain, where we +are now encamped. + +5. Since we left Murfreesboro (June 24) rain has been falling almost +constantly; to-day it has been coming down in torrents, and the low +grounds around us are overflowed. + +Rousseau's division is encamped near us on the left, Reynolds in the +rear. + +The other day, while sitting on the fence by the roadside smoking my +pipe, waiting for my troops to get in readiness to march, some one cried +out, "Here is a philosopher," and General Reynolds rode up and shook my +hand very cordially. + +My brigade has been so fortunate, thus far, as to win the confidence of +the commanding generals. It has, during the last week, served as a sort +of a cow-catcher for Negley's division. At Elk river General Thomas rode +up, while I was making my dispositions to attack the enemy, and approved +what I had done and was doing. + +We hear that the Army of the East has won a decisive victory in +Pennsylvania. This is grand! It will show the rebels that it will not do +to put their feet on free soil. Now if Grant succeeds in taking +Vicksburg, and Rosecrans drives Bragg beyond the Tennessee, the country +will have reason to rejoice with exceeding great joy. + +6. An old lady, whose home is on the side of the mountain, called on me +to-day and said she had not had a cup of coffee since the war commenced. +She was evidently very poor; and, although we had no coffee to spare, I +gave her enough to remind her again of the taste. + +Our soldiers have been making a clean sweep of the hogs, sheep, and +poultry on the route. For the rich rebels I have no sympathy, but the +poor we must pity. The war cuts off from them entirely the food which, +in the best of times, they acquire with great labor and difficulty. The +forage for the army horses and mules, and we have an immense number, +consists almost wholly of wheat in the sheaf--wheat that has been +selling for ten dollars per bushel in Confederate money. I have seen +hundreds of acres of wheat in the sheaf disappear in an hour. Rails have +been burned without stint, and numberless fields of growing corn left +unprotected. However much suffering this destruction of property may +entail on the people of this section, I am inclined to think the effect +will be good. It will bring them to a realizing sense of the loss +sustained when they threw aside the protecting shield of the old +Constitution, and the security which they enjoyed in the Union. + +The season's crop of wheat, corn, oats, and hogs would have been of the +utmost value to the Confederate army; when destroyed, there will be +nothing in middle Tennessee to tempt it back. + +7. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Tennesseeans have deserted from the +Southern army and are now wandering about in the mountains, endeavoring +to get to their homes. They are mostly conscripted men. My command has +gathered up hundreds, and the mountains and coves in this vicinity are +said to be full of them. + +It rains incessantly. We moved to Decherd and encamped on a ridge, but +are now knee-deep in mud and surrounded by water. + +This morning a hundred guns echoed among the mountain gorges over the +glad intelligence from the East and South: Meade has won a famous +victory, and Grant has taken Vicksburg. + +Stragglers and deserters from Bragg's army continue to come in. It is +doubtless unfortunate for the country that rain and bad roads prevented +our following up Bragg closely and forcing him to fight in the present +demoralized condition of his army. We would have been certain of a +decisive victory. + +9. Dined with General Negley. Colonels Stoughton and Surwell, brigade +commanders, were present. The dinner was excellent; soups, punch, wine, +blackberries were on the table; and, to men who for a fortnight had been +feeding on hard crackers and salt pork, seemed delicious. The General +got his face poisoned while riding through the woods on the 2d instant, +and he now looks like an old bruiser. + +McCook, whose corps lies near Winchester, called while we were at +Negley's; he looks, if possible, more like a blockhead than ever, and it +is astonishing to me that he should be permitted to retain command of a +corps for a single hour. He brought us cheering information, however. +The intelligence received from the East and South a few days ago has +been confirmed, and the success of our armies even greater than first +reports led us to believe. + +10. We have a cow at brigade head-quarters. Blackberries are very +abundant. The sky has cleared, but the Cumberland mountains are this +morning covered by a thin veil of mist. Supply trains arrived last +night. + +11. We hear nothing of the rebel army. Rosecrans, doubtless, knows its +whereabouts, but his subordinates do not. A few of the enemy may be +lingering in the vicinity of Stevenson and Bridgeport, but the main body +is, doubtless, beyond the Tennessee. The rebel sympathizers here +acknowledge that Bragg has been outgeneraled. Our cavalry started on the +9th instant for Huntsville, Athens, and Decatur, and I have no doubt +these places were re-occupied without opposition. + +The rebel cavalry is said to be utterly worn out, and for this reason +has performed a very insignificant part in recent operations. + +The fall of Vicksburg, defeat of Lee, and retreat of Bragg, will, +doubtless, render the adoption of an entirely new plan necessary. How +long it will take to perfect this, and get ready for a concerted +movement, I have no idea. + +12. Our soldiers, I am told, have been entering the houses of private +citizens, taking whatever they saw fit, and committing many outrages. I +trust, however, they have not been doing so badly as the people would +have us believe. The latter are all disposed to grumble; and if a hungry +soldier squints wistfully at a chicken, some one is ready to complain +that the fowls are in danger, and that they are the property of a lone +woman, a widow, with nothing under the sun to eat but chickens. In nine +cases out of ten the husbands of these lone women are in the Confederate +army; but still they are women, and should be treated well. + +14. The brigade baker has come up, and will have his oven in operation +this afternoon; so we shall have fresh bread again. + +General Rosecrans will allow no ladies to come to the front. This would +seem to be conclusive that no gentlemen will be permitted to go to the +rear. + +16. We have blackberries and milk for breakfast, dinner, and supper. +To-night we had hot gingerbread also. I have eaten too much, and feel +uncomfortable. + +Meade's victory has been growing small by degrees and beautifully less; +but the success of Grant has improved sufficiently on first reports to +make it all up. Our success in this department, although attended with +little loss of life, has been very gratifying. We have extended our +lines over the most productive region of Tennessee, and have possession +also of all North Alabama, a rich tract of country, the loss of which +must be sorely felt by the rebels. + +18. To-night I received a bundle of Northern papers, and among others +the Union (?) Register. While reading it I felt almost glad that I was +not at home, for certainly I should be very uncomfortable if compelled +to listen every day to such treasonable attacks upon the Administration, +sugar-coated though they be with hypocritical professions of devotion to +the Union, the Constitution, and the soldier. How supremely wicked these +men are, who, for their own personal advantage, or for party success, +use every possible means to bring the Administration into disrespect, +and withhold from it what, at this time, it so greatly needs, the hearty +support and co-operation of the people. The simple fact that abuse of +the party in power encourages the rebels, not only by evincing +disaffection and division in the North, but by leading them to believe, +also, that their conduct is justifiable, should, of itself, be +sufficient to deter honest and patriotic men from using such language as +may be found in the opposition press. The blood of many thousand +soldiers will rest upon the peace party, and certainly the blood of many +misguided people at the North must be charged to the same account. The +draft riots of New York and elsewhere these croakers and libelers are +alone responsible for. After the war has ended there will be abundant +time to discuss the manner in which it has been conducted. Certainly +quarreling over it now can only tend to the defeat and disgrace of our +arms. + +We hardly hear of politics in the army, and I certainly did not dream +before that there was so much bitterness of feeling among the people in +the North. Republicans, Democrats, and every body else think nearly +alike here. I know of none who sympathize with the so-called peace +party. It is universally damned, for there is no soldier so ignorant +that he does not know and feel that this party is prolonging the war by +stimulating his enemies. A child can see this. The rebel papers, which +every soldier occasionally obtains, prove it beyond a peradventure. + +20. Mrs. General Negley, it appears, has been allowed to visit her +husband. Mrs. General McCook is said to be coming. + +Received a public document, in which I find all the reports of the +battle of Stone river, and, I am sorry to say, my report is the poorest +and most unsatisfactory of the whole lot. The printer, as if for the +purpose of aggravating me beyond endurance, has, by an error of +punctuation, transformed what I considered a very considerable and +creditable action, into an inconsiderable skirmish. The report should +read: + + "On the second and third days my brigade was in + front, a portion of the time skirmishing. On the + night of January 3d, two regiments, led by myself, + drove the enemy from their breastworks in the edge + of the woods." + +This appears in the volume as follows: + + "On the second and third days my brigade was in + front a portion of the time. Skirmishing on the + night of January 3d, two regiments, led my myself, + drove the enemy from the breastworks in the edge + of the woods." + +Thus, by taking the last word of one sentence and making it the first +word of another, the intelligent compositor belittles a night fight for +which I thought my command deserved no inconsiderable credit. I regret +now that I did not take the time to make an elaborate report of the +operations of my brigade, describing all the terrible situations in +which it had been placed, and dwelling with special emphasis on the +courage and splendid fighting of the men. In contrast with my stupidly +modest report, is that of Brigadier-General Spears. He does not hesitate +to claim for his troops all the credit of the night engagement referred +to; and yet while my men stormed the barricade of logs, and cleaned out +the woods, his were lying on their faces fully two hundred yards in the +rear, and I should never have known that they were even that near the +enemy if his raw soldiers had not fired an occasional shot into us from +behind. If General Spears was with his men, he must have known that his +report of their action on that occasion was utterly untruthful. If, +however, as I apprehend, he was behind the rifle pits, six hundred yards +in the rear, he might, like thousands of others, who were distant +spectators of the scene, have honestly conceived that his troops were +doing the fighting. General Rousseau's report contradicts his +statements, and in a meager way accords the credit to my regiments. + +Officers are more selfish, dishonest, and grasping in their struggle for +notoriety than the miser for gold. They lay claim to every thing within +reach, whether it belongs to them or not. I know absolutely that many of +the reports in the volume before me are base exaggerations--romances, +founded upon the smallest conceivable amount of fact. They are simply +elaborate essays, which seek to show that the author was a little +braver, a little more skillful in the management of his men, and a +little worthier than anybody else. I know of one officer who has great +credit, in official reports and in the newspapers, for a battle in which +he did not participate at all. In fact, he did not reach the field until +after the enemy had not only been repulsed, but retired out of sight; +and yet he has not the manliness to correct the error, and give the +honor to whom it is due. + +21. The day has been a pleasant one. The night is delightful. The new +moon favors us with just sufficient light to reveal fully the great +oaks, the white tents, and the shadowy outline of the Cumberland +mountains. The pious few of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, assembled in a +booth constructed of branches, are breathing out their devotional +inspirations and aspirations, in an old hymn which carries us back to +the churches and homes of the civilized world, or, as the boys term it, +"God's country." + +Katydids from a hundred trees are vigorous and relentless in their +accusations against poor Katy. That was a pleasant conceit of Holmes, +"What did poor Katy do?" I never appreciated it fully until I came into +the country of the katydids. + +Two trains, laden with forage, commissary, and quartermaster stores, are +puffing away at the depot. + +General Rosecrans will move to Winchester, two miles from us, to-morrow. + +No one ever more desired to look again on his wife and babies than I; +but, alack and alas! I am bound with a chain which seems to tighten more +and more each day, and draw me further and further from where I desire +to be. But I trust the time will soon come when I shall be free again. + +Morgan's command has come to grief in Ohio. I trust he may be captured +himself. The papers say Basil Duke is a prisoner. If so, the spirit of +the great raider is in our hands, and it matters but little, perhaps, +what becomes of the carcass. + +A soldier of the Forty-second Indiana, who ran away from the battle of +Stone river, had his head shaved and was drummed out of camp to-day. +David Walker, Paul Long, and Charley Hiskett, of the Third Ohio, go with +him to Nashville, where he is to be confined in military prison until +the end of the war. + +Shaving the head and drumming out of camp is a fearful punishment. I +could not help pitying the poor fellow, as with carpet-sack in one hand +and hat in the other he marched crest-fallen through the camps, to the +music of the "Rogue's March." Death and oblivion would have been less +severe and infinitely more desirable. + +25. General Rosecrans, although generally supposed to be here, has been, +it is said, absent for some days. It is intimated that he has gone to +Washington. If it be true, he has flanked the newspaper men by a +wonderful burst of strategy. He must have gone through disguised as an +old woman--a very ugly old woman with a tremendous nose--otherwise these +newspaper pickets would have arrested and put him in the papers +forthwith. They are more vigilant than the rebels, and terribly intent +upon finding somebody to talk about, to laud to the skies, or abuse in +the most fearful manner, for they seldom do things by halves, unless it +be telling the truth. They have a marvelous distaste for facts, and use +no more of them than are absolutely necessary to string their guesses +and imaginings upon. + +My colt has just whinnied. He is gay as a lark, and puts Davy, the +hostler, through many evolutions unknown to the cavalry service. The +other day Davy had him out for exercise, and when he came rearing and +charging back, I said: "How does he behave to-day, Davy?" "Mighty +rambunctious, sah; he's gettin' bad, sah." + +Major James Connelly, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois, called. His +regiment is mounted and in Wilder's brigade. It participated in the +engagement at Hoover's Gap. When my brigade was at Hillsboro, Connelly's +regiment accompanied Wilder to this place (Decherd). The veracious +correspondent reported that Wilder, on that expedition, had destroyed +the bridge here and done great injury to the railroad, permanently +interrupting communication between Bridgeport and Tullahoma; but, in +fact, the bridge was not destroyed, and trains on the railroad were only +delayed two hours. The expedition succeeded, however, in picking up a +few stragglers and horses. + +26. General Stanley has returned from Huntsville, bringing with him +about one thousand North Alabama negroes. This is a blow at the enemy in +the right place. Deprived of slave labor, the whites will be compelled +to send home, or leave at home, white men enough to cultivate the land +and keep their families from starving. + +27. Adjutant Wilson visited Rousseau's division at Cowan, and reports +the return of Starkweather from Wisconsin, with the stars. This +gentleman has been mourning over the ingratitude of Republics ever since +the battle of Perryville; but henceforth he will, doubtless, feel +better. + +A court-martial has been called for the trial of Colonel A. B. Moore, +One Hundred and Fourth Illinois. Some ill-feeling in his regiment has +led one of his officers to prefer charges against him. + +28. General Thomas is an officer of the regular army; the field is his +home; the tent his house, and war his business. He regards rather +coolly, therefore, the applications of volunteer officers for leaves of +absence. Why should they not be as contented as himself? He does not +seem to consider that they suddenly dropped business, every thing, in +fact, to hasten to the field. But, then, on second thought, I incline to +the opinion that the old man is right. Half the army would be at home if +leaves and furloughs could be had for the asking. + +29. Lieutenant Orr received notice yesterday of his appointment as +captain in the subsistence department, and last night opened a barrel of +beer and stood treat. I did not join the party until about ten o'clock, +and then Captain Hewitt, of the battery, the story-teller of the +brigade, was in full blast, and the applause was uproarious. He was +telling of a militia captain of Fentress county, Tennessee, who called +out his company upon the supposition that we were again at war with +Great Britain; that Washington had been captured by the invaders, and +the arch-iv-es destroyed. A bystander questioned the correctness of the +Captain's information, when he became very angry, and, producing a +newspaper, said: "D--n you, sir, do you think _I_ can't read, sir?" The +man thus interrogated looked over the paper, saw that it announced the +occupation of Washington by the British, but called the attention of the +excited militiaman to the fact that the date was 1812. "So it is," said +the old captain; "I did not notice the date. But, d--n me, sir, the +paper just come. Go on with the drill, boys." This story was told to +illustrate the fact that the people of many counties in Tennessee were +behind the times. + +It would take too much time to refer, even briefly, to all the stories +related, and I will allude simply to a LONDON GHOST STORY, which Captain +Halpin, an Irishman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, undertook to tell. The +gallant Captain was in the last stages of inebriety, and laid the scene +of his London ghost story in Ireland. Steadying himself in his seat with +both hands, and with a tongue rather too thick to articulate clearly, he +introduced us to his ancestors for twenty generations back. It was a +famous old Irish family, and among the collateral branches were the +O'Tooles, O'Rourkes, and O'Flahertys. They had in them the blood of the +Irish kings, and accomplished marvelous feats in the wars of those +times. And so we staggered with the Captain from Dublin to Belfast, and +thence made sorties into all the provinces on chase of the London ghost, +until finally our leader wound up with a yawn and went to sleep. The +party, disappointed at this sudden and unsatisfactory termination of the +London ghost story, took a mug of beer all around, and then one +gentleman, drunker probably than the others, or possibly unwilling, +after all the time spent, to allow the ghost to escape, punched the +Captain in the ribs and shouted: "Captain--Captain Halpin, you said it +was a London ghost story; maybe you'll find the ghost in London, for +I'll be d--d if it's in Ireland!" The Captain was too far gone to profit +by the suggestion. + +30. This evening General Rosecrans, on his way to Winchester, stopped +for a few minutes at the station. He shook hands with me, and asked how +I liked the water at the foot of the mountains, and about the health of +my troops. I told him the water was good, and that the boys were +encamped on high ground and healthy. "Yes," he replied, "and we'll take +higher ground in a few days." + +On the march to Tullahoma I had my brigade stretched along a ridge to +guard against an attack from the direction of Wartrace. General +Rosecrans passed through my lines, and was making some inquiries, when I +stepped out: "Hello," said he, "here is the young General himself. +You've got a good ridge. Who lives in that house? Find a place for +Negley on your right or left. Send me a map of this ridge. How do ye +do?" + +31. Met General Turchin for the first time since he was before our +court-martial at Huntsville. He appeared to be considerably cast down in +spirit. He had just been relieved from his cavalry command, and was on +his way to General Reynolds to take command of a brigade of infantry. +General Crook, hitherto in command of a brigade, succeeds Turchin as +commander of a division. In short, Crook and Turchin just exchange +places. The former is a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and +is an Ohio man, who has not, I think, greatly distinguished himself thus +far. He has been in Western Virginia most of the time, and came to +Murfreesboro after the battle of Stone river. + +General R. B. Mitchell is, with his command, in camp a little over a +mile from us. He is in good spirits, and dwells with emphasis on the +length and arduousness of the marches made by his troops since he left +Murfreesboro. The labor devolving upon him as the commander of a +division of cavalry is tremendous; and yet I was rejoiced to find his +physical system had stood the strain well. The wear and tear upon his +intellect, however, must have been very great. + + + + +AUGUST, 1863. + + +2. Rode with Colonel Taylor to Cowan; dined with Colonel Hobart, and +spent the day very agreeably. Returning we called on Colonel Scribner, +remained an hour, and reached Decherd after nightfall. My request for +leave of absence was lying on the table approved and recommended by +Negley and Thomas, but indorsed not granted by Rosecrans. + +General Rousseau has left, and probably will not return. The best of +feeling has not existed between him and the commanding general for some +time past. Rousseau has had a good division, but probably thought he +should have a corps. This, however, is not the cause of the breach. It +has grown out of small matters--things too trifling to talk over, think +of, or explain, and yet important enough to create a coldness, if not an +open rupture. Rosecrans is marvelously popular with the men. + +3. The papers state that General R. B. Mitchell has gone home on sick +leave. Poor fellow! he must have been taken suddenly, for when I saw +him, a day or two ago, he was the picture of health. It is wonderful to +me how a fellow as fat as Bob can come the sick dodge so successfully. +He can get sick at a moment's notice. + +4. Called on General Thomas; then rode over to Winchester. Saw Garfield +at department head-quarters. He said he regretted very much being +compelled to refuse my application for a leave. Told him I expected to +command this department soon, and when I got him and a few others, +including Rosecrans and Thomas, under my thumb, they would obtain no +favors. I should insist not only upon their remaining in camp, but upon +their wives remaining out. + +In company with Colonel Mihalotzy I called on Colonel Burke, Tenth Ohio, +and drank a couple of bottles of wine with him and his spiritual +adviser, Father O'Higgin. Had a very agreeable time. The Colonel pressed +us to remain for dinner; but we pleaded an engagement, and afterward +obtained a very poor meal at the hotel for one dollar each. + +The Board for the examination of applicants for commissions in colored +regiments, of which I have the honor to be Chairman, met, organized, and +adjourned to convene at nine o'clock to-morrow. Colonel Parkhurst, Ninth +Michigan, and Colonel Stanley, Eighteenth Ohio, are members. + +I am anxious to go home; but it is not possible for me to get away. +Almost every officer in the army desires to go, and every conceivable +excuse and argument are urged. This man is sick; another's house has +burned, and he desires to provide for his family; another has lawsuits +coming off involving large sums, and his presence during the trial is +necessary to save him from great loss; still another has deeds to make +out, and an immense property interest to look after. + +6. This is the day appointed by the President for thanksgiving and +prayer. The shops in Winchester are closed. + +Colonel Parkhurst has obtained a leave, and will go home on Monday. + +7. Captain Wilson and Lieutenant Ellsworth arose rather late this +morning, and found a beer barrel protruding from the door of their tent, +properly set up on benches, with a flaming placard over it: + + "NEW GROCERY!! + WILSON & ELLSWORTH. + Fresh Beer, 3c. a Glass. + Give us a call." + +Later in the day a grand presentation ceremony took place. All the +members of the staff and hangers-on about head-quarters were gathered +under the oaks; Lieutenant Calkins, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, was +sent for, and, when he appeared, Lieutenant Ellsworth proceeded to read +to him the following letter: + + + "OTTOWA, ILLINOIS, _July_ 20, 1863. + + "LIEUTENANT W. W. CALKINS--_Sir_: Your old friends + of Ottowa, as a slight testimonial of their + respect for you, and admiration for those + chivalrous instincts which, when the banner of + beauty and glory was assailed by traitorous + legions, induced you to spring unhesitatingly to + its defense, have the honor to present you a + beautiful field-glass. Trusting that, by its + assistance, you will be able to see through your + enemies, and ultimately find your way to the arms + of your admiring fellow-citizens, we have the + honor to subscribe ourselves, + + "Your most obedient servants, + PETER BROWN, + JOHN SMITH, + THOMAS JONES, and others." + +The box containing the gift was carefully opened, and the necks and +upper parts of two whisky bottles, fastened together by a piece of wood, +taken out and delivered in due form to the Lieutenant. He seemed greatly +surprised, and for a few minutes addressed the donors in a very emphatic +and uncomplimentary way; but finding this only added to the merriment of +the party, he finally cooled down, and, lifting the field-glass to his +eyes, leveled it upon the staff, and remarked that they appeared to be +thirsty. This, of course, was hailed as undeniable evidence that the +glass was perfect, and Lieutenant Calkins was heartily congratulated on +his good luck, and on the proof which the testimonial afforded of the +high estimation in which he was held by the people of his native town. +Many of his brother officers, in their friendly ardor, shook him warmly +by the hand. + +8. Hewitt's battery has been transferred to the Corps of Engineers and +Mechanics, and Bridges' battery, six guns, assigned to me. I gain two +guns and many men by the exchange. + +Our Board grinds away eight or nine hours a day, and turns out about the +usual proportion of wheat and chaff. The time was when we thought it +would be impossible to obtain good officers for colored regiments. Now +we feel assured that they will have as good, if not better, officers +than the white regiments. From sergeants applying for commissions we are +able to select splendid men; strong, healthy, well informed, and of +considerable military experience. In fact, we occasionally find a +non-commissioned officer who is better qualified to command a regiment +than nine-tenths of the colonels. I certainly know colonels who could +not obtain a recommendation from this Board for a second lieutenancy. + +Saw General Garfield yesterday; he was in bed sick. I have no fears of +his immediate dissolution; in fact, I think he could avail himself of a +twenty-day leave. I know if I were no worse than he appears to be, I +would, with the permission of the general commanding, undertake to ride +the whole distance home on horseback, and swim the rivers. In a little +over a week I think my wife would see me, and the black horse, followed +by the pepper-and-salt colt, charging up to the front door in such style +as would remind her of the days of chivalry and the knights of the olden +time. I should cry out in thunder tones, "Ho! within! Unbar the door!" +The colt would kick up his heels with joy at sight of the grass in the +yard, while the black would champ his bit with impatience to get into a +comfortable stall once more. Altogether the sight would be worth +seeing; but it will not be seen. + +The Board holds its sessions in the office of an honorable Mr. Turney, +who left on our approach for a more congenial clime, and left suddenly. +His letters and papers are lying around us in great confusion and +profusion. Among these we have discovered a document bearing the +signatures of Jeff. Davis, John Mason, Pierre Soule, and others, +pledging themselves to resist, by any and every means, the admission of +California, unless it came in with certain boundaries which they +prescribed. The document was gotten up in Washington, and Colonel +Parkhurst says it is the original contract. + +Dined with Colonel D. H. Gilmer, Thirty-eighth Illinois. Dinner +splendid; corn, cabbage, beans; peach, apple, and blackberry pie; with +buttermilk and sweetmilk. It was a grand dinner, served on a snow-white +table-cloth. Where the Colonel obtained all these delicacies I can not +imagine. He is an out-and-out Abolitionist, and possibly the negroes had +favored him somewhat. + +Colonel Gilmer is delighted to find the country coming around to his +ideas. He believes the Lord, who superintends the affairs of nations, +will give us peace in good time, and _that time_ will be when the +institution of slavery has been rooted up and destroyed. He is a +Kentuckian by birth, and says he has kinfolks every-where. He is the +only man he knows of who can find a cousin in every town he goes to. + +9. Dined with Colonel Taylor. Colonels Hobart, Nicholas, and Major +Craddock were present. After dinner we adjourned to my quarters, where +we spent the afternoon. Hobart dilated upon his adventures at New +Orleans and elsewhere, under Abou Ben Butler. He says Butler is a great +man, but a d--d scoundrel. I have heard Hobart say something like this +at least a thousand times, and am pleased to know that his testimony on +this point is always clear, decisive, and uncontradictory. + +My visitors are gone. The cars are bunting against each other at the +depot. The katydids are piping away on the old, old story. The trees +look like great shadows, and unlike the substantial oaks they really +are. The camps are dark and quiet. This is all I can say of the night +without. + +In a little booth made of cedar boughs is a table, on which sputters a +solitary tallow candle, in a stick not remarkable for polish. This light +illuminates the booth, and reveals to the observer--if there be one, +which is very unlikely, for those who usually observe have in all +probability retired--a wash basin, a newspaper, a penknife, which +originally had two blades, but at present has but one, and that one very +dull, a gentleman of say thirty, possibly thirty-five, two steel pens, +rusty with age, an inkstand, and one miller, which miller has repeatedly +dashed his head against the wick of the candle and discovered that the +operation led to unsatisfactory results. Wearied, disappointed, and +disheartened, the miller now sits quietly on the table, mourning, +doubtless, over the unpleasant lesson which experience has taught him. +His head is now wiser; but, alas! his wings are shorter than they were, +and of what use is his head without wings? He feels very like the man +who made a dash for fame, and fell wounded and bleeding on the field, or +the child who, for the first time, discovers that all is not gold that +glitters. The gentleman referred to--and I trust it may be no stretch of +the verities to call him a gentleman--leans over the table writing. He +has an abundant crop of dark hair on his head, under his chin, and on +his upper lip. He is not just now troubled with a superabundance of +flesh, or, in other words, no one would suspect him of being fat. On the +contrary, he might remind one of the lean kine, or the prodigal son who +had been feeding on husks. He is wide awake at this late hour of the +night, from which I conclude he has slept more or less during the day. +No one, to look at this gentleman, would take him to be a remarkable +man; in fact, his most intimate friends could not find it in their +hearts to bring such an accusation against him. His face is browned by +exposure, and his blue eyes look quite dark, or would do so if there +were sufficient light to see them. When he straightens up--and he +generally straightens when up at all--he is five feet eleven, or +thereabouts. His appetite is good, and his education is of that superior +kind which enables him, without apparent effort, to misspell +three-fourths of the words in the English language; in fact, at this +present moment he is holding an imaginary discussion with his wife, who +has written him that the underclothing for gentlemen's feet should be +spelled _s-o-c-k-s_, and not "s-o-x". He begs leave to differ with her, +which he would probably not dare to do were she not hundreds of miles +away; and he argues the matter in this way: S-o-x, o-x, f-o-x--the +termination sounds alike in all. Now how absurd it would be to insist +that ox should be spelled o-c-k-s, or fox f-o-c-k-s. The commonest kind +of sense teaches one that the old lady is in error, and "sox" clearly +correct. Much learning hath evidently made her mad. Having satisfied +himself about this matter, he takes a photograph from an inside pocket; +it is that of his wife. He makes another dive, and brings out one of his +children; then he lights a laurel-wood pipe, and, as the white smoke +curls about his head and vanishes, his thoughts skip off five hundred +miles or less, to a community of sensible, industrious, quiet folks, and +when he finally awakes from the reverie and looks about him upon the +beggarly surroundings--he does not swear, for he bethinks him in time +that swearing would do no good. + +10. Colonel Hobart, Twenty-first Wisconsin, and Colonel Hays, Tenth +Kentucky, have been added to the Board--the former at my request. + +11. To-day I dined with a Wisconsin friend of Colonel Hobart's; had a +good dinner, Scotch ale and champagne, and a very agreeable time. +Colonel Hegg, the dispenser of hospitalities, is a Norwegian by birth, a +Republican, a gentleman who has held important public positions in +Wisconsin, and who stands well with the people. In the course of the +table talk I learned something of the history of my friend Hobart. He +is an old wheel-horse of the Democratic party of his State; was a +candidate for governor a few years ago, and held joint debates with +Randall and Carl Schurz. He is the father of the Homestead Law, which +has been adopted by so many States, and was for many years the leader of +the House of Representatives of Wisconsin. All this I gathered from +Colonel Hegg, for Hobart seldom, if ever, talks about himself. I imagine +that even the most polished orator would obtain but little, if any, +advantage over Hobart in a discussion before the people. He has the +imagination, the information, and the oratorical fury in discussion +which are likely to captivate the masses. He was at one time opposed to +arming the negroes; but now that he is satisfied they will fight, he is +in favor of using them. + +To-night Colonels Hays and Hobart held quite an interesting debate on +the policy of arming colored men, and emancipating those belonging to +rebels. Hays, who, by the way, is an honest man and a gallant soldier, +presented the Kentucky view of the matter, and his arguments, evidently +very weak, were thoroughly demolished by Hobart. I think Colonel Hays +felt, as the controversy progressed, that his position was untenable, +and that his hostility to the President's proclamation sprang from the +prejudice in which he had been educated, rather than from reason and +justice. + +12. Old Tom, known in camp as the veracious nigger, because of a +"turkle" story which he tells, is just coming along as I wait a moment +for the breakfast bell. The "turkle," which Tom caught in some creek in +Alabama, had two hundred and fifty eggs in "him." "Yas, sah, two hunder +an' fifty." + +Tom has peculiar notions about certain matters, and they are not, by any +means, complimentary to the white man. He says: "It jus' 'pears to me +dat Adam was a black man, sah, an' de Lord he scar him till he got +white, cos he was a sinner, sah." + +"Tom, you scoundrel, how dare you slander the white man in that way?" + +"'Pears to me dat way; hab to tell de truf, sah; dat's my min'. Men was +'riginally black; but de Lord he scare Adam till he got white; dat's de +reasonable supposition, sah. Do a man's har git black when he scared, +sah? No, sah, it gits white. Did you ebber know a man ter get black when +he's scard, sah? No, sah, he gits white." + +"That does seem to be a knock-down argument, Tom." + +"Yas, sah, I've argied with mor'n a hunder white men, sah, an' they +can't never git aroun dat pint. When yer strip dis subjec ob prejdice, +an' fetch to bar on it de light o' reason, sah, yer can 'rive at but one +'clusion, sah. De Lord he rode into de garden in chariot of fire, sah, +robed wid de lightnin', sah, thunder bolt in his han', an' he cried +ADAM, in de voice of a airthquake, sah, an' de 'fec on Adam was +powerful, sah. Dat's my min', sah." And so Tom goes on his way, +confident that the first man was black, and that another white man has +been vanquished in argument. + +13. The weather continues oppressively hot. The names of candidates for +admission to the corps _d'Afrique_ continue to pour in. The number has +swelled to eight hundred. We begin our labors at nine, adjourn a few +minutes for lunch, and then continue our work until nearly six. + +16. We move at ten o'clock A. M. Had a heavy rain yesterday and a +fearful wind. The morning, however, is clear, and atmosphere delightful. + +Our Board has examined one hundred and twenty men. Perhaps forty have +been recommended for commissions. + +The present movement will, doubtless, be a very interesting one. A few +days will take us to the Tennessee, and thereafter we shall operate on +new ground. Georgia will be within a few miles of us, the long-suffering +and long-coveted East Tennessee on our left, Central Alabama to our +front and right. A great struggle will undoubtedly soon take place, for +it is not possible that the rebels will give us a foothold south of the +Tennessee until compelled to do it. + +21. We are encamped on the banks of Crow creek, three miles northerly +from Stevenson. The table on which I write is under the great beech +trees. Colonel Hobart is sitting near studying Casey. The light of the +new moon is entirely excluded by foliage. On the right and left the +valley is bounded by ranges of mountains eight hundred or a thousand +feet high. Crow creek is within a few feet of me; in fact, the sand +under my feet was deposited by its waters. The army extends along the +Tennessee, from opposite Chattanooga to Bellefonte. Before us, and just +beyond the river, rises a green-mountain wall, whose summit, apparently +as uniform as a garden hedge, seems to mingle with the clouds. Beyond +this are the legions of the enemy, whose signal lights we see nightly. + +22. Our Board has resumed its sessions at the Alabama House, Stevenson. +The weather is intensely hot. Father Stanley stripped off his coat and +groaned. Hobart's face was red as the rising sun, and the anxious +candidates for commissions did not certainly resemble cucumbers for +coolness. + +Hobart rides a very poor horse--poor in flesh, I mean; but he entertains +the most exalted opinion of the beast. This morning, as we rode from +camp, I thought I would please him by referring to his horse in a +complimentary way. Said I: "Colonel, your horse holds his own mighty +well." His face brightened, and I continued: "He hasn't lost a bone +since I have known him." This nettled him, and he began to badger me +about an unsuccessful attempt which I made some time ago to get him to +taste a green persimmon. Hobart has a good education, is fluent in +conversation, and in discussion gets the better of me without +difficulty. All I can do, therefore, is to watch my opportunity to give +him an occasional thrust as best I can. Father Stanley is slow, +destitute of either education or wit, and examines applicants like a +demagogue fishes for votes. + +Brigadier-General Jeff. C. Davis and Colonel Hegg called to-day. Davis +is, I think, not quite so tall as I am, but a shade heavier. Met +Captain Gaunther. He has been relieved from duty here, and ordered to +Washington. He is an excellent officer, and deserves a higher position +than he holds at present. I thought, from the very affectionate manner +with which he clung to my hand and squeezed it, that possibly, in taking +leave of his friends, he had burdened himself with that "oat" which is +said to be one too many. Hobart says that Scribner calls him Hobart up +to two glasses, and further on in his cups ycleps him Hogan. + +Wood had a bout with the enemy at Chattanooga yesterday; he on the north +side and they on the south side of the river. Johnson is said to have +reinforced Bragg, and the enemy is supposed to be strong in our front. +Rosecrans was at Bridgeport yesterday looking over the ground, when a +sharpshooter blazed away at him, and put a bullet in a tree near which +the General and his son were standing. + +24. Deserters are coming in almost every day. They report that secret +societies exist in the rebel army whose object is the promotion of +desertion. Eleven men from one company arrived yesterday. Not many days +ago a Confederate officer swam the river and gave himself up. For some +time past the pickets of the two armies have not been firing at each +other; but yesterday the rebels gave notice that they should commence +again, as the "Yanks were becoming too d--n thick." + +26. To-day we were examining a German who desired to be recommended for +a field officer. "How do you form an oblique square, sir?" "Black +square? Black square?" exclaimed the Dutchman; "I dush not know vot you +means by de black square." + +As I write the moon shines down upon me through an opening in the +branches of the beech forest in which we are encamped, and the objects +about me, half seen and half hidden, in some way suggest the +half-remembered and half-forgotten incidents of childhood. + +How often, when a boy, have I dreamed of scenes similar to those through +which I have passed in the last two years! Knightly warriors, great +armies on the march and in camp, the skirmish, the tumult and thunder of +battle, were then things of the imagination; but now they have become +familiar items of daily life. Then a single tap of the drum or note of +the bugle awakened thoughts of the old times of chivalry, and regrets +that the days of glory had passed away. Now we have martial strains +almost every hour, and are reminded only of the various duties of our +every-day life. + +As we went to Stevenson this morning, Hobart caught a glimpse of a +colored man coming toward us. It suggested to him a hobby which he rides +now every day, and he commenced his oration by saying, in his +declamatory way: "The negro is the coming man." "Yes," I interrupted, +"so I see, and he appears to have his hat full of peaches;" and so the +coming man had. + +28. Rode to the river with Hobart and Stanley. The rebel pickets were +lying about in plain view on the other side. Just before our arrival +quite a number of them had been bathing. The outposts of the two armies +appear still to be on friendly terms. "Yesterday," a soldier said to me, +"one of our boys crossed the river, talked with the rebs for some time, +and returned." + +29. The band is playing "Yankee Doodle," and the boys break into an +occasional cheer by way of indorsement. There is something defiant in +the air of "Doodle" as he blows away on the soil of the cavaliers, which +strikes a noisy chord in the breast of Uncle Sam's nephews, and the +demonstrations which follow are equivalent to "Let 'er rip," "Go in old +boy." + +Colonel Hobart's emphatic expression is "egad." He told me to-day of a +favorite horse at home, which would follow him from place to place as he +worked in the garden, keeping his nose as near to him as possible. His +wife remarked to him one day: "Egad, husband, if you loved me as well as +you do that horse, I should be perfectly happy." + +"Are you quite sure Mrs. Hobart said 'egad,' Colonel?" + +"Well, no, I wouldn't like to swear to that." + +This afternoon Colonels Stanley, Hobart, and I rode down to the +Tennessee to look at the pontoon bridge which has been thrown across the +river. On the way we met Generals Rosecrans, McCook, Negley, and +Garfield. The former checked up, shook hands, and said: "How d'ye do?" +Garfield gave us a grip which suggested "vote right, vote early." +Negley smiled affably, and the cavalcade moved on. We crossed the +Tennessee on the bridge of boats, and rode a few miles into the country +beyond. Not a gun was fired as the bridge was being laid. Davis' +division is on the south side of the river. + +The Tennessee at this place is beautiful. The bridge looks like a ribbon +stretched across it. The island below, the heavily-wooded banks, the +bluffs and mountain, present a scene which would delight the soul of the +artist. A hundred boys were frollicking in the water near the pontoons, +tumbling into the stream in all sorts of ways, kicking up their heels, +ducking and splashing each other, and having a glorious time generally. + +30. (Sunday.) The brigade moved into Stevenson. + +31. It crossed the Tennessee. + +In one of the classes for examination to-day was a sergeant, fifty years +old at least, but still sprightly and active; not very well posted in +the infantry tactics now in use, but of more than ordinary intelligence. +The class had not impressed the Board favorably. This Sergeant we +thought rather too old, and the others entirely too ignorant. When the +class was told to retire, this old Sergeant, who, by the way, belongs to +a Michigan regiment, came up to me and asked: "Was John Beatty, of +Sandusky, a relative of yours?" "He was my grandfather." "Yes, you +resemble your mother. You are the son of James Beatty. I have carried +you in my arms many a time. My mother saved your life more than once. +Thirty years ago your father and mine were neighbors. I recollect the +cabin where you were born as well as if I had seen it but yesterday." "I +am heartily glad to see you, my old friend," said I, taking his hand. +"You must stay with me to-night, and we will talk over the old times +together." + +When the Sergeant retired, Hobart, with a twinkle in his eye, said he +did not think much of that fellow; his early associations had evidently +been bad; he was entirely too old, anyway. What the army needed, above +all things, were young, vigorous, dashing officers; but he supposed, +notwithstanding all this, that we should have to do something for the +Sergeant. He had rendered important service to the country by carrying +the honored President of our Board in his arms, and but for the timely +doses of catnip tea, administered by the Sergeant's mother, the gallant +knight of the black horse and pepper-and-salt colt would have been +unknown. "What do you say, gentlemen, to a second lieutenancy for +General Beatty's friend?" + +"I shall vote for it," replied Stanley. + +"Recommend him for a first lieutenancy," I suggested; and they did. + +In the evening I had a long and very pleasant conversation with the +Sergeant. He had fought under Bradley in the Patriot war at Point au +Pelee; served five years in the regular army during the Florida war, +and two years in the Mexican war. His name is Daniel Rodabaugh. He has +been in the United States service as a soldier for nine years, and +richly deserves the position for which we recommended him. + + + + +SEPTEMBER, 1863. + + +1. Closed up the business of the Board, and at seven o'clock in the +evening (Tuesday) left Stevenson to rejoin the brigade. On the way to +the river I passed Colonel Stanley's brigade of our division. The air +was thick with dust. It was quite dark when I crossed the bridge. The +brigade had started on the march hours before, but I thought best to +push on and overtake it. After getting on the wrong road and riding +considerably out of my way, I finally found the right one, and about ten +o'clock overtook the rear of the column. The two armies will face each +other before the end of the week. General Lytle's brigade is bivouacking +near me. I have a bad cold, but otherwise am in good health. + +3. We moved from Moore's Spring, on the Tennessee, in the morning, and +after laboring all day advanced less than one mile and a quarter. We +were ascending Sand mountain; many of our wagons did not reach the +summit. + +4. With two regiments I descended into Lookout valley and bivouacked at +Brown's Springs about dark. Our transportation, owing to the darkness +and extreme badness of the roads, remained on the top of the mountain. +I have no blankets, and nothing to eat except one ear of corn which one +of the colored boys roasted for me. Wrapped in my overcoat, about nine +o'clock, I lay down on the ground to sleep; but a terrible toothache +took hold of me, and I was compelled to get up and find such relief as I +could in walking up and down the road. The moon shone brightly, and many +camp-fires glimmered in the valley and along the side of the mountain. +It was three o'clock in the morning before gentle sleep made me +oblivious to aching teeth and head, and all the other aches which had +possession of me. + +5. A few deserters come in to us, but they bring little information of +the enemy. We are now in Georgia, twenty miles from Chattanooga by the +direct road, which, like all roads here, is very crooked, and difficult +to travel. The enemy is, doubtless, in force very near, but he makes no +demonstrations and retires his pickets without firing a gun. The +developments of the next week or two will be matters for the historian. + +Sheridan's division is just coming into the valley; what other troops +are to cross the mountain by this road I do not know. As I write, heavy +guns are heard off in the direction of Chattanooga. The roads are +extremely dusty. This morning I consigned to the flames all letters +which have come to me during the last two months. + +I have just returned from a ride up the valley to the site of the +proposed iron works of Georgia. Work on the railroad, on the mountain +roads, and on the furnaces, was suspended on our approach. The negroes +and white laborers were run off to get them beyond our reach. The hills +in the vicinity of the proposed works are undoubtedly full of iron; the +ore crops out so plainly that it is visible to all passers. Here the +Confederacy proposed to supply its railroads with iron rail, an article +at present very nearly exhausted in the South. Had the Georgians +possessed common business sense and common energy, extensive furnaces +would have been in operation in this valley years ago; and now, instead +of a few poorly cultivated corn-fields, with here and there a cabin, the +valley and hillsides would be overflowing with population and wealth. + +We returned from the site of the iron works by way of Trenton, the seat +of justice of Dade county. Reynolds and Sheridan are encamped near +Trenton. I feel better since my ride. + +6. (Sunday.) Marched to Johnson's Crook, and bivouacked, at nightfall, +at McKay's Spring, on the north side of Lookout mountain; here my +advance regiment, the Forty-second Indiana, had a slight skirmish with +the enemy, in which one man was wounded. + +7. We gained the summit of Lookout mountain, and the enemy retired to +the gaps on the south side. + +8. Started at four o'clock in the morning and pushed for Cooper's Gap. +Surprised a cavalry picket at the foot of the mountain, in McLemore's +Cove, Chattanooga valley. In this little affair we captured five +sabers, one revolver, one carbine, one prisoner, and seriously wounded +one man. + +While standing on a peak of Lookout, we saw far off to the east long +lines of dust trending slowly to the south, and inferred from this that +Bragg had abandoned Chattanooga, and was either retiring before us or +making preparations to check the center and right of our line. + +9. Marched up the valley to Stephen's Gap and rejoined the division. + +10. Our division marched across McLemore's Cove to Pigeon mountain, +found Dug Gap obstructed, and the enemy in force on the right, left, and +front. The skirmishers of the advance brigade, Colonel Surwell's, were +engaged somewhat, and during the night information poured in upon us, +from all quarters, that the enemy, in strength, was making dispositions +to surround and cut us off before reinforcements could arrive. + +11. Two brigades of Baird's division joined us about 10 A. M. Five +thousand of the enemy's cavalry were reported to be moving to our left +and rear; soon after, his infantry appeared on our right and left, and, +a little later, in our front. From the summit of Pigeon mountain, the +rebels could observe all our movements, and form a good estimate of our +entire force. Our immense train, swelled now by the transportation of +Baird's division to near four hundred wagons, compelled us to select +such positions as would enable us to protect the train, and not such as +were most favorable for making an offensive or defensive fight. + +It was now impossible for Brannan and Reynolds to reach us in time to +render assistance. General Negley concluded, therefore, to fall back, +and ordered me to move to Bailey's Cross-roads, and await the passage of +the wagon train to the rear. The enemy attacked soon after, but were +held in check until the transportation had time to return to Stephens' +Gap. + +12. We expected an attack this morning, but, reinforcements arriving, +the enemy retired. This afternoon Brannan made a reconnoissance, but the +result I have not ascertained; there was, however, no fighting. + +I am writing this in the woods, where we are bivouacking for the night. +For nearly two weeks, now, I have not had my clothes off; and for +perhaps not more than two nights of the time have I had my boots and +spurs off. I have arisen at three o'clock in the morning and not lain +down until ten or eleven at night. My appetite is good and health +excellent. Last night my horse fell down with me, and on me, but strange +to say only injured himself. + +We find great numbers of men in these mountains who profess to be loyal. +Our army is divided--Crittenden on the left, our corps (Thomas) in the +center, and McCook far to the right. The greatest danger we need +apprehend is that the enemy may concentrate rapidly and fight our widely +separated corps in detail. Our transportation, necessarily large in any +case, but unnecessarily large in this, impedes us very much. The roads +up and down the mountains are extremely bad; our progress has therefore +been slow, and the march hither a tedious one. The brigade lies in the +open field before me in battle line. The boys have had no time to rest +during the day, and have done much night work, but they hold up well. A +katydid has been very friendly with me to-night, and is now sitting on +the paper as if to read what I have written. + +17. Marched from Bailey's Cross-roads to Owensford on the Chickamauga. + +18. Ordered to relieve General Hazen, who held position on the road to +Crawfish Springs; but as he had received no orders, and as mine were but +verbal, he declined to move, and I therefore continued my march and +bivouacked at the springs. + +About midnight I was ordered to proceed to a ford of the Chickamauga and +relieve a brigade of Palmer's division, commanded by Colonel Grose. The +night was dark and the road crooked. About two in the morning I reached +the place; and as Colonel Grose's pickets were being relieved and mine +substituted, occasional shots along the line indicated that the enemy +was in our immediate front. + + +CHICKAMAUGA. + +19. At an early hour in the morning the enemy's pickets made their +appearance on the east side of the Chickamauga and engaged my +skirmishers. Some hours later he opened on us with two batteries, and a +sharp artillery fight ensued. During this engagement, the Fifteenth +Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, occupied an advanced position in the woods on +the low ground, and the shots of the artillery passed immediately over +it. I rode down to this regiment to see that the men were not disturbed +by the furious cannonading, and to obtain at the same time a better view +of the enemy. While thus absent, Captain Bridges, concluding that the +Confederate guns were too heavy for him, limbered up and fell back. +Hastening to the hill, I sent Captain Wilson with an order to Bridges to +return; and, being reinforced soon after by three pieces of Shultz's +First Ohio Battery, we opened again on the advancing columns of the +enemy, when they fell back precipitately, evidently concluding that the +lull in our firing and withdrawal of our artillery were simply devices +to draw them on. + +In this affair eight men of the infantry were wounded; and Captain +Bridges had two men killed, nine wounded, and lost twelve horses. + +About five o'clock in the afternoon I was directed to withdraw my picket +line--which had been greatly extended in order to connect with troops on +the left--as silently and carefully as possible, and return to Crawfish +Springs. Arriving at the springs, the boys were allowed time to fill +their canteens with water, when we pushed forward on the Chattanooga +road to a ridge near Osbern's, where we bivouacked for the night. + +There had been heavy fighting on our left during the whole afternoon; +and while the boys were preparing supper, a very considerable engagement +was occurring not far distant to the east and south of us. Elsewhere an +occasional volley of musketry, and boom of artillery, with scattered +firing along an extended line indicated that the two grand armies were +concentrating for battle, and that the morrow would give us hot and +dangerous work. + +20. (Sunday.) At an early hour in the morning I was directed to move +northward on the Chattanooga road and report to General Thomas. He +ordered me to go to the extreme left of our line, form perpendicularly +to the rear of Baird's division, connecting with his left. I disposed of +my brigade as directed. Baird's line appeared to run parallel with the +road, and mine running to the rear crossed the road. On this road and +near it I posted my artillery, and advanced my skirmishers to the edge +of the open field in front of the left and center of my line. The +position was a good one, and my brigade and the one on Baird's left +could have co-operated and assisted each other in maintaining it. +Fifteen minutes after this line was formed, Captain Gaw, of General +Thomas' staff, brought me a verbal order to advance my line to a ridge +or low hill (McDaniel's house), fully one-fourth of a mile distant. I +represented to him that in advancing I would necessarily leave a long +interval between my right and Baird's left, and also that I was already +in the position which General Thomas himself told me to occupy. He +replied that the order to move forward was imperative, and that I +was to be supported by Negley with the other two brigades of his +division. I could object no further, although the movement seemed +exceedingly unwise, and, therefore, pushed forward my men as rapidly +as possible to the point indicated. The Eighty-eighth Indiana (Colonel +Humphreys), on the left, moved into position without difficulty. The +Forty-second Indiana (Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre), on its right, met +with considerable opposition in advancing through the woods, but +finally reached the ridge. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois +(Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman), and Fifteenth Kentucky (Colonel Taylor), +on the right, became engaged almost immediately and advanced slowly. The +enemy in strong force pressed them heavily in front and on the right +flank. + +At this time I sent an aid to request General Baird or General King to +throw a force in the interval between my right and their left, and +dispatched Captain Wilson to the rear to hasten forward General Negley +to my support. My regiment on the right was confronted by so large a +force that it was compelled to fall back, which it did in good order, +contesting the ground stoutly. About this time a column of the enemy, +_en masse_, on the double quick, pressed into the interval between the +One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and Forty-second Indiana, and turned +with the evident intention of capturing the latter, which was then +busily engaged with the rebels in its front; but Captain Bridges opened +on it with grape and canister, when it broke and fell back in disorder +to the shelter of the woods. The Forty-second Indiana, but a moment +before almost surrounded, was thus enabled to fight its way to the left +and unite with the Eighty-eighth. Soon after this the enemy made another +and more furious assault upon the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and +Fifteenth Kentucky, and, driving them back, advanced to within fifty +yards of my battery, and poured into it a heavy fire, killing Lieutenant +Bishop, and killing or wounding all the men and horses belonging to his +section, which consequently fell into rebel hands. Captain Bridges and +his officers, by the exercise of great courage and coolness, succeeded +in saving the remainder of the battery. It was in this encounter that +Captain LeFevre, of my staff, was killed, and Lieutenant Calkins, also +of the staff, was wounded. + +The enemy having now gained the woods south of the open field and west +of the road, I opposed his further progress as well as I could with the +Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois; but as he had +two full brigades, the struggle on our part seemed a hopeless one. +Fortunately, at this juncture, I discovered a battery on the road in our +rear (I think it was Captain Goodspeed's), and at my request the Captain +ordered it to change front and open fire. This additional opposition +served for a time to entirely check the enemy. + +The Eighty-eighth and Forty-second Indiana, compelled, as their officers +claim, to make a detour to the left and rear, in order to escape capture +or utter annihilation, found General Negley, and were ordered to remain +with him, and finally to retire with him in the direction of Rossville. +This, however, I did not ascertain until ten hours later in the day. + +Firing having now ceased in my front, and being the only mounted officer +or mounted man present, I left the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois temporarily in charge of Colonel Taylor, and hurried +back to see General Thomas or Negley, and urge the necessity for more +troops to enable me to re-establish the line. On the way, and before +proceeding far, I met the Second Brigade of our division, Colonel +Stanley, advancing to my support. Had it reached me an hour earlier, I +feel assured that I would have been able to maintain the position which +I had just been compelled to abandon. I directed Colonel Stanley to form +a line of battle at once, at right angles with the road and on its left, +facing north. Returning to Colonel Taylor, I ordered him to fall back +with the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and +form in rear of the left of Stanley's line, as a support to it. Soon +after we had got our lines adjusted, the enemy pressed back the +skirmishers of the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth +Illinois, who had not been retired with the regiments, and, following +them up, drove in also the skirmish line of Stanley's brigade, whereupon +the Eleventh Michigan (Colonel Stoughton), and the Eighteenth Ohio +(Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor), gave him a well-directed volley, which +brought him to a halt. Our whole line then opened at short range, and he +wavered. I gave the order to advance, then to charge, and the brigade +rushed forward with a yell, drove the enemy fully one-fourth of a mile, +strewing the ground with his dead and wounded, and capturing many +prisoners. Among the latter was General Adams, the commander of a +Louisiana brigade. + +Finding now that Colonel Taylor had not followed the movement with his +regiment and the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and seeing the +necessity for some support for a single line so extended, I hastened to +the rear, and, being unable to find Taylor where I had left him, I +induced four regiments, of I know not what command, which I found idle +in the woods, to move forward and form a second line. + +At this time Captain Wilson, whom I had sent to General Negley some time +before the Second Brigade reached me, to inform him of my position and +need of assistance, returned, and brought from him a verbal order to +retire to the hill in the rear and join him. Convinced that the +withdrawal of the troops at this time from the position occupied might +endanger the whole left wing of the army, I thought best to defer the +execution of this order until I could see General Negley and explain to +him the necessity of maintaining and reinforcing it with the other +brigade of our division. But before Captain Wilson could find either +Colonel Taylor, who had in charge the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois, or General Negley, the enemy made a fierce attack +on Stanley's brigade and forced it back. The unknown brigade which I had +posted in the rear to support it retired with unseemly haste, and +without firing a shot. + +At this juncture frightened soldiers and occasional shots were coming +from the right and rear of our line, indicating that the right wing of +the army had either been thrown back or changed position. Stanley's +brigade, considerably scattered and shattered by the last furious +assault of the enemy, was gathered up by its officers and retired to the +ridge on the right and to the rear of the original line of battle. +Wilson and I made diligent efforts to find Taylor, but were unable to do +so. I was greatly provoked at his retirement without consulting me, and +at a time, too, when his presence was so greatly needed to support +Stanley. But later in the day I ascertained from him that he had been +ordered by Major Lowrie, General Negley's chief of staff, to join Negley +and retire with him to Rossville. He also had much to say about saving +many pieces of artillery; but it occurred to me that his presence on the +field was of much more importance than a few pieces of trumpery +artillery off the field. Why, at any rate, did he not notify me of the +order which he had received from the division commander? The charge of +Stanley's brigade had not occupied to exceed thirty minutes, and as soon +as it was ended I had returned to find him gone. The Colonel, however, +did, doubtless, what he conceived to be his duty, and for the best. His +courage had been tested on too many occasions to allow me to think that +anything but an error of judgment, or possibly the belief that under any +circumstances he was bound to obey the order of the major-general +commanding the division, could have induced him to abandon me. + +Supposing my regiments and General Negley to be still on the field, I +again dispatched Captain Wilson in search of them, and in the meantime +stationed myself near a fragment of the Second Brigade of our division, +and gave such general directions to the troops about me as under the +circumstances I felt warranted in doing. I found abundant opportunity to +make myself useful. Gathering up scattered detachments of a dozen +different commands, I filled up an unoccupied space on the ridge between +Harker, of Wood's division, on the left, and Brannan, on the right, and +this point we held obstinately until sunset. Colonel Stoughton, Eleventh +Michigan; Lieutenant-Colonel Rappin, Nineteenth Illinois; +Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor, Eighteenth Ohio; Colonel Hunter, +Eighty-second Indiana; Colonel Hays and Lieutenant-Colonel Wharton, +Tenth Kentucky; Captain Stinchcomb, Seventeenth Ohio; and Captain +Kendrick, Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania, were there, each having a few men +of their respective commands; and they and their men fought and +struggled and clung to that ridge with an obstinate, persistent, +desperate courage, unsurpassed, I believe, on any field. I robbed the +dead of cartridges and distributed them to the men; and once when, after +a desperate struggle, our troops were driven from the crest, and the +enemy's flag waved above it, the men were rallied, and I rode up the +hill with them, waving my hat, and shouting like a madman. Thus we +charged, and the enemy only saved his colors by throwing them down the +hill. However much we may say of those who held command, justice compels +the acknowledgment that no officer exhibited more courage on that +occasion than the humblest private in the ranks. + +About four o'clock we saw away off to our rear the banners and +glittering guns of a division coming toward us, and we became agitated +by doubt and hope. Are they friends or foes? The thunder, as of a +thousand anvils, still goes on in our front. Men fall around us like +leaves in autumn. Thomas, Garfield, Wood, and others are in consultation +below the hill just in rear of Harker. The approaching troops are said +to be ours, and we feel a throb of exultation. Before they arrive we +ascertain that the division is Steedman's; and finally, as they come up, +I recognize my old friend, Colonel Mitchell, of the One Hundred and +Thirteenth. They go into action on our right, and as they press forward +the roar of the musketry redoubles; the battle seems to be working off +in that direction. There is now a comparative lull in our front, and I +ride over to the right, and become involved in a regiment which has been +thrown out of line and into confusion by another regiment that retreated +through it in disorder. I assist Colonel Mitchell in rallying it, and it +goes into the fight again. Returning to my old place, I find that +disorganized bodies of men are coming rapidly from the left, in +regiments, companies, squads, and singly. I meet General Wood, and ask +if I shall not halt and reorganize them. He tells me to do so; but I +find the task impossible. They do not recognize me as their commander, +and most of them will not obey my orders. Some few, indeed, I manage to +hold together; but the great mass drift by me to the woods in the rear. +The dead are lying every-where; the wounded are continually passing to +the rear; the thunder of the guns and roll of musketry are unceasing and +unabated until nightfall. Then the fury of the battle gradually dies +away, and finally we have a silence, broken only by a cheer here and +there along the enemy's line. + +Wilson and I are together near the ridge, where we have been all the +afternoon. We have heard nothing of Negley nor of my regiments. We take +it for granted, however, that they are somewhere on the field. As the +night darkens we discover a line of fires off to our left and rear, +toward McDaniels' house. That is the place where Negley should have been +in the morning, and we conclude he must be there now. + +We have been badly used during the day; but it does not occur to us that +our army has been whipped. We start together to find Negley. We have had +nothing to eat since early morning, and so, passing a corn-field, we +stop for a moment to fill our pockets with corn; then, proceeding on our +way, we pass through an unused field, grown up with brush, and here meet +a man coming toward us on horseback. I said to him, "Are those our +troops?" pointing in the direction of the line of fires. He answered, +"Yes; our troops are on the road and just beyond it." Pretty soon we +emerged from the brushy woods and entered an open field; just before us +was a long line of fires, and soldiers busily engaged preparing supper. +We had approached to within two hundred feet of them, and could hear the +soldiers talk and laugh, as soldiers will, over the incidents of the +day, when we discerned that we were riding straight into the enemy's +line. Instantly wheeling our horses, we drove the spurs into them and +lay down on their backs. We had been discovered, and a dozen or more +shots were sent after us; but we escaped unharmed. The man we met in the +unused field had mistaken us for Confederate officers. Two or three +shots were fired at us as we approached our own line, but the darkness +saved us. + +Near eight o'clock in the evening I ascertained, from General Wood, that +the army had been ordered to fall back to Rossville, and I started at +once to inform Colonel Stoughton and others on the ridge; but I found +that they had been apprised of the movement, and were then on the road +to the rear. + +The march to Rossville was a melancholy one. All along the road, for +miles, wounded men were lying. They had crawled or hobbled slowly away +from the fury of the battle, become exhausted, and lay down by the +roadside to die. Some were calling the names and numbers of their +regiments, but many had become too weak to do this; by midnight the +column had passed by. What must have been their agony, mental and +physical, as they lay in the dreary woods, sensible that there was no +one to comfort or to care for them, and that in a few hours more their +career on earth would be ended. + +At a little brook, which crossed the road, Wilson and I stopped to +water our horses. The remains of a fire, which some soldiers had +kindled, were raked together, and laying a couple of ears of corn on the +coals for our own use, we gave the remainder of what we had in our +pockets to the poor beasts; they, also, had fasted since early morning. + +How many terrible scenes of the day's battle recur to us as we ride on +in the darkness. We see again the soldier whose bowels were protruding, +and hear him cry, "Jesus, have mercy on my soul!" What multitudes of +thought were then crowding into the narrow half hour which he had yet to +live--what regrets, what hopes, what fears! The sky was darkening, earth +fading; wealth, power, fame, the prizes most esteemed of men, were as +nothing. His only hope lay in the Saviour of whom his mother had taught +him. I doubt not his earnest, agonizing prayer was heard. Nay, to doubt +would be to question the mercy of God! + +A Confederate boy, who should have been at home with his mother, and +whose leg had been fearfully torn by a minnie ball, hailed me as I was +galloping by early in the day. He was bleeding to death, and crying +bitterly. I gave him my handkerchief, and shouted back to him, as I +hurried on, "Bind up the leg tight!" + +The adjutant of the rebel General Adams called to me as I passed him. He +wanted help, but I could not help him--could not even help our own poor +boys who lay bleeding near him. + +Sammy Snyder lay on the field wounded; as I handed him my canteen he +said, "General, I did my duty." "I know that, Sammy; I never doubted +that you would do your duty." The most painful recollection to one who +has gone through a battle, is that of the friends lying wounded and +dying and who needed help so much when you were utterly powerless to aid +them. + +Between ten and eleven o'clock, at night, I reached Rossville, and found +one of my regiments, the Forty-second Indiana, on picket one mile south +of that place, and the other regiments encamped near the town. My men +were surprised and rejoiced to see me. It had been currently reported +that I was killed. One fellow claimed to know the exact spot on my body +where the ball hit me; while another, not willing to be outdone, had +given a minute description of the locality where I fell. General Negley +rendered me good service by giving me something to eat and drink, for I +was hungry as a wolf. + +At this hour of the night (eleven to twelve o'clock) the army is simply +a mob. There appears to be neither organization nor discipline. The +various commands are mixed up in what seems to be inextricable +confusion. Were a division of the enemy to pounce down upon us between +this and morning, I fear the Army of the Cumberland would be blotted +out. + +21. Early this morning the army was again got into order. Officers and +soldiers found their regiments, regiments their brigades, and brigades +their divisions. My brigade was posted on a high ridge, east of +Rossville and near it. About ten o'clock A. M. it was attacked by a +brigade of mounted infantry, a part of Forrest's command, under Colonel +Dibble. After a sharp fight of half an hour, in which the Fifteenth +Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, and the Forty-second Indiana, +Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre, were principally engaged, the enemy was +repulsed, and retired leaving his dead and a portion of his wounded on +the field. Of his dead, one officer and eight men were left within a few +rods of our line. One little boy, so badly wounded they could not carry +him off, said, with tears and sobs, "They have run off and left me in +the woods to die." I directed the boys to carry him into our lines and +care for him. + +At midnight, the Fifteenth Kentucky was deployed on the skirmish line; +the other regiments of the brigade withdrawn, and started on the way to +Chattanooga. A little later the Fifteenth Kentucky quietly retired and +proceeded to the same place. + +22. We are at Chattanooga. + +With the exception of a cold, great exhaustion, and extreme hoarseness, +occasioned by much hallooing, I am in good condition. The rebels have +followed us and are taking position in our front. + +24. At midnight the enemy attempted to drive in our pickets, and an +engagement ensued, which lasted an hour or more, and was quite brisk. + +26. This morning another furious assault was made on our picket line; +but, after a short time, the rebels retired and permitted us to remain +quiet for the remainder of the day. + +Their pickets are plainly seen from our lines, and their signal flags +are discernable on Mission ridge. Occasionally we see their columns +moving. Our army is busily engaged fortifying. + +27. (Sunday.) Had a good night's rest, and am feeling very well. The day +is a quiet one. + + + + +OCTOBER, 1863. + + +1. Have been trying to persuade myself that I am unwell enough to ask +for a leave, but it will not work. The moment after I come to the +conclusion that I am really sick, and can not stand it longer, I begin +to feel better. The very thought of getting home, and seeing wife and +children, cures me at once. + +3. The two armies are lying face to face. The Federal and Confederate +sentinels walk their beats in sight of each other. The quarters of the +rebel generals may be seen from our camps with the naked eye. The tents +of their troops dot the hillsides. To-night we see their signal lights +off to the right on the summit of Lookout mountain, and off to the left +on the knobs of Mission ridge. Their long lines of camp fires almost +encompass us. But the camp fires of the Army of the Cumberland are +burning also. Bruised and torn by a two days' unequal contest, its flags +are still up, and its men still unwhipped. It has taken its position +here, and here, by God's help, it will remain. + +Colonel Hobart was captured at Chickamauga, and a fear is entertained +that he may have been wounded. + +4. This is a pleasant October morning, rather windy and cool, but not at +all uncomfortable. The bands are mingling with the autumn breezes such +martial airs as are common in camps, with now and then a sentimental +strain, which awakens recollections of other days, when we were +younger--thought more of sweethearts than of war, when, in fact, we did +not think of war at all except as something of the past. + +Sitting at my tent door, with a field glass, I can see away off to the +right, on the highest peak of Lookout mountain, a man waving a red flag +to and fro. He is a rebel officer, signaling to the Confederate generals +what he observes of importance in the valley. From his position he can +look down into our camp, see every rifle pit, and almost count the +pieces of artillery in our fortifications. + +Captain Johnson, of General Negley's staff, has just been in, and tells +me the pickets of the two armies are growing quite intimate, sitting +about on logs together, talking over the great battle, and exchanging +views as to the results of a future engagement. + +General Negley called a few minutes ago and invited me to dine with him +at five o'clock. The General looks demoralized, and, I think, regrets +somewhat the part he took, or rather the part he failed to take, in the +battle of Chickamauga. Remarks are made in reference to his conduct on +that occasion which are other than complimentary. The General doubtless +did what he thought was best, and probably had orders which will justify +his action. After a battle there is always more or less bad feeling, +regiments, brigades, and corps claiming that other regiments, brigades, +and corps failed to do their whole duty, and should therefore be held +responsible for this or that misfortune. + +There was a rumor, for some days before the battle of Chickamauga, that +Burnside was on the way to join us, and we shouted Burnside to the boys, +on the day of the battle, until we became hoarse. Did the line stagger +and show a disposition to retire: "Stand up, boys, reinforcements are +coming; Burnside is near." Once, when Palmer's division was falling back +through a corn-field, our line was hotly pressed. Pointing to Palmer's +columns, which were coming from the left toward the right, the officers +shouted, "Give it to 'em, boys, Burnside is here," and the boys went in +with renewed confidence. But, alas, at nightfall Burnside had played +out, and the hearts of our brave fellows went down with the sun. +Burnside is now regarded as a myth, a fictitious warrior, who is said to +be coming to the rescue of men sorely pressed, but who never comes. When +an improbable story is told to the boys, now, they express their +unbelief by the simple word "Burnside," sometimes adding, "O yes, we +know him." + +5. The enemy opened on us, at 11 A. M., from batteries located on the +point of Lookout mountain, and continued to favor us with cast-iron in +the shape of shell and solid shot until sunset. He did little damage, +however, three men only were wounded, and these but slightly. A shell +entered the door of a dog tent, near which two soldiers of the +Eighteenth Ohio were standing, and buried itself in the ground, when +one of the soldiers turned very coolly to the other and said, "There, +you d--d fool, you see what you get by leaving your door open." + +6. The enemy unusually silent. + +7. Visited the picket line this afternoon. A rebel line officer came to +within a few rods of our picket station, to exchange papers, and stood +and chatted for some time with the Federal officer. There appears to be +a perfect understanding that neither party shall fire unless an advance +is made in force. + + + + +NOVEMBER, 1863. + + +11. My new brigade consists of the following regiments: + +One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio Infantry, Colonel John G. Mitchell. + +One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Infantry, Colonel H. B. Banning. + +One Hundred and Eighth Ohio Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Piepho. + +Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry, Major Shane. + +Third Ohio Infantry, Captain Leroy S. Bell. + +Seventy-eighth Illinois Infantry, Colonel Van Vleck. + +Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry, Colonel Van Tassell. + +There has been much suffering among the men. They have for weeks been +reduced to quarter rations, and at times so eager for food that the +commissary store-rooms would be thronged, and the few crumbs which fell +from broken boxes of hard-bread carefully gathered up and eaten. Men +have followed the forage wagons and picked up the grains of corn which +fell from them, and in some instances they have picked up the grains of +corn from the mud where mules have been fed. The suffering among the +animals has been intense. Hundreds of mules and horses have died of +starvation. Now, however, that we have possession of the river, the men +are fully supplied, but the poor horses and mules are still suffering. A +day or two more will, I trust, enable us to provide well for them also. +Two steamboats are plying between this and Chattanooga, and one immense +wagon train is also busy. Supplies are coming forward with a reasonable +degree of rapidity. The men appear to be in good health and excellent +spirits. + +12. We are encamped on Stringer's ridge, on the north side of the +Tennessee, immediately opposite Chattanooga. This morning Colonel +Mitchell and I rode to the picket line of the brigade. The line runs +along the river, opposite and to the north of the point of Lookout +mountain. At the time, a heavy fog rising from the water veiled somewhat +the gigantic proportions of Lookout point, or the nose of Lookout, as it +is sometimes designated. While standing on the bank, at the water's +edge, peering through the mist, to get a better view of two Confederate +soldiers, on the opposite shore, a heavy sound broke from the summit of +Lookout mountain, and a shell went whizzing over into Hooker's camps. +Pretty soon a battery opened on what is called Moccasin point, on the +north side of the river, and replied to Lookout. Later in the day +Moccasin and Lookout got into an angry discussion which lasted two +hours. These two batteries have a special spite at each other, and +almost every day thunder away in the most terrible manner. Lookout +throws his missiles too high and Moccasin too low, so that usually the +only loss sustained by either is in ammunition. Moccasin, however, makes +the biggest noise. The sound of his guns goes crashing and echoing along +the sides of Lookout in a way that must be particularly gratifying to +Moccasin's soul. I fear, however, that both these gigantic gentlemen are +deaf as adders, or they would not so delight in kicking up such a +hellebaloo. + +This afternoon I rode over to Chattanooga. Called at the quarters of my +division commander, General Jeff. C. Davis, but found him absent; +stopped at Department Head-quarters and saw General Reynolds, chief of +staff; caught sight of Generals Hooker, Howard, and Gordon Granger. Soon +General Thomas entered the room and shook hands with me. On my way back +to camp I called on General Rousseau; had a long and pleasant +conversation with him. He goes to Nashville to-morrow to assume command +of the District of Tennessee. He does not like the way in which he has +been treated; thinks there is a disposition on the part of those in +authority to shelve him, and that his assignment to Nashville is for the +purpose of letting him down easily. Palmer, who has been assigned to the +command of the Fourteenth Corps, is Rousseau's junior in rank, and this +grinds him. He referred very kindly to the old Third Division, and said +it won him his stars. I told him I was exceedingly anxious to get home; +that it seemed almost impossible for me to remain longer. He said that +I must continue until they made me a major-general. I replied that I +neither expected nor desired promotion. + +At the river I met Father Stanley, of the Eighteenth Ohio. He presides +over the swing ferry, in which he takes especial delight. A long rope, +fastened to a stake in the middle of the river, is attached to the boat, +and the current is made to swing it from one shore to the other. + +14. My fleet-footed black horse is dead. Did the new moon, which I saw +so squarely over my left shoulder when riding him over Waldron's ridge, +augur this? + +The rebel journals are expressing great dissatisfaction at Bragg's +failure to take Chattanooga, and insist upon his doing so without +further delay. On the other hand, the authorities at Washington are +probably urging Grant to move, fearing if he does not that Burnside will +be overwhelmed. Thus both generals must do something soon in order to +satisfy their respective masters. There will be a battle or a foot-race +within a week or two. + +15. Have read Whitelaw Reid's statement of the causes of Rosecrans' +removal. He is, I presume, in the main correct. Investigation will show +that the army could have gotten into Chattanooga without a battle on the +Chickamauga. There would have been a battle here, doubtless, and defeat +would have resulted probably in our destruction; yet it seems reasonable +to suppose that, if able to hold Chattanooga after defeat, we would have +been able to do so before. + + +MISSION RIDGE. + +20. Orders have been issued, and to-morrow a great battle will be +fought. May God be with our army and favor us with a substantial +victory! My brigade will move at daylight. It is now getting ready. + +Order to move countermanded at midnight. + +22. The day is delightful. Lookout and Moccasin are furious. The +Eleventh Corps (Howard's) is now crossing the pontoon bridge, just below +and before us, to take position for to-morrow's engagement. Sherman is +also moving up the river on the north side, with a view to getting at +the enemy's right flank. My brigade will be under arms at daylight, and +ready to move. Our division will operate with Sherman on the left. +Hitherto I have gone into battle almost without knowing it; now we are +about to bring on a terrible conflict, and have abundant time for +reflection. I can not affirm that the prospect has a tendency to elevate +one's spirits. There are men, doubtless, who enjoy having their legs +sawed off, their heads trepanned, and their ribs reset, but I am not one +of them. I am disposed to think of home and family--of the great +suffering which results from engagements between immense armies. +Somebody--Wellington, I guess--said there was nothing worse than a great +victory except a great defeat. + +Rode with Colonel Mitchell four miles up the river to General Davis' +quarters; met there General Morgan, commanding First Brigade of our +division; Colonel Dan McCook, commanding Third Brigade, and Mr. Dana, +Assistant Secretary of War. + +23. It is now half-past five o'clock in the morning. The moon has gone +down, and it is that darkest hour which is said to precede the dawn. My +troops have been up since three o'clock busily engaged making +preparation for the day's work. Judging from the almost continuous +whistling of the cars off beyond Mission Ridge, the rebels have an +intimation of the attack to be made, and are busy either bringing +reinforcements or preparing to evacuate. + +Noon. There has been a hitch in affairs, and I am still in my tent at +the old place. + +About 2 P. M. a division or more was sent out to reconnoiter the enemy's +front. The movement resulted in a sharp fight, which lasted until after +sunset. Both artillery and infantry were engaged. As night grew on we +could see the flash of the enemy's guns all along the crest of Mission +Ridge, and then hear the report, and the prolonged reverberations as the +sound went crashing among ridges, hills, and mountains. Rumor says that +our troops captured five hundred prisoners. + +24. Moved to Caldwell's, four miles up the river. A pontoon bridge was +thrown across the stream; but there were many troops in advance of us, +and my brigade did not reach the south side until after one o'clock. Our +division was held in reserve; so we stacked arms and lay upon the grass +midway between the river and the foot of Mission Ridge, and listened to +the preliminary music of the guns as the National line was being +adjusted for to-morrow's battle. + +25. During the day, as we listened to the roar of the conflict, I +thought I detected in the management what I had never discovered before +on the battle-field, a little common sense. Dash is handsome, genius +glorious; but modest, old-fashioned, practical, every-day sense is the +trump, after all, and the only thing one can securely rely upon for +permanent success in any line, either civil or military. This element +evidently dominated in this battle. The struggle along Mission Ridge +seemed more like a series of independent battles than one grand +conflict. There were few times during the day when the engagement +appeared to be heavy and continuous along the whole line. There +certainly was not an extended and unceasing roll, as at Chickamauga and +Stone river, but rather a succession of heavy blows. Now it would +thunder furiously on the extreme right; then the left would take up the +sledge, and finally the center would begin to pound; and so the National +giant appeared to skip from point to point along the ridge, striking +rapid and thundering blows here and there, as if seeking the weak place +in his antagonist's armor. The enemy, thoroughly bewildered, finally +became most fearful of Sherman, who was raising a perfect pandemonium on +his flank, and so strengthened his right at the expense of other +portions of his line, when Thomas struck him in the center, and he +abandoned the field. The loss must be comparatively small, but the +victory is all the more glorious for this very reason. + +26. At one o'clock in the morning we crossed the Chickamauga in pursuit +of the retreating enemy. The First Brigade of our division having the +lead, I had nothing to do but follow it. At Chickamauga depot we came in +sight of the rebels, and formed line of battle to attack; but they +retired, leaving the warehouses containing their supplies in flames. At +3 P. M. my brigade was ordered to head the column, and we drove the +enemy's rear guard before us without meeting with any serious opposition +until nightfall, when, on arriving at Mrs. Sheppard's spring branch, +near Graysville, a brigade of Confederate troops, with a battery, under +command of Brigadier-General Manny, opened on us with considerable +violence. A sharp encounter ensued of about an hour's duration, +resulting in the defeat of the enemy and the wounding of the rebel +general. My brigade behaved well, did most of the fighting, and, owing +to the darkness, probably, sustained but little loss. When General Davis +came up I asked permission to make a detour through the woods to the +right, for the purpose of overtaking and cutting off the enemy's train; +but he thought it not advisable to attempt it. + + + + +DECEMBER, 1863. + + +I will not undertake to give a detailed account of our march to +Knoxville, for the relief of Burnside, and the return to Chattanooga. We +were gone three weeks, and during that time had no change of clothing, +and were compelled to obtain our food from the corn-cribs, hen-roosts, +sheep-pens, and smoke-houses on the way. The incidents of this trip, +through the valleys of East Tennessee, where the waters of the Hiawasse, +and the Chetowa, and the Ocoee, and the Estonola ripple through +corn-fields and meadows, and beneath shadows of evergreen ridges, will +be laid aside for a more convenient season. I append simply a letter of +General Sherman: + + + "HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,} + "CHATTANOOGA, _December 18, 1863_. } + + "GENERAL JEFF. C. DAVIS, _Chattanooga_. + + "DEAR GENERAL--In our recent short but most useful + campaign it was my good fortune to have attached + to me the corps of General Howard, and the + division commanded by yourself. I now desire to + thank you personally and officially for the + handsome manner in which you and your command have + borne themselves throughout. You led in the + pursuit of Bragg's army on the route designated + for my command, and I admired the skill with which + you handled the division at Chickamauga, and more + especially in the short and sharp encounter, at + nightfall, near Graysville. + + "When General Grant called on us, unexpectedly and + without due preparation, to march to Knoxville for + the relief of General Burnside, you and your + officers devoted yourselves to the work like + soldiers and patriots, marching through cold and + mud without a murmur, trusting to accidents for + shelter and subsistence. + + "During the whole march, whenever I encountered + your command, I found all the officers at their + proper places and the men in admirable order. This + is the true test, and I pronounce your division + one of the best ordered in the service. I wish you + all honor and success in your career, and shall + deem myself most fortunate if the incidents of war + bring us together again. + + "Be kind enough to say to General Morgan, General + Beatty, and Colonel McCook, your brigade + commanders, that I have publicly and privately + commended their brigades, and that I stand + prepared, at all times, to assist them in whatever + way lies in my power. + + "I again thank you personally, and beg to + subscribe myself, Your sincere friend, + + "W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General." + +Colonel Van Vleck, Seventy-eight Illinois, was kind enough in his report +to say: + +"In behalf of the entire regiment I tender to the general commanding the +brigade, my sincere thanks for his uniform kindness, and for his +solicitude for the men during all their hardships and suffering, as well +as for his undaunted courage, self-possession, and military skill in +time of danger." + +26. Moved to McAffee's Springs, six miles from Chattanooga, and two +miles from the battle-field of Chickamauga. My quarters are in the State +of Tennessee, those of my troops in Georgia. The line between the states +is about forty yards from where I sit. On our way hither, we saw many +things to remind us of the Confederate army--villages of log huts, +chimneys, old clothing, and miles of rifle pits. + +27. Just a moment ago I asked Wilson the day of the week, and he +astonished me by saying it was Sunday. It is the first time I ever +passed a Sabbath, from daylight to dark, without knowing it. + +Wilson lies on his cot to-night a disappointed man. His application for +a leave was disapproved. + +I am quartered in a log hut; a blanket over the doorway excludes the +damp air and the cold blasts. The immense chinks, or rather lack of +immense chinks, in various parts of the edifice, leave abundance of room +for the admission of light. There are no windows, but this is fortunate, +for if there were, they, like the door, would need covering, and +blankets are scarce. The fire-place, however, is grand, and would be +creditable to a castle. + +The forest in which we are encamped, was, in former times, a rendezvous +for the blacklegs, thieves, murderers, and outlaws, generally of two +States, Tennessee and Georgia. An old inhabitant informs me he has seen +hundreds of these persecuted and proscribed gentry encamped about this +spring. When an officer of Tennessee came with a writ to arrest them, +they would step a few yards into the State of Georgia and laugh at him. +So, when Georgia sought to lay its official clutches on an offending +Georgian, the latter would walk over into Tennessee and argue the case +across the line. It was a very convenient spot for law-breakers. To +reach across this imaginary line, and draw a man from Tennessee, would +be kidnapping, an insult to a sovereign State, and in a States'-rights +country such a procedure could not be tolerated. Requisitions from the +governors of Tennessee and Georgia might, of course, be procured, but +this would take time, and in this time the offender could walk leisurely +into Alabama or North Carolina, neither of which States is very far +away. In fact, the presence of large numbers of these desperados, in +this locality, at all seasons of the year, has prevented its settlement +by good men, and, in consequence, there are thousands of acres on which +there has scarcely been a field cleared, or even a tree cut. + +The somber forest, with its peculiar history, suggests to our minds the +green woods of old England, where Robin Hood and his merry men were wont +to pass their idle time; or the Black Forest of Germany, where thieves +and highwaymen found concealment in days of old. + +What a country for the romancer! Here is the dense wilderness, the +Tennessee and Chickamauga, the precipitous Lookout with his foot-hills, +spurs, coves, and water-falls. Here are cosy little valleys from which +the world, with its noise, bustle, confusions, and cares, is excluded. +Here have congregated the bloody villains and sneaking thieves; the +plumed knights, dashing horsemen, and stubborn infantry. Here are the +two great battle-fields of Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. Here neighbors +have divided, and families separated to fight on questions of National +policy. Here, in short, every thing is supplied to the poet but the +invention to construct the plot of his tale, and the genius to breathe +life into the characters. + +It may be possible, however, that the country is yet too young, and its +incidents too new, to make it a fertile field for the novelist. The +imagination works best amid scenes half known and half forgotten. When +time shall have thrown its shadows over the events of the last century, +and the real and unreal become so intermingled in the minds of men as to +become indistinguishable, imaginary Robin Hoods will find hiding places +in the caves; innocent men, in deadly peril, will seek safety in the +mountain fastnesses until the danger be past; conspirators will meet in +the shadowy recesses to concoct their hellish plots, over which truth, +courage, and honesty will finally triumph. Here the blue and the gray +will meet to fight, and to be reconciled; and there will not be wanting +the Helen McGregors and Die Vernons to give color and interest to the +scene. + +27. Our horses are on quarter feed. + +Some benevolent gentleman should suggest a sanitary fair for the benefit +of the disabled horses and mules of the Federal army. There is no +suffering so intense as theirs. They are driven, with whip and spur, on +half and quarter food, until they drop from exhaustion, and then +abandoned to die in the mud-hole where they fall. At Parker's Gap, on +our return from Tennessee, I saw a poor white horse that had been rolled +down the hill to get it out of the road. It had lodged against a fallen +tree, feet uppermost; to get up the hill was impossible, and to roll +down certain destruction. So the poor brute lay there, looking pitiful +enough, his big frame trembling with fright, his great eyes looking +anxiously, imploringly for help. A man can give vent to his sufferings, +he can ask for assistance, he can find some relief either in crying, +praying, or cursing; but for the poor exhausted and abandoned beast +there is no help, no relief, no hope. + +To-day we picked up, on the battle-field of Chickamauga, the skull of a +man who had been shot in the head. It was smooth, white, and glossy. A +little over three months ago this skull was full of life, hope, and +ambition. He who carried it into battle had, doubtless, mother, sisters, +friends, whose happiness was, to some extent, dependent upon him. They +mourn for him now, unless, possibly, they hope still to hear that he is +safe and well. Vain hope. Sun, rain, and crows have united in the work +of stripping the flesh from his bones, and while the greater part of +these lay whitening where they fell, the skull has been rolling about +the field the sport and plaything of the winds. This is war, and amid +such scenes we are supposed to think of the amount of our salary, and of +what the newspapers may say of us. + +28. One of my orderlies approached me on my weak side to-day, by +presenting me four cigars. Cigars are now rarely seen in camp. Sutlers +have not been permitted to come further south than Bridgeport; and had +it not been for the trip into East Tennessee the brigade would have been +utterly destitute of tobacco. + +While bivouacking on the Hiawasse, a citizen named Trotter, came into +camp. He was an old man, and professed to be loyal. I interrogated him +on the tobacco question. He replied, "The crap has been mitey poor fur a +year or two. I don't use terbacker myself, but my wife used to chaw it; +but the frost has been a nippen of it fur a year or two, and it is so +poor she has quit chawen ontirely." + +When returning from Knoxville, we passed a farm house which stood near +the roadside. Three young women were standing at the gate, and appeared +to be in excellent spirits. Captain Wager inquired if they had heard +from Knoxville. "O yes," they answered, "General Longstreet has captured +Knoxville and all of General Burnside's men." "Indeed," said the +Captain; "what about Chattanooga?" "Well, we heard that Bragg had moved +back to Dalton." "You have not heard, then, that Bragg was whipped; +lost sixty pieces of artillery and many thousand men?" "O no!" "You +have not heard that Longstreet was defeated at Knoxville, and compelled +to fall back with heavy loss?" "No, no; we don't believe a word of it. A +man, who came from Knoxville and knows all about it, says that you uns +are retreating now as fast as you can. You can't whip our fellers." +"Well, ladies," said the Captain, "I am glad to see you feeling so well +under adverse circumstances. Good-by." + +The girls were evidently determined that the Yank should not deceive +them. + +At another place quite a number of women and children were standing by +the roadside. As the column approached, said one of the women to a +soldier: "Is these uns Yankees?" "Yes, madam," replied the boy, "regular +blue-bellied Yankees." "We never seed any you uns before." "Well, keep a +sharp lookout and you'll see they all have horns on." + +One day, while I was at Davis' quarters, near Columbus, a preacher came +in and said he wanted to sell all the property he could to the army and +get greenbacks, as he desired to move to Illinois, where his +brother-in-law resided, and his Confederate notes would not be worth a +dime there. "How is that, Parson," said Davis, affecting to +misunderstand him; "not worth a damn there?" "No, sir, no, sir; not +worth a dime, sir. You misunderstood me, sir. I said not worth a dime +there." "I beg your pardon, Parson," responded Davis; "I thought you +said not worth a damn there, and was surprised to hear you say so." + +While we were encamped on the banks of the Hiawasse, a Union man, near +seventy years old, was murdered by guerrillas. Not long before, a young +lady, the daughter of a Methodist minister, was robbed and murdered near +the same place. Murders and robberies are as common occurrences in that +portion of Tennessee as marriages in Ohio, and excite about as little +attention. Horse stealing is not considered an offense. + +29. Nothing of interest has transpired to-day. Bugles, drums, drills, +parades--the old story over and over again; the usual number of +corn-cakes eaten, of pipes smoked, of papers respectfully forwarded, of +how-do-ye-do's to colonels, captains, lieutenants, and soldiers. You put +on your hat and take a short walk. It does you no good. Returning you +lie down on the cot, and undertake to sleep; but you have already slept +too much, and you get up and smoke again, look over an old paper, yawn, +throw the paper down, and conclude it is confoundedly dull. Jack brings +in dinner. You see somebody passing; it is Captain Clayson, the +Judge-Advocate, and you cry out: "Hold on, Captain; come in and have a +bite of dinner." He concludes to do so. Being a judge-advocate he talks +law, and impresses you with the idea that every other judge-advocate has +in some respects been faulty; but he has taken pains to master his +duties perfectly, and makes no mistakes. Pretty soon Major Shane drops +in, and you ask him to dine; but he has just been to dinner, and thanks +you. Observing Captain Clayson, he asks how the business of the +court-martial progresses, and says: "By the way, Captain, the sentence +in that quartermaster's case was disapproved because the record was +defective." The Captain blushes. He made up the record, and it strikes +him the Major's remark is very untimely. + +It is dull! + +30. Took a ten-mile ride this afternoon. Two miles from camp I met +Lieutenant Platt, one of my aids. He had asked permission in the morning +to go into the country to secure a lady for a dance, which is to take +place a night or two hence. I asked: "Where have you been, Lieutenant?" +"At Mrs. Calisspe's, the house on the left, yonder." I did not, of +course, ask if he had been successful in his mission; but as I +approached the little frame in which Mrs. Calisspe resided, I thought I +would drop in and see what sort of a woman had drawn the Lieutenant so +far from camp. Knocking at the door, a feminine voice said "Come in," +and I entered. There were three females. The elder I took to be Mrs. +Calisspe. A handsome, neatly-dressed young lady I concluded was the one +the Lieutenant sought. A heavy and rather dull woman, who stood leaning +against the wall, I set down as a dependent or servant in the family. +"Beg pardon, madam, is this the direct road to Shallow Ford?" "Yes, sir, +the straight road. Won't you take a seat?" "Thank you, no. Good +evening." Trotting along over the road which Mrs. Calisspe said was +straight, but which, in fact, was exceedingly crooked, we came finally +to the camp of the Thirteenth Michigan, a regiment which General Thomas +supposes to be engaged in cutting saw-logs, when, in truth, its +principal business is strolling about the country stealing chickens. It +is, however, known as the saw-log regiment. + +On our return from Shallow Ford, as we approached Mrs. Calisspe's, we +saw her handsome daughter on the porch inspecting a side-saddle, and +concluded from this that the gallant Lieutenant's application had been +successful, and that she proposed to accompany him to the ball on +horseback. As we galloped by the house, a little flaxen-haired, chubby +boy, who had climbed the fence, extended his head over the top rail and +jabbered at us at the top of his voice; but the handsome young lady did +not favor us with even a glance. + +31. It is late. Hours ago the bugles notified the boys that it was time +to retire to their dens. I have been reading Thackeray's "Lovell, the +Widower," and as I sat alone in the silence of the middle night, the +scenes depicted grew distinct and life-like; the characters encompassed +me about real living men and women; the drawing-rooms, dining-halls, +parlors, opened out before me; the streets, walks, drives, were all +visible, and I became a spectator instead of a reader. Suddenly a low, +unearthly wail broke the stillness, and my hair stiffened somewhat at +the roots, as the fancy struck me that I heard the voice of the defunct +Mrs. Lovell. A moment's reflection, however, dispelled this +disagreeable thought. Looking toward the corner of the cabin whence the +ghostly sound emanated, I discovered a strange cat. My long-legged boots +followed each other in quick succession toward the unhappy kitten, and I +yelled "scat" in a very vindictive way. + + + + +JANUARY 1, 1864. + + +Standing on a peak of Mission Ridge to-day, we had spread out before us +one of the grandest prospects which ever delighted the eye of man. +Northward Waldron's Ridge and Lookout mountain rose massive and +precipitous, and seemed the boundary wall of the world. Below them was +the Tennessee, like a ribbon of silver; Chattanooga, with its thousands +of white tents and miles of fortifications. Southward was the +Chickamauga, and beyond a succession of ridges, rising higher and +higher, until the eye rested upon the blue tops of the great mountains +of North Carolina. The fact that a hundred and fifty thousand men, with +all the appliances of war, have struggled for the possession of these +mountains, rivers, and ridges, gives a solemn interest to the scene, and +renders it one of the most interesting, as it is one of the grandest, in +the world. + +When history shall have recorded the thrilling tragedies enacted here; +when poets shall have illuminated every hill-top and mountain peak with +the glow of their imagination; when the novelist shall have given it a +population from his fertile brain, what place can be more attractive to +the traveler? + +Looking on this panorama of mountains, ridges, rivers, and valleys, one +has a juster conception of the power of God. Reflecting upon the deeds +that have been done here, he obtains a truer knowledge of the character +of man, and the incontestable evidences of his nobility. + + * * * * * + +Standing here to-day, I take off my hat to the reader, if by possibility +there be one who has had the patience to follow me thus far, and as I +bid him good-by, wish him "A Happy New Year." + + + + +CAPTURE, IMPRISONMENT, + +AND + +ESCAPE, + +BY + +GENERAL HARRISON C. HOBART, + +OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. + + + + +EXPLANATORY. + + +Among the Union officers who escaped from Libby Prison at Richmond, on +the night of the 9th of February, 1864, was my esteemed friend, General +Harrison C. Hobart, then Colonel of the Twenty-first Wisconsin Volunteer +Infantry. His name is mentioned quite frequently in the preceding pages. +Ten years after the war closed, he spent a few days at my house, and +while there was requested to tell the story of his capture, +imprisonment, and escape. My children gathered about him, and listened +to his narrative with an intensity of interest which I am very sure they +never exhibited when receiving words of admonition and advice from their +father. + +While my manuscript was in the hands of the publishers, it occurred to +me that General Hobart's story would be as interesting to others as it +had been to my own family, and so I wrote, urging him to furnish it to +me for publication. He finally consented to do so, and I have the +pleasure now of presenting it to the reader. It bears upon its face the +evidence of its entire truthfulness, and yet is as interesting as a +romance. + +JOHN BEATTY. + + + + +GENERAL HOBART'S NARRATIVE. + + +The battles of Chickamauga were fought on the 19th and 20th of +September, 1863. The Twenty-first Wisconsin, which I then commanded, +formed a part of Thomas' memorable line, and fought through the battles +of Saturday and Sunday. At the close of the second day, Thomas' Corps +still maintained its position, and presented an unbroken front to the +enemy, but the right of our army having fallen back, the tide of battle +was turning against us. + +To avoid a flank movement, our brigade was ordered to leave the +breastworks, which they had held against the severest fire of the enemy +during the day, and fall back to a second position. Here only a portion +of the men, with three regimental standards, were rallied. A rebel +battery was instantly placed in position on our right, and rebel cavalry +swept between us and the retreating army. + +Being the ranking officer among those who rallied, I directed the men to +cut their way through to our retreating line. I was on the left of this +movement to the rear, and, to avoid the approach of horsemen, rapidly +passed to the left through a dense cluster of small pines, and +instantly found myself in the immediate front of a rebel line of +infantry. I halted, being dismounted, and an officer advanced and +offered his hand, saying that he was glad to see me, and proposed to +introduce me to his commander, General Cleburne. I replied, that I was +not particularly pleased to see him, but, under the circumstances, +should not decline his invitation. + +I met the General, who was mounted and being cheered by his men, and +surrendered to him my sword. He inquired where I had been fighting. I +said, "Right there," pointing to the line of Thomas' Corps. He replied, +"This line has given us our chief trouble, sir; your soldiers have +fought like brave men; come with me and I will see that no one insults +or interferes with you." + +It was now after sun-down, and the last guns of the terrible battle of +Chickamauga were dying away along the hillsides of Mission Ridge. A +large number of prisoners of war were soon gathered, and marched to the +enemy's rear across the Chickamauga. Here we witnessed the fearful +results of the battle. The ground strewed with the dead and wounded, the +shattered fragments of transportation, and a general demoralization +among the forces, told the fearful price which the enemy had paid for +their victory. More than fifteen hundred soldiers, prisoners of war, +camped by a large spring to pass the remainder of a cold night; some +without blankets or overcoats, and all without provisions. + +The next day we were marched about thirty miles to Tunnel Hill, where +we received our first rations from the enemy. On this march, the only +food we obtained was from a field of green sorghum. Here we were placed +in box cars and taken to Atlanta. On arriving at this place, we were +first marched to an open field outside of the city, near a fountain of +water, and surrounded by a guard. Kind-hearted people came out of the +city, bringing bread with them, which they threw to us across the guard +line. Immediately a second line was established, distant several rods +outside of the first, to prevent them from giving us food. + +From this place we were marched to the old slave-pen, and every man, as +he entered the narrow gate, was compelled to give up his overcoat and +blanket. I remonstrated with the officers for stripping the soldiers of +their necessary clothing, as an act in violation of civilized warfare +and inhuman. The men who were executing this infamous duty, did not deny +these charges, but excused themselves on the ground that they were +simply obeying an order of General Bragg from the front. That night I +saw seventeen hundred Union soldiers lie down upon the ground, without +an overcoat or blanket to protect them from the cold earth, or shield +them from the heavy Southern dew. + +The next morning we were ordered to take the cars, and proceed on our +way to Richmond. These men arose from the ground, cold and wet with dew, +and under my command organized and formed in column by companies, and +marched to the depot through one of the main streets of Atlanta, singing +in full chorus the Star Spangled Banner. Crowds gathered around us as +we entered the cars. A guard with muskets accompanied the train. + +I will here relate an incident which occurred on our way. We overtook a +train of open cars, filled with Confederate wounded from the +battle-field. The two trains stopped for some time alongside and in +close proximity. It was a spectacle to see the men of the two armies +intently observe each other. On the one side was the calm, pale face of +the wounded; on the other, the earnest, deep sympathy of the captive. No +unkind look or word passed between them. Of the seventeen hundred +prisoners, there was not one who would not have given his coat, or +reached for his last cent, to help his wounded brother. + +On the last day of September, after traveling more than eight hundred +miles from the battle-field of Chickamauga, we arrived at Richmond, and +the officers of the Cumberland Army, to the number of about two hundred +and fifty, were marched to Libby Prison. + +This building has a front of about one hundred and forty feet, with a +depth of about one hundred and five. There are nine rooms, each one +hundred and two feet long, by forty-five wide. The height of ceilings +from the floor is about seven feet. The building is also divided into +three apartments by brick walls, and there is a basement below. + +On entering the prison, we were severally searched, and every thing of +value taken from us. Some of us saved our money by putting it into the +seams of our garments before we arrived at Richmond. The officers of +the Army of the Cumberland were assigned to the middle rooms of the +second and third stories. The lower middle room was used as a general +kitchen, and the basement immediately below was fitted up with cells for +the confinement and punishment of offenders. These rooms received the +_sobriquet_ of Chickamauga. + +The whole number of officers of the army and navy in prison at this time +was about eleven hundred--all having access to each other, except those +in the hospital. There were no beds or chairs, and all slept on the +floor. I shared a horse blanket with Surgeon Dixon, of Wisconsin, which +was the only bedding we had for some time. Our bread was made of +unbolted corn, and was cold and clammy. We were sometimes furnished with +fresh beef, corn beef, and sometimes with rice and vegetable soup. The +men formed themselves into messes, and each took his turn in preparing +such food as we could get. + +At one time, no meat was furnished for about nine days, and the reason +given was, that their soldiers at the front required all they could +obtain. During this period, we received nothing but corn bread. Kind +friends sent us boxes of provisions from the North, which were opened +and examined by the Confederates, and if nothing objectionable was +found, and it pleased them, the party to whom a box was sent was +directed to come down and get it. Many of these were never delivered. +Every generous soul shared the contents of his box with his more +unfortunate companions. Had it not been for this provision, our life in +Libby would have been intolerable. + +There was no glass in the windows, and for some time no fire in the +rooms. An application for window glass, made during the severest cold +weather, was answered by the assurance that the Confederates had none to +furnish. The worst affliction, however, was the vermin, which invaded +every department. + +Each officer was permitted to write home the amount of three lines per +week; but even these brief messages were not always allowed to leave +Richmond. + +A variety of schemes were adopted to improve or kill time. We played +chess, cards, opened a theater, organized a band of minstrels, delivered +lectures, established schools for teaching dancing, singing, the French +language, and military tactics, read books, published a manuscript +newspaper, held debates, and by these means rendered life tolerable, +though by no means agreeable. + +An incident occurred, after we had been in prison some time, which made +a deep impression upon every one. Some of our men had been confined in a +block not far from Libby, called the Pemberton Building. An order had +been issued to remove them to North Carolina. When they left, their line +of march was along the street in our front, and when they passed under +our windows, we threw out drawers, shirts, stockings, etc., which they +gathered up; and when they raised their pale and emaciated faces to +greet their old commanders, there were but few dry eyes in Libby. Many +of them were making their last march. + +Our sick were removed to the room set apart, on the ground floor, for a +hospital; and, when one died, he was put in a box of rough boards, +placed in an open wagon, and rapidly driven away over the stony streets. +There were no flowers from loving hands, and no mourning pageant, but a +thousand hearts in Libby followed the gallant dead to his place of rest. + +We were seldom visited by any person. The only call I received was from +General Breckenridge, of Kentucky; I had known him before the war. +During our interview, I referred to the resources of the North and +South, and asked him upon what ground he hoped the Confederacy could +succeed. His only reply was, that, "five millions of people, determined +to be free, could not be conquered." + +There being no exchange of prisoners at this time, projects of escape +were discussed from the beginning. One scheme was, for a few persons at +a time to put on the dress of a citizen, and attempt to pass the guard +as visitors. A few actually recovered their liberty in this manner. +Another plan was, to dig a tunnel to the city sewer, which was +understood to pass under the street in front of the prison, and escape +through that to the river. This project might have succeeded had not the +water interfered. The final and successful plan was as follows: + +On the ground floor of the building, on a level with the street, was a +kitchen containing a fire-place, at a stove connected with which the +prisoners inhabiting the rooms above did their cooking. Beneath this +floor was a basement, one of the rooms which was used as a store-room. +This store-room was under the hospital and next to the street, and +though not directly under the kitchen, was so located that it was +possible to reach it by digging downward and rearward through the +masonry work of the chimney. From this basement room it was proposed to +construct a tunnel under the street to a point beneath a shed, connected +with a brick block upon the opposite side, and from this place to pass +into the street in the guise of citizens. A knowledge of this plan was +confided to about twenty-five, and nothing was known of the proceedings +by the others until two or three days before the escape. A table knife, +chisel, and spittoon were secured for working tools, when operations +commenced. Sufficient of the masonry was removed from the fire-place to +admit the passage of a man through a diagonal cut to the store-room +below; and an excavation was then made through the foundation wall +toward the street, and the construction of the tunnel proceeded night by +night. But two persons could work at the same time. One would enter the +hole with his tools and a small tallow candle, dragging the spittoon +after him attached to a string. The other would fan air into the passage +with his hat, and with another string would draw out the novel dirt car +when loaded, concealing its contents beneath the straw and rubbish of +the cellar. Each morning before daylight the working party returned to +their rooms, after carefully closing the mouth of the tunnel, and +skillfully replacing the bricks in the chimney. + +An error occurred during the prosecution of this work that nearly proved +fatal to the enterprise. After a sufficient distance was supposed to +have been made, an excavation was commenced to reach the top of the +ground. The person working, carefully felt his way upward, when suddenly +a small amount of the top earth fell in, and through this he could +plainly see two sentinels apparently looking at him. One said to the +other, "I have been hearing a strange noise in the ground there!" After +listening a short time, the other replied that it was "nothing but +rats." The working party had not been seen. After consultation, this +opening was carefully filled with dirt and shored up. The work was then +recommenced, and after digging about fifteen feet further the objective +point under the shed was successfully reached. + +This tunnel required about thirty days of patient, tedious and dangerous +labor. It was eight feet below the street, between sixty and seventy +feet in length, and barely large enough for a full-grown person to crawl +through, by pulling and pushing himself along with his hands and feet. +Among the officers entitled to merit in the execution of this work, Col. +T. E. Rose, of Pennsylvania, deserves particular mention. + +When all was complete, the company was organized into two parties; the +first under the charge of Major McDonald, of Ohio, and the second was +placed under my direction. The parties having provided themselves with +citizens' clothing, which had at different times been sent to the +prison by friends in the North, and having filled their pockets with +bread and dried meat from their boxes, commenced to escape about seven +P. M., on the 9th of February, 1864; Major McDonald's party leaving +first. In order to distract the attention of the guard, a dancing party +with music was extemporized in the same room. As each one had to pass +out in the immediate presence of these Confederate soldiers, when he +stepped into the street from the outside of the line, and as the guard +were under orders to fire upon a prisoner escaping, without even calling +upon him to halt, the first men who descended to the tunnel wore that +quiet gloom so often seen in the army before going into battle. It was a +living drama; dancing in one part of the room, dark shadows disappearing +through the chimney in another part, and the same shadows re-appearing +upon the opposite walk, and the sentinel at his post, with a voice that +rang out upon the evening air, announcing: "Eight o'clock, Post No. +One," and "All is well!" and at the same time a Yankee soldier was +passing in his front, and a line of Yankee soldiers were crawling under +his feet. The passage was so small that the process of departure was +necessarily slow; a few inches of progress only being made at each +effort, and to facilitate locomotion outside garments were taken off and +pushed forward. + +By this time the proceedings had become known to the whole prison, and +as the first men emerged upon the street, and quietly walked away, seen +by hundreds of their fellows, who crowded the windows, a wild +excitement and enthusiasm were created, and they rushed down to the +chimney, clamoring for the privilege of going out. It was the intention +of the parties, organized by those who constructed the tunnel, that no +others should leave until the next night, as it might materially +diminish their own chances of escape. But the thought of liberty and +pure air, and the death damp of the dark loathsome prison would not +allow them to listen to any denial. Major McDonald and myself then held +a parley, and it was arranged that the rope upon which we descended into +the basement, after the last of the two parties had passed out, should +be pulled up for the space of one hour; then it should be free to all in +prison.[A] + +Having joined my fortunes with Col. T. S. West, of Wisconsin, we were +among the last of the second party who crawled through. About nine +o'clock in the evening we emerged from the tunnel, and cautiously +crossing an open yard to an arched driveway, we stepped out upon the +street and slowly walked away, apparently engaged in an earnest +conversation. As soon as we were out of range of the sentinels' guns, we +concluded it would be the safest course to turn and pass up through one +of the main streets of Richmond, as they would not suspect that +prisoners escaping would take that direction. My face being very pale, +and my beard long, clinging to the arm of Colonel W., I assumed the part +of a decrepit old man, who seemed to be in exceeding ill health, and +badly affected with a consumptive cough. + +In this manner we passed beneath the glaring gaslights, and through the +crowded street, without creating a suspicion as to our real character. +We met the police, squads of soldiers, and many others, who gave me a +sympathizing look, and stepped aside on account of my apparent +infirmities. Approaching the suburbs of the town, we retreated into a +ravine, which enabled us to leave the city without passing out upon one +of the streets. While in prison I copied McClellan's war map of +Virginia, which aided us materially in this escape. Our objective points +were to cross the Chickahominy above New Bridge, then cross the +Yorkville Railroad, then strike and follow down the Miamisburg pike. + +After resting and breathing pure air, the first time for more than four +months, we resumed our journey, agreeing not to speak above a whisper, +avoiding all houses and roads, and determining our course by the North +Star. In crossing roads, we traveled backwards, that the footsteps might +mislead our pursuers. + +We soon came in sight of the main fortifications around Richmond, and +instantly dropping upon the ground we lay for a long time, listening and +watching for the presence of sentinels upon that part of the line. Being +satisfied that there were none in our immediate front, in the most +silent and cautious manner, we crossed over the fortification and +pursued our way through a tangled forest. Coming to a piece of low +ground, tired and exhausted, we lay down to rest. Our attention was +soon attracted by the presence of a series of excavations; and on a +close examination we found we were resting upon the battle-field of Fair +Oaks, and among the trenches in which the Confederates had buried our +dead; and, although it was the midnight hour, a strange feeling of +safety stole over me, and I felt as if we were among our friends. It was +the step and voice of the living that we dreaded. + +At early dawn (Wednesday) we crossed a brook, and went upon a hillside +of low, thick pines to conceal ourselves, and rest during the day. The +Valley of the Chickahominy lay before us. While in this concealment, we +saw a blood-hound scenting our steps down to the place where we jumped +over the brook; it then went back and returned two or three times, but +finally left without attempting to cross the little stream. Late in the +evening, we went to the river and worked till after midnight to make or +find a crossing. The water was deep and cold, and, failing to accomplish +our purpose, we turned back to a haystack, and, covering ourselves with +hay, rested until the first light of morning (Thursday). + +Going back to the river, we followed down its course until we found a +tree which had fallen nearly across the stream. Discovering a long pole, +we found that it would just touch the opposite shore from the limbs of +this tree. Hitching ourselves carefully along this pole, we reached the +left bank of the Chickahominy River. + +We now felt as if escape was possible; but, hearing a noise like the +approach of troops, for we were satisfied that the enemy's cavalry must +be in full pursuit, we fled into a neighboring forest. As we approached +the center of a thicket, my eye suddenly caught the glimpse of a man +watching us from behind the root of a fallen tree. I concluded that we +had fallen into an ambush; but our momentary apprehension was joyfully +relieved by the discovery that this new-made acquaintance was Colonel W. +B. McCreary, of Michigan, and with him Major Terrence Clark, of +Illinois, who had gone through the tunnel with the first party that went +out, and were now passing the day in this secluded place. The Colonel +was one of my intimate friends, and when he recognized me he jumped to +his feet and threw his arms around me in an ecstasy of delight. + +By this time the whole population had been informed of the escape, and +the country was alive with pursuers. We could distinctly hear the +reveille of the rebel troops, and the hum of their camps. Thus +reinforced, we agreed to travel in company. It was arranged that one of +the four should precede, searching out the way in the darkness, and +giving due notice of danger. + +At dark we left our hiding place, and cautiously proceeded on our way. +Late at night we crossed the railroad running from Richmond to White +House, our second objective point. Here Colonel West saw a sentinel +sitting close by the railroad, asleep, with his gun resting against his +shoulder. Just before daybreak we went into a pine woods, after +traveling a distance of more than twenty miles, and, weary and tired, +we lay down to rest. + +The morning (Friday) broke clear and beautiful, but with its bright +light came the bugle notes of the enemy's cavalry, who were in the pines +close by us. We instantly arose and fled away at the top of our speed, +expecting every moment to hear the crack of the rifle, or the sharp +command to halt. We struck a road and about faced to cross it, the only +time that we looked back. We pursued our rapid step until we came to a +dense chaparral, and into this we threaded our way until we reached an +almost impenetrable jungle. Crawling into the center, we threw ourselves +upon the ground completely exhausted. A bird flew into the branches +above us as we lay upon our backs, and the words burst from my lips: +"Dear little bird! Oh, that I had your wings!" + +As soon as friendly darkness again returned, we moved forward, weary, +hungry, and footsore, still governed in our course by the North Star. +During all this toilsome way, but few words passed between us, and these +generally in low whispers. So untiring was the search, and so thoroughly +alarmed and watchful were the population, that we felt that our safety +depended upon a bare chance. Again making our way from wood to wood, and +avoiding farm houses as best we might, till the light of another morning +(Saturday), we retired to cover in the shade of a thick forest. + +Saturday night the journey was resumed as usual. It was my turn to act +the part of picket and pilot. While rapidly leading the way through a +forest of low pines, I suddenly found myself in the presence of a +cavalry reserve. The men were warming themselves by a blazing fire, and +their horses were tied to trees around them. I was surprised and +alarmed; but recovering my self-possession, I remained motionless, and +soon perceived that my presence was unobserved. Carefully putting one +foot behind the other I retreated out of sight, and rapidly returned to +my party. Knowing that there were videttes sitting somewhere at the +front in the dark, we concluded to go back about two miles to a +plantation, and call at one of the outermost negro houses for +information. We returned, and I volunteered to make the call while the +others remained concealed at a distance. + +I approached the door and rapped, and a woman's voice from within asked, +"who was there?" I replied, that "I was a traveler and had lost my way, +and wished to obtain some information about the road." She directed me +to go to another house, but I declined to do so, and after some further +conversation the door was opened, and I was surprised to find a large, +good-looking negro standing by her side, who had been listening to the +interview. He invited me to come in, and as soon as the door was closed, +he said: "I know who you are; you're one of dem 'scaped officers from +Richmond." Looking him full in the face, I placed my hand firmly upon +his shoulder, and said: "I am, and I know you are my friend." His eyes +sparkled as he repeated: "Yes, sir; yes, sir; but you musn't stay here; +a reg'ment of cavalry is right thar'," pointing to a place near by, +"and they pass this road all times of the night." The woman gave me a +piece of corn-bread and a cup of milk, and the man accompanying me, I +left the house, and soon finding my companions, our guide took us to a +secluded spot in a canebrake, and there explained the situation of the +picket in front. It was posted on a narrow neck of land between two +impassable swamps, and over this neck ran the main road to Williamsburg. +The negro proved to be a sharp, shrewd fellow, and we engaged him to +pilot us round this picket. After impressing us in his strongest +language with the danger both to him and to us of making the least +noise, he conducted us through a long canebrake path, then through +several fields, then directly over the road, crossing between the +cavalry reserve and their videttes, who were sitting upon their horses +but a few rods in front, and then took us around to the pike about a +mile beyond this last post of the rebels. After obtaining important +information from him concerning the way to the front, and giving him a +substantial reward, we cordially took his hand in parting. If good deeds +are recorded in Heaven, this slave appeared in the record that night. + +The line of the pike was then rapidly followed as far as Diascum river, +which was reached just at light Sunday morning. To cross this river +without assistance from some quarter was found impossible. We tried to +wade through it, but failed in this attempt. We were seen by some of the +neighboring population, which largely increased our danger and +trepidation; for we had been informed by our guide that the enemy's +scouts came to this point every morning. After awhile we succeeded in +reaching an island in the river, but could get no farther, finding deep +water beyond. We endeavored to construct a raft but failed. The water +being extremely cold, and we being very wet and weary, we did not dare +attempt to swim the stream; and expecting every moment to see the +enemy's cavalry, our hearts sank within us. At this juncture a rebel +soldier was seen coming up the river in a row-boat with a gun. +Requesting my companions to lie down in the grass, I concealed myself in +the bushes close to the water to get a good view of the man. Finding his +countenance to indicate youth and benevolence, I accosted him as he +approached. + +"Good morning; I have been waiting for you; they told me up at those +houses that I could get across the stream, but I find the bridge is +gone, and I am very wet and cold; if you will take me over, I will pay +you for your trouble." + +The boat was turned into the shore, and as I stepped into it I knew that +boat was mine. Keeping my eye upon his gun, I said to him, "there are +three more of us," and they immediately stepped into the boat. "Where do +you all come from?" said the boatman, seeming to hesitate and consider. +We represented ourselves as farmers from different localities on the +Chickahominy. "The officers don't like to have me carry men over this +river," he said, evidently suspecting who we were. I replied, "that is +right; you should not carry soldiers or suspected characters." Then +placing my eyes upon him, I said, "pass your boat over!" it sped to the +other shore. We gave him one or two greenbacks, and he rapidly returned. +We knew we were discovered, and that the enemy's cavalry would very soon +be in hot pursuit, therefore we determined, after consultation, to go +into the first hiding place, and as near as possible to the river. The +wisdom of this course was soon demonstrated. The cavalry crossed the +stream, dashed by us, and thoroughly searched the country to the front, +not dreaming but we had gone forward. We did not leave our seclusion +until about midnight, and then felt our way with extreme care. The +proximity to Williamsburg was evident from the destruction every where +apparent in our path. There were no buildings, no inhabitants, and no +sound save our own weary footsteps; desolation reigned supreme. Stacks +of chimneys stood along our way like sentinels over the dead land. + +For five days and six nights, hunted and almost exhausted, with the +stars for our guide, we had picked our way through surrounding perils +toward the camp-fires of our friends. We knew we were near the outposts +of the Union troops, and began to feel as if our trials were nearly +over. But we were now in danger of being shot as rebels by scouting +parties of our own army. To avoid the appearance of being spies, we took +the open road, alternately traveling and concealing ourselves, that we +might reconnoiter the way. About two o'clock in the morning, coming near +the shade of a dark forest that overhung the road, we were startled, +and brought to a stand, by the sharp and sudden command, "Halt!" Looking +in the direction whence it proceeded, we discovered the dark forms of a +dozen cavalrymen drawn up in line across the road. A voice came out of +the darkness, asking, "who are you?" We replied, "we are four +travelers!" The same voice said, "if you are travelers, come up here!" +Moving forward the cavalry surrounded us, and carefully looking at their +coats, I concluded they were gray, and was nerving myself for a +recapture. It was a supreme moment to the soul. One of my companions +asked, "are you Union soldiers?" In broad Pennsylvania language the +answer came, "well we are!" In a moment their uniforms changed to +glorious blue, and taking off our hats we gave one long exultant shout. +It was like passing from death unto life. Our hearts filled with +gratitude to Him whose sheltering arm had protected us in all that +dangerous way. Turning toward Richmond, I prayed in my heart that I +might have strength to return to my command. + +I was afterwards in Sherman's advance to Atlanta; the March to the Sea +and through the Carolinas; entered Richmond with the Western army; and +had the supreme satisfaction of marching my brigade by Libby Prison. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[A] NOTE.--One hundred and nine prisoners escaped through this +tunnel that night, of whom fifty-seven reached our lines. + + + + +INDEX. + + + PAGE. + + March from Buckhannon West Virginia to Rich Mountain 18 + + Battle of Rich Mountain 24 + + Beverly and Huttonville 26 + + Incidents at Cheat Mountain Pass 28 + + Camp at Elk Water 43 + + The flag of truce 46 + + Capture of De Lagniel 52 + + The flood 61 + + The advance and retreat of Lee 67 + + Ride to a log cabin in the mountains 68 + + Moonlight and music 69 + + The Hoosiers stir up the enemy 72 + + The expedition to Big Springs 75 + + The accomplished colored gentleman 78 + + At Louisville Kentucky 84 + + March to Bacon Creek 86 + + Incidents of the camp 87 + + Trouble in the regiment 91 + + A little unpleasantness with the Colonel 97 + + A case of disappointed love 99 + + The advance to Green River 103 + + The march to Nashville 109 + + A Southern lady wants protection 112 + + John Morgan on the rampage 114 + + Incidents at Nashville 116 + + March to Murfreesboro 118 + + The dash into North Alabama 124 + + General O. M. Mitchell 127 + + Rumors of the battle at Shiloh 131 + + Affair at Bridgeport 135 + + The rendezvous of the Bushwhackers 138 + + The negro preacher 141 + + Provost Marshal of Huntsville 142 + + Pudin' an' Tame 146 + + Grape-vines from Richmond 151 + + Garfield and Ammen 156 + + Two Pious men meet at Pittsburgh Landing 162 + + Uncle Jacob tells a few stories 163 + + De coon am a great fiter 167 + + General Ammen as a teacher 168 + + The murder of General Robert McCook 169 + + The race for the Ohio River 175 + + The battle of Perryville, Kentucky 176 + + Pursuit of Bragg 182 + + The Army of the Cumberland 185 + + Incidents on the way to Nashville 186 + + Colonel H. C. Hobart 192 + + The advance on Murfreesboro 198 + + The battle of Stone River 201 + + A ride over the battle-field 210 + + The absentees 217 + + T. Buchanan Reid, the poet 225 + + The Chiefs 235 + + An interesting letter 244 + + The Third starts on the Streight raid 246 + + A good fighter 252 + + General Rosecrans angry 255 + + The Confederate account of Streight's surrender 267 + + The lame horse 268 + + Negley's party 277 + + Go out to dinner 283 + + Simon Bolivar Buckner (colored) 284 + + Advance on Tullahoma 285 + + The retreat of the enemy 290 + + The Peace party 297 + + Fact vs. Fiction 299 + + Board for the examination of applicants for + commissions in colored regiments 312 + + The advance to the Tennessee 319 + + Cross the Tennessee 327 + + Battle of Chickamauga 332 + + Fight at Rossville 346 + + Incidents at Chattanooga 348 + + Battle of Mission Ridge 356 + + March to Knoxville 359 + + General Sherman's letter 360 + + Camp at McAffee's Spring 362 + + Good-by 372 + + General H. C. Hobart's Narrative 379 + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 31, "genman" changed to "gentleman" (innocent old gentleman) + +Page 42, "melancholly" changed to "melancholy" (a melancholy strain) + +Page 49, "rumbbling" changed to "rumbling" (with a rumbling) + +Page 62, "neccesary" changed to "necessary" (give the necessary) + +Page 76, "befiting" changed to "befitting" (melody befitting so) + +Page 133, "imporant" changed to "important" (equally important results) + +Page 133, "to to" changed to "to" (us to Mrs. Rather) + +Page 154, "fo" changed to "for" (our care for) + +Page 154, "th" changed to "the" (we make the) + +Page 154, "establshed" changed to "established" (when once established) + +Page 170, "occurences" changed to "occurrences" (occurrences could +suggest) + +Page 179, word "a" added to text (form a line) + +Page 183, "jeolousies" changed to "jealousies" (petty jealousies +existing) + +Page 274, "Vallandigham" changed to "Vallandingham" (accompanied +Vallandingham outside) + +Page 278, "Shirked" changed to "shirked" (they shirked by) + +Page 286, "Hardie's" changed to "Hardee's" (Hardee's corps was) + +Page 304, "to to" change to "to" (Wilder to this) + +Page 323, "cavliers" changed to "cavaliers" (of the cavaliers) + +Page 323, "sure sure" changed to "sure" (quite sure Mrs.) + +Page 325, "lieutenantcy" changed to "lieutenancy" (to a second +lieutenancy) + +Page 329, "popuulation" changed to "population" (overflowing with +population) + +Page 337, word "a" added to text (form a line) + +Page 380, "Chicamauga" changed to "Chickamauga" (battle of Chickamauga) + +Page 386, extraneous word "in" was removed from the text in the phrase: +"one of the rooms which was used as a store-room". The original read: +"one of the rooms in which was used as a store-room" + +Page 398, "of" changed to "off" (taking off our) + +Page 400, "Bushwackers" changed to "Bushwhackers" (rendevous of the +Bushwhackers) + +Page 401, "Alaabma" changed to "Alabama" (into North Alabama) + +Page 401, "Good-bye" changed to "Good-by" to match text. + +Three instances each of secesh/sesesh were retained. + +One instance each of the following words was retained: + + barefooted/bare-footed + whitleather/whit-leather + Jerroloman/Jerroloaman + +Page 234, the section reads "an assault upon our works at twelve M." in +the original. It is unclear whether A. M. or P. M. was intended and so +this was retained. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Citizen-Soldier, by John Beatty + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER *** + +***** This file should be named 20460-8.txt or 20460-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/6/20460/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/20460-8.zip b/20460-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c73919 --- /dev/null +++ b/20460-8.zip diff --git a/20460-h.zip b/20460-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5abe7ad --- /dev/null +++ b/20460-h.zip diff --git a/20460-h/20460-h.htm b/20460-h/20460-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0710bf3 --- /dev/null +++ b/20460-h/20460-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10725 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Citizen-soldier, by John Beatty. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify;} + + .bbox {border: solid 2px; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .unindent {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .right {text-align: right;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Citizen-Soldier, by John Beatty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Citizen-Soldier + or, Memoirs of a Volunteer + +Author: John Beatty + +Release Date: January 27, 2007 [EBook #20460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<h1>THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER;</h1> + +<h3>OR,</h3> + +<h2>MEMOIRS OF A VOLUNTEER.</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JOHN BEATTY.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +CINCINNATI:<br /> +WILSTACH, BALDWIN & CO., PUBLISHERS,<br /> +<small><span class="smcap">Nos. 141 and 143 Race Street.</span></small><br /> +1879.<br /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class='center'><small>Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by</small><br /> +<br /> +<small>ELLEN B. HENDERSON,</small><br /> +<br /> +<small>In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</small></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>TO MY BROTHER,</h4> + +<h3>MAJOR WILLIAM GURLEY BEATTY,</h3> + +<div class='center'><b>WHOSE GENEROUS SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN INCLINATION AT THE<br /> +<br /> +COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR, AND FAITHFUL DEVOTION<br /> +<br /> +TO MY FAMILY AND BUSINESS,<br /> +<br /> +ENABLED ME TO ENTER THE ARMY AND REMAIN THREE YEARS, +<br /></b></div> +<h4>THIS VOLUME</h4> + +<div class='center'><b>IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.</b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#INTRODUCTORY"><b>INTRODUCTORY.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JUNE_1861"><b>JUNE, 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JULY_1861"><b>JULY, 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#AUGUST_1861"><b>AUGUST, 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#SEPTEMBER_1861"><b>SEPTEMBER 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#OCTOBER_1861"><b>OCTOBER, 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#NOVEMBER_1861"><b>NOVEMBER, 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#DECEMBER_1861"><b>DECEMBER, 1861.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JANUARY_1862"><b>JANUARY, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#FEBRUARY_1862"><b>FEBRUARY, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MARCH_1862"><b>MARCH, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#APRIL_1862"><b>APRIL, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MAY_1862"><b>MAY, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JUNE_1862"><b>JUNE, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JULY_1862"><b>JULY, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#AUGUST_1862"><b>AUGUST, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#SEPTEMBER_1862"><b>SEPTEMBER, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#OCTOBER_1862"><b>OCTOBER, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#NOVEMBER_1862"><b>NOVEMBER, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#DECEMBER_1862"><b>DECEMBER, 1862.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JANUARY_1863"><b>JANUARY, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#FEBRUARY_1863"><b>FEBRUARY, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MARCH_1863"><b>MARCH, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#APRIL_1863"><b>APRIL, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#MAY_1863"><b>MAY, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JUNE_1863"><b>JUNE, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JULY_1863"><b>JULY, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#AUGUST_1863"><b>AUGUST, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#SEPTEMBER_1863"><b>SEPTEMBER, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#OCTOBER_1863"><b>OCTOBER, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#NOVEMBER_1863"><b>NOVEMBER, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#DECEMBER_1863"><b>DECEMBER, 1863.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#JANUARY_1_1864"><b>JANUARY 1, 1864.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CAPTURE_IMPRISONMENT"><b>CAPTURE, IMPRISONMENT, AND ESCAPE</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#EXPLANATORY"><b>EXPLANATORY.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#GENERAL_HOBARTS_NARRATIVE"><b>GENERAL HOBART'S NARRATIVE.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX.</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTORY" id="INTRODUCTORY"></a>INTRODUCTORY.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>In the lifetime of all who arrive at mature age, there comes a period +when a strong desire is felt to know more of the past, especially to +know more of those from whom we claim descent. Many find even their +chief pleasure in searching among parish records and local histories for +some knowledge of ancestors, who for a hundred or five hundred years +have been sleeping in the grave. Long pilgrimages are made to the Old +World for this purpose, and when the traveler discovers in the crowded +church-yard a moss-covered, crumbling stone, which bears the name he +seeks, he takes infinite pains to decipher the half-obliterated epitaph, +and finds in this often what he regards as ample remuneration for all +his trouble. How vastly greater would be his satisfaction if he could +obtain even the simplest and briefest history of those in whom he takes +so deep an interest. Who were they? How were their days spent, and +amongst what surroundings? What were their thoughts, fears, hopes, acts? +Who were their associates, and on which side of the great questions of +the day did they stand? A full or even partial answer to these queries +would possess for him an incalculable value.</p> + +<p>So, sitting here to-night, in my little library, with wife and children +near, and by God's great kindness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> all in life and health, I look +forward one, two, five hundred years, and see in each succeeding +century, and possibly in each generation, so long as the name shall +last, a wonder-eyed boy, curious youth, or inquisitive old man, +exploring closets and libraries for things of the old time, stumbling +finally on this volume, which has, by the charity of the State +Librarian, still been preserved; he discovers, with quickening pulse, +that it bears his own name, and that it was written for him by one whose +body has for centuries been dust. Dull and uninteresting as it may be to +others, for him it will possess an inexpressible charm. It is his own +blood speaking to him from the shadowy and almost forgotten past. The +message may be poorly written, the matter in the main may be worthless, +and the greater events recorded may be dwarfed by more recent and +important ones, but the volume is nevertheless of absorbing interest to +him, for by it he is enabled to look into the face and heart of one of +his own kin, who lived when the Nation was young. In leaving this +unpretentious record, therefore, I seek to do simply what I would have +had my fathers do for me.</p> + +<p>Kinsmen of the coming centuries, I bid you hail and godspeed!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Columbus</span>, <i>December</i> 16, 1878.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry served under two separate terms of +enlistment—the one for three months, and the other for three years.</p> + +<p>The regiment was organized April 21, 1861, and on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> April 27th it was +mustered into the United States service, with the following field +officers: Isaac H. Marrow, Colonel; John Beatty, Lieutenant Colonel, and +J. Warren Keifer, Major.</p> + +<p>The writer's record begins with the day on which his regiment entered +Virginia, June 22, 1861, and ends on January 1, 1864. He does not +undertake to present a history of the organizations with which he was +connected, nor does he attempt to describe the operations of armies. His +record consists merely of matters which came under his own observation, +and of camp gossip, rumors, trifling incidents, idle speculations, and +the numberless items, small and great, which, in one way and another, +enter into and affect the life of a soldier. In short, he has sought +simply to gather up the scraps which fell in his way, leaving to other +and more competent hands the weightier matters of the great civil war.</p> + +<p>Many errors of opinion and of fact he might now correct, and many items +which appear unworthy of a paragraph he might now strike out, but he +prefers to leave the record as it was written, when cyclopedias could +not be consulted, nor time taken for thorough investigation.</p> + +<p>Who can really know what an army is unless he mingles with the +individuals who compose it, and learns how they live, think, talk, and +act?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE CITIZEN SOLDIER;</h2> + +<h3>OR,</h3> + +<h2>MEMOIRS OF A VOLUNTEER.</h2> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><a name="JUNE_1861" id="JUNE_1861"></a>JUNE, 1861.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>22. Arrived at Bellaire at 3 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> There is trouble in the neighborhood +of Grafton. Have been ordered to that place.</p> + +<p>The Third is now on the Virginia side, and will in a few minutes take +the cars.</p> + +<p>23. Reached Grafton at 1 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> All avowed secessionists have run away; +but there are, doubtless, many persons here still who sympathize with +the enemy, and who secretly inform him of all our movements.</p> + +<p>24. Colonel Marrow and I dined with Colonel Smith, member of the +Virginia Legislature. He professes to be a Union man, but his sympathies +are evidently with the South. He feels that the South is wrong, but does +not relish the idea of Ohio troops<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> coming upon Virginia soil to fight +Virginians. The Union sentiment here is said to be strengthening daily.</p> + +<p>26. Arrived at Clarksburg about midnight, and remained on the cars until +morning. We are now encamped on a hillside, and for the first time my +bed is made in my own tent.</p> + +<p>Clarksburg has apparently stood still for fifty years. Most of the +houses are old style, built by the fathers and grandfathers of the +present occupants. Here, for the first time, we find slaves, each of the +wealthier, or, rather, each of the well-to-do, families owning a few.</p> + +<p>There are probably thirty-five hundred troops in this vicinity—the +Third, Fourth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and part of the Twenty-second +Ohio, one company of cavalry, and one of artillery. Rumors of skirmishes +and small fights a few miles off; but as yet the only gunpowder we have +smelled is our own.</p> + +<p>28. At twelve o'clock to-day our battalion left Clarksburg, followed a +stream called Elk creek for eight miles, and then encamped for the +night. This is the first march on foot we have made. The country through +which we passed is extremely hilly and broken, but apparently fertile. +If the people of Western Virginia were united against us, it would be +almost impossible for our army to advance. In many places the creek on +one side, and the perpendicular banks on the other, leave a strip barely +wide enough for a wagon road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>Buckhannon, twenty miles in advance of us, is said to be in the hands of +the secession troops. To-morrow, or the day after, if they do not leave, +a battle will take place. Our men appear eager for the fray, and I pray +they may be as successful in the fight as they are anxious for one.</p> + +<p>29. It is half-past eight o'clock, and we are still but eight miles from +Clarksburg. We were informed this morning that the secession troops had +left Buckhannon, and fallen back to their fortifications at Laurel Hill +and Rich mountain. It is said General McClellan will be here to-morrow, +and take command of the forces in person.</p> + +<p>In enumerating the troops in this vicinity, I omitted to mention Colonel +Robert McCook's Dutch regiment, which is in camp two miles from us. The +Seventh Ohio Infantry is now at Clarksburg, and will, I think, move in +this direction to-morrow.</p> + +<p>Provisions outside of camp are very scarce. I took breakfast with a +farmer this morning, and can say truly that I have eaten much better +meals in my life. We had coffee without sugar, short-cake without +butter, and a little salt pork, exceedingly fat. I asked him what the +charge was, and he said "Ninepence," which means one shilling. I +rejoiced his old soul by giving him two shillings.</p> + +<p>The country people here have been grossly deceived by their political +leaders. They have been made to believe that Lincoln was elected for the +sole purpose of liberating the negro; that our army is marching into +Virginia to free their slaves, destroy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> their property, and murder their +families; that we, not they, have set the Constitution and laws at +defiance, and that in resisting us they are simply defending their homes +and fighting for their constitutional rights.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JULY_1861" id="JULY_1861"></a>JULY, 1861.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>2. Reached Buckhannon at 5 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, and encamped beside the Fourth Ohio, +in a meadow, one mile from town. The country through which we marched is +exceedingly hilly; or, perhaps, I might say mountainous. The scenery is +delightful. The road for miles is cut around great hills, and is just +wide enough for a wagon. A step to the left would send one tumbling a +hundred or two hundred feet below, and to the right the hills rise +hundreds of feet above. The hills, half way to their summits, are +covered with corn, wheat, or grass, while further up the forest is as +dense as it could well have been a hundred years ago.</p> + +<p>3. For the first time to-day, I saw men bringing tobacco to market in +bags. One old man brought a bag of natural leaf into camp to sell to the +soldiers, price ten cents per pound. He brought it to a poor market, +however, for the men have been bankrupt for weeks, and could not buy +tobacco at a dime a bagfull.</p> + +<p>4. The Fourth has passed off quietly in the little town of Buckhannon +and in camp.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock the Third and Fourth Regiments were reviewed by General +McClellan. The day was excessively warm, and the men, buttoned up in +their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> dress-coats, were much wearied when the parade was over.</p> + +<p>In the court-house this evening, the soldiers had what they call a "stag +dance." Camp life to a young man who has nothing specially to tie him to +home has many attractions—abundance of company, continual excitement, +and all the fun and frolic that a thousand light-hearted boys can +devise.</p> + +<p>To-night, in one tent, a dozen or more are singing "Dixie" at the top of +their voices. In another "The Star-Spangled Banner" is being executed so +horribly that even a secessionist ought to pity the poor tune. Stories, +cards, wrestling, boxing, racing, all these and a thousand other things +enter into a day in camp. The roving, uncertain life of a soldier has a +tendency to harden and demoralize most men. The restraints of home, +family, and society are not felt. The fact that a few hours may put them +in battle, where their lives will not be worth a fig, is forgotten. They +think a hundred times less of the perils by which they may be surrounded +than their friends do at home. They encourage and strengthen each other +to such an extent that, when exposed to danger, imminent though it be, +they do not seem to realize it.</p> + +<p>7. On the 5th instant a scouting party, under Captain Lawson, started +for Middle Fork bridge, a point eighteen miles from camp. At eight +o'clock last night, when I brought the battalion from the drill-ground, +I found that a messenger had arrived with intelligence that Lawson had +been surrounded by a force of probably four hundred, and that, in the +en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>gagement, one of his men had been killed and three wounded. The camp +was alive with excitement. Each company of the Third had contributed +five men to Captain Lawson's detachment, and each company, therefore, +felt a special interest in it. The messenger stated that Captain Lawson +was in great need of help, and General McClellan at once ordered four +companies of infantry and twenty mounted men to move to his assistance. +I had command of the detachment, and left camp about nine o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, +accompanied by a guide. The night was dark. My command moved on silently +and rapidly. After proceeding about three miles, we left the turnpike +and turned onto a narrow, broken, bad road, leading through the woods, +which we followed about eight miles, when we met Captain Lawson's +detachment on its way back. Here we removed the wounded from the farm +wagon in which they had been conveyed thus far, to an ambulance brought +with us for the purpose, countermarched, and reached our quarters about +three o'clock this morning.</p> + +<p>I will not undertake to give the details of Captain Lawson's skirmish. I +may say, however, that the number of the enemy killed and wounded, +lacerated and torn, by Corporal Casey, was beyond all computation. Had +the rebels not succeeded in getting a covered bridge between themselves +and the invincible Irishman, he would, if we may believe his own +statement, have annihilated the whole force, and brought back the head +of their commanding officer on the point of his bayonet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>8. This morning, at seven o'clock, our tents were struck, and, with +General McClellan and staff in advance, we moved to Middle Fork bridge. +It was here that Captain Lawson's skirmish on Saturday had occurred. The +man killed had been buried by the Fourth Ohio before our arrival. Almost +every house along the road is deserted by the men, the women sometimes +remaining. The few Union men of this section have, for weeks past, been +hiding away in the hills. Now the secessionists have taken to the woods. +The utmost bitterness of feeling exists between the two. A man was found +to-day, within a half mile of this camp, with his head cut off and +entrails ripped out, probably a Union man who had been hounded down and +killed. The Dutch regiment (McCook's), when it took possession of the +bridge, had a slight skirmish with the enemy, and, I learn, killed two +men. On the day after to-morrow I apprehend the first great battle will +be fought in Western Virginia.</p> + +<p>I ate breakfast in Buckhannon at six o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, and now, at six +o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> am awaiting my second meal.</p> + +<p>The boys, I ascertain, searched one secession house on the road, and +found three guns and a small amount of ammunition. The guns were hunting +pieces, all loaded. The woman of the house was very indignant, and spoke +in disrespectful terms of the Union men of the neighborhood, whom she +suspected of instigating the search. She said she "had come from a +higher sphere than they, and would not lay down with dogs." She was an +Eastern Virginia woman, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> although poor as a church mouse, thought +herself superior to West Virginia people. As an indication of this +lady's refinement and loyalty, it is only necessary to say that a day or +two before she had displayed a secession flag made, as she very frankly +told the soldiers, of the tail of an old shirt, with J. D. and S. C. on +it, the letters standing for Jefferson Davis and the Southern +Confederacy.</p> + +<p>Four or five thousand men are encamped here, huddled together in a +little circular valley, with high hills surrounding. A company of +cavalry is just going by my tent on the road toward Beverly, probably to +watch the front.</p> + +<p>As we were leaving camp this morning, an officer of an Ohio regiment +rode at break-neck speed along the line, inquiring for General +McClellan, and yelling, as he passed, that four companies of the +regiment to which he belongs had been surrounded at Glendale, by twelve +hundred secessionists, under O. Jennings Wise. Our men, misapprehending +the statement, thought Buckhannon had been attacked, and were in a great +state of excitement.</p> + +<p>The officers of General Schleich's staff were with me on to-day's march, +and the younger members, Captains Hunter and Dubois, got off whatever +poetry they had in them of a military cast. "On Linden when the sun was +low," was recited to the hills of Western Virginia in a manner that must +have touched even the stoniest of them. I could think of nothing but +"There was a sound of revelry by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> night," and as this was not +particularly applicable to the occasion, owing to the exceeding +brightness of the sun, and the entire absence of all revelry, I thought +best not to astonish my companions by exhibiting my knowledge of the +poets.</p> + +<p>West Virginia hogs are the longest, lankest, boniest animals in +creation. I am reminded of this by that broth of an Irish lad, Conway, +who says, in substance, and with a broad Celtic accent, that their noses +have to be sharpened every morning to enable them to pick a living among +the rocks.</p> + +<p>Colonel Marrow informs me that an attack is apprehended to-night. We +have sent out strong pickets. The cannon are so placed as to shoot up +the road. Our regiment is to form on the left of the turnpike, and the +Dutch regiment on the right, in case the secession forces should be bold +enough to come down on us.</p> + +<p>9. Moved from the Middle Fork of the Buckhannon river at seven o'clock +this morning, and arrived at Roaring creek at four <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> We came over +the hills with all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war; infantry, +cavalry, artillery, and hundreds of army wagons; the whole stretching +along the mountain road for miles. The tops of the Alleghanies can now +be seen plainly. We are at the foot of Rich mountain, encamped where our +brothers of the secession order pitched their tents last night. Our +advance guard gave them a few shots and they fled precipitately to the +mountains, burning the bridge behind them. When our regiment arrived a +few shots were heard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> and the bayonets and bright barrels of the +enemy's guns could be seen on the hills.</p> + +<p>It clouded up shortly after, and before we had pitched our tents, the +clouds came over Rich mountain, settling down upon and hiding its summit +entirely. Heaven gave us a specimen of its artillery firing, and a heavy +shower fell, drenching us all completely. As I write, the sound of a +cannon comes booming over the mountain. There it goes again! Whether it +is at Phillippi or Laurel Hill, I can not tell. Certain it is that the +portion of our army advancing up the Valley river is in battle, +somewhere, and not many miles away.</p> + +<p>We do not know the strength of our opponents, nor the character and +extent of their fortifications. These mountain passes must be ugly +things to go through when in possession of an enemy; our boys look +forward, however, to a day of battle as one of rare sport. I do not. I +endeavor to picture to myself all its terrors, so that I may not be +surprised and dumbfounded when the shock comes. Our army is probably now +making one of the most interesting chapters of American history. God +grant it may be a chapter our Northern people will not be ashamed to +read!</p> + +<p>I am not confident of a speedy termination of the war. These people are +in the wrong, but have been made to believe they are in the right—that +we are the invaders of their hearthstones, come to conquer and destroy. +That they will fight with desperation, I have no doubt. Nature has +fortified the country for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> them. He is foolishly oversanguine who +predicts an easy victory over such a people, intrenched amidst mountains +and hills. I believe the war will run into a war of emancipation, and +when it ends African slavery will have ended also. It would not, +perhaps, be politic to say so, but if I had the army in my own hands, I +would take a short cut to what I am sure will be the end—commence the +work of emancipation at once, and leave every foot of soil behind me +free.</p> + +<p>10. From the best information obtainable, we are led to believe the +mountains and hills lying between this place and Beverly are strongly +fortified and full of men. We can see a part of the enemy's +fortifications very plainly from a hill west of camp. Our regiment was +ordered to be in readiness to march, and was under arms two hours. +During this time the Dutch regiment (McCook's), the Fourth Ohio, four +pieces of artillery, one company of cavalry, with General McClellan, +marched to the front, the Dutchmen in advance. They proceeded, say a +mile, when they overhauled the enemy's pickets, and in the little +skirmish which ensued one man of McCook's regiment was shot, and two of +the enemy captured. By these prisoners it is affirmed that eight or nine +thousand men are in the hills before us, well armed, with heavy +artillery planted so as to command the road for miles. How true this is +we can not tell. Enough, however, has been learned to satisfy McClellan +that it is not advisable to attack to-day. What surprises me is that the +General should know so little about the character of the country, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +number of the enemy, and the extent of his fortifications.</p> + +<p>During the day, Colonel Marrow, apparently under a high state of +excitement, informed me that he had just had an interview with George +(he usually speaks of General McClellan in this familiar way), that an +attack was to be made, and the Third was to lead the column. He desired +me, therefore, to get out my horse at once, take four men with me, and +search the woods in our front for a practicable road to the enemy. I +asked if General McClellan had given him any information that would aid +me in this enterprise, such as the position of the rebels, the location +of their outposts, their distance from us, and the character of the +country between our camp and theirs. He replied that George had not. It +occurred to me that four men were rather too few, if the work +contemplated was a reconnoissance, and rather too many if the service +required was simply that for which spies are usually employed. I +therefore spoke distrustingly of the proposed expedition, and questioned +the propriety of sending so small a force, so utterly without +information, upon so hazardous an enterprise, and apparently so foolish +a one. My language gave offense, and when I finally inquired what four +men I should take, the Colonel told me, rather abruptly, to take whom I +pleased, and look where I pleased. His manner, rather than his words, +indicated a doubt of my courage, and I turned from him, mounted my +horse, and started for the front, determined to obey the order to the +best of my ability, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> to risk the lives of no others on what was +evidently a fool's errand. After proceeding some distance, I found that +the wagon-master was at my heels, and, together, we traced every +cow-path and mountain road we could find, and passed half a mile beyond +the enemy's outposts, and over ground visited by his scouts almost +hourly. When I returned to make my report, I was curtly informed that no +report was desired, as the plan had been changed.</p> + +<p>A little after midnight the Colonel returned from head-quarters with +important information, which he desired to communicate to the regiment. +The men were, therefore, ordered to turn out, and came hesitatingly and +sleepily from their tents. They looked like shadows as they gathered in +the darkness about their chieftain. It was the hour when graveyards are +supposed to yawn, and the sheeted dead to walk abroad. The gallant +Colonel, with a voice in perfect accord with the solemnity of the hour, +and the funereal character of the scene, addressed us, in substance, as +follows:</p> + +<p>"Soldiers of the Third: The assault on the enemy's works will be made in +the early morning. The Third will lead the column. The secessionists +have ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon. They are strongly +fortified. They have more men and more cannon than we have. They will +cut us to pieces. Marching to attack such an enemy, so intrenched and so +armed, is marching to a butcher-shop rather than to a battle. There is +bloody work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> ahead. Many of you, boys, will go out who will never come +back again."</p> + +<p>As this speech progressed my hair began to stiffen at the roots, and a +chilly sensation like that which might ensue from the unexpected and +clammy touch of the dead, ran through me. It was hard to die so young +and so far from home. Theological questions which before had attracted +little or no attention, now came uppermost in our minds. We thought of +mothers, wives, sweethearts—of opportunities lost, and of good advice +disregarded. Some soldiers kicked together the expiring fragments of a +camp-fire, and the little blaze which sprang up revealed scores of +pallid faces. In short, we all wanted to go home.</p> + +<p>When a boy I had read Plutarch, and knew something of the great warriors +of the old time; but I could not, for the life of me, recall an instance +wherein they had made such an address to their soldiers on the eve of +battle. It was their habit, at such a time, to speak encouragingly and +hopefully. With all due respect, therefore, for the superior rank and +wisdom of the Colonel, I plucked him by the sleeve, took him one side, +and modestly suggested that his speech had had rather a depressing +effect on the regiment, and had taken that spirit out of the boys so +necessary to enable them to do well in battle. I urged him to correct +the mistake, and speak to them hopefully. He replied that what he had +said was true, and they should know the truth.</p> + +<p>The morning dawned; but instead of being called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> upon to lead the +column, we were left to the inglorious duty of guarding the camp, while +other regiments moved forward toward the enemy's line. In half an hour, +in all probability, the work of destruction will commence. I began this +memoranda on the evening of the 10th, and now close it on the morning of +the 11th.</p> + +<p>11. At 10 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> we were ordered to the front; passed quite a number of +regiments on our way thither, and finally took position not far from the +enemy's works. We were now at the head of the column. A small brook +crossed the road at this point, and the thick woods concealed us from +the enemy. A few rods further on, a bend in the road gave us a good view +of the entire front of his fortifications. Major Keifer and a few other +gentlemen, in their anxiety to get more definite information in regard +to the position of the secessionists, and the extent of their works, +went up the road, and were saluted by a shot from their battery. We +expected every moment to receive an order to advance. After a time, +however, we ascertained that Rosecrans, with a brigade, was seeking the +enemy's rear by a mountain path, and we conjectured that, so soon as he +had reached it, we would be ordered to make the assault in front. It was +a dark, gloomy day, and the hours passed slowly.</p> + +<p>Between two and three o'clock we heard shots in the rear of the +fortifications; then volleys of musketry, and the roar of artillery. +Every man sprang to his feet, assured that the moment for making the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +attack had arrived. General McClellan and staff came galloping up, and a +thousand faces turned to hear the order to advance; but no order was +given. The General halted a few paces from our line, and sat on his +horse listening to the guns, apparently in doubt as to what to do; and +as he sat there with indecision stamped on every line of his +countenance, the battle grew fiercer in the enemy's rear. Every volley +could be heard distinctly. There would occasionally be a lull for a +moment, and then the uproar would break out again with increased +violence. If the enemy is too strong for us to attack, what must be the +fate of Rosecrans' four regiments, cut off from us, and struggling +against such odds? Hours passed; and as the last straggling shots and +final silence told us the battle had ended, gloom settled down on every +soldier's heart, and the belief grew strong that Rosecrans had been +defeated, and his brigade cut to pieces or captured. This belief grew to +certain conviction soon after, when we heard shout after shout go up +from the fortifications in our front.</p> + +<p>Major Keifer with two companies had, early in the afternoon, climbed the +hill on our right to look for a position from which artillery could be +used effectively. The ground over which he moved was broken and covered +with a dense growth of trees and underbrush; finally an elevation was +discovered which commanded the enemy's camp, but before a road could be +cut, and the artillery brought up, it was too late in the day to begin +the attack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Night came on. It was intensely dark. About nine o'clock we were ordered +to withdraw our pickets quietly and return to our old quarters. On our +way thither a rough voice cried: "Halt! Who comes there?" And a thousand +shadowy forms sprang up before us. The challenge was from Colonel Robert +McCook, and the regiment his. The scene reminded me of the one where</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="That whistle garrisoned the glen"> +<tr><td align='left'>"That whistle garrisoned the glen</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">At once with full five hundred men,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">As if the yawning hill to heaven</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">A subterranean host had given."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>12. We were rejoiced this morning to hear of Rosecrans' success, and, at +the same time, not well pleased at the escape of the enemy under cover +of night. We were ordered to move, and got under way at eight o'clock. +On the road we met General Rosecrans and staff. He was jubilant, as well +he might be, and as he rode by received the congratulations of the +officers and cheers of the men.</p> + +<p>Arriving on yesterday's battle-field, the regiment was allowed a half +hour for rest. The dead had been gathered and placed in a long trench, +which was still open. The wounded of both armies were in hospital, +receiving the attention of the surgeons. There were a few prisoners, +most of them too unwell to accompany their friends in retreat.</p> + +<p>Soon after reaching the summit of Rich mountain, we caught glimpses of +Tygart's valley, and of Cheat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> mountain beyond, and before nightfall +reached Beverly and went into camp.</p> + +<p>13. Six or eight hundred Southern troops sent in a flag of truce, and +surrendered unconditionally. They are a portion of the force which +fought Rosecrans at Rich mountain, and Morris at Laurel Hill.</p> + +<p>We started up the Valley river at seven o'clock this morning, our +regiment in the lead. Found most of the houses deserted. Both Union men +and secessionists had fled. The Southern troops, retreating in this +direction, had frightened the people greatly, by telling them that we +shot men, ravished women, and destroyed property. When within +three-quarters of a mile of Huttonville, we were informed that forty or +fifty mounted secessionists were there. The order to double-quick was +given, and the regiment entered the village on a run. As we made a turn +in the road, we discovered a squad of cavalry retreating rapidly. The +bridge over the river had been burned, and was still smoking. Our troops +sent up a hurrah and quickened their pace, but they had already traveled +eleven miles on a light breakfast, and were not in condition to run down +cavalry. That we might not lose at least one shot at the enemy, I got an +Enfield rifle from one of the men, galloped forward, and fired at the +retreating squad. It was the best shot I could make, and I am forced to +say it was a very poor one, for no one fell. On second thought, it +occurred to me that it would have been criminal to have killed one of +these men, for his death could have had no possible effect on the result +of the war.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huttonville is a very small place at the foot of Cheat mountain. We +halted there perhaps one hour, to await the arrival of General +McClellan; and when he came up, were ordered forward to secure a +mountain pass. It is thought fifteen hundred secessionists are a few +miles ahead, near the top of the mountain. Two Indiana regiments and one +battery are with us. More troops are probably following.</p> + +<p>The man who owns the farm on which we are encamped is, with his family, +sleeping in the woods to-night, if, indeed, he sleeps at all.</p> + +<p>14. The Ninth and Fourth Ohio, Fifteenth Indiana, and one company of +cavalry, started up the mountain between seven and eight o'clock. The +Colonel being unwell, I followed with the Third. Awful rumors were +afloat of fortifications and rebels at the top; but we found no +fortifications, and as for the rebels, they were scampering for Staunton +as fast as their legs could carry them.</p> + +<p>This mountain scenery is magnificent. As we climbed the Cheat the views +were the grandest I ever looked upon. Nests of hills, appearing like +eggs of the mountain; ravines so dark that one could not guess their +depth; openings, the ends of which seemed lost in a blue mist; +broken-backed mountains, long mountains, round mountains, mountains +sloping gently to the summit; others so steep a squirrel could hardly +climb them; fatherly mountains, with their children clustered about +them, clothed in birch, pine, and cedar; mountain streams, spark<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>ling +now in the sunlight, then dashing down into apparently fathomless +abysses.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful day, and the march was delightful. The road is +crooked beyond description, but very solid and smooth.</p> + +<p>The farmer on whose premises we are encamped has returned from the +woods. He has discovered that we are not so bad as we were reported. +Most of the negroes have been left at home. Many were in camp to-day +with corn-bread, pies, and cakes to sell. Fox, my servant, went out this +afternoon and bought a basket of bread. He brought in two chickens also, +which he said were presented to him. I suspect Fox does not always tell +the truth.</p> + +<p>16. The Fourteenth Indiana and one company of cavalry went to the summit +this morning to fortify.</p> + +<p>The Colonel has gone to Beverly. The boys repeat his Rich mountain +speech with slight variations: "Men, there are ten thousand +secessionists in Rich mountain, with forty rifled cannon, well +fortified. There's bloody work ahead. You are going to a butcher-shop +rather than a battle. Ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon! Hostler, +you d—d scoundrel, why don't you wipe Jerome's nose?" Jerome is the +Colonel's horse, known in camp as the White Bull.</p> + +<p>Conway, who has been detailed to attend to the Colonel's horses, is +almost as good a speech-maker as the Colonel. This, in brief, is +Conway's address to the White Bull:</p> + +<p>"Stand still there, now, or I'll make yer stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> still. Hold up yer head +there, now, or I'll make yer hold it up. Keep quiet; what the h—ll yer +'bout there, now? D—n you! do you want me to hit you a lick over the +snoot, now—do you? Are you a inviten' me to pound you over the head +with a saw-log? D—n yer ugly pictures, whoa!"</p> + +<p>18. This afternoon, when riding down to Huttonville, I met three or four +hundred sorry-looking soldiers. They were without arms. On inquiry, I +found they were a part of the secession army, who, finding no way of +escape, had come into our lines and surrendered. They were badly +dressed, and a hard, dissolute-looking lot of men. To use the language +of one of the soldiers, they were "a milk-sickly set of fellows," and +would have died off probably without any help from us if they had been +kept in the mountains a little longer. They were on their way to +Staunton. General McClellan had very generously provided them with +provisions for three days, and wagons to carry the sick and wounded; and +so, footsore, weary, and chopfallen, they go over the hills.</p> + +<p>An unpleasant rumor is in camp to-night, to the effect that General +Patterson has been defeated at Williamsport. This, if true, will +counterbalance our successes in Western Virginia, and make the game an +even one.</p> + +<p>The Southern soldiers mentioned above are encamped for the night a +little over a mile from here. About dusk I walked over to their camp. +They were gathered around their fires preparing supper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> Many of them +say they were deceived, and entered the service because they were led to +believe that the Northern army would confiscate their property, liberate +their slaves, and play the devil generally. As they thought this was +true, there was nothing left for them to do but to take up arms and +defend themselves.</p> + +<p>While we were at Buckhannon, an old farmer-looking man visited us daily, +bringing tobacco, corn-bread, and cucumber pickles. This innocent old +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'gen-man'">gentleman</ins> proves to have been a spy, and obtained his reward in the loss +of a leg at Rich mountain.</p> + +<p>19. To-day, eleven men belonging to a company of cavalry which +accompanied the Fourteenth Indiana to the Summit, were sent out on a +scouting expedition. When about ten miles from camp, on the opposite +side of the mountain, they halted, and while watering their horses were +fired upon. One man was killed and three wounded. The other seven fled. +Colonel Kimball sent out a detachment to bring in the wounded; but +whether it succeeded or not I have not heard.</p> + +<p>A musician belonging to the Fourth Ohio, when six miles out of Beverly, +on his way to Phillippi, was fired upon and instantly killed. So goes +what little there is of war in Western Virginia.</p> + +<p>20. The most interesting of all days in the mountains is one on which +the sky is filled with floating clouds, not hiding it entirely, but +leaving here and there patches of blue. Then the shadows shift from +place to place, as the moving clouds either let in the sunshine or +exclude it. Standing at my tent-door at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> eleven o'clock in the morning, +with a stiff breeze going, and the clouds on the wing, we see a peak, +now in the sunshine, then in the shadow, and the lights and shadows +chasing each other from point to point over the mountains, presenting +altogether a panorama most beautiful to look upon, and such an one as +God only can present.</p> + +<p>I can almost believe now that men become, to some extent, like the +country in which they live. In the plain country the inhabitants learn +to traffic, come to regard money-getting as the great object in life, +and have but a dim perception of those higher emotions from which spring +the noblest acts. In a mountain country God has made many things +sublime, and some things very beautiful. The rugged, the smooth, the +sunshine, and the shadow meet one at every turn. Here are peaks getting +the earliest sunlight of the morning, and the latest of the evening; +ravines so deep the light of day can never penetrate them; bold, rugged, +perpendicular rocks, which have breasted the storms for ages; gentle +slopes, swelling away until their summits seem to dip in the blue sky; +streams, cold and clear, leaping from crag to crag, and rushing down +nobody knows whither. Like the country, may we not look to find the +people unpolished, rugged and uneven, capable of the noblest heroism or +the most infernal villainy—their lives full of lights and shadows, +elevations and depressions?</p> + +<p>The mountains, rising one above another, suggest, forcibly enough, the +infinite power of the Creator,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> and when the peaks come in contact with +the clouds it requires but little imagination to make one feel that God, +as at Sinai, has set His foot upon the earth, and that earth and heaven +are really very near each other.</p> + +<p>21. This morning, at two o'clock, I was rattled up by a sentinel, who +had come to camp in hot haste to inform me that he had seen and fired +upon a body of twenty-five or more men, probably the advance guard of +the enemy. He desired me to send two companies to strengthen the +outpost. I preferred, however, to go myself to the scene of the trouble; +and, after investigation, concluded that the guard had been alarmed by a +couple of cows.</p> + +<p>Another lot of secession prisoners, some sixty in number, passed by this +afternoon. They were highly pleased with the manner in which they had +been treated by their captors.</p> + +<p>The sound of a musket is just heard on the picket post, three-quarters +of a mile away, and the shot is being repeated by our line of sentinels. +* * * The whole camp has been in an uproar. Many men, half asleep, +rushed from their tents and fired off their guns in their company +grounds. Others, supposing the enemy near, became excited and discharged +theirs also. The tents were struck, Loomis' First Michigan Battery +manned, and we awaited the attack, but none was made. It was a false +alarm. Some sentinel probably halted a stump and fired, thus rousing a +thousand men from their warm beds. This is the first night alarm we have +had.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>22. We hear that General Cox has been beaten on the Kanawha; that our +forces have been repulsed at Manassas Gap, and that our troops have been +unsuccessful in Missouri. I trust the greater part, if not all, of this +is untrue.</p> + +<p>We have been expecting orders to march, but they have not come. The men +are very anxious to be moving, and when moving, strange to say, always +very anxious to stop.</p> + +<p>23. Officers and men are low-spirited to-night. The news of yesterday +has been confirmed. Our army has been beaten at Manassas with terrible +loss. General McClellan has left Beverly for Washington. General +Rosecrans will assume command in Western Virginia. We are informed that +twenty miles from us, in the direction of Staunton, some three thousand +secessionists are in camp. We shall probably move against them.</p> + +<p>24. The news from Manassas Junction is a little more cheering, and all +feel better to-day.</p> + +<p>We have now a force of about four thousand men in this vicinity, and two +or three thousand at Beverly. We shall be in telegraphic communication +with the North to-morrow.</p> + +<p>The moon is at its full to-night, and one of the most beautiful sights I +have witnessed was its rising above the mountain. First the sky lighted +up, then a halo appeared, then the edge of the moon, not bigger than a +star, then the half-moon, not semi-circular, but blazing up like a great +gaslight, and, finally, the full, round moon had climbed to the top, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> seemed to stop a moment to rest and look down on the valley.</p> + +<p>27. The Colonel left for Ohio to-day, to be gone two weeks.</p> + +<p>I came from the quarters of Brigadier-General Schleich a few minutes +ago. He is a three-months' brigadier, and a rampant demagogue. Schleich +said that slaves who accompanied their masters to the field, when +captured, should be sent to Cuba and sold to pay the expenses of the +war. I suggested that it would be better to take them to Canada and +liberate them, and that so soon as the Government began to sell negroes +to pay the expenses of the war I would throw up my commission and go +home. Schleich was a State Senator when the war began. He is what might +be called a tremendous little man, swears terribly, and imagines that he +thereby shows his snap. Snap, in his opinion, is indispensable to a +military man. If snap is the only thing a soldier needs, and profanity +is snap, Schleich is a second Napoleon. This General Snap will go home, +at the expiration of his three-months' term, unregretted by officers and +men. Major Hugh Ewing will return with him. Last night the Major became +thoroughly elevated, and he is not quite sober yet. He thinks, when in +his cups, that our generals are too careful of their men. "What are a +th-thousand men," said he, "when (hic) principle is at stake? Men's +lives (hic) shouldn't be thought of at such a time (hic). Amount to +nothing (hic). Our generals are too d—d slow (hic)." The Major is a man +of excellent nat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>ural capacity, the son of Hon. Thomas Ewing, of +Lancaster, and brother-in-law of W. T. Sherman, now a colonel or +brigadier-general in the army. W. T. Sherman is the brother of John +Sherman.</p> + +<p>The news from Manassas is very bad. The disgraceful flight of our troops +will do us more injury, and is more to be regretted, than the loss of +fifty thousand men. It will impart new life, courage, and confidence to +our enemies. They will say to their troops: "You see how these +scoundrels run when you stand up to them."</p> + +<p>29. Was slightly unwell this morning; but about noon accompanied General +Reynolds, Colonel Wagner, Colonel Heffron, and a squad of cavalry, up +the valley, and returned somewhat tired, but quite well. +Lieutenant-Colonel Owen was also of the party. He is fifty or fifty-five +years old, a thin, spare man, of very ordinary personal appearance, but +of fine scientific and literary attainments. For some years he was a +professor in a Southern military school. He has held the position of +State Geologist of Indiana, and is the son of the celebrated Robert J. +Owen, who founded the Communist Society at New Harmony, Indiana. Every +sprig, leaf, and stem on the route suggested to Colonel Owen something +to talk about, and he proved to be a very entertaining companion.</p> + +<p>General Reynolds is a graduate of West Point, and has the theory of war +completely; but whether he has the broad, practical common sense, more +important than book knowledge, time will determine. As yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> he is an +untried quantity, and, therefore, unknown.</p> + +<p>30. About two o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, for want of something better to do, I +climbed the high mountain in front of our camp. The side is as steep as +the roof of a gothic house. By taking hold of bushes and limbs of trees, +after a half hour of very hard work, I managed to get to the top, +completely exhausted. The outlook was magnificent. Tygart's valley, the +river winding through it, and a boundless succession of mountains and +ridges, all lay before me. My attention, however, was soon diverted from +the landscape to the huckleberries. They were abundant; and now and then +I stumbled on patches of delicious raspberries. I remained on the +mountain, resting and picking berries, until half-past four. I must be +in camp at six to post my pickets, but there was no occasion for haste. +So, after a time, I started leisurely down, not the way I had come up, +but, as I supposed, down the eastern slope, a way, apparently, not so +steep and difficult as the one by which I had ascended. I traveled on, +through vines and bushes, over fallen timber, and under great trees, +from which I could scarcely obtain a glimpse of the sky, until finally I +came to a mountain stream. I expected to find the road, not the stream, +and began to be a little uncertain as to my whereabouts. After +reflection, I concluded I would be most likely to reach camp by going up +the stream, and so started. Trees in many places had fallen across the +ravine, and my progress was neither easy nor rapid; but I pushed on as +best I could. I never knew so well before what a mountain stream<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> was. I +scrambled over rocks and fallen trees, and through thickets of laurel, +until I was completely worn out. Lying down on the rocks, which in high +water formed part of the bed of the stream, I took a drink, looked at my +watch, and found it was half-past five. My pickets were to be posted at +six. Having but a half hour left, I started on. I could see no opening +yet. The stream twisted and turned, keeping no one general direction for +twenty rods, and hardly for twenty feet. It grew smaller, and as the +ravine narrowed the way became more difficult. Six o'clock had now come. +I could not see the sun, and only occasionally could get glimpses of the +sky. I began to realize that I was lost; but concluded finally that I +would climb the mountain again, and ascertain, if I could, in what +direction the camp lay. I have had some hard tramps, and have done some +hard work, but never labored half so hard in a whole week as I did for +one hour in getting up that mountain, pushing through vines, climbing +over logs, breaking through brush. Three or four times I lay down out of +breath, utterly exhausted, and thought I would proceed no further until +morning; but when I thought of my pickets, and reflected that General +Reynolds would not excuse a trip so foolish and untimely, I made new +efforts and pushed on. Finally I reached the summit of the mountain, but +found it not the one from which I had descended. Still higher mountains +were around me. The trees and bushes were so dense I could hardly see a +rod before me. It was now seven o'clock, an hour after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> time when I +should have been in camp. I lay down, determined to remain all night; +but my clothing was so thin that I soon became chilly, and so got up and +started on again. Once I became entangled in a wilderness of grapevines +and briers, and had much difficulty in getting through them. It was now +half-past seven, and growing dark; but, fortunately, at this time, I +heard a dog bark, a good way off to the right, and, turning in that +direction, I came to a cow-path. Which end of it should I take? Either +end, I concluded, would be better than to remain where I was; so I +worked myself into a dog-trot, wound down around the side of the +mountain, and reached the road, a mile and a half south of camp, and +went to my quarters fast as my legs could carry me. I found my detail +for picket duty waiting and wondering what could so detain the officer +of the day.</p> + +<p>31. The Fifteenth Indiana, Colonel Wagner, moved up the valley eight +miles.</p> + +<p>The sickly months are now on us. Considerable dysentery among the men, +and many reported unfit for duty.</p> + +<p>My limbs are stiff and sore from yesterday's exercise, but my adventure +proves to have been a lucky one. The mountain path I stumbled on was +unknown to us before, and we find, on inquiry, that it leads over the +ridges. The enemy might, by taking this path, follow it up during the +day, encamp almost within our picket lines without being discovered, and +then, under cover of night, or in the early morning,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> come down upon us +while we were in our beds. It will be picketed hereafter.</p> + +<p>A private of Company E wrote home that he had killed two secessionists. +A Zanesville paper published the letter. When the boys of his company +read it they obtained spades, called on the soldier who had drawn so +heavily on the credulity of his friends, and told him they had come to +bury the dead. The poor fellow protested, apologized, and excused +himself as best he could, but all to no purpose. He is never likely to +hear the last of it.</p> + +<p>I am reminded that when coming from Bellaire to Fetterman, a soldier +doing guard duty on the railroad said that a few mornings before he had +gone out, killed two secessionists who were just sitting down to +breakfast, and then eaten the breakfast himself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AUGUST_1861" id="AUGUST_1861"></a>AUGUST, 1861.</h2> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<p>1. It is said the pickets of the Fourteenth Indiana and the enemy's +cavalry came in collision to-day, and that three of the latter were +killed.</p> + +<p>It is now 9 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> Sergeants are calling the roll for the last time +to-night. In half an hour taps will be sounded and the lights +extinguished in every private's tent. The first call in the morning, +reveille, is at five; breakfast call, six; surgeon's call, seven; drill, +eight; recall, eleven; dinner, twelve; drill again at four; recall, +five; guard-mounting, half-past five; first call for dress-parade, six; +second call, half-past six; tattoo at nine, and taps at half-past. So +the day goes round.</p> + +<p>Hardee for a month or more was a book of impenetrable mysteries. The +words conveyed no idea to my mind, and the movements described were +utterly beyond my comprehension; but now the whole thing comes almost +without study.</p> + +<p>2. Jerrolaman went out this afternoon and picked nearly a peck of +blackberries. Berries of various kinds are very abundant. The fox-grape +is also found in great plenty, and as big as one's thumb.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Indianians are great ramblers. Lieutenant Bell says they can be +traced all over the country, for they not only eat all the berries, but +nibble the thorns off the bushes.</p> + +<p>General Reynolds told me, this evening, he thought it probable we would +be attacked soon. Have been distributing ammunition, forty rounds to the +man.</p> + +<p>My black horse was missing this morning. Conway looked for him the +greater part of the day, and finally found him in possession of an +Indiana captain. It happened in this way: Captain Rupp, Thirteenth +Indiana, told his men he would give forty dollars for a <i>sesesh</i> horse, +and they took my horse out of the pasture, delivered it to him, and got +the money. He rode the horse up the valley to Colonel Wagner's station, +and when he returned bragged considerably over his good luck; but about +dark Conway interviewed him on the subject, when a change came o'er the +spirit of his dream. Colonel Sullivan tells me the officers now talk to +Rupp about the fine points of his horse, ask to borrow him, and desire +to know when he proposes to ride again.</p> + +<p>A little group of soldiers are sitting around a camp-fire, not far away, +entertaining each other with stories and otherwise. Just now one of them +lifts up his voice, and in a <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'melancholly'">melancholy</ins> strain sings:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Somebody is weeping"> +<tr><td align='left'>Somebody —— "is weeping</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For gallant Andy Gay,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Who now in death lies sleeping</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">On the field of Monterey."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>While I write he strikes into another air, and these are the words as I +catch them:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Come back"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Come back, come back, my purty fair maid!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Ten thousand of my <i>jinture</i> on you I will bestow</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">If you'll consent to marry me;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Oh, do not say me no."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>But the maid is indifferent to <i>jintures</i>, and replies indignantly:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Oh, hold your tongu"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Oh, hold your tongue, captain, your words are all in vain;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I have a handsome sweetheart now across the main,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And if I do not find him I'll mourn continuali."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>More of this interesting dialogue between the captain and the pretty +fair maid I can not catch.</p> + +<p>The sky is clear, but the night very dark. I do not contemplate my ride +to the picket posts with any great degree of pleasure. A cowardly +sentinel is more likely to shoot at you than a brave one. The fears of +the former do not give him time to consider whether the person advancing +is friend or foe.</p> + +<p>3. We hear of the enemy daily. Colonel Kimball, on the mountain, and +Colonel Wagner, up the valley, are both in hourly expectation of an +attack. The enemy, encouraged by his successes at Manassas, will +probably attempt to retrieve his losses in Western Virginia.</p> + +<p>4. At one o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> General Reynolds sent for me. Two of Colonel +Wagner's companies had been surrounded, and an attack on Wagner's +position expected to-night. The enemy reported three thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> strong. +He desired me to send half of my regiment and two of Loomis' guns to the +support of Wagner. I took six companies and started up the valley. +Reached Wagner's quarters at six o'clock. Brought neither tents nor +provisions, and to-night will turn in with the Indianians.</p> + +<p>It is true that the enemy number three thousand; the main body being ten +or fifteen miles away. Their pickets and ours, however, are near each +other; but General Reynolds was misinformed as to two of Wagner's +companies. They had not been surrounded.</p> + +<p>To-morrow Colonel Wagner and I will make a reconnoissance, and ascertain +if the rebels are ready to fight. Wagner has six hundred and fifty men +fit for duty, and I have four hundred. Besides these, we have three +pieces of artillery. Altogether, we expect to be able to hoe them a +pretty good row, if they should advance on us. Four of the enemy were +captured to-day. A company of cavalry is approaching. "Halt! who comes +there?" cries the sentinel. "Lieutenant Denny, without the countersign." +"All right," shouts Colonel Wagner, "let him come." I write with at +least four fleas hopping about on my legs.</p> + +<p>5. To-day we felt our way up the valley eight miles, but did not reach +the rebels.</p> + +<p>To-night our pickets were sure they heard firing off in the direction of +Kanawha. If so, Cox and Wise must be having a pleasant little +interchange of lead.</p> + +<p>The chaplain of the Thirteenth Indiana is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> counterpart of Scott's +Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, or the fighting friar of the times of Robin +Hood. In answer to some request he has just said that he will "go to +thunder before doing it." The first time I saw this fighting parson was +at the burnt bridge near Huttonville. He had two revolvers and a hatchet +in his belt, and appeared more like a firebrand of war than a minister +of peace. I now hear the rough voice of a braggadocio captain in the +adjoining tent, who, if we may believe his own story, is the most +formidable man alive. His hair-breadth escapes are innumerable, and his +anxiety to get at the enemy is intense. Is it not ancient Pistol come +again to astonish the world by deeds of reckless daring?</p> + +<p>We have sent out a scouting party, and hope to learn something more of +the rebels during the night. Wagner, Major Wood, Captain Abbott, and +others are having a game of whist.</p> + +<p>6. Our camp equipage came up to-day, so that we are now in our own +tents.</p> + +<p>Four of my companies are on picket, scattered up the valley for miles, +and half of the other two are doing guard duty in the neighborhood of +the camp. I do not, by any means, approve of throwing out such heavy +pickets and scattering our men so much. We are in the presence of a +force probably twice as large as our own, and should keep our troops +well in hand.</p> + +<p>Our scouts have been busy; but, although they have brought in a few +prisoners, mostly farmers residing in the vicinity of the enemy's camp, +we have ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>tained but little information respecting the rebels. I intend +to send out a scouting party in the morning. Lieutenant Driscoll will +command it. He is a brave, and, I think, prudent officer, and will leave +camp at four o'clock, follow the road six miles, then take to the +mountains, and endeavor to reach a point where he can overlook the enemy +and estimate his strength.</p> + +<p>7. The scouting party sent out this morning were conveyed by wagons six +miles up the valley, and were to take to the mountains, half a mile +beyond. I instructed Lieutenant Driscoll to exercise the utmost caution, +and not take his men further than he thought reasonably safe. Of course +perfect safety is not expected. Our object, however, is to get +information, not to give it by losing the squad.</p> + +<p>At eleven o'clock a courier came in hot haste from the front, to inform +us that a flag of truce, borne by a Confederate major, with an escort of +six dragoons, was on the way to camp. Colonel Wagner and I rode out to +meet the party, and were introduced to Major Lee, the son, as I +subsequently ascertained, of General Robert E. Lee, of Virginia. The +Major informed us that his communication could only be imparted to our +General, and a courier was at once dispatched to Huttonville.</p> + +<p>At four o'clock General Reynolds arrived, accompanied by Colonel +Sullivan and a company of cavalry. Wagner and I joined the General's +party, and all galloped to the outpost, to interview the Confederate +major. His letter contained a proposition to exchange prisoners captured +by the rebels at Manassas for those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> taken at Rich mountain. The General +appointed a day on which a definite answer should be returned, and Major +Lee, accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Owen and myself, rode to the +outlying picket station, where his escort had been halted and detained.</p> + +<p>Major Lee is near my own age, a heavy set, but well-proportioned man, +somewhat inclined to boast, not overly profound, and thoroughly +impregnated with the idea that he is a Virginian and a Lee withal. As I +shook hands at parting with this scion of an illustrious house, he +complimented me by saying that he hoped soon to have the honor of +meeting me on the battle-field. I assured him that it would afford me +pleasure, and I should make all reasonable efforts to gratify him in +this regard. I did not desire to fight, of course, but I was bound not +to be excelled in the matter of knightly courtesy.</p> + +<p>8. Major Wood, Fifteenth Indiana, thought he heard chopping last night, +and imagined that the enemy was engaged in cutting a road to our rear.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Driscoll and party returned to-day. They slept on the +mountains last night; were inside the enemy's picket lines; heard +reveille sounded this morning, but could not obtain a view of the camp.</p> + +<p>Have just returned from a sixteen-mile ride, visiting picket posts. The +latter half of the ride was after nightfall. Found officers and men +vigilant and ready to meet an attack.</p> + +<p>Obtained some fine huckleberries and blackberries on the mountain +to-day. Had a blackberry pie and pudding for dinner. Rather too much +happiness for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> one day; but then the crust of the pudding was tolerably +tough. The grass is a foot high in parts of my tent, where it has not +been trodden down, and the gentle grasshopper makes music all the day, +and likewise all the night.</p> + +<p>Our fortifications are progressing slowly. If the enemy intends to +attack at all, he will probably do so before they are complete; and if +he does not, the fortifications will be of no use to us. But this is the +philosophy of a lazy man, and very similar to that of the Irishman who +did not put roof on his cabin: when it rained he could not, and in fair +weather he did not need it.</p> + +<p>9. Pickets report firing, artillery and musketry, over the mountain, in +the direction of Kimball.</p> + +<p>The enemy's scouts were within three miles of our camp this afternoon, +evidently looking for a path that would enable them to get to our rear. +Fifty men have just been sent in pursuit; but owing to a little +misunderstanding of instructions, I fear the expedition will be +fruitless. Colonel Wagner neither thinks clearly nor talks with any +degree of exactness. He has a loose, slip-shod, indefinite way with him, +that tends to confusion and leads to misunderstandings and trouble.</p> + +<p>I have been over the mountain on our left, hunting up the paths and +familiarizing myself with the ground, so as to be ready to defeat any +effort that may be made to turn our flank. Colonel Owen has been +investigating the mountain on our right. The Colonel is a good thinker, +an excellent conversationalist, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> a very learned man. Geology is his +darling, and he keeps one eye on the enemy, and the other on the rocks.</p> + +<p>10. My tent is on the bank of the Valley river. The water, clear as +crystal, as it hurries on over the rocks, keeps up a continuous murmur.</p> + +<p>There will be a storm to-night. The sky is very dark, the wind rising, +and every few minutes a vivid flash of lightning illuminates the valley, +and the thunder rolls off among the mountains with a <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'rumbbling'">rumbling</ins>, echoing +noise, like that which the gods might make in putting a hundred trains +of celestial artillery in position.</p> + +<p>11. Lieutenant Bowen, of topographical engineers, and myself, with ten +men, carrying axes and guns, started up the mountain at seven o'clock +this morning, followed a path to the crest, or dividing ridge, and +felled trees to obstruct the way as much as possible. Returned to camp +for dinner.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon Lieutenant W. O. Merrill, Lieutenant Bowen, and I, +ascended the mountain again by a new route. After reaching the crest, we +endeavored to find the path which Lieutenant Bowen and I had traveled +over in the morning, but were unable to do so. We continued our search +until it became quite dark, when the two engineers, as well as myself, +became utterly bewildered. Finally, Lieutenant Merrill took out his +pocket compass, and said the camp was in that direction, pointing with +his hand. I insisted he was wrong; that he would not reach camp by +going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> that way. He insisted that he would, and must be governed by some +general principles, and so started off on his own hook, leaving us to +pursue our own course. Finally Bowen lost confidence in me, said I was +not going in the right direction at all, and insisted that we should +turn squarely around, and go the opposite way. At last I yielded with +many misgivings, and allowed him to lead. After going down a thousand +feet or more, we found ourselves in a ravine, through which a small +stream of water flowed. Following this, we finally reached the valley. +We knew now exactly where we were, and by wading the river reached the +road, and so got to camp at nine o'clock at night.</p> + +<p>Merrill, who was governed by general principles, failed to strike the +camp directly, strayed three or four miles to the right of it, came down +in Stewart's run valley, and did not reach camp until about midnight.</p> + +<p>On our trip to-day, we found a bear trap, made of heavy logs, the lid +arranged to fall when the bear entered and touched the bait.</p> + +<p>12. This is the fourth day that Captain Cunard's company has been lying +in the woods, three miles from camp, guarding an important road, +although a very rough and rugged one. Companies upon duty like this, +remain at their posts day and night, good weather and bad, without any +shelter, except that afforded by the trees, or by little booths +constructed of logs and branches. From the main station, where the +captain remains, sub-pickets are sent out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> charge of sergeants and +corporals, and these often make little houses of logs, which they cover +with cedar boughs or branches of laurel, and denominate forts. In the +wilderness, to-day, I stumbled upon Fort Stiner, the head-quarters of a +sub-picket commanded by Corporal William Stiner, of the Third. The +Corporal and such of his men as were off duty, were sitting about a +fire, heating coffee and roasting slices of fat pork, preparing thus the +noonday meal.</p> + +<p>13. At noon Colonel Marrow, Major Keifer, and I, took dinner with +Esquire Stalnaker, an old-style man, born fifty years ago in the log +house where he now lives. Two spinning-wheels were in the best room, and +rattled away with a music which carried me back to the pioneer days of +Ohio. A little girl of five or six years stole up to the wheel when the +mother's back was turned, and tried her skill on a roll. How proud and +delighted she was when she had spun the wool into a long, uneven thread, +and secured it safely on the spindle. Surely, the child of the palace, +reared in the lap of luxury and with her hands in the mother's +jewel-box, could not have been happier or more triumphant in her +bearing.</p> + +<p>These West Virginians are uncultivated, uneducated and rough, and need +the common school to civilize and modernize them. Many have never seen a +railroad, and the telegraph is to them an incomprehensible mystery.</p> + +<p>Governor Dennison has appointed a Mr. John G. Mitchell, of Columbus, +adjutant of the Third.</p> + +<p>14. Privates Vincent and Watson, sentinels of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> sub-picket, under +command of Corporal Stiner, discovered a man stealing through the woods, +and halted him. He professed to be a farm hand; said his employer had a +mountain farm not far away, where he pastured cattle. A two-year-old +steer had strayed off, and he was looking for him. His clothes were +fearfully torn by brush and briars. His hands and face were scratched by +thorns. He had taken off his boots to relieve his swollen feet, and was +carrying them in his hands. Imitating the language and manners of an +uneducated West Virginian, he asked the sentinel if he "had seed +anything of a red steer." The sentinel had not. After continuing the +conversation for a time, he finally said: "Well, I must be a goin'; it +is a gettin' late, and I am durned feared I won't git back to the farm +afore night. Good day." "Hold on," said the sentinel; "better go and see +the Captain." "O, no; don't want to trouble him; it is not likely he has +seed the steer, and it's a gettin' late." "Come right along," replied +the sentinel, bringing his gun down; "the Captain will not mind being +troubled; in fact, I am instructed to take such men as you to him."</p> + +<p>Captain Cunard questioned the prisoner closely, asked whom he worked +for, how much he was getting a month for his services, and, finally, +pointing to the long-legged military boots which he was still holding in +his hands, asked how much they cost. "Fifteen dollars," replied the +prisoner. "Fifteen dollars! Is not that rather more than a farm hand who +gets but twelve dollars a month can afford to pay for boots?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> inquired +the Captain. "Well, the fact is, boots is a gettin' high since the war, +as well as every thing else." But Captain Cunard was not satisfied. The +prisoner was not well up in the character he had undertaken to play, and +was told that he must go to head-quarters. Finding that he was caught, +he at once threw off the mask, and confessed that he was Captain J. A. +De Lagniel, formerly of the regular army, but now in the Confederate +service. Wounded at the battle of Rich mountain, he had been secreted at +a farm-house near Beverly until able to travel, and was now trying to +get around our pickets and reach the rebel army. He had been in the +mountains five days and four nights. The provisions with which he +started, and which consisted of a little bag of biscuit, had become +moldy. He thought, from the distance traveled, that he must be beyond +our lines and out of danger.</p> + +<p>De Lagniel is an educated man, and his wife and friends believe him to +have been killed at Rich mountain. He speaks in high terms of Captain +Cunard, and says, when the latter began to question him, he soon found +it was useless to play Major Andre, for Paulding was before him, too +sharp to be deceived and too honest to be bribed. When De Lagniel was +brought into camp he was wet and shivering, weak, and thoroughly broken +down by starvation, cold, exposure, and fatigue. The officers supplied +him with the clothing necessary to make him comfortable.</p> + +<p>15. I have a hundred axmen in my charge, fell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>ing timber on the +mountain, and constructing rough breastworks to protect our left flank.</p> + +<p>General Reynolds came up to-day to see De Lagniel. They are old +acquaintances, were at West Point together, and know each other like +brothers.</p> + +<p>The irrepressible Corporal Casey, who, in fact, had nothing whatever to +do with the capture of De Lagniel, is now surrounded by a little group +of soldiers. He is talking to them about the prisoner, who, since it is +known that he is an acquaintance of General Reynolds, has become a +person of great importance in the camp. The Corporal speaks in the +broadest Irish brogue, and is telling his hearers that he knew the +fellow was a <i>sesesh</i> at once; that he leveled his musket at him and +towld him to halt; that if he hadn't marched straight up to him he would +have put a minnie ball through his heart; that he had his gun cocked and +his finger on the trigger, and was a mind to shoot him anyway. Then he +tells how he propounded this and that question, which confused the +prisoner, and finally concludes by saying that De Lagniel might be d—d +thankful indade that he escaped with his life.</p> + +<p>The Corporal is the best-known man in the regiment. He prides himself +greatly on the Middle Fork "skrimage." A day or two after that affair, +and at a time when whisky was so scarce that it was worth its weight in +gold, some officers called the Corporal up and asked him to give them an +account of the "skrimage." Before he entered upon the subject, it was +suggested that Captain Dubois, who had the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> whisky there was in +the party, should give him a taste to loosen his tongue. The Corporal, +nothing loth, took the flask, and, raising it to his mouth, emptied it, +to the utter dismay of the Captain and his friends. The dhrap had the +effect desired. The Corporal described, with great particularity, his +manner of going into action, dwelt with much emphasis on the +hand-to-hand encounters, the thrusts, the parries, the final clubbing of +the musket, and the utter discomfiture and mortal wounding of his +antagonist. In fact by this time there were two of them; and finally, as +the fight progressed, a dozen or more bounced down on him. It was +lively! There was no time for the loading of guns. Whack, thump, crack! +The head of one was broken, another lay dying of a bayonet thrust, and +still another had perished under the sledge-hammer blow of his fist. The +ground was covered now with the slain. He stood knee-deep in secesh +blood; but a bugle sounded away off on the hills, and the d—d +scoundrels who were able to get away ran off as fast as their legs could +carry them. Had they stood up like men he would have destroyed the whole +regiment; for, you see, he was just getting his hand in. "But, +Corporal," inquired Captain Hunter, "what were the other soldiers of +your company doing all this time?" "Bless your sowl, Captain, and do you +think I had nothing to do but to watch the boys? Be jabers, it was a day +when every man had to look after himself."</p> + +<p>16. The opinion seems to be growing that the reb<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>els do not intend to +attack us. They have put it off too long.</p> + +<p>A scouting party will start out in the morning, under the guidance of +"old Leather Breeches," a primitive West Virginian, who has spent his +life in the mountains. His right name is Bennett. He wears an antiquated +pair of buckskin pantaloons, and has a cabin-home on the mountain, +twelve miles away.</p> + +<p>A tambourine is being played near by, and Fox, with a heart much lighter +than his complexion, is indulging in a double shuffle.</p> + +<p>There are many snakes in the mountains: rattlesnakes, copperheads, +blacksnakes, and almost every other variety of the snake kind; in short, +the boys have snake on the brain. To-day one of the choppers made a +sudden grab for his trouser leg; a snake was crawling up. He held the +loathsome reptile tightly by the head and body, and was fearfully +agitated. A comrade slit down the leg of the pantaloon with a knife, +when lo! an innocent little roll of red flannel was discovered.</p> + +<p>The boys are very liberal in the bestowal of titles. Colonel Hogseye is +indebted to them for his commission. The Colonel commands an ax just +now. Ordinarily he carries a musket, sleeps and dines with his +subordinates, and is not above traveling on foot.</p> + +<p>Fox's real name, I ascertained lately, is William Washington. His +brother, now in the service of the surgeon, is called Handsome, and +Colonel Marrow's servant is known by the boys as the Bay Nigger.</p> + +<p>17. Was awakened this morning at one o'clock,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> by a soldier in search of +a surgeon. One of our pickets had been wounded. The post was on the +river bank. The sentinel saw a man approaching on the opposite side of +the river, challenged, and saw him level his gun. Both fired. The +sentinel was wounded in the leg by a small squirrel bullet. The other +man was evidently wounded, for after it became light enough he was +traced half a mile by blood on the ground, weeds, and leaves. The +surgeon is of the opinion that the ball struck his left arm. From +information obtained this morning, it is believed this man is secreted +not many miles away. A party of ten has been sent to look for him.</p> + +<p>This is by far the pleasantest camp we have ever had. The river runs its +whole length. The hospital and surgeons' tents are located on a very +pretty little island, a quiet, retired spot, festooned with vines, in +the shadow of great trees, and carpeted with moss soft and velvety as +the best of Brussels.</p> + +<p>18. The name of our camp is properly Elk Water, not Elk Fork. The little +stream which comes down to the river, from which the camp derives its +name, is called Elk Water, because tradition affirms that in early days +the elk frequented the little valley through which it runs.</p> + +<p>The fog has been going up from the mountains, and the rain coming down +in the valley. The river roars a little louder than usual, and its water +is a little less clear.</p> + +<p>The party sent in pursuit of the bushwhacker has returned. Found no +one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>Two men were seen this evening, armed with rifles, prowling among the +bushes near the place where the affair of last night occurred. They were +fired upon, but escaped.</p> + +<p>An accident, which particularly interests my old company, occurred a few +minutes ago. John Heskett, Jeff Long, and four or five other men, were +detailed from Company I for picket duty. Heskett and Long are intimate +friends, and were playing together, the one with a knife and the other +with a pocket pistol. The pistol was discharged accidentally, and the +ball struck Heskett in the neck, inflicting a serious wound, but whether +fatal or not the surgeon can not yet tell. The affair has cast a shadow +over the company. Young Heskett bears himself bravely. Long is +inconsolable, and begs the boys to shoot him.</p> + +<p>20. These mountain streams are unreliable. We had come to regard the one +on which we are encamped as a quiet, orderly little river, that would be +good enough to notify us when it proposed to swell out and overflow the +adjacent country. In fact we had bragged about it, made all sorts of +complimentary mention of it, put our tents on its margin, and allowed it +to encircle our sick and wounded; but we have now lost all confidence in +it. Yesterday, about noon, it began to rise. It had been raining, and we +thought it natural enough that the waters should increase a little. At +four o'clock it had swelled very considerably, but still kept within its +bed of rock and gravel, and we admired it all the more for the energy +displayed in hurrying along branches, logs, and some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>times whole trees. +At six o'clock we found it was rising at the rate of one foot per hour, +and that the water had now crept to within a few feet of the hospital +tent, in which lay two wounded and a dozen or more of sick. Dr. McMeens +became alarmed and called for help. Thirty or more boys stripped, swam +to the island, and removed the hospital to higher ground—to the highest +ground, in fact, which the island afforded. The boys returned, and we +felt safe. At seven o'clock, however, we found the river still rising +rapidly. It covered nearly the whole island. Logs, brush, green trees, +and all manner of drift went sweeping by at tremendous speed, and the +water rushed over land which had been dry half an hour before, with +apparently as strong a current as that in the channel. We knew then that +the sick and wounded were in danger. How to rescue them was now the +question. A raft was suggested; but a raft could not be controlled in +such a current, and if it went to pieces or was hurried away, the sick +and wounded must drown. Fortunately a better way was suggested; getting +into a wagon, I ordered the driver to go above some distance, so that we +could move with the current, and then ford the stream. After many +difficulties, occasioned mainly by floating logs and driftwood, and +swimming the horses part of the way, we succeeded in getting over. I saw +it was impossible to carry the sick back, and that there was but one way +to render them secure. I had the horses unhitched, and told the driver +to swim them back and bring over two or three more wagons. Two more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +finally reached me, and one team, in attempting to cross, was carried +down stream and drowned. I had the three wagons placed on the highest +point I could find, then chained together and staked securely to the +ground. Over the boxes of two of these we rolled the hospital tent, and +on this placed the sick and wounded, just as the water was creeping upon +us. On the third wagon we put the hospital stores. It was now quite +dark. Not more than four feet square of dry land remained of all our +beautiful island; and the river was still rising. We watched the water +with much anxiety. At ten o'clock it reached the wagon hubs, and covered +every foot of the ground; but soon after we were pleased to see that it +began to go down a little. Those of us who could not get into the wagons +had climbed the trees. At one o'clock it commenced to rain again, when +we managed to hoist a tent over the sick. At two o'clock the long-roll, +the signal for battle, was beaten in camp, and we could just hear, above +the roar of the water, the noise made by the men as they hurriedly +turned out and fell into line.</p> + +<p>It will not do, however, to conclude that this was altogether a night of +terrors. It was, in fact, not so very disagreeable after all. There was +a by-play going on much of the time, which served to illuminate the +thick darkness, and divert our minds from the gloomier aspects of the +scene. Smith, the teamster who brought me across, had returned to the +mainland with the horses, and then swam back to the island. By midnight +he had become very drunk. One of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> hospital attendants was very far +gone in his cups, also. These two gentlemen did not seem to get along +amicably; in fact, they kept up a fusillade of words all night, and so +kept us awake. The teamster insisted that the hospital attendant should +address him as Mr. Smith. The Smith family, he argued, was of the +highest respectability, and being an honored member of that family, he +would permit no man under the rank of a Major-General to call him Jake. +George McClellan sometimes addressed him by his christian name; but then +George and he were Cincinnatians, old neighbors, and intimate personal +friends, and, of course, took liberties with each other. This could not +justify one who carried out pukes and slop-buckets from a field hospital +in calling him Jake, or even Jacob.</p> + +<p>Mr. Smith's allusions to the hospital attendant were not received by +that gentleman in the most amiable spirit. He grew profane, and insisted +that he was not only as good a man as Smith, but a much better one, and +he dared the bloviating mule scrubber to get down off his perch and +stand up before him like a man. But Jake's temper remained unruffled, +and along toward morning, in a voice more remarkable for strength than +melody, he favored us with a song:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Ho! gif ghlass uf goodt lauger du me"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Ho! gif ghlass uf goodt lauger du me;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Du mine fadter, mine modter, mine vife:</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Der day's vork vos done, undt we'll see</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Vot bleasures der vos un dis life,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Undt ve sit us aroundt mit der table,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Undt ve speak uf der oldt, oldt time,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Ven we lif un dot house mit der gable,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Un der vine-cladt banks uf der Rhine;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Undt mine fadter, his voice vos a quiver,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Undt mine modter, her eyes vos un tears,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Ash da dthot uf dot home un der river,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Undt kindt friendst uf earlier years;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Undt I saidt du mine fadter be cheerie,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Du mine modter not longer lookt sadt,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Here's a blace undt a rest for der weary,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Und ledt us eat, drink, undt be gladt.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">So idt ever vos cheerful mitin;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Vot dtho' idt be stormy mitoudt,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Vot care I vor der vorld undt idts din,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Ven dose I luf best vos about;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">So libft up your ghlass, mine modter,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Undt libft up yours, Gretchen, my dear,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Undt libft up your lauger, mine fadter,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Undt drink du long life und good cheer."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>21. Francis Union was shot and killed by one of our own sentinels last +night, the ball entering just under the nose. This resulted from the +cowardice of the soldier who fired. He was afraid to give the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'neccesary'">necessary</ins> +challenge: four simple words: "Halt! who comes there?" would have saved +a life. This illustrates the danger there is in visiting pickets at +night. If the sentinel halts the man, the man may fire at the sentinel. +The latter, if timid, therefore makes sure of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> the first shot, and does +not challenge. We buried the dead soldier with all the honors due one of +his rank, on a beautiful hill in the rear of our fortifications. He was +with me on the mountain chopping, a few days ago, strong, healthy, +vigorous, and young. No more hard work for him!</p> + +<p>23. With Wagner, Merrill, and Bowen, I rode up the mountain on our left +this afternoon. We had one field-glass and two spy-glasses, and obtained +a magnificent view of the surrounding country. Here and there we could +see a cultivated spot or grazing farm on the top of the mountain; but +more frequently these were on the slopes. We descried one house with our +glasses on the very tiptop of Rich, and so far away that it seemed no +larger than a tent. How the man of the house gets up to his airy height +and gets down again puzzles us. He has the first gush of the sunshine in +the morning, and the latest gleam in the evening. Very often, indeed, he +must look down upon the clouds, and, if he has a tender heart, pity the +poor devils in the valley who are being rained on continually. Is it a +pleasant home? Has he wife and children in that mountain nest? Is he a +man of dogs and guns, who spends his years in the mountains and glens +hunting for bear and deer? May it not be the baronial castle of "old +Leather Breeches" himself?</p> + +<p>Away off to the east a cloud, black and heavy, is resting on a peak of +the Cheat. Around it the mountain is glowing in the summer sun, and +appears soft and green. A gauze of shimmering blue man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>tles the crest, +darkens in the coves, and becomes quite black in the gorges. The rugged +rocks and scraggy trees, if there be any, are at this distance +invisible, and nothing is seen but what delights the eye and quickens +the imagination.</p> + +<p>We see by the papers that Ohio is preparing to organize a grand Union +party, with a platform on which both Republicans and Democrats can +stand. I am glad of this. There should be but one party in the North, +and that party willing to make all sacrifices for the Union.</p> + +<p>24. Last night a sentinel on one of the picket posts halted a stump and +demanded the countersign. No response being made, he fired. The entire +Fifteenth Indiana sprang to arms; the cannoniers gathered about their +guns, and a thousand eyes peered into the darkness to get a glimpse of +the approaching enemy. But the stump, evidently intimidated by the first +shot, did not advance, and so the Hoosiers returned again to their +couches, to dream, doubtless, of the subject of a song very common now +in camp, to wit:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Old Governor Wise"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Old Governor Wise,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">With his goggle eyes."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>25. The Twenty-third Ohio, Colonel Scammon, will be here to-morrow. +Stanley Matthews is the lieutenant-colonel of this regiment, and my old +friend, Rutherford B. Hayes, the major. The latter is an accomplished +gentleman, graduate of Harvard Law School, and will, it is said, in all +probability, succeed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> Gurley in Congress. Matthews has a fine reputation +as a speaker and lawyer, and, I have been told, is the most promising +young man in Ohio. Scammon is a West Pointer.</p> + +<p>26. Five companies of the Twenty-third Ohio and five companies of the +Ninth Ohio arrived to-day, and are encamped in a maple grove about a +mile below us. A detachment of cavalry came up also, and is quartered +near. Other regiments are coming. It is said the larger portion of the +troops in West Virginia are tending in this direction; but on what +particular point it is proposed to concentrate them rumor saith not.</p> + +<p>General McClellan did not go far enough at first. After the defeat of +Pegram, at Rich mountain, and Garnett, at Laurel Hill, the Southern army +of this section was utterly demoralized. It scattered, and the men +composing it, who were not captured, fled, terror stricken, to their +homes. We could have marched to Staunton without opposition, and taken +possession of the very strongholds the enemy is now fortifying against +us. If in our advanced position supplies could not have been obtained +from the North, the army might have subsisted off the country. Thus, by +pushing vigorously forward, we could have divided the enemy's forces, +and thus saved our army in the East from humiliating defeat. This is the +way it looks to me; but, after all, there may have been a thousand good +reasons for remaining here, of which I know nothing. One thing, however, +is, I think, very evi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>dent: a successful army, elated with victory, and +eager to advance, is not likely to be defeated by a dispirited opponent. +One-fourth, at least, of the strength of this army disappeared when it +heard of the rebel triumphs on the Potomac.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Latter part of August the writer was sent to Ohio for recruits for the +regiment, and did not return to camp until the middle of September.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SEPTEMBER_1861" id="SEPTEMBER_1861"></a>SEPTEMBER 1861.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>19. Reached camp yesterday at noon. My recruits arrived to-day.</p> + +<p>The enemy was here in my absence in strength and majesty, and repeated, +with a slight variation, the grand exploit of the King of France, by</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Marching up the hill with twenty thousand men"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Marching up the hill with twenty thousand men,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And straightway marching down again."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>There was lively skirmishing for a few days, and hot work expected; but, +for reasons unknown to us, the enemy retired precipitately.</p> + +<p>On Sunday morning last fifty men of the Sixth Ohio, when on picket, were +surprised and captured. My friend, Lieutenant Merrill, fell into the +hands of the enemy, and is now probably on his way to Castle Pinckney. +Further than this our rebellious friends did us no damage. Our men, at +this point, killed Colonel Washington, wounded a few others, and further +than this inflicted but little injury upon the enemy. The country people +near whom the rebels encamped say they got to fighting among themselves. +The North Carolinians were determined to go home,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> and regiments from +other States claimed that their term of service had expired, and wanted +to leave. I am glad they did, and trust they may go home, hang up their +guns, and go to work like sensible people, for then I could do the same.</p> + +<p>23. This afternoon I rode by a mountain path to a log cabin in which a +half dozen wounded Tennesseeans are lying. One poor fellow had his leg +amputated yesterday, and was very feeble. One had been struck by a ball +on the head and a buckshot in the lungs. Two boys were but slightly +wounded, and were in good spirits. To one of these—a jovial, pleasant +boy—Dr. Seyes said, good-humoredly: "You need have no fears of dying +from a gunshot; you are too big a devil, and were born to be hung." +Colonel Marrow sought to question this same fellow in regard to the +strength of the enemy, when the boy said: "Are you a commissioned +officer?" "Yes," replied Marrow. "Then," returned he, "you ought to know +that a private soldier don't know anything."</p> + +<p>In returning to camp, we followed a path which led to a place where a +regiment of the rebels had encamped one night. They had evidently become +panic-stricken and left in hot haste. The woods were strewn with +knapsacks, blankets, and canteens.</p> + +<p>The ride was a pleasant one. The path, first wild and rugged, finally +led to a charming little valley, through which Beckey's creek hurries +down to the river. Leaving this, we traveled up the side of a ra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>vine, +through which a little stream fretted and fumed, and dashed into spray +against slimy rocks, and then gathered itself up for another charge, and +so pushed gallantly on toward the valley and the sunshine.</p> + +<p>What a glorious scene! The sky filled with stars; the rising moon; two +mountain walls so high, apparently, that one might step from them into +heaven; the rapid river, the thousand white tents dotting the valley, +the camp fires, the shadowy forms of soldiers; in short, just enough of +heaven and earth visible to put one's fancy on the gallop. The boys are +in groups about their fires. The voice of the troubadour is heard. It is +a pleasant song that he sings, and I catch part of it.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The minstrel's returned from the war"> +<tr><td align='left'>"The minstrel's returned from the war,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With spirits as buoyant as air,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And thus on the tuneful guitar</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He sings in the bower of the fair:</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The noise of the battle is over;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The bugle no more calls to arms;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">A soldier no more, but a lover,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I kneel to the power of thy charms.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Sweet lady, dear lady, I'm thine;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I bend to the magic of beauty,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Though the banner and helmet are mine,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Yet love calls the soldier to duty."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>24. Our Indiana friends are providing for the winter by laying in a +stock of household furniture at very much less than its original cost, +and without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> even consulting the owners. It is probable that our Ohio +boys steal occasionally, but they certainly do not prosecute the +business openly and courageously.</p> + +<p>26. The Thirteenth Indiana, Sixth Ohio, and two pieces of artillery went +up the valley at noon, to feel the enemy. It rained during the +afternoon, and since nightfall has poured down in torrents. The poor +fellows who are now trudging along in the darkness and storm, will +think, doubtless, of home and warm beds. It requires a pure article of +patriotism, and a large quantity of it, to make one oblivious for months +at a time of all the comforts of civil life.</p> + +<p>This is the day designated by the President for fasting and prayer. +Parson Strong held service in the regiment, and the Rev. Mr. Reed, of +Zanesville, Ohio, delivered a very eloquent exhortation. I trust the +supplications of the Church and the people may have effect, and bring +that Higher Power to our assistance which hitherto has apparently not +been with our arms especially.</p> + +<p>27. To-night almost the entire valley is inundated. Many tents are waist +high in water, and where others stood this morning the water is ten feet +deep. Two men of the Sixth Ohio are reported drowned. The water got +around them before they became aware of it, and in endeavoring to escape +they were swept down the stream and lost. The river seems to stretch +from the base of one mountain to the other, and the whole valley is one +wild scene of excitement. Wherever a spot of dry ground can be found, +huge log fires are burning, and men by the dozen are grouped around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +them, anxiously watching the water and discussing the situation. Tents +have been hastily pitched on the hills, and camp fires, each with its +group of men, are blazing in many places along the side of the mountain. +The rain has fallen steadily all day.</p> + +<p>28. The Thirteenth Indiana and Sixth Ohio returned. The reconnoissance +was unsuccessful, the weather being unfavorable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="OCTOBER_1861" id="OCTOBER_1861"></a>OCTOBER, 1861.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>2. Our camp is almost deserted. The tents of eight regiments dot the +valley; but those of two regiments and a half only are occupied. The +Hoosiers have all gone to Cheat mountain summit. They propose to steal +upon the enemy during the night, take him by surprise, and thrash him +thoroughly. I pray they may be successful, for since Rich mountain our +army has done nothing worthy of a paragraph. Rosecrans' affair at +Carnifex was a barren thing; certainly no battle and no victory, and the +operations in this vicinity have at no time risen to the dignity of a +skirmish.</p> + +<p>Captain McDougal, with nearly one hundred men and three days' +provisions, started up the valley this morning, with instructions to go +in sight of the enemy, the object being to lead the latter to suppose +the advance guard of our army is before him. By this device it is +expected to keep the enemy in our front from going to the assistance of +the rebels now threatening Kimball.</p> + +<p>3. To-night, half an hour ago, received a dispatch from the top of +Cheat, which reads as follows:</p> + +<p>"All back. Made a very interesting reconnoissance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> Killed a large +number of the enemy. Very small loss on our side.</p> + +<div class='right'> +<span style="margin-right: 8em;"><span class="smcap">J. J. Reynolds</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 5em;">Brigadier-General."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Why, when the battle was progressing so advantageously for our side, did +they not go on? This, then, is the result of the grand demonstration on +the other side of the mountain.</p> + +<p>McDougal's company returned, and report the enemy fallen back.</p> + +<p>The frost has touched the foliage, and the mountain peaks look like +mammoth bouquets; green, red, yellow, and every modification of these +colors appear mingled in every possible fanciful and tasteful way.</p> + +<p>Another dispatch has just come from the top of Cheat, written, I doubt +not, after the Indianians had returned to camp and drawn their whisky +ration. It sounds bigger than the first. I copy it:</p> + +<p>"Found the rebels drawn up in line of battle one mile outside of their +fortifications, drove them back to their intrenchments, and continued +the fight four hours. Ten of our men wounded and ten killed. Two or +three hundred of the enemy killed."</p> + +<p>If it be true that so many of the rebels were killed, it is probable +that two thousand at least were wounded; and when three hundred are +killed and two thousand wounded, out of an army of twelve or fifteen +hundred men, the business is done up very thoroughly. The dispatch which +went to Richmond to-night, I have no doubt, stated that "the Federals +attacked in great force, outnumbering us two or three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> to one, and after +a terrific engagement, lasting five hours, they were repulsed at all +points with great slaughter. Our loss one killed and five wounded. +Federal loss, five hundred killed and twenty-five hundred wounded." Thus +are victories won and histories made. Verily the pen is mightier than +the sword.</p> + +<p>4. The Indianians have been returning from the summit all day, +straggling along in squads of from three to a full company.</p> + +<p>The men are tired, and the camp is quiet as a house. Six thousand are +sleeping away a small portion of their three weary years of military +service. This time stretches out before them, a broad, unknown, and +extra-hazardous sea, with promise of some smooth sailing, but many days +and nights of heavy winds and waves, in which some—how many!—will be +carried down.</p> + +<p>Their thoughts have now forced the sentinel lines, leaped the mountains, +jumped the rivers, hastened home, and are lingering about the old +fireside, looking in at the cupboard, and hovering over faces and places +that have been growing dearer to them every day for the last five +months. Old-fashioned places, tame and uninteresting then, but now how +loved! And as for the faces, they are those of mothers, wives, and +sweethearts, around which are entwined the tenderest of memories. But at +daybreak, when reveille is sounded, these wanderers must come trooping +back again in time for "hard-tack" and double quick.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + +<p>5. Some of the Indiana regiments are utterly beyond discipline. The men +are good, stout, hearty, intelligent fellows, and will make excellent +soldiers; but they have now no regard for their officers, and, as a +rule, do as they please. They came straggling back yesterday from the +top of Cheat unofficered, and in the most unsoldierly manner. As one of +these stray Indianians was coming into camp, he saw a snake in the river +and cocked his gun. He was near the quarters of the Sixth Ohio, and many +men were on the opposite side of the stream, among them a lieutenant, +who called to the Indianian and begged him for God's sake not to fire; +but the latter, unmindful of what was said, blazed away. The ball, +striking the water, glanced and hit the lieutenant in the breast, +killing him almost instantly.</p> + +<p>6. The Third and Sixth Ohio, with Loomis' battery, left camp at +half-past three in the afternoon, and took the Huntersville turnpike for +Big Springs, where Lee's army has been encamped for some months. At nine +o'clock we reached Logan's Mill, where the column halted for the night. +It had rained heavily for some hours, and was still raining. The boys +went into camp thoroughly wet, and very hungry and tired; but they soon +had a hundred fires kindled, and, gathering around these, prepared and +ate supper.</p> + +<p>I never looked upon a wilder or more interesting scene. The valley is +blazing with camp-fires; the men flit around them like shadows. Now some +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>domitable spirit, determined that neither rain nor weather shall get +him down, strikes up:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="National anthemn"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Oh! say, can you see by the dawn's early light,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?"</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p>A hundred voices join in, and the very mountains, which loom up in the +fire-light like great walls, whose tops are lost in the darkness, +resound with a rude melody <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'befiting'">befitting</ins> so wild a night and so wild a +scene. But the songs are not all patriotic. Love and fun make +contribution also, and a voice, which may be that of the invincible +Irishman, Corporal Casey, sings:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="T was a windy night"> +<tr><td align='left'>"'T was a windy night, about two o'clock in the morning,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">An Irish lad, so tight, all the wind and weather scorning,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">At Judy Callaghan's door, sitting upon the paling,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">His love tale he did pour, and this is part of his wailing:</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Don't say nay, charming Judy Callaghan."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>A score of voices pick up the chorus, and the hills and mountains seem +to join in the Corporal's appeal to the charming Judy:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Don't say nay, charming Judy Callaghan."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Lieutenant Root is in command of Loomis' bat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>tery. Just before reaching +Logan's one of his provision wagons tumbled down a precipice, severely +injuring three men and breaking the wagon in pieces.</p> + +<p>7. Left Logan's mill before the sun was up. The rain continues, and the +mud is deep. At eleven o'clock we reached what is known as Marshall's +store, near which, until recently, the enemy had a pretty large camp. +Halted at the place half an hour, and then moved four miles further on, +where we found the roads impassable for our artillery and +transportation.</p> + +<p>Learning that the enemy had abandoned Big Springs and fallen back to +Huntersville, the soldiers were permitted to break ranks, while Colonel +Marrow and Major Keifer, with a company of cavalry, rode forward to the +Springs. Colonel Nick Anderson, Adjutant Mitchell and I followed. We +found on the road evidence of the recent presence of a very large force. +Quite a number of wagons had been left behind. Many tents had been +ripped, cut to pieces, or burned, so as to render them worthless. A +large number of beef hides were strung along the road. One wagon, loaded +with muskets, had been destroyed. All of which showed, simply, that +before the rebels abandoned the place the roads had become so bad that +they could not carry off their baggage.</p> + +<p>The object of the expedition being now accomplished, we started back at +three o'clock in the afternoon, and encamped for the night at Marshall's +store.</p> + +<p>8. Resumed the march early, found the river waist high, and current +swift; but the men all got over safely, and we reached camp at one +o'clock.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Third has been assigned to a new brigade, to be commanded by +Brigadier-General Dumont, of Indiana.</p> + +<p>The paymaster has come at last.</p> + +<p>Willis, my new servant, is a colored gentleman of much experience and +varied accomplishments. He has been a barber on a Mississippi river +steamboat, and a daguerreian artist. He knows much of the South, and +manipulates a fiddle with wonderful skill. He is enlivening the hours +now with his violin.</p> + +<p>Oblivious to rain, mud, and the monotony of the camp, my thoughts are +carried by the music to other and pleasanter scenes; to the cottage +home, to wife and children, to a time still further away when we had no +children, when we were making the preliminary arrangements for starting +in the world together, when her cheeks were ruddier than now, when +wealth and fame and happiness seemed lying just before me, ready to be +gathered in, and farther away still, to a gentle, blue-eyed mother—now +long gone—teaching her child to lisp his first simple prayer.</p> + +<p>9. The day has been clear. The mountains, decorated by the artistic +fingers of Jack Frost, loom up in the sunshine like magnificent, +highly-colored, and beautiful pictures.</p> + +<p>The night is grand. The moon, a crescent, now rests for a moment on the +highest peak of the Cheat, and by its light suggests, rather than +reveals, the outline of hill, valley, cove and mountain.</p> + +<p>The boys are wide awake and merry. The fair weather has put new spirit +in them all, and possibly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> the presence of the paymaster has contributed +somewhat to the good feeling which prevails.</p> + +<p>Hark! This from the company quarters:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Her golden hair in ringlets fair"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Her golden hair in ringlets fair;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Her eyes like diamonds shining;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Her slender waist, her carriage chaste,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Left me, poor soul, a pining.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But let the night be e'er so dark,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Or e'er so wet and rainy,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I will return safe back again</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">To the girl I left behind me."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>From another quarter, in the rich brogue of the Celt, we have:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Did you hear of the widow Malone"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Did you hear of the widow Malone,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 5em;">Ohone!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Who lived in the town of Athlone,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 5em;">Alone?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Oh! she melted the hearts</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Of the swains in those parts;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">So lovely the widow Malone,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 5em;">Ohone!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">So lovely the widow Malone."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>10. Mr. Strong, the chaplain, has a prayer meeting in the adjoining +tent. His prayers and exhortations fill me with an almost irresistible +inclination to close my eyes and shut out the vanities, cares, and +vexations of the world. Parson Strong is dull, but he is very +industrious, and on secular days devotes his physical and mental powers +to the work of tan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>ning three sheepskins and a calf's hide. On every +fair day he has the skins strung on a pole before his tent to get the +sun. He combs the wool to get it clean, and takes especial delight in +rubbing the hides to make them soft and pliable. I told the parson the +other day that I could not have the utmost confidence in a shepherd who +took so much pleasure in tanning hides.</p> + +<p>While Parson Strong and a devoted few are singing the songs of Zion, the +boys are having cotillion parties in other parts of the camp. On the +parade ground of one company Willis is officiating as musician, and the +gentlemen go through "honors to partners" and "circle all" with +apparently as much pleasure as if their partners had pink cheeks, white +slippers, and dresses looped up with rosettes.</p> + +<p>There comes from the Chaplain's tent a sweet and solemn refrain:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Perhaps He will admit my plea"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Perhaps He will admit my plea,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Perhaps will hear my prayer;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But if I perish I will pray,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And perish only there.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I can but perish if I go.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I am resolved to try.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">For if I stay away I know</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I must forever die."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>While these old hymns are sounding in our ears, we are almost tempted to +go, even if we do perish. Surely nothing has such power to make us +forget earth and its round of troubles as these sweet old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> church songs, +familiar from earliest childhood, and wrought into the most tender +memories, until we come to regard them as a sort of sacred stream, on +which some day our souls will float away happily to the better country.</p> + +<p>12. The parson is in my tent doing his best to extract something solemn +out of Willis' violin. Now he stumbles on a strain of "Sweet Home," then +a scratch of "Lang Syne;" but the latter soon breaks its neck over "Old +Hundred," and all three tunes finally mix up and merge into "I would not +live alway, I ask not to stay," which, for the purpose of steadying his +hand, the parson sings aloud. I look at him and affect surprise that a +reverend gentleman should take any pleasure in so vain and wicked an +instrument, and express a hope that the business of tanning skins has +not utterly demoralized him.</p> + +<p>Willis pretends to a taste in music far superior to that of the common +"nigger." He plays a very fine thing, and when I ask what it is, +replies: "Norma, an opera piece." Since the parson's exit he has been +executing "Norma" with great spirit, and, so far as I am able to judge, +with wonderful skill. I doubt not his thoughts are a thousand miles +hence, among brown-skinned wenches, dressed in crimson robes, and +decorated with ponderous ear-drops. In fact, "Norma" is good, and goes +far to carry one out of the wilderness.</p> + +<p>13. It is after tattoo. Parson Strong's prayer-meeting has been +dismissed an hour, and the camp is as quiet as if deserted. The day has +been a duplicate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> of yesterday, cold and windy. To-night the moon is +sailing through a wilderness of clouds, now breaking out and throwing a +mellow light over valley and mountain, then plunging into obscurity, and +leaving all in thick darkness.</p> + +<p>Major Keifer, Adjutant Mitchell, and Private Jerroloaman have been +stretching their legs before my fire-place all the evening. The Adjutant +being hopelessly in love, naturally enough gave the conversation a +sentimental turn, and our thoughts have been wandering among the rosy +years when our hearts throbbed under the gleam of one bright particular +star (I mean one each), and our souls alternated between hope and fear, +happiness and despair. Three of us, however, have some experience in +wedded life, and the gallant Adjutant is reasonably confident that he +will obtain further knowledge on the subject if this cruel war ever +comes to an end and his sweetheart survives.</p> + +<p>14. The paymaster has been busy. The boys are very bitter against the +sutler, realizing, for the first time, that "sutler's chips" cost money, +and that they have wasted on jimcracks too much of their hard earnings. +Conway has taken a solemn Irish oath that the sutler shall never get +another cent of him. But these are like the half repentant, but +resultless, mutterings of the confirmed drunkard. The "new leaf" +proposed to be turned over is never turned.</p> + +<p>16. Am told that some of the boys lost in gambling every farthing of +their money half an hour after receiving it from the paymaster.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>An Indiana soldier threw a bombshell into the fire to-day, and three men +were seriously wounded by the explosion.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The writer was absent from camp from October 21st to latter part of +November, serving on court-martial, first at Huttonville, and afterward +at Beverly.</p> + +<p>In November the Third was transferred to Kentucky.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NOVEMBER_1861" id="NOVEMBER_1861"></a>NOVEMBER, 1861.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>30. The Third is encamped five miles south of Louisville, on the +Seventh-street plank road.</p> + +<p>As we marched through the city my attention was directed to a sign +bearing the inscription, in large black letters,</p> + +<div class='center'> +"NEGROES BOUGHT AND SOLD."<br /> +</div> + +<p>We have known, to be sure, that negroes were bought and sold, like +cattle and tobacco, but it, nevertheless, awakened new, and not by any +means agreeable, sensations to see the humiliating fact announced on the +broad side of a commercial house. These signs must come down.</p> + +<p>The climate of Kentucky is variable, freezing nights and thawing in the +day. The soil in this locality is rich, and, where trodden, extremely +muddy. We shall miss the clear water of the mountain streams. A large +number of troops are concentrating here.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="DECEMBER_1861" id="DECEMBER_1861"></a>DECEMBER, 1861.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. Sunday has just slipped away. Parson Strong attempted to get an +audience; but a corporal's guard, for numbers, were all who desired to +be ministered to in spiritual things.</p> + +<p>The Colonel spends much of his time in Louisville. He complains bitterly +because the company officers do not remain in camp, and yet fails to set +them a good example in this regard. We have succeeded poorly in holding +our men. Quite a number dodged off while the boat was lying at the +landing in Cincinnati, and still more managed to get through the guard +lines and have gone to Louisville. The invincible Corporal Casey has not +yet put in an appearance.</p> + +<p>The boys of the Sixth Ohio are exceedingly jubilant; the entire regiment +has been allowed a furlough for six days. This was done to satisfy the +men, who had become mutinous because they were not permitted to stop at +Cincinnati on their way hither.</p> + +<p>4. Rode to Louisville this afternoon; in the evening attended the +theatre, and saw the notorious Adah Isaacs Menken Heenan. The house was +packed with soldiers, mostly of the Sixth Ohio. It seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> probable at +one time that there would be a general free fight; but the brawlers were +finally quieted and the play went on. One of the performers resembled an +old West Virginia acquaintance so greatly that the boys at once +y'clepped him Stalnaker, and howled fearfully whenever he made his +appearance.</p> + +<p>7. Moved three miles nearer Louisville and encamped in a grove. Have had +much difficulty in keeping the men in camp; and this evening, to prevent +a general stampede, ordered the guards to load their guns and shoot the +first man who attempted to break over. Have succeeded also in getting +the officers to remain; notified them yesterday that charges would be +preferred against all who left without permission, and this afternoon I +put my very good friend, Lieutenant Dale, under arrest for disregarding +the order.</p> + +<p>12. In camp near Elizabethtown. The road over which we marched was +excellent; but owing to detention at Salt river, where the troops and +trains had to be ferried over, we were a day longer coming here than we +expected to be. The weather has been delightful, warm as spring time. +The nights are beautiful.</p> + +<p>The regiment was greatly demoralized by our stay in the vicinity of +Louisville, and on the march hither the boys were very disorderly and +loth to obey; but, by dint of much scolding, we succeeded in getting +them all through.</p> + +<p>13. Have been attached to the Seventeenth Brigade, and assigned to the +Third Division; the latter commanded by General O. M. Mitchell. The +General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> remarked to me this morning, that the best drilled and +conditioned regiments would lead in the march toward Nashville.</p> + +<p>15. Jake Smith, the driver of the head-quarters wagon, on his arrival in +Elizabethtown went to the hotel, and in an imperious way ordered dinner, +assuring the landlord, with much emphasis, that he was "no damned common +officer, and wanted a good dinner."</p> + +<p>18. In camp at Bacon creek, eight miles north of Green river. Have been +two days on the way from Elizabethtown; the road was bad. There were +nine regiments in the column, which extended as far almost as the eye +could reach.</p> + +<p>At Louisville I was compelled to bear heavily on officers and men. On +the march hither I have dealt very thoroughly with some of the most +disorderly, and in consequence have become unpopular with the regiment.</p> + +<p>20. General Mitchell called this afternoon and requested me to form the +regiment in a square. I did so, and he addressed it for twenty minutes +on guard duty, throwing in here and there patriotic expressions, which +encouraged and delighted the boys very much. When he departed they gave +him three rousing cheers.</p> + +<p>21. A reconnoissance was made beyond Green river yesterday, and no enemy +found.</p> + +<p>We are short of supplies; entirely out of sugar, coffee, and candles, +and the boys to-night indicated some faint symptoms of insubordination, +but I as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>sured them we had made every effort possible to obtain these +articles, and so quieted them.</p> + +<p>Major Keifer was officer in charge of the camp yesterday, and when +making the rounds last night a sentinel challenged, "Halt! who comes +there?" The sergeant responded, "Grand rounds," whereupon the weary and +disappointed Irishman retorted in angry tones: "Divil take the grand +rounds, I thought it the relafe comin'."</p> + +<p>22. The pleasant days have ended. The clouds hang heavy and black, and +the rain descends in torrents.</p> + +<p>After eleven o'clock last night I accompanied General Mitchell to ten +regiments, and with him made the grand rounds in most of them. As we +rode from camp to camp the General made the time most agreeable and +profitable to me, by delivering a very able lecture on military affairs; +laying down what he denominated a simple and sure foundation for the +beginner to build upon.</p> + +<p>The wind is high and our stove smokes prodigiously. I have been out in +the rain endeavoring to turn the pipe, but have not mended the matter at +all. The Major insists that it is better to freeze than to be smoked to +death, so we shall extinguish the fire and freeze.</p> + +<p>Adjutant Mitchell has been commissioned captain and assigned to Company +C.</p> + +<p>25. Gave passes to all the boys who desired to leave camp. The Major, +Adjutant and I had a right royal Christmas dinner and a pleasant time. A +fine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> fat chicken, fried mush, coffee, peaches and milk, were on the +table. The Major is engaged now in heating the second tea-pot of water +for punch purposes. His countenance has become quite rosy; this is +doubtless the effect of the fire. He has been unusually powerful in +argument; but whether his intellect has been stimulated by the fire, the +tea, or the punch, we are at this time wholly unable to decide; he +certainly handles the tea-pot with consummate skill, and attacks the +punch with exceeding vigor.</p> + +<p>27. No orders to advance. Armies travel slowly indeed. Within fifteen +miles of the enemy and idly rotting in the mud.</p> + +<p>Acting Brigadier-General Marrow when informed that Dumont would assume +command of the brigade, became suddenly and violently ill, asked for and +obtained a thirty-day leave.</p> + +<p>I would give much to be home with the children during this holiday time; +but unfortunately my health is too good, and will continue so in spite +of me. The Major, poor man, is troubled in the same way.</p> + +<p>28. Lieutenant St. John goes to Louisville with a man who was arrested +as a spy; and strange to say the arrest was made at the instance of the +prisoner's uncle, who is a captain in the Union army.</p> + +<p>Captain Mitchell assumes command of company C to-morrow. The Colonel is +incensed at the Major and me, because of the Adjutant's promotion. He +intended to make a place in the company for a non-commissioned officer, +who begged money from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> boys to buy him a sword. We astonished him, +however, by showing three commissions—one for the Adjutant, and one +each for a first and second lieutenant, all of the company's own +choosing.</p> + +<p>30. Called on General Dumont this morning; he is a small man, with a +thin piping voice, but an educated and affable gentleman. Did not make +his acquaintance in West Virginia, he being unwell while there and +confined to his quarters.</p> + +<p>This is a peculiar country; there are innumerable caverns, and every few +rods places are found where the crust of the earth appears to have +broken and sunk down hundreds of feet. One mile from camp there is a +large and interesting cave, which has been explored probably by every +soldier of the regiment.</p> + +<p>31. General Buell is here, and a grand review took place to-day.</p> + +<p>Since we left Elkwater there has been a steadily increasing element of +insubordination manifested in many ways, but notably in an unwillingness +to drill, in stealing from camp and remaining away for days. This, if +tolerated much longer, will demoralize even the best of men and render +the regiment worthless.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JANUARY_1862" id="JANUARY_1862"></a>JANUARY, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. Albert, the cook, was swindled in the purchase of a fowl for our New +Year's dinner; he supposed he was getting a young and tender turkey, but +we find it to be an ancient Shanghai rooster, with flesh as tough as +whitleather. This discovery has cast a shade of melancholy over the +Major.</p> + +<p>The boys, out of pure devilment, set fire to the leaves, and to-night +the forest was illuminated. The flames advanced so rapidly that, at one +time, we feared they might get beyond control, but the fire was finally +whipped out, not, however, without making as much noise in the operation +as would be likely to occur at the burning of an entire city.</p> + +<p>5. General Mitchell has issued an immense number of orders, and of +course holds the commandants of regiments responsible for their +execution. I have, as in duty bound, done my best to enforce them, and +the men think me unnecessarily severe.</p> + +<p>To-day a soldier about half drunk was arrested for leaving camp without +permission and brought to my quarters; he had two canteens of whisky on +his person. I remonstrated with him mildly, but he grew saucy, +insubordinate, and finally insolent and insult<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>ing; he said he did not +care a damn for what I thought or did, and was ready to go to the +guard-house; in fact wanted to go there. Finally, becoming exasperated, +I took the canteens from him, poured out the whisky, and directed +Captain Patterson to strap him to a tree until he cooled off somewhat. +The Captain failing in his efforts to fasten him securely, I took my +saddle girth, backed him up to the tree, buckled him to it, and returned +to my quarters. This proved to be the last straw which broke the +unfortunate camel's back. It was a high-handed outrage upon the person +of a volunteer soldier; the last and worst of the many arbitrary and +severe acts of which I had been guilty. The regiment seemed to arise <i>en +masse</i>, and led on by a few reckless men who had long disliked me, +advanced with threats and fearful oaths toward my tent. The bitter +hatred which the men entertained for me had now culminated. It being +Sunday the whole regiment was off duty, and while some, and perhaps +many, of the boys had no desire to resort to violent measures, yet all +evidently sympathized with the prisoner, and regarded my action as +arbitrary and cruel. The position of the soldier was a humiliating one, +but it gave him no bodily pain. Possibly I had no authority for +punishing him in this way; and had I taken time for reflection it is +more than probable I should have found some other and less objectionable +mode; confinement in the guard-house, however, would have been no +punishment for such a man; on the contrary it would have afforded him +that relief from disagreeable duty which he desired. At any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> rate the +act, whether right or wrong, had been done, and I must either stand by +it now or abandon all hope of controlling the regiment hereafter. I +watched the mob, unobserved by it, from an opening in my tent door. Saw +it gather, consult, advance, and could hear the boisterous and +threatening language very plainly. Buckling my pistol belt under my coat +where it could not be seen, I stepped out just as the leaders advanced +to the tree for the purpose of releasing the man. I asked them very +quietly what they proposed to do. Then I explained to them how the +soldier had violated orders, which I was bound by my oath to enforce; +how, when I undertook to remonstrate kindly against such unsoldierly +conduct, he had insulted and defied me. Then I continued as calmly as I +ever spoke, "I understand you have come here to untie him; let the man +who desires to undertake the work begin—if there be a dozen men here +who have it in their minds to do this thing—let them step forward—I +dare them to do it." They saw before them a quiet, plain man who was +ready to die if need be; they could not doubt his honesty of purpose. He +gave them time to act and answer, they stood irresolute and silent; with +a wave of the hand he bade them go to their quarters, and they went.</p> + +<p>General Mitchell hearing of my trouble sent for me. I explained to him +the difficulties under which I was laboring; told him what I had done +and why I had done it. He said he understood my position fully, that I +must go ahead, do my duty and he would stand by me, and, if necessary, +sustain me with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> his whole division. I replied that I needed no +assistance; that the officers, with but few exceptions, were my friends, +and that I believed there were enough good, sensible soldiers in the +regiment to see me through. He talked very kindly to me; but I feel +greatly discouraged. The Colonel has practically abandoned the regiment +in this period of bad weather, when rigorous discipline is to be +enforced, and the boys seem to feel that I am taking advantage of his +absence to display my authority, and require from them the performance +of hard and unnecessary tasks. Many non-commissioned officers have been +reduced to the ranks by court-martial for being absent without leave, +and many privates have been punished in various ways for the same +reason. It was my duty to approve or disapprove the finding of the +court. Disapproval in the majority of cases would have been subversive +of all discipline. Approval has brought down upon me not only the hatred +and curses of the soldiers tried and punished, but in some instances the +ill-will also of their fathers, who for years were my neighbors and +friends.</p> + +<p>Very many of these soldiers think they should be allowed to work when +they please, play when they please, and, in short, do as they please. +Until this idea is expelled from their minds the regiment will be but +little if any better than a mob.</p> + +<p>7. We hear of the Colonel occasionally. He is still at Louisville, +running his train on the broad gauge. His regiment, he says, has been +maneuvering in the face of the enemy beyond Green river, threat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>ened +with an attack day and night. Constant vigilance and continued exposure +in this most inclement season of the year, so undermined his health that +he was compelled to retire a little while to recuperate. He affirms that +he has the best regiment of soldiers in the service; but, unfortunately, +has not a field officer worth a damn.</p> + +<p>Robt. E. Lee was the great man of the rebel army in West Virginia. The +boys all talked about Lee, and told how they would pink him if +opportunity offered. But Simon Bolivar Buckner is the man here on whom +they all threaten to fall violently. There are certainly a hundred +soldiers in the Third, each one of whom swears every day that he would +whip Simon Bolivar Buckner quicker than a wink if he dared present +himself. Simon is in danger.</p> + +<p>Had the third sergeants in my school to-night. Am getting to be a pretty +good teacher.</p> + +<p>10. General Mitchell gave the officers a very interesting lecture this +evening. He is indefatigable. The whole division has become a school.</p> + +<p>Had five lieutenants before me. Lesson: grand guards and other outposts.</p> + +<p>11. The General summoned the officers of his division about him and went +through the form of sending out advanced guard, posting picket, grand +guards, outposts, and sentinels. During these exercises we rode fifteen +or twenty miles, and listened to at least twenty speeches. My horse was +very gay, and I had the pleasure of running many races. I learned +something, and am learning a little each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> day. Had the lieutenants in my +school again to-night. Lesson: detachments, reconnoissances, partisans, +and flankers.</p> + +<p>12. The officers dress better, as a rule, than in West Virginia. The +only man who has not, in this regard, changed for the better, is the +Major. He continues the careless fellow he was. Occasionally he makes an +effort to have his boots polished; but finds the day altogether too +short for the work, and abandons the job in despair.</p> + +<p>14. Every day we have the roar of artillery, the rattle of musketry, the +prancing of impatient steeds, the marching and countermarching of +battalions, the roll of the drum, the clash and clatter of sabers, and +the thunder of a thousand mounted men, as they hurry hither and yon. But +nobody is hurt; it is all practice and drill.</p> + +<p>16. People who live in houses would hardly believe one can sleep +comfortably with his nose separated from the coldest winter wind by +simply a thin cotton canvas; but such is the fact.</p> + +<p>19. General Dumont called. He is to-day commandant of the camp. The +General is an eccentric genius, and has an inexhaustible fund of good +stories. He uses the words "damned" and "be-damned" rather too often; +but this adds, rather than detracts, from his popularity. He dispenses +good whisky at his quarters very freely, and this has a tendency also to +elevate him in the estimation of his subordinates.</p> + +<p>General Mitchell never drinks and never swears.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> Occasionally he uses +the words "confound it" in rather savage style; but further than this I +have never heard him go. Mitchell is military; Dumont militia. The +latter winks at the shortcomings of the soldier; the former does not.</p> + +<p>25. We are not studying so much as we were. The General's grasp has +relaxed, and he does not hold us with a tight reign and stiff bit any +longer.</p> + +<p>There is a great deal of sickness among the troops; many cases of colds, +rheumatism, and fever, resulting from exposure. Passing through the +company quarters of our regiment at midnight, I was alarmed by the +constant and heavy coughing of the men. I fear the winter will send many +more to the grave than the bullets of the enemy, for a year to come.</p> + +<p>26. A body of cavalry got in our rear last night and attempted to +destroy the Nolan creek bridge; but it was driven off by the guard, +after a sharp engagement, in which report says nine of the enemy were +killed and six of our men.</p> + +<p>The enemy is doing but little in our front. A night or two ago he +ventured to within a few miles of our forces on Green river, burnt a +station-house, and retired.</p> + +<p>28. The Colonel returned at noon. I was among the first to visit him. He +greeted me very cordially, and called God to witness that he had never +spoken a disparaging word of me. Busy bodies and liars, he said, had +created all the trouble between us. He had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> heard that charges were to +be preferred against him; he knew they could not be sustained, and +believed it an attempt of his enemies to injure him and prevent his +promotion. He affirmed that he had enlisted from the purest of motives, +and entered into a general defense of his acts as an officer and +gentleman. I listened respectfully to his statement, and then said: +"Colonel, if your conduct has been such as you describe, you need not +fear an investigation. I hold in my hand the charges and specifications +of which you have heard. They are signed by my hand. I make them +believing them to be true. If false, the court will so find, and I shall +be the one to suffer. If true, you are unfit to command this regiment or +any other, and it should be known. I present the charges to you, the +commanding officer of the Third Regiment, and with them a written +request that they be forwarded to the General commanding the division." +He took the package, tore open the envelope, and seated himself while he +read.</p> + +<p>In less than an hour Captains Lawson and Wing called on me to report +that the Colonel would resign if I would withdraw the charges. I +consented to do so.</p> + +<p>31. Had dress parade this evening, at which the Colonel officiated, it +being his first appearance since his return.</p> + +<p>Ascertaining that he had not sent in his resignation, I wrote him a note +calling attention to the promise made on the 29th instant, and +suggesting that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> would be well to terminate an unpleasant matter +without unnecessary delay.</p> + +<p>We had a case of disappointed love in the regiment last night. A +sergeant of Captain Mitchell's company was engaged to a girl of Athens +county. They were to be married upon his return from the war, and until +within a month have been corresponding regularly. Suddenly and without +explanation she ceased to write, why he could not imagine. He never, +however, doubted that she would be faithful to him. His anxiety to hear +from home increased, until finally he learned from her brother, a +soldier of the <i>Eighteenth Ohio</i>, that she was married. Strong, healthy, +good-looking fellow that he was, this intelligence prostrated him +completely, and made him crazy as a loon. He imagined that he was in +hell, thought Dr. Seyes the devil, and so violent did he become that +they had to bind him.</p> + +<p>This morning he is more calm, but still deranged. He thought the straws +in his bunk were thorns, and would pluck at them with his fingers and +exclaim: "My God, ain't they sharp?" Captain Mitchell called, and the +boys said: "Sergeant, don't you know him?" "Yes," he replied, "he is one +of the devils." The Captain said: "Sergeant, don't you know where you +are?" "Of course I do; I'm in hell." When they were binding him he said: +"That's right; heap on the coals; put me in the hottest place." While +Dr. Seyes was preparing something to quiet him—laudanum, perhaps—he +said: "Bring on your poison; I'll take it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<p>The boys, while living roughly, exposed to hardships and dangers, think +more of their sweethearts than ever before, and are constantly +recurring, in their talk, to the comfortable homes and pleasant scenes +from which they are for the present separated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FEBRUARY_1862" id="FEBRUARY_1862"></a>FEBRUARY, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. The Colonel sent in his resignation this morning. It will go to +Department head-quarters to-morrow.</p> + +<p>Saw the new moon over my right shoulder this evening, which I accept as +an omen of good luck. Let it come. It will suit me just as well now as +at any time. If deceived, I shall never more have faith in the moon; and +as for the man in the moon, I shall call him a cheat to his face.</p> + +<p>2. The devil is to pay in the regiment. The Colonel is doing his utmost +to create a disturbance. His friends are busy among the privates. At +noon an effort was made to get up a demonstration on the color line in +his behalf. Now a petition is being circulated among the privates +requesting Major Keifer and me to resign.</p> + +<p>The night is as dark as pitch. A few minutes ago a shout went up for the +Colonel, and was swelled from point to point along the line of company +tents, until now possibly five hundred voices have joined in the yell. +The Colonel's friends tell the boys that if he were to remain he would +obtain leave for the regiment to go back to Camp Dennison to recruit; +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> he was about to obtain rifles and Zouave uniforms for them, and +that there is a conspiracy among the officers to crush him.</p> + +<p>3. Petitions from four companies, embracing two hundred and twenty-five +names, have been presented, requesting the Major and Lieutenant-Colonel +to resign.</p> + +<p>4. We closed up the day with a dress parade, the Colonel in command. The +camp is more boisterous than usual. No more petitions have been +presented.</p> + +<p>The Major received a package from home to-night containing, among other +articles, a pair of slippers, which, greatly to my advantage, were too +small for him. They were turned over to me, and it happens that no +little thing could have been more acceptable.</p> + +<p>The bright moonlight of to-night enlivens our spirits somewhat, and +fills us with new courage. The days have been dark and gloomy, and the +nights still more so, for many days and nights past.</p> + +<p>From the band of the Tenth Ohio, half a mile away, come strains mellow +and sweet. The air is full of moonlight and music. The boys are in a +happier mood, and a round, full voice comes to us from the tents with +the words of an old Scotch song:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale"> +<tr><td align='left'>"March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Why, my lads, dinna ye march forward in order?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">March, march, Eskale and Liddlesdale!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">All the blue bonnets are over the border.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Many a banner spread flutters above your head,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Many a crest that is famous in story;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Mount and make ready, then, sons of the mountain glen!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Fight for the King and the old Scottish border!"</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<p>5. The Major and Mr. Furay are engaged in a tremendous dispute. Furay is +positive he can not be mistaken, and the Major laughs him to scorn. When +these gentlemen lock horns in dead earnest the clatter of words becomes +terrible, and the combat ends only when both fall on their cots +exhausted.</p> + +<p>6. The Colonel's resignation has been accepted. He delivered his +valedictory to the regiment this evening. Subsequently he passed through +the company quarters, shaking hands with the boys and bidding them +farewell. Still later he made a speech, in which he called God to +witness that he was a loyal man, and promised to pray for us all. The +regiment is disorderly, if not mutinous even. The best thing he can do +for it and himself is to get out.</p> + +<p>8. The Colonel has bidden us a final adieu. His most devoted adherents +escorted him to the depot, and returned miserably drunk.</p> + +<p>One of the color guards, an honest, sensible, good-looking boy, has +written me a letter of encouragement. I trust that soon all will feel as +kindly toward me as he.</p> + +<p>10. We left Bacon creek at noon. There were ten thousand men in advance +of us, with immense baggage trains. The roads bad, and our march slow, +tedious, and disagreeable. Many of the officers imbibed freely, and the +senior surgeon, an educated gentleman, and very popular with the boys, +became gloriously elevated. He kept his eye pealed for secesh, and +before reaching Munfordsville found a citizen twice as big as himself in +possession of a double-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>barreled shot-gun. Taking it for granted that he +was an enemy, the Doctor drew a revolver and bade him surrender +unconditionally. The boys said the Doctor was as tight as a little bull. +What phase of inebriety this remark indicated I am unable to say; but +certain it is that he did not for a moment lose sight of his gigantic +prisoner, nor give him the slightest opportunity to escape. He was quite +triumphant in his bearing; directed the movements of the captive in a +loud and imperious tone, and favored him with much patriotic advice.</p> + +<p>A wagon with six unbroken mules attached is an uncertain conveyance. If +the mules are desired to stop suddenly, they are certain not to do so, +and if commanded to start suddenly, they are just as sure not to obey. +If, after an immense amount of whipping and many fervent asseverations +on the part of the driver that all mules should be in Tophet, they +conclude to start at all, they go as if determined to reach the place +indicated without unnecessary delay. If a mud-hole, ditch, tree, or any +other obstacle lies in the way, and the driver cries whoa, the mules +redouble their speed, and rush forward as if they did not in the +slightest degree consider themselves responsible either for the driver's +neck or the traps with which the wagon is laden.</p> + +<p>It was about eight o'clock in the evening when we crossed the bridge +over Green river. The moon had around it a halo, in which appeared very +distinctly all the colors of the National flag—red, white, and +blue—and the boys said it was a good omen; that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> they were Union people +up there, and had hung out the Stars and Stripes.</p> + +<p>12. To-morrow we start for Bowling Green, our division in the lead. +Before night we shall overtake the rebels, and before the next evening +will doubtless fight a battle.</p> + +<p>13. Long before sunrise the whole division was astir, and at seven +o'clock moved forward, our brigade in the center. Far as the eye could +reach, both in front and rear, the road was crowded with men. A score of +bands filled the air with martial strains, while the morning sun +brightened the muskets, and made the flags look more cheerful and +brilliant. The day was warm and pleasant. The country before us was, in +a military sense, unexplored, and every ear was open to catch the sound +of the first gun. The conviction that a battle was imminent kept the men +steady and prevented straggling. We passed many fine houses, and +extensive, well improved farms. But few white people were seen. The +negroes appeared to have entire possession.</p> + +<p>Six miles from Green river a young and very pretty girl stood in the +doorway of a handsome farm-house and waved the flag of the Union. Cheer +after cheer arose along the line; officers saluted, soldiers waved their +hats, and the bands played "Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie." That loyal girl +captured a thousand hearts, and I trust some gallant soldier who shall +win honorable scars in battle may return in good time to crown her his +Queen of Love and Beauty.</p> + +<p>From this on for fifteen miles we found neither<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> springs nor streams. +The country is cavernous, and the only water is that of the ponds. In +all of these we discovered dead and decaying horses, mules, and dogs. +The rebels in this way had sought to deprive us of water; but while +their action in this regard occasioned a vast deal of profanity among +the boys, it did not in the least retard the column. We were, however, +delayed somewhat by the felled trees with which they had obstructed +miles of the road. At sunset we halted and pitched our tents in a large +field, near what is known as Bell's Tavern, on the Louisville and +Nashville Railroad. We had marched eighteen miles.</p> + +<p>The water used in the preparation of the evening meal was that of the +ponds. The thought of the rotting dogs, horses, and mules, could not be +banished, and when the Major sipped his coffee in a doubtful way and +remarked that it tasted soupy, my stomach quivered on the turning point, +and, hungry as I was, the supper gave me no further enjoyment.</p> + +<p>14. Resumed the march at daylight. Snow fell last night. The day was +exceedingly cold, and the wind pierced through us like needles of ice. I +think I never experienced so sudden and extreme a change in the weather. +It was too cold to ride, and I dismounted and walked twelve miles. We +were certain of a fight, and so pushed on with rapid pace. A regiment of +cavalry and Loomis' battery were in advance. When within ten miles of +Bowling Green the guns opened in our front. Leaving the regiment in +charge of the Major, I rode ahead rapidly as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> could, and reached the +river bank opposite Bowling Green in time to see a detachment of rebel +cavalry fire the buildings which contained their army stores. The town +was ablaze in twenty different places. They had destroyed the bridge +over Barren river in the morning, and now, having finished the work of +destruction, went galloping over the hills. When the regiment arrived, +it was quartered in a camp but recently evacuated by the enemy. The +night was bitter cold; but the boys soon had a hundred fires blazing, +and made themselves very comfortable.</p> + +<p>15. This morning we were called out at daylight to cross the river and +take possession of the town; a sorrier, hungrier lot of fellows never +rolled out of warm blankets into the icy wind. It was impossible for +many of them to get their wet and frozen shoes on, but we hurried down +to the river, and were there halted until it was ascertained that our +presence on the opposite side was not required, when we went back to our +old quarters.</p> + +<p>16. To-day we crossed the Big Barren, and are now in Bowling Green. +Turchin's brigade preceded us, and has gutted many houses. The rebels +burned a million dollars worth of stores, but left enough pork, salt +beef, and other necessaries to supply our division for a month; in fact +the cigar I am smoking, the paper on which I write, the ink and pen, +were all captured.</p> + +<p>General Beauregard left the day before our arrival. It is said he was +for days reported to be lying in General Hardee's quarters, dangerously +ill, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> under cover of this report he left town dressed in +citizen's clothes and visited our camps on Green River.</p> + +<p>18. The weather is turning warm again, the men are quartered in houses. +I room at the hotel. This sort of life, however pleasant it may be, has +a demoralizing effect upon the soldier.</p> + +<p>19. Spent the forenoon at the river assisting somewhat in getting our +transportation over. It is a rainy day, and I got wet to the skin and +thoroughly chilled. After dinner I went to bed while William, my +servant, put a few necessary stitches in my apparel, and dried my +underclothing and boots. I am badly off for clothing; my coat is out at +the elbows, and my pantaloons are in a revolutionary condition, the seat +having seceded.</p> + +<p>The Cincinnati Gazette of the 14th instant reports that I have been +promoted. Thanks.</p> + +<p>20. We learn from a reliable source that Nashville has been evacuated. +The enemy is said to be concentrating at Murfreesboro, twenty or thirty +miles beyond.</p> + +<p>The river has risen fifteen feet, and many of our teams are still on the +other side. The water swelled so rapidly that two teams of six mules +each, parked on the river bank last night so as to be in readiness to +cross on the ferry this morning, were swept away.</p> + +<p>Captain Mitchell returned this evening from a trip North. We are glad to +have him back again.</p> + +<p>21. Hear that Fort Donelson has been taken after a terrible fight, and +ten thousand ears are eager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> to hear more about the engagement. No teams +crossed the river to-day; we are flood bound.</p> + +<p>There was an immense number of deaths in the rebel army while it +encamped here. It is said three thousand Southern soldiers are buried in +the vicinity of the town. They could not stand the rigorous Northern +climate. A Mississippi regiment reported but thirteen men for duty.</p> + +<p>22. Moved at seven in the morning toward Nashville without wagons, tents +or camp equipage. Marched twenty miles in the rain and were drenched +completely. The boys found some sort of shelter during the night in +tobacco houses, barns, and straw piles.</p> + +<p>23. The day pleasant and sunshiny. The feet of the men badly blistered, +and the regiment limps along in wretched style; made fifteen miles.</p> + +<p>24. Routed out at daylight and ordered to make Nashville, a distance of +thirty-two miles. Many of the boys have no shoes, and the feet of many +are still very sore. The journey seems long, but we are at the head of +the column, and that stimulates us somewhat. Have sent my horse to the +rear to help along the very lame, and am making the march on foot.</p> + +<p>The martial band of the regiment is doing its utmost to keep the boys in +good spirits; the base drum sounds like distant thunder, and the wind of +Hughes, the fifer, is inexhaustible; he can blow five miles at a +stretch. The members of the band are in good pluck, and when not +playing, either sing, tell stories, or indulge in reminiscences of a +personal char<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>acter. Russia has been badgering William Heney, a drummer. +He says that while at Elkwater Heney sparked one of Esquire Stalnaker's +daughters, and that the lady's little sister going into the room quite +suddenly one evening called back to the father, "Dad, dad, William Heney +has got his arm around Susan Jane!" Heney affirms that the story is +untrue. Lochey favors us with a song, which is known as the warble.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Thou, thou reignest in this bosom"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Thou, thou reignest in this bosom,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">There, there hast thou thy throne;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Thou, thou knowest that I love thee;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Am I not fondly thine own?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ya—ya—ya—ya.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Am I not fondly thine own?</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Chorus"> +<tr><td align='center'><br />CHORUS.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Das unda claus ish mein,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Das unda claus ish mein,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Cants do nic mock un do.</td></tr> +</table></div></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;"><br />On the banks of the Ohio river,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In a cot lives my Rosa so fair;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">She is called Jim Johnson's darky,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And has nice curly black hair.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Tre alo, tre alo, tre ola, ti.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">O come with me to the dear little spot,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And I'll show you the place I was born,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In a little log hut by a clear running brook,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where blossom the wild plum and thorn.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Tre ola, tre ola, treo la ti.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Mein fadter, mein modter, mein sister, mein frau,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Undt swi glass of beer for meinself,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Undt dey call mein wife one blacksmit shop;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Such dings I never did see in my life.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Tre ola, tre ola, tre ola ti."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>25. General Nelson's command came up the Cumberland by boat and entered +Nashville ahead of us. The city, however, had surrendered to our +division before Nelson arrived. We failed simply in being the first +troops to occupy it, and this resulted from detention at the +river-crossing.</p> + +<p>27. Crossed the Cumberland and moved through Nashville; the regiment +behaved handsomely, and was followed by a great crowd of colored people, +who appeared to be delighted with the music. General Mitchell +complimented us on our good behavior and appearance.</p> + +<p>28. Captain Wilson, Fourth Ohio Cavalry, was shot dead while on picket. +One of his sergeants had eight balls put through him, but still lives.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MARCH_1862" id="MARCH_1862"></a>MARCH, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. Our brigade, in command of General Dumont, started for Lavergne, a +village eleven miles out on the Murfreesboro road, to look after a +regiment of cavalry said to be in occupation of the place. Arrived there +a little before sunset, but found the enemy had disappeared.</p> + +<p>The troops obtained whisky in the village, and many of the soldiers +became noisy and disorderly.</p> + +<p>A little after nightfall the compliments of a Mrs. Harris were presented +to me, with request that I would be kind enough to call. The handsome +little white cottage where she lived was near our bivouac. It was the +best house in the village; and, as I ascertained afterward, very +tastefully if not elegantly furnished. She was a woman of perhaps forty. +Her husband and daughter were absent; the former, I think, in the +Confederate service. She had only a servant with her, and was +considerably frightened and greatly incensed at the conduct of some +soldiers, of she knew not what regiment, who had persisted in coming +into her house and treating her rudely. In short, she desired +protection. She had a lively tongue in her head, and her request for a +guard was,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> I thought, not preferred in the gentlest and most amiable +way. Her comments on our Northern soldiers were certainly not +complimentary to them. She said she had supposed hitherto that soldiers +were gentlemen. I confessed that they ought to be at least. She said, +rather emphatically, that Southern soldiers <i>were</i> gentlemen. I replied +that I did not doubt at all the correctness of her statement; but, +unfortunately, the branch of the Northern army to which I had the honor +to belong had not been able to get near enough to them to obtain any +personal knowledge on the subject.</p> + +<p>The upshot of the five minutes' interview was a promise to send a +soldier to protect Mrs. Harris' property and person during the night.</p> + +<p>Returning to the regiment I sent for Sergeant Woolbaugh. He is one of +the handsomest men in the regiment; a printer by trade, an excellent +conversationalist, a man of extensive reading, and of thorough +information respecting current affairs. I said: "Sergeant, I desire you +to brighten up your musket, and clothes if need be, go over to the +little white cottage on the right and stand guard." "All right, sir."</p> + +<p>As he was leaving I called to him: "If the lady of the house shows any +inclination to talk with you, encourage and gratify her to the top of +her bent. I want her to know what sort of men our Northern soldiers +are."</p> + +<p>The Sergeant in due time introduced himself to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> Mrs. Harris, and was +invited into the sitting room. They soon engaged in conversation, and +finally fell into a discussion of the issue between the North and South +which lasted until after midnight. The lady, although treated with all +courtesy, certainly obtained no advantage in the controversy, and must +have arisen from it with her ideas respecting Northern soldiers very +materially changed.</p> + +<p>2. Started on the return to Nashville at three o'clock in the morning. +The boys being again disappointed in not finding the enemy, and +considerably under the influence of liquor, conducted themselves in a +most disorderly and unsoldierly way.</p> + +<p>Have not had a change of clothing since we crossed the Great Barren +river.</p> + +<p>6. Regiment on picket.</p> + +<p>When returning from the front I met a soldier of the Thirty-seventh +Indiana, trudging along with his gun on his shoulder. I asked him where +he was going; he replied that his father lived four miles beyond, and he +had just heard that his brother was home from the Southern army on sick +leave, and he was going out to take him prisoner.</p> + +<p>8. This afternoon the camp was greatly excited over a daring feat of a +body of cavalry under John Morgan. It succeeded in getting almost inside +the camps, and was five miles inside of our outposts. It came into the +main road between where Kennett's cavalry regiment is encamped and +Nashville; captured a wagon train, took the drivers, Captain Braden, of +Indiana, who was in charge of the train, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> eighty-three horses, and +started on a by-road back for Murfreesboro. General Mitchell immediately +dispatched Kennett in pursuit. About fifteen miles out the rebels were +overtaken and our men and horses recaptured. Two rebels were killed and +two taken; Kennett is still in hot pursuit. Captain Braden says, as the +rebels were riding away they were exceedingly jubilant over the success +of their adventure, and promised to introduce him to General Hardee in +the evening. Without asking the Captain's permission they gave him a +very poor horse in exchange for a very good one, put him at the head of +the column and guarded him vigilantly; but when Kennett appeared and the +running fight occurred he dodged off at full speed, lay down on his +horse, and although fired at many times escaped unhurt.</p> + +<p>Morgan's men know the country so well that all the by-roads and +cow-paths are familiar to them; the citizens keep them informed also as +to the location of our camps and picket posts, and if need be are ready +to serve them either as guides or spies, hence the success which +attended the earlier part of their enterprise does not indicate so great +a want of vigilance on the part of our troops, as might at first thought +be supposed.</p> + +<p>9. The enemy made a descent on one of our outposts, killed one man and +wounded another.</p> + +<p>16. Went to Nashville this morning to buy a few necessaries. While +awaiting dinner at the St. Cloud I took a seat outside the door. Quite a +number of Union officers were seated or standing in front of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> hotel, +when two well, extremely well, dressed women, followed by a negro lady, +approached, and while passing us <i>held their noses</i>. What disagreeable +thing the atmosphere in our immediate vicinity contained that made it +necessary for these lovely women to so pinch their nasal protuberances, +I could not discover; certainly the officers looked cleanly, many of +them were young men of the "double-bullioned" kind, who had spared no +expense in decorating their persons with shoulder straps, golden bugles, +and other shining trappings which appertain somehow to glorious war.</p> + +<p>After dinner I dropped into a drug store to buy a cake of soap. The +druggist gave me, in the way of change, several miserably executed +shinplasters. I asked:</p> + +<p>"Do you call this money?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"I wonder that every printing office in the South does not commence the +manufacture of such money."</p> + +<p>"O, no," he replied in a sneering way; "in the North they might do that, +but in the South no one is disposed to make counterfeit money."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I retorted, "the Southern people are very honest no doubt, but I +apprehend there is a better reason for not counterfeiting the money than +you have assigned. It is probably not worth counterfeiting."</p> + +<p>Private Hawes of the Third is remarkably fond of pies, and a notorious +straggler withal. He has just returned to camp after being away for some +days, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> accounts for his absence by saying that he was in the country +looking for pies, when Morgan's men appeared suddenly, shot his horse +from under him, mounted him behind a soldier and carried him away. The +private is now in the guard-house entertaining a select company with a +narrative of his adventures.</p> + +<p>We have much trouble with escaped negroes. In some way we have obtained +the reputation of being abolitionists, and the colored folks get into +our regimental lines, and in some mysterious way are so disposed of that +their masters never hear of them again. It is possible the two +saw-bones, who officiate at the hospital, dissect, or desiccate, or boil +them in the interest of science, or in the manufacture of the villainous +compounds with which they dose us when ill. At any rate, we know that +many of these sable creatures, who joined us at Bowling Green and on the +road to Nashville, can not now be found. Their masters, following the +regiment, made complaint to General Buell, and, as we learn, spoke +disparagingly of the Third. An order issued requiring us to surrender +the negroes to the claimants, and to keep colored folks out of our camp +hereafter. I obeyed the order promptly; commanded all the colored men in +camp to assemble at a certain hour and be turned over to their masters; +but the misguided souls, if indeed there were any, failed to put in an +appearance, and could not be found. The scamps, I fear, took advantage +of my notice and hid away, much to the regret of all who desire to +preserve the Union as it was, and greatly to the chagrin of the +gentlemen who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> expected to take them handcuffed back to Kentucky. One of +these fugitives, a handsome mulatto boy, borrowed five dollars of me, +and the same amount of Doctor Seyes, not half an hour before the time +when he was to be delivered up, but I fear now the money will never be +repaid.</p> + +<p>18. Started for Murfreesboro. The day is beautiful and the regiment +marches well. Encamped for the night near Lavergne. I called on my +friend Mrs. Harris. She received me cordially and introduced me to her +daughter, a handsome young lady of seventeen or eighteen. They were both +extremely Southern in their views, but chatted pleasantly over the +situation, and Mrs. Harris spoke of Sergeant Woolbaugh, the guard +furnished her on our first visit, in very complimentary terms; in fact, +she was surprised to find such men in the ranks of the Federal army. I +assured her that there were scores like him in every regiment, and that +our army was made up of the flower of the Northern people.</p> + +<p>19. The rebels having burned the bridges on the direct road, we were +compelled to diverge to the left and take a longer route; toward evening +we went into camp on the plantation of a widow lady, and here for the +first time in my life I saw a field of cotton; the old stalks still +standing with many bulbs which had escaped the pickers.</p> + +<p>20. Turned out at four o'clock in the morning, got breakfast, struck our +tents, and were ready to march at six; but the brigade being now ordered +to take the rear, we stood uncovered in a drenching rain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> three hours +for the division and transportation to pass. All were thoroughly wet and +benumbed with cold, but as if to show contempt for the weather the Third +sang with great unction:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="There is a land of pure delight"> +<tr><td align='left'>"There is a land of pure delight,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where saints immortal reign;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Infinite day excludes the night,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And pleasures banish pain.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">There everlasting spring abides,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And never withering flowers;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Death, like a narrow sea, divides</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">This heavenly land from ours."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Soon after getting under way the sky cleared, and the sun made its +appearance; the band struck up, and at every plantation negroes came +flocking to the roadside to see us. They are the only friends we find. +They have heard of the abolition army, the music, the banners, the +glittering arms; possibly the hope that their masters will be humbled +and their own condition improved, gladdens their hearts and leads them +to welcome us with extravagant manifestations of joy. They keep time to +the music with feet and hands, and hurrah "fur de ole flag and de +Union," sometimes following us for miles. Parson Strong attempts to do a +little missionary work. A dozen or more negroes stand in a group by the +roadside. Said the Parson to an old man: "My friend, are you +religious?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, massa, I is not; seben of my folks is, an dey is all prayen fur +your side."</p> + +<p>Hailing a little knot, I said: "Boys where do you live?"</p> + +<p>"Lib wid Massa ——, sah."</p> + +<p>"All Union people, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Dey say dey is, but dey isn't."</p> + +<p>One old woman—evidently a great-grandmother in Israel—climbed on the +fence, clapped her hands, shouted for joy, and "bressed de Lord dat dar +was de ole flag agin."</p> + +<p>To a colored boy who stole into our lines last night, with his little +bundle under his arm, the Major said: "Doesn't it make you feel bad to +run away from your masters?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, massa; dey is gone, too."</p> + +<p>Reached Murfreesboro in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>22. Men at work rebuilding the railroad bridge. General Dumont returns +to Nashville. Colonel Lytle, of the Tenth Ohio, will assume command of +our brigade.</p> + +<p>My servant has imposed upon me for about a month. He arises in the +morning when he pleases; prepares my meals when it suits his pleasure, +and is disposed in every thing to make me adapt my business to his own +notions. This morning I became so provoked over his insolence and +laziness that, in a moment of passion, I knocked him down. Since then +there has been a decided improvement in his bearing. The blow seems to +have awakened him to a sense of his duty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>25. So soon as the railroad is repaired, an immense amount of cotton +will be sent East from this section. The crops of two seasons are in the +hands of the producer. We are encamped in a cotton field. Peach trees +are now in bloom, and many early flowers are to be seen.</p> + +<p>26. The boys are having a grand cotillion party on the green in front of +my tent, and appear to have entirely forgotten the privations, +hardships, and dangers of soldiering.</p> + +<p>The army for a temperate, cleanly, cheerful man, is, I have no doubt, +the healthiest place in the world. The coarse fare provided by the +Government is the most wholesome that can be furnished. The boys +oftenest on the sick list are those who are constantly running to the +sutler's for gingerbread, sweetmeats, raisins, and nuts. They eat +enormous quantities of this unwholesome stuff, and lose appetite for +more substantial food. Finding that all desire for hard bread and bacon +has disappeared, they conclude that they must be ill, and instead of +taking exercise, lie in their tents until they finally become really +sick. A contented, temperate, cheerful, cleanly man will live forever in +the army; but a despondent, intemperate, gluttonous, dirty soldier, let +him be never so fat and strong when he enters the service, is sure to +get on the sick list, and finally into the hospital.</p> + +<p>The dance on the green is progressing with increased vigor. The music is +excellent. At this moment the gentlemen are going to the right; now +they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> promenade all; in a minute more the ladies will be in the center, +and four hands round. That broth of an Irish boy, Conway, wears a +rooster's feather in his cap, and has for a partner a soldier twice as +big as himself, whom he calls Susan. As they swing Conway yells at the +top of his voice: "Come round, old gal!"</p> + +<p>28. General Mitchell returned from Nashville on a hand-car.</p> + +<p>30. This is a pleasant Sunday. The sun shines, the birds sing, and the +air stirs pleasantly.</p> + +<p>The colored people of Murfreesboro pour out in great numbers on Sunday +evenings to witness dress parade, some of them in excellent holiday +attire. The women sport flounces and the men canes. Many are nearly +white, and all slaves.</p> + +<p>Murfreesboro is an aristocratic town. Many of the citizens have as fine +carriages as are to be seen in Cincinnati or Washington. On pleasant +week-day evenings they sometimes come out to witness the parades. The +ladies, so far as I can judge by a glimpse through a carriage window, +are richly and elegantly dressed.</p> + +<p>The poor whites are as poor as rot, and the rich are very rich. There is +no substantial well-to-do middle class. The slaves are, in fact, the +middle class here. They are not considered so good, of course, as their +masters, but a great deal better than the white trash. One enthusiastic +colored man said in my hearing this evening: "You look like solgers. No +wonder dat you wip de white trash ob de Southern army. Dey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> ced dey +could wip two ob you, but I guess one ob you could wip two ob dem. You +is jest as big as dey is, and maybe a little bigger."</p> + +<p>A few miles from here, at a cross roads, is a guide-board: +"<big>☞</big> 15 miles to Liberty." If liberty +were indeed but fifteen miles away, the stars to-night would see a +thousand negroes dancing on the way thither; old men with their wives +and bundles; young men with their sweethearts; little barefooted +children, all singing in their hearts:</p> + +<div class='center'> +"De day ob jubilee hab come, ho ho!"<br /> +</div> + +<p>On the march hither we passed a little, contemptible, tumble-down, +seven-by-nine frame school-house. Over the door, in large letters, were +the words:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<span class="smcap">Central Academy.</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>The boys laughed and said: "If this is called an academy, what sort of +things must their common school-houses be?" But Tennessee is a beautiful +State. All it lacks is free schools and freemen.</p> + +<p>31. Colonel Keifer, in command of four hundred men, started with ninety +wagons for Nashville. He will repair the railroad in two or three places +and return with provisions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="APRIL_1862" id="APRIL_1862"></a>APRIL, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>3. Struck our tents and started south, at two o'clock this afternoon; +marched fifteen miles and bivouacked for the night.</p> + +<p>4. Resumed the march at seven o'clock in the morning, the Third in +advance. At one place on the road a young negro, perhaps eighteen years +old, broke from his hiding in the woods, and with hat in hand and a +broad grin on his face, came running to me. "Massa," said he, "I wants +to go wid you." "I am sorry, my boy, that I can not take you. I am not +permitted to do it." The light went out of the poor fellow's eyes in a +moment, and, putting on his slouched hat, he went away sorrowful enough. +It seems cruel to turn our backs on these, our only friends. If a dog +came up wagging his tail at sight of us, we could not help liking him +better than the master, who not only looks sullen and cross at our +approach, but in his heart desires our destruction.</p> + +<p>As we approach the Alabama line we find fewer, but handsomer, houses; +larger plantations, and negroes more numerous. We saw droves of women +working in the fields. When their ears caught the first notes of the +music, they would drop the hoe and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> come running to the road, their +faces all aglow with pleasure. May we not hope that their darkened minds +caught glimpses of the sun of a better life, now rising for them?</p> + +<p>Last night my bed-room was as grand as that ever occupied by a prince. +The floor was carpeted with soft, green, velvety grass. For walls it had +the primeval forest, with its drapery of luxuriant foliage. The ceiling, +higher even than one's thoughts can measure, was studded with stars +innumerable. The crescent moon added to its beauty for awhile, but +disappeared long before I dropped off to sleep.</p> + +<p>We entered Shelbyville at noon. There are more Union people here than at +Murfreesboro, and we saw many glad faces as we marched through the +streets. The band made the sky ring with music, and the regiment +deported splendidly. One old woman clapped her hands and thanked heaven +that we had come at last. Apparently almost wild with joy, she shouted +after us, "God be with you!"</p> + +<p>We went into camp on Duck river, one mile from the town.</p> + +<p>5. General Mitchell complimented me on the good behavior and good +appearance of the Third. He said it was the best regiment in his +division. At Bacon creek, Kentucky, he was particularly severe on us, +and attributed all our trouble to defective discipline and bad +management on the part of the officers. On the evening when the +acceptance of Marrow's resignation was read, the General was present. +After parade was dismissed, I shook hands with him and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> said: "General, +give us a little time and we will make the Third the best regiment in +your division." The old gentleman was glad to hear me say so, but smiled +dubiously. I am glad to have him acknowledge so soon that we have +fulfilled the promise.</p> + +<p>At Murfreesboro heavy details were made for bridge building, and one +day, while superintending the work, the General addressed the detail +from the Third in a very uncomplimentary way: "You lazy scoundrels, go +to work! Your regiment is the promptest in the division to report for +duty, but you will not work." At another time he gave an order to a +soldier which was not obeyed with sufficient alacrity, when he yelled: +"What regiment do you belong to?" "The Third." "Well, sir, I thought you +were one of the obstinate devils of that regiment." At another time he +rode into our camp, and the boys failed to rise at his approach, when he +reined in his horse suddenly and shouted: "Get up here, you lazy +scoundrels, and treat your superiors with respect!" Riding on a little +further, a private passed without touching his cap: "Hold on, here," +said the General, "don't you know how to salute a superior?" "Yes," +stammered the boy, "but I did not see you." "Hold up your head like a +soldier, and you will see me."</p> + +<p>One night I was making the rounds in the Second Ohio with the General. +The guard did not turn out promptly and he became angry; diving into the +guard-tent to rout them up, he ran against a big fellow so violently +that he was nearly thrown off his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> legs. This increased his fury, and +seizing the soldier by the coat collar he shook him roughly, and said: +"You insolent dog, I'll stand insolence from no man. Officer, put this +man under arrest immediately."</p> + +<p>On the same night the guard of the Thirty-third Ohio turned out slowly, +and some of them were found to have stolen off to their quarters. The +General was still in a bad humor. "Where is the officer of the day?" he +asked. "At his quarters, sir," replied a sergeant. "Present him the +compliments of the General commanding, and tell him if he does not come +to the guard-tent at once, I will send a file of soldiers after him." +The officer appeared very soon. I refer to these incidents to show +simply that the men of other regiments received reprimands as well as +those of my own.</p> + +<p>6. Late in the evening the officers of the regiment, with the string +band, started on a serenading expedition. After playing sundry airs and +singing divers songs, Ethiopian and otherwise, at the residence of a Mr. +Warren, Miss Julia Gurnie, sister of Mrs. Warren, appeared on the +veranda and made to us a very pretty Union speech. After a general +introduction to the family and a cordial reception, we bade them +good-night, and started for another portion of the village. On the way +thither we dropped into the store of a Mr. Armstrong, and imbibed rather +copiously of apple-jack, to protect us against the night air, which, by +the way, is always dangerous when apple-jack is convenient. After thus +fortifying ourselves, we proceeded to the residence of a Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> Storey. +His doors were thrown open, and we entered his parlors. Here we had the +honor to be introduced to Miss Storey, a handsome young lady, and +Lieutenant O'Brien, nephew of Parson Brownlow.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant O'Brien is an officer of the rebel army. He accompanied +Parson Brownlow to Nashville under a flag of truce, and has been +loitering on his way back until the present time. He wears the +Confederate gray, and when we entered the room was seated on the sofa +with Miss Storey. After being introduced in due form, I placed myself by +the young lady and endeavored to at least divide her attention with my +Confederate friend. The apple-jack dilated most engagingly on the +remarkable beauty of the evening, the pleasantness of the weather +generally, and the delightfulness of Shelbyville. There was a piano in +the room, and finally, after having occupied her attention jointly with +O'Brien for some time, I took the liberty to ask her to favor us with a +song; but she pleaded an awful cold, and asked to be excused. The +apple-jack excused her. The Storeys are pleasant people, and I trust +that, full as we were, we did nothing to lessen their respect for us.</p> + +<p>From Mr. Storey's we went to the house of Mr. Cooper, President of the +Shelbyville Bank, but were not invited in, the family having retired.</p> + +<p>Our last call was at the residence of Mr. Weasner, whilom member of the +Tennessee Legislature. The doors were here thrown open, and a cordial +invitation given us to enter. A pitcher of good wine was set out, and +soon after Miss Weasner, a very pretty young lady,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> appeared, and played +and sang many patriotic songs. When finally we bade this pleasant family +good night, it was bordering on the Sabbath, and we returned to camp.</p> + +<p>7. Colonel Kennett, at the head of three hundred cavalry, made a dash +into the country toward the Tennessee river, captured and destroyed a +train on a branch of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and +returned to camp to-night with fifteen prisoners.</p> + +<p>8. Party at Mr. Warren's, to which many of the officers have gone.</p> + +<p>9. Moved at six o'clock in the morning. Roads sloppy, and in many places +overflowed. Marched sixteen miles.</p> + +<p>10. Resumed the march at six o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Reached Fayetteville at noon. +Passed through the town and encamped one mile beyond. General Mitchell, +with Turchin's and Sill's brigades and two batteries, left for +Huntsville on our arrival.</p> + +<p>There are various and contradictory rumors afloat respecting the +condition of affairs at Shiloh. The rebel sympathizers here are jubilant +over what they claim is reliable intelligence, that our army has been +surprised and defeated. Another report, coming via Nashville, says that +a part of our army was terribly beaten on Sunday; but reinforcements +arriving on Monday, the rebels were driven back, and our losses of the +first day retrieved.</p> + +<p>A courier arrived about dark with dispatches for General Mitchell; but +they were forwarded to him unopened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>13. Confused and unsatisfactory accounts still reach us of the great +battle at Pittsburg Landing.</p> + +<p>It is strange what fortune, good or ill, our division has had. Taking +the lead at Green river, we doubted not that a battle awaited us at +Bowling Green. In advance again on the march to Nashville, we were sure +of fighting when we reached that place. Starting again, the division +pushed on alone to Murfreesboro, Shelbyville, Fayetteville, and finally +to Huntsville and Decatur, Alabama, at each place expecting a battle, +and yet meeting with no opposition. With but one division upon this +line, we looked for hard work and great danger, and yet have found +neither. As we advanced the honors we expected to win have receded or +gone elsewhere, to be snatched up by other divisions. The boys say the +Third is fated never to see a battle; that the Third Ohio in Mexico saw +no fighting; that there is something magical in the number which +preserves it from all danger.</p> + +<p>14. The Fifteenth Kentucky remains here. The Third and Tenth Ohio moved +at three in the afternoon. Roads bad and progress slow. Bivouacked for +the night near a distillery. Many of the men drunk; the Tenth Ohio +particularly wild.</p> + +<p>15. Resumed the march at six in the morning. Passed the plantation of +Leonidas Polk Walker. He is said to be the wealthiest man in North +Alabama. His domain extends for fifteen miles along the road. The +overseer's house and the negro huts near it make quite a village.</p> + +<p>Met a good many young men returning from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> Corinth and Pittsburg Landing. +Quite a number of them had been in the Sunday's battle, and, being +wounded, had been sent back to Huntsville. General Mitchell had captured +and released them on parole. Some had their heads bandaged, others their +arms, while others, unable to walk, were conveyed in wagons. As they +passed, our men made many good-natured remarks, as, "Well, boys, you're +tired of soldiering, ar'n't you?" "Goin' home on furlough, eh?" "Played +out." "Another bold soger boy!" "See the soger!"</p> + +<p>At one point a hundred or more colored people, consisting of men, women, +and children, flocked to the roadside. The band struck up, and they +accompanied the regiment for a mile or more, crowding and jostling each +other in their endeavors to keep abreast of the music. The boys were +wonderfully amused, and addressed to the motley troupe all the commands +known to the volunteer service: "Steady on the right;" "Guide center;" +"Forward, double quick."</p> + +<p>Reached Huntsville at five in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>16. Just after sunset Colonel Keifer and I strolled into the town, +stopped at the hotel for a moment, where we saw a rebel officer in his +gray uniform running about on parole. Visited the railroad depot, where +some two hundred rebels are confined. The prisoners were variously +engaged; some chatting, others playing cards, while a few of a more +devotional turn were singing</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Come thou fount of every blessing"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Come thou fount of every blessing,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Tune my heart to sing thy praise."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>By his timely arrival General Mitchell cut a division of rebel troops in +two. Four thousand got by, and were thus enabled to join the rebel army +at Corinth, while about the same number were obliged to return to +Chattanooga.</p> + +<p>20. At Decatur. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad crosses the +Tennessee river at this point. The town is a dilapidated old concern, as +ugly as Huntsville is handsome.</p> + +<p>There is a canebrake near the camp, and every soldier in the regiment +has provided himself with a fishing-rod; very long, straight, beautiful +rods they are, too.</p> + +<p>The white rebel, who has done his utmost to bring about the rebellion, +is lionized, called a plucky fellow, a great man, while the negro, who +welcomes us, who is ready to peril his life to aid us, is kicked, +cuffed, and driven back to his master, there to be scourged for his +kindness to us. Billy, my servant, tells me that a colored man was +whipped to death by a planter who lives near here, for giving +information to our men. I do not doubt it. We worm out of these poor +creatures a knowledge of the places where stores are secreted, or compel +them to serve as guides, and then turn them out to be scourged or +murdered. There must be a change in this regard before we shall be +worthy of success.</p> + +<p>21. A detachment went to Somerville yesterday. While searching for +buried arms forty-two hundred dollars, in gold, silver, and bank-notes, +were found.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> The money is, undoubtedly, private property, and will, I +presume, be returned to the owner.</p> + +<p>Fine, large fish are caught in the Tennessee. We have a buffalo for +supper—a good sort of fish—weighing six pounds.</p> + +<p>General Mitchell has been made a Major-General. He is a deserving +officer. No other man with so few troops has ventured so far into the +enemy's country, and accomplished so much. Battles if they result +favorably are great helps to the cause, but the general who by a bold +dash accomplishes equally <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'imporant'">important</ins> results, without loss of life, is +entitled to as great praise certainly as he who fights and wins a +victory.</p> + +<p>Colonel Keifer and I have been on horseback most of the afternoon, +examining all the roads leading from Decatur. On our way back to camp we +called at Mr. Rather's. He was a member of the Alabama Senate, favored +the secession movement, but claims now to be heartily sorry for it. He +received us cordially; introduced us <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'to to'">to</ins> Mrs. Rather, brought in wine of +his own manufacture, and urged us to drink heartily.</p> + +<p>23. A beautiful day has gone by and a beautiful starlit night has come. +The camp is very still. The melody of the frog, if melody it can be +called, and the ripple of the Tennessee, are the only sounds to be +heard. Thoughts of home and the quiet evenings; of youth and the gay +visions; of the thousand and one pleasant scenes in life; of what we +might have been and where we might have been, had the cards of our life +been shuffled differently; of the deeds we might do, if peradventure the +opportunity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> were offered, and the little we have done; all come up +to-night, and we chew the cud over and over, without being able to +determine whether it is bitter or sweet.</p> + +<p>The enemy, three hundred strong, made a dash on our picket last night, +wounded one man, and made an unsuccessful effort to retake a bridge.</p> + +<p>24. Our forces are on the alert. I lay down in my clothes last night, or +rather this morning, for it was between one and two o'clock when I +retired. The division is stretched over a hundred miles of railway, but +in position to concentrate in a few hours.</p> + +<p>Before leaving this place, the rebels built a cotton fort, using in its +construction probably five hundred bales.</p> + +<p>To-day we filled the bridge over the Tennessee with combustible +material, and put it in condition to burn readily, in case we find it +necessary to retire to the north side.</p> + +<p>A man with his son and two daughters arrived to-night from Chattanooga, +having come all the way—one hundred and fifty miles probably—in a +small skiff.</p> + +<p>25. Price, with ten thousand men, is reported advancing from Memphis. +Turchin had a skirmish with his advance guard near Tuscumbia.</p> + +<p>26. Turchin's brigade returned from Tuscumbia and crossed the Tennessee.</p> + +<p>27. The Tenth and Third crossed to the north side of the river, and +Lieutenant-Colonel Burke of the Tenth applied the torch to the bridge; +in a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> minutes the fire extended along its whole length, and as we +marched away, the flames were hissing among its timbers, and the smoke +hung like a cloud above it.</p> + +<p>28. Ordered to move to Stevenson. Took a freight train and proceeded to +Bellefonte, where we found a bridge had been burned; leaving the cars we +marched until twelve o'clock at night, and then bivouacked on the +railroad track.</p> + +<p>29. Resumed the march at daylight; one mile beyond Stevenson we found +the Ninth Brigade, Colonel Sill, in line of battle; formed the Third in +support of Loomis' Battery, and remained in this position until two in +the afternoon, when General Mitchell arrived and ordered the Ninth +Brigade, Loomis' Battery and my regiment to move forward. At Widow's +creek we met a detachment of the enemy; a few shots from the battery and +a volley from our skirmish line drove it back, and we hastened on toward +Bridgeport, exchanging shots occasionally with the enemy on the way.</p> + +<p>About five o'clock we formed in line of battle, on high ground in the +woods, one-half mile from Bridgeport, the Third having the right of the +column, and moved steadily forward until we came in sight of the town +and the enemy. The order to double quick was then given, and we dashed +into the village on a run. The enemy stood for a moment and then left as +fast as legs could carry him; in fact he departed in such haste that but +few muskets and one shot from a six pound gun were fired at us; one +piece of his ar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>tillery was found still loaded. We captured fifty +prisoners, a number of horses, two pieces of artillery and many muskets. +The bridge over the Tennessee had already been filled with combustible +material, and when the rear of the rebel column passed over the match +was applied; the fire extended rapidly, and we found it impossible to +proceed further.</p> + +<p>The fright of the enemy was so great that, after getting beyond the +river a mile or more, he threw away over a thousand muskets, and +abandoned every thing that could impede his flight. Unfortunately, +however, before a raft could be constructed to convey our troops across +the river, the rebels recovered from their panic, backed down a railroad +train, and gathered up most of their arms and camp equipage.</p> + +<p>A little more coolness on the part of our troops would have enabled us +to capture twenty-five or thirty cavalrymen, who came riding into +Bridgeport, supposing it to be still in the hands of their friends. As +they approached, a few scattering shots were fired at them by the +excited soldiers, when they wheeled and succeeded in making their +escape.</p> + +<p>30. The troops are short of provisions; there is a grist mill near, but +the owner claims that it is out of repair, and can not be put in running +order for some days, as part of the machinery is missing. On inquiry, I +found that the owner of the mill was a rebel, and that the missing +machinery had probably been hidden by himself. I therefore said to him +that if he did not have the mill going by noon, I would burn it down;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +by ten o'clock it was running, and at three in the afternoon we had an +abundance of corn meal.</p> + +<p>A detachment of the Third under Colonel Keifer crossed the river and +reconnoitered the country beyond. It found no enemy, but returned to +camp with an abundance of bacon—an article very greatly needed by our +troops.</p> + +<p>Started at nine o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> for Stevenson; marched all night. Whenever +we stopped on the way to rest, the boys would fall asleep on the +roadside, and we found much difficulty in getting them through.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MAY_1862" id="MAY_1862"></a>MAY, 1862.</h2> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<p>1. Moved to Bellefonte.</p> + +<p>2. Took the cars for Huntsville.</p> + +<p>At Paint Rock the train was fired upon, and six or eight men wounded. As +soon as it could be done, I had the train stopped, and, taking a file of +soldiers, returned to the village. The telegraph line had been cut, and +the wire was lying in the street. Calling the citizens together, I said +to them that this bushwhacking must cease. The Federal troops had +tolerated it already too long. Hereafter every time the telegraph wire +was cut we would burn a house; every time a train was fired upon we +should hang a man; and we would continue to do this until every house +was burned and every man hanged between Decatur and Bridgeport. If they +wanted to fight they should enter the army, meet us like honorable men, +and not, assassin-like, fire at us from the woods and run. We proposed +to hold the citizens responsible for these cowardly assaults, and if +they did not drive these bushwhackers from amongst them, we should make +them more uncomfortable than they would be in hell. I then set fire to +the town, took three citizens with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> me, returned to the train, and +proceeded to Huntsville.</p> + +<p>Paint Rock has long been a rendezvous for bushwhackers and bridge +burners. One of the men taken is a notorious guerrilla, and was of the +party that made the dash on our wagon train at Nashville.</p> + +<p>The week has been an active one. On last Saturday night I slept a few +hours on the bridge at Decatur. The next night I bivouacked in a cotton +field; the next I lay from midnight until four in the morning on the +railroad track; the next I slept at Bridgeport on the soft side of a +board, and on the return to Stevenson I did not sleep at all. My health +is excellent.</p> + +<p>5. Captain Cunard was sent yesterday to Paint Rock to arrest certain +parties suspected of burning bridges, tearing up the railroad track, and +bushwhacking soldiers. To-day he returned with twenty-six prisoners.</p> + +<p>General Mitchell is well pleased with my action in the Paint Rock +matter. The burning of the town has created a sensation, and is spoken +of approvingly by the officers and enthusiastically by the men. It is +the inauguration of the true policy, and the only one that will preserve +us from constant annoyance.</p> + +<p>The General rode into our camp this evening, and made us a stirring +speech, in which he dilated upon the rapidity of our movements and the +invincibility of our division.</p> + +<p>8. The road to Shelbyville is unsafe for small parties. Guerrilla bands +are very active. Two or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> three of our supply trains have been captured +and destroyed. Detachments are sent out every day to capture or disperse +these citizen cut-throats.</p> + +<p>10. Have been appointed President of a Board of Administration for the +post of Huntsville. After an ineffectual effort to get the members of +the Board together, I concluded to spend a day out of camp, the first +for more than six months; so I strolled over to the hotel, took a bath, +ate dinner, smoked, read, and slept until supper time, dispatched that +meal, and returned to my quarters in the cool of the evening.</p> + +<p>We have in our camp a superabundance of negroes. One of these, a +Georgian, belonged to a captain of rebel cavalry, and fell into our +hands at Bridgeport. Since that affair he has attached himself to me. +The other negroes I do not know. In fact they are too numerous to +mention. Whence they came or whither they are going it is impossible to +say. They lie around contentedly, and are delighted when we give them an +opportunity to serve us. All the colored people of Alabama are anxious +to go "wid yer and wait on you folks." There are not fifty negroes in +the South who would not risk their lives for freedom. The man who +affirms that they are contented and happy, and do not desire to escape, +is either a falsifier or a fool.</p> + +<p>11. Attended divine service with Captain McDougal at the Presbyterian +Church. The edifice is very fine. The audience was small; the sermon +tolerable. Troubles, the preacher said, were sent to discipline us. The +army was of God; they should,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> therefore, submit to it, not as slaves, +but as Christians, just as they submitted to other distasteful and +calamitous dispensations.</p> + +<p>12. My letters from home have fallen into the hands of John Morgan. The +envelopes were picked up in the road and forwarded to me. My wife should +feel encouraged. It is not every body's letters that are pounced upon at +midnight, taken at the point of the bayonet, and read by the flickering +light of the camp-fire.</p> + +<p>Moved at two o'clock this afternoon. Reached Athens after nightfall, and +bivouacked on the Fair Ground.</p> + +<p>13. Marched to Elk river. A great many negroes from the neighboring +plantations came to see us, among them an elderly colored man, whose +sanctimonious bearing indicated that he was a minister of the Gospel. +The boys insisted that he should preach to them, and, after some +hesitation, the old man mounted a stump, lined a hymn from memory, sang +it, and then commenced his discourse. He had not proceeded very far when +he uttered this sentence: "De good Lord He hab called me to preach de +Gospil. Many sinners hab been wakened by my poor words to de new life. +De Lord He hab been very kind to me, an' I can nebber pay Him fur all He +done fur me."</p> + +<p>"Never pay the Lord?" broke in the boys; "never pay the Lord? Oh! you +wicked nigger! Just hear him! He says he is never going to pay the +Lord!"</p> + +<p>The preacher endeavored to explain: the kindness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> and mercy of the Lord +had been so great that it was impossible for a poor sinner to make any +sufficient return; but the boys would accept no explanation. "Here," +they shouted, "is a nigger who will not pay the Lord!" and they groaned +and cried, "Oh! Oh!" and swore that they never saw so wicked a man +before. Fortunately for the poor colored man, a Dutchman began to +interrogate him in broken English, and the two soon fell into a +discussion of some point in theology, when the boys espoused the negro's +side of the question, and insisted that the Dutchman was no match for +him in argument. Finally, by groans and hisses, they compelled the +Dutchman to abandon the controversy, leaving the colored man well +pleased that he had vanquished his opponent and re-established himself +in the good opinion of his hearers.</p> + +<p>14. Resumed the march at two o'clock in the morning, and proceeded to a +point known as the Lower Ferry. Ascertaining here that the enemy had +recrossed the Tennessee, and was pushing southward, we abandoned pursuit +and turned to retrace our steps to Huntsville. Leaving the regiment in +command of Colonel Keifer, I accompanied General Mitchell on the return, +and reached camp a little after dark.</p> + +<p>16. Appointed Provost Marshal of the city. Have been busy hearing all +sorts of complaints, signing passes for all sorts of persons, sending +guards to this and that place in the city, and doing the numerous other +things necessary to be done in a city under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> martial law. Captain +Mitchell and Lieutenant Wilson are my assistants, and, in fact, do most +of the work. The citizens say I am the youngest Governor they ever had.</p> + +<p>17. Captain Mitchell and I were invited to a strawberry supper at Judge +Lane's. Found General Mitchell and staff, Colonel Kennett, +Lieutenant-Colonel Birdsall, and Captain Loomis, of the army, there. Mr. +and Mrs. Judge Lane, Colonel and Major Davis, and a general, whose name +I can not recall, were the only citizens present. General Mitchell +monopolized the conversation. He was determined to make all understand +that he was the greatest of living soldiers. Had his counsel prevailed, +the Confederacy would have been knocked to pieces long ago. The evening +was a very pleasant one.</p> + +<p>A few days ago we had John Morgan utterly annihilated; but he seems to +have gathered up the dispersed atoms and rebuilt himself. In the +destruction of our supply trains he imagines, doubtless, that he is +inflicting a great injury upon our division; but he is mistaken. The +bread and meat we fail to get from the loyal States are made good to us +from the smoke-houses and granaries of the disloyal. Our boys find +Alabama hams better than Uncle Sam's sidemeat, and fresh bread better +than hard crackers. So that every time this dashing cavalryman destroys +a provision train, their hearts are gladdened, and they shout "Bully for +Morgan!"</p> + +<p>19. Rumor says that Richmond is in the hands of our troops; and from the +same source we learn that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> a large force of the enemy is between us and +Nashville. Fifteen hundred mounted men were within seventeen miles of +Huntsville yesterday. A regiment with four pieces of artillery, under +command of Colonel Lytle, was sent toward Fayetteville to look after +them.</p> + +<p>20. The busiest time in the Provost Marshal's office is between eight +o'clock in the morning and noon. Then many persons apply for passes to +go outside the lines and for guards to protect property. Others come to +make complaints that houses have been broken open, or that horses, dogs, +and negroes, have strayed away or been stolen.</p> + +<p>23. The men of Huntsville have settled down to a patient endurance of +military rule. They say but little, and treat us with all politeness. +The women, however, are outspoken in their hostility, and marvelously +bitter. A flag of truce came in last night from Chattanooga, and the +bearers were overwhelmed with visits and favors from the ladies. When +they took supper at the Huntsville Hotel, the large dining-room was +crowded with fair faces and bright eyes; but the men prudently held +aloof.</p> + +<p>A day or two ago one of our Confederate prisoners died. The ladies +filled the hearse to overflowing with flowers, and a large number of +them accompanied the soldier to his last resting-place.</p> + +<p>The foolish, yet absolute, devotion of the women to the Southern cause +does much to keep it alive. It encourages, nay forces, the young to +enter the army, and compels them to continue what the more sensible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +Southerners know to be a hopeless struggle. But we must not judge these +Huntsville women too harshly. Here are the families of many of the +leading men of Alabama; of generals, colonels, majors, captains, and +lieutenants in the Confederate army; of men, even, who hold cabinet +positions at Richmond, and of many young men who are clerks in the +departments of the rebel Government. Their wives, daughters, sisters, +and sweethearts feel, doubtless, that the honor of these gentlemen, and +possibly their lives, depend upon the success of the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>To-day two young negro men from Jackson county came in with their wives. +They were newly married, and taking their wedding journey. The vision of +a better and higher life had lured them from the old plantation where +they were born. At midnight they had stolen quietly away, plodded many +weary miles on foot, confident that the rainbow and the bag of gold were +in the camp of the Federal army.</p> + +<p>25. This in-door life has made me ill. I am as yellow as an orange. The +doctors say I have the jaundice.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JUNE_1862" id="JUNE_1862"></a>JUNE, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>3. Have requested General Mitchell to relieve me from duty as Provost +Marshal; am now wholly unfit to do business.</p> + +<p>We have heard of the evacuation of Corinth. The simple withdrawal of the +enemy amounts to but little, if anything; he still lives, is organized +and ready to do battle on some other field.</p> + +<p>5. Go home on sick leave.</p> + +<div class='center'>* * * * *</div> + +<p>25. There were three little girls on the Louisville packet, about the +age of my own children. They were great romps. I said to one, "what is +your name?" She replied "Pudin' an' tame." So I called her Pudin', and +she became very angry, so angry indeed that she cried. The other little +girls laughed heartily, and called her Pudin' also, and then asked my +name. I answered John Smith; they insisted then that Pudin' was my wife, +and called her Pudin' Smith. This made Pudin' furious, and she abused +her companions and me terribly; but John Smith invested a little money +in cherries, and thus pacified Pudin', and so got to Louisville without +getting his hair pulled. I saw no more of Pudin' until she got off the +cars at Elizabethtown. Going up to her, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> shook hands, and I said, +"Good-by, Pudin'." She hung her head for a moment, and tried to look +angry, but finally breaking into a laugh she said, "I don't like you at +all any way, good-by."</p> + +<p>27. Reached Huntsville. The regiment in good condition, boys well; +weather hot. General Buell arrived last night. McCook's Division is +here; Nelson, Crittenden, and Wood on the road hither.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JULY_1862" id="JULY_1862"></a>JULY, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>2. We know, or think we know, that a great battle has been fought near +Richmond, but the result for some reason is withheld. We speculate, +talk, and compare notes, but this makes us only the more eager for +definite information.</p> + +<p>I am almost as well as ever, not quite so strong, but a few days will +make me right again.</p> + +<p>3. It is exceedingly dull; we are resting as quietly and leisurely as we +could at home. There are no drills, and no expeditions. The army is +holding its breath in anxiety to hear from Richmond. If McClellan has +been whipped, the country must in time know it; if successful, it would +be rejoiced to hear it. Why, therefore, should the particulars, and even +the result of the fighting, be suppressed. Rumor gives us a thousand +conflicting stories of the battle, but rumor has many tongues and lies +with all.</p> + +<p>General Mitchell departed for Washington yesterday.</p> + +<p>The rebels at Chattanooga claim that McClellan has been terribly +whipped, and fired guns along their whole line, within hearing of our +troops, in honor of the victory.</p> + +<p>A lieutenant of the Nineteenth Illinois, who fell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> into the enemy's +hands, has just returned on parole, and claims to have seen a dispatch +from the Adjutant-General of the Southern Confederacy, stating that +McClellan had been defeated and his army cut to pieces. He believes it.</p> + +<p>My horse is as fat as a stall-fed ox. He has had a very easy time during +my absence.</p> + +<p>To-morrow is the Fourth, hitherto glorious, but now, like to-day's +meridian sun, clouded, and sending out a somewhat uncertain light. Has +the great experiment failed? Shall we hail the Fourth as the birthday of +a great Nation, or weep over it as the beginning of a political +enterprise which resulted in dissolution, anarchy and ruin? Let us lift +up our eyes and be hopeful. The dawn may be even now breaking.</p> + +<p>The boys propose to have a barbecue to-morrow, and roast a corpulent, +good-natured Ethiopian, named Cæsar. They are now discussing the matter +very voluminously, in Cæsar's presence. He thinks they are probably +joking; but still they seem to be greatly in earnest, and he knows +little of these Yankees, and thinks maybe his "massa tole him de truff +about dem, after all." "The Fourth is a great day," the boys go on to +say, "whereon Yankees always dine on roast nigger. It is a part of their +religion. It is this which makes colored folks so scarce in the North." +Shall Cæsar be stuffed or not? That is really the only question. One +party claims that if Cæsar be stuffed with vegetables and nicely +roasted, he will be delicious. The other party insists that Cæsar is +suffi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>ciently stuffed already; vegetables would not improve him. They +have eaten roast nigger both ways and know. So the discussion waxes hot, +and the dusky Alabamian has some fear, even, that his last day may be +drawing very near.</p> + +<p>4. Thirty-four guns were fired at noon.</p> + +<p>5. An Atlanta paper of the 1st instant says the Confederates have won a +decisive victory at Richmond. No Northern papers have been allowed to +come into camp.</p> + +<p>6. McCook moved toward Chattanooga. General W. S. Smith has command of +our division.</p> + +<p>The boys have a great many game chickens. Not long ago Company G, of the +Third, and Company G, of the Tenth, had a rooster fight, the stakes +being fifteen dollars a side. After numerous attacks, retreats, charges, +and counter-charges, the Tenth rooster succumbed like a hero, and the +other was carried in triumph from the field. General Mitchell made his +appearance near the scene at the conclusion of the conflict; but, +supposing the crowd to be an enthusiastic lot of soldiers who were +cheering him, passed on, well pleased with them and himself.</p> + +<p>The boys have a variety of information from Richmond to-day. One party +affirms that McClellan has been cut to pieces; that a dispatch to that +effect has been received by General Buell. Another insists that he has +obtained a decided advantage, and is heating the shot to burn Richmond; +while still another affirms that he has utterly destroyed Richmond,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +and, Marius-like, is sitting amid the ruins of that ill-fated city, +eating sow belly and doe-christers.</p> + +<p>7. Am detailed to serve on court-martial.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="DETAIL FOR THE COURT"> +<tr><td align='center'><span class="smcap">DETAIL FOR THE COURT.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General James A. Garfield.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel Jacob Ammen.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel Curren Pope.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel Jones.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel Marc Mundy.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel Sedgewick.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel John Beatty.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Convened at Athens at ten o'clock this morning. Organized and adjourned +to meet at ten to-morrow.</p> + +<p>General Buell proposes, I understand, to give General Mitchell's +administration of affairs in North Alabama a thorough overhauling. It is +asserted that the latter has been interested in cotton speculations; but +investigation, I am well satisfied, will show that General Mitchell has +been strictly honest, and has done nothing to compromise his honor, or +cast even the slightest shadow upon his good name.</p> + +<p>The first case to be tried is that of Colonel J. B. Turchin, Nineteenth +Illinois. He is charged with permitting his command, the Eighth Brigade, +to steal, rob, and commit all manner of outrages.</p> + +<p>10. Our court has been adjourning from day to day, until Colonel Turchin +should succeed in procuring counsel; but it is now in full blast.</p> + +<p>Nelson's division is quartered here. The town is enveloped in a dense +cloud of dust.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>14. There are many wealthy planters in this section. One of the +witnesses before our court has a cotton crop on hand worth sixty +thousand dollars. Another swears that Turchin's brigade robbed him of +twelve hundred dollars' worth of silver plate.</p> + +<p>Turchin's brigade has stolen a hundred thousand dollars' worth of +watches, plate, and jewelry, in Northern Alabama. Turchin has gone to +one extreme, for war can not justify the gutting of private houses and +the robbery of peaceable citizens, for the benefit of individual +officers or soldiers; but there is another extreme, more amiable and +pleasant to look upon, but not less fatal to the cause. Buell is likely +to go to that. He is inaugurating the dancing-master policy: "By your +leave, my dear sir, we will have a fight; that is, if you are +sufficiently fortified; no hurry; take your own time." To the +bushwhacker: "Am sorry you gentlemen fire at our trains from behind +stumps, logs, and ditches. Had you not better cease this sort of +warfare? Now do, my good fellows, stop, I beg of you." To the citizen +rebel: "You are a chivalrous people; you have been aggravated by the +abolitionists into subscribing cotton to the Southern Confederacy; you +had, of course, a right to dispose of your own property to suit +yourselves, but we prefer that you would, in future, make no more +subscriptions of that kind, and in the meantime we propose to protect +your property and guard your negroes." Turchin's policy is bad enough; +it may indeed be the policy of the devil; but Buell's policy is that of +the amiable idiot. There is a better policy than either.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> It will +neither steal nor maraud; it will do nothing for the sake of individual +gain, and, on the other hand, it will not crouch to rebels; it will not +fear to hurt the feelings of traitors; it will not fritter away the army +and the revenue of the Government in the insane effort to protect men +who have forfeited all right to protection. The policy we need is one +that will march boldly, defiantly, through the rebel States, indifferent +as to whether this traitor's cotton is safe, or that traitor's negroes +run away; calling things by their right names; crushing those who have +aided and abetted treason, whether in the army or out. In short, we want +an iron policy that will not tolerate treason; that will demand +immediate and unconditional obedience as the price of protection.</p> + +<p>15. The post at Murfreesboro, occupied by two regiments of infantry and +one battery, under Crittenden, of Indiana, has surrendered to the enemy. +A bridge and a portion of the railroad track between this place and +Pulaski have been destroyed. A large rebel force is said to be north of +the Tennessee. It crossed the river at Chattanooga.</p> + +<p>18. The star of the Confederacy appears to be rising, and I doubt not it +will continue to ascend until the rose-water policy now pursued by the +Northern army is superseded by one more determined and vigorous. We +should look more to the interests of the North, and less to those of the +South. We should visit on the aiders, abettors, and supporters of the +Southern army somewhat of the severity which hitherto has been aimed at +that army only. Who are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> most deserving of our leniency, those who take +arms and go to the field, or those who remain at home, raising corn, +oats, and bacon to subsist them? Plain people, who know little of +constitutional hair-splitting, could decide this question only one way; +but it seems those who have charge of our armies can not decide it in +any sensible way. They say: "You would not disturb peaceable citizens by +levying contributions from them?" Why not? If the husbands, brothers, +and fathers of these people, their natural leaders and guardians, do not +care for them, why should we? If they disregard and trample upon that +law which gave all protection, and plunge the country into war, why +should we be perpetually hindered and thwarted in our efforts to secure +peace by our care <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'fo'">for</ins> those whom they have abandoned? If we make <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'th'">the</ins> +country through which we pass furnish supplies to our army, the +inhabitants will have less to furnish our enemies. The surplus products +of the country should be gathered into the Federal granaries, so that +they could not, by possibility, go to feed the rebels. The loyal and +innocent might occasionally and for the present suffer, but peace when +once <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'establshed'">established</ins> would afford ample opportunity to investigate and repay +these sufferers. Shall we continue to protect the property of our +enemies, and lose the lives of our friends? It is said that it is hard +to deprive men of their horses, cattle, grain, simply because they +differ from us in opinion; but is it not harder still to deprive men of +their lives for the same reason? The opinions from which we differ in +this instance are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> treasonable. The man who, of his own free will, +supplies the wood is no whit better than he who kindles the fire; and +the man who supplies the ammunition neither better nor worse than he who +does the killing. The severest punishment should be inflicted upon the +soldier who appropriates either private or public property to his own +use; but the Government should lay its mailed hand upon treasonable +communities, and teach them that war is no holiday pastime.</p> + +<p>19. Returned to Huntsville this afternoon; General Garfield with me. He +will visit our quarters to-morrow and dine with us.</p> + +<p>General Rousseau has been assigned to the command of our division. I am +glad to hear that he discards the rose-water policy of General Buell +under his nose, and is a great deal more thorough and severe in his +treatment of rebels than General Mitchell. He sent the Rev. Mr. Ross to +jail to-day for preaching a secession sermon last Sunday. He damns the +rebel sympathizers, and says if the negro stands in the way of the Union +he must get out. Rousseau is a Kentuckian, and it is very encouraging to +learn that he talks as he does.</p> + +<p>Turchin has been made a brigadier.</p> + +<p>21. An order issued late last evening transferring our court from Athens +to Huntsville.</p> + +<p>Colonel Turchin's case is still before us. No official notice of his +promotion has been communicated to the court.</p> + +<p>23. Garfield and Ammen are our guests. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> are sitting with Colonel +Keifer, in the open air, in front of our tent. We have eaten supper, and +Colonel Ammen has the floor; he always has it. He is somewhat +superstitious. He never likes to see the moon through brush. He is to +some extent a believer in dreams. On one occasion he dreamed that his +father, who was drowned, came up from the muddy water, looked angrily at +him, and endeavored to stab him with a rusty knife. In his effort to +escape he awoke. Falling to sleep again, his father reappeared and made +a second attempt to stab him. This so thoroughly aroused and troubled +him that he could not sleep. In the morning he told this dream to a +friend, and was informed that two members of his family would soon die. +Soon after he was summoned home, when he found his mother dead and his +sister dying of cholera. At another time he felt a sharp pain in the +back of his neck, and was impressed with the idea that he had been shot. +Soon afterward he learned that his brother in the South had been shot in +the back of the neck and killed. He believes that his own sensation of +pain was experienced at the very instant when his brother received the +fatal wound; but as he could not remember the precise hour when he was +startled by the disagreeable impression, he could not be positive that +the occurrences were simultaneous. When going into battle at Greenbrier +and at Shiloh, the belief that his time to die had not come rendered him +cool and fearless. He never felt more at ease or more secure. So when, +at two different times, he was very ill, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> informed that he could not +live through the night, he felt absolutely sure that he would recover.</p> + +<p>Garfield had a very impressionable relative. The night before his fight +with Humphrey Marshall, she wrote a very accurate general description of +the battle, giving the position of the troops; referring to the +reinforcements which came up, and the great shout with which they were +welcomed.</p> + +<p>These mysterious impressions suggested the existence of an undiscovered, +or possibly an undeveloped principle in nature, which time and +investigation would ultimately make familiar.</p> + +<p>Colonel Ammen says, "If superstition, or a belief in the supernatural, +is an indication of weakness, Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott were the +weakest of men."</p> + +<p>With General Garfield I called on General Rousseau this morning. He is a +larger and handsomer man than Mitchell, but I think lacks the latter's +energy, culture, system, and industry.</p> + +<p>24. We can not boast of what is occurring in this department. The tide +seems to have set against us every-where. The week of battles before +Richmond was a week of defeats. I trust the new policy indicated by the +confiscation act, just passed by Congress, will have good effect. It +will, at least, enable us to weaken the enemy, as we have not thus far +done, and strengthen ourselves, as we have hitherto not been able to do. +Slavery is the enemy's weak point, the key to his position. If we can +tear down this institution, the rebels will lose all interest in the +Confed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>eracy, and be too glad to escape with their lives, to be very +particular about what they call their rights.</p> + +<p>Colonel Ammen has just received notice of his confirmation as brigadier. +He is a strange combination of simplicity and wisdom, full of good +stories, and tells those against himself with a great deal more pleasure +than any others.</p> + +<p>Colonels Turchin, Mihalotzy, Gazley, and Captain Edgerton form a group +by the window; all are smoking vigorously, and speculating probably on +the result of the present and prospective trials. Mihalotzy is what is +commonly termed "Dutch;" but whether he is from the German States, +Russia, Prussia, or Poland, I know not.</p> + +<p>Ammen left camp early this morning, saying he would go to town and see +if he could find an idea, he was pretty nearly run out. He talks +incessantly; his narratives abound in episode, parenthesis, switches, +side-cuts, and before he gets through, one will conclude a dozen times +that he has forgotten the tale he entered upon, but he never does.</p> + +<p>Colonel Stanley, Eighteenth Ohio, has just come in. He has in his time +been a grave and reverend senator of Ohio; he never loses sight of this +fact, and never fails to impress it upon those with whom he comes in +contact.</p> + +<p>An order has just been issued, and is now being circulated among the +members of the court, purporting to come from General Ammen, and signed +with his name. It recites the fact of his promotion, and forbids any one +hereafter to call him Uncle Jacob,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> that title being entirely too +familiar and undignified for one of his rank. All who violate the order +are threatened with the direst punishment.</p> + +<p>The General says if such orders please the court, he will not object to +their being issued; it certainly requires but very little ability to get +them up.</p> + +<p>The General prides himself on what he calls delicate irony. He says, in +the town of Ripley, men who can not manage a dray successfully criticise +the conduct of this and that general with great severity; when they +appeal to him, he tells them quietly he has not the capacity to judge of +such matters; it requires a great mind and a thorough understanding of +all the circumstances.</p> + +<p>After all I have said about General Ammen, it is hardly necessary to +remark that he does most of the talking.</p> + +<p>To-day Garfield and Keifer, who of course entertain the kindliest +feelings, and the greatest respect for the General, in a spirit of fun, +entered into a conspiracy against him. They proposed for one night to do +all the talking themselves, and not allow him to edge in even a word. +After supper Garfield was to commence with the earliest incidents of his +childhood, and without allowing himself to be interrupted, continue +until he had given a complete narrative of his life and adventures; then +Keifer was to strike in and finish up the night. General Ammen was not +to be permitted to open his mouth except to yawn.</p> + +<p>We ate supper and immediately adjourned to the adjoining tent. Before +Garfield was fairly seated on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> his camp stool, he began to talk with the +easy and deliberate manner of a man who had much to say. He dwelt +eloquently on the minutest details of his early life, as if they were +matters of the utmost importance. Keifer was not only an attentive +listener, but seemed wonderfully interested. Uncle Jacob undertook to +thrust in a word here and there, but Garfield was too much absorbed to +notice him, and so pushed on steadily, warming up as he proceeded. +Unfortunately for his scheme, however, before he had gone far he made a +touching reference to his mother, when Uncle Jacob, gesticulating +energetically, and with his forefinger leveled at the speaker, cried: +"Just a word—just one word right there," and so persisted until +Garfield was compelled either to yield or be absolutely discourteous. +The General, therefore, got in his word; nay, he held the floor for the +remainder of the evening. The conspirators made brave efforts to put him +down and cut him off, but they were unsuccessful. At midnight, when +Keifer and I left, he was still talking; and after we had got into bed, +he, with his suspenders dangling about his legs, thrust his head into +our tent-door, and favored us with the few observations we had lost by +reason of our hasty departure. Keifer turned his face to the wall and +groaned. Poor man! he had been hoisted by his own petard. I think Uncle +Jacob suspected that the young men had set up a job on him.</p> + +<p>The regiment went on a foraging expedition yesterday, under Colonel +Keifer, and was some fifteen miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> from Huntsville, in the direction of +the Tennessee river.</p> + +<p>At one o'clock last night our picket was confronted by about one hundred +and fifty of the enemy's cavalry; but no shots were exchanged.</p> + +<p>29. The rebel cavalry were riding in the mountains south of us last +night. A heavy mounted patrol of our troops was making the rounds at +midnight. There was some picket firing along toward morning; but nothing +occurred of importance.</p> + +<p>Our forces are holding the great scope of country between Memphis and +Bridgeport, guarding bridges, railroads, and towns, frittering away the +strength of a great army, and wasting our men by permitting them to be +picked up in detail. In short, we put down from fifty to one hundred, +here and there, at points convenient to the enemy, as bait for them. +They take the bait frequently, and always when they run no risk of being +caught. The climate, and the insane effort to garrison the whole +country, consumes our troops, and we make no progress. May the good Lord +be with us, and deliver us from idleness and imbecility; and especially, +O! Lord, grant a little every-day sense—that very common sense which +plain people use in the management of their business affairs—to the +illustrious generals who have our armies in hand!</p> + +<p>30. We have just concluded Colonel Turchin's case, and forwarded the +proceedings to General Buell.</p> + +<p>General Ammen for many years belonged to a club, the members of which +were required either to sing a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> song or tell a story. He could not sing, +and, consequently, took to stories, and very few can tell one better. +The General is a member of the Episcopal Church, and, although a pious +man, emphasizes his language occasionally by an oath. When conducting +his brigade from the boat at Pittsburg Landing to position on the field, +he was compelled to pass through the immense crowd of skedaddlers who +had sought shelter under the bluffs from the storm of bullets. A +chaplain of one of the disorganized regiments was haranguing the mob in +what may be termed the whangdoodle style: "Rally, men; rally, and we may +yet be saved. O! rally! For God and your country's sake rally! +R-a-l-l-y! O-h! r-a-l-l-y around the flag of your c-o-w-n-try, my +c-o-wn-tryme-n!" "Shut up, you God damned old fool!" said Ammen, "or +I'll break your head! Get out of the way!"</p> + +<p>General Garfield is lying on the lounge unwell. He has an attack of the +jaundice, and will, I think, start home to-morrow.</p> + +<p>I find an article on the tables of the South, which, with coffee, I like +very much. The wheat dough is rolled very thin, cut in strips the width +of a table-knife, and about as long, baked until well done; if browned, +all the better. They become crisp and brittle, and better than the best +of crackers.</p> + +<p>31. General Ammen is so interesting to me that I can not avoid talking +about him, especially when items are scarce, as they are now. Our court +takes a recess at one, and assembles again at half-past three, giving us +two hours and a half for dinner. To-day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> the conversation turned on the +various grasses North and South. After the General had described the +peculiar grasses of many sections, he drifted to the people South who +lived on farms, where he had seen a variety of grass unknown in the +North, and the following story was told:</p> + +<p>In the part of Mississippi where he resided for a number of years, there +lived a Northern family named Greenfield. When he was there the farm was +known as the Greenfield farm. It was the peculiar grass on this farm +which suggested the story. The Greenfields were Quakers, originally from +Philadelphia. One of the wealthiest members of the family was a little +weazen-faced old maid, of fifty years or more. Her overseer was a large, +fine looking young man named Roach. After he had been in her service a +year she took a fancy to him, and proposed to give him twenty thousand +dollars if he would marry her. He accepted, and they were duly married. +A year after she grew tired of wedlock, and proposed to give thirty +thousand dollars to be unmarried. He accepted this proposition also. +They united in a petition for a divorce and obtained it. Roach took the +fifty thousand dollars thus made and invested it in the Yazoo country. +The property increased in value rapidly, and he soon became a +millionaire. When General Ammen saw him, he had married again more to +his liking, and was one of the prominent men in his section.</p> + +<p>The farm of the Gillyards lay near that of the Greenfields, and this +suggested another story. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> Miss Gillyard was a great heiress; owned +plantations in Mississippi, and an interest in a large estate in South +Carolina. A doctor of prepossessing appearance came from the latter +State, and commenced practice in the neighborhood, and an acquaintance +of a few months resulted in a marriage. After living together a year +very happily, they started on a visit to South Carolina; she to visit +relatives and look after her interest in the estate mentioned, and he to +see his friends. On the way it was agreed that he should attend to his +wife's business, and so full power to sell or dispose of the property, +or her interest therein, was given him. At Charleston she was met by the +relatives with whom she was to remain, while the Doctor proceeded to a +different part of the State to see his friends, and afterward attend to +business. When about to separate, like a jolly soul, he proposed that +they should drink to each other's health during the separation. The wine +was produced; they touched glasses, and raised them to their lips, when +the door opened suddenly and the Doctor was called. Setting his wine on +the table, he stepped out of the room, and the wife, more affectionate, +possibly, than most women, took the glass which his lips had touched and +put her own in its place. The husband reappeared shortly, and they drank +off the wine. In an hour he was dead, and she in the deepest affliction. +After she had recovered somewhat from the shock, she left Charleston to +visit his people. She found them poor, and that he had a wife and three +children. The truth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> then broke in upon her; he had drank the wine +prepared for her.</p> + +<p>This story suggested one involving some of Miss Gillyard's relations.</p> + +<p>Two lady cousins resided in the same town. The father of one had amassed +a handsome fortune in the tailoring business. The father of the other +had been a saddler, and, carrying on the business extensively, had also +become wealthy. The descendant of the saddler would refer to her +cousin's father as the tailor, and intimate that his calling was +certainly not that of a gentleman. The other hearing of this, and +meeting her one evening at a large party, said: "Cousin Julia, I hear +that you have said my father was nothing but a tailor. Now, this is +true; he was a tailor, and a very good one, too. By his industry and +judgment he made a large fortune, which I am enjoying. I respect him; am +grateful, and not ashamed of him, if he was a tailor. Your father was a +saddler, and a very good one. He, by industry and good management, +accumulated great wealth, which you are enjoying. I see no reason, +therefore, why we should not both be proud of our fathers, and I +certainly can see no reason why a man-tailor should not be just as good +as a horse-tailor."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AUGUST_1862" id="AUGUST_1862"></a>AUGUST, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. The Judge-Advocate, Captain Swayne, was unwell this morning. The +court, therefore, took a recess until three o'clock. Captain Edgerton's +case was disposed of last evening. Colonel Mihalotzy's will come before +us to-day. A court-martial proceeds always with due respect to red tape. +The questions to witnesses are written out; the answers are written +down; the statement of the accused is in writing, and the defense of the +accused's counsel is written; so that the court snaps its fingers at +time, as if it were of no consequence, and seven men, against whom there +are no charges, are likely to spend their natural lives in investigating +seven men, more or less, against whom there are charges. It is thus the +rebels are being subjugated, the Union re-united, the Constitution and +the laws enforced.</p> + +<p>3. Among the curiosities in camp are two young coons and a pet opossum. +The latter is the property of Augustus Cæsar, the esquire of Adjutant +Wilson. Cæsar restrains the opossum with a string, and looks forward +with great pleasure to the time when he will be fat enough to eat. The +coons are just now playing on the wild cherry tree in front<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> of my tent, +and several colored boys are watching them with great interest. One of +these, a native Alabamian, tells me "de coon am a great fiter; he can +wip a dog berry often; but de possum can wip de coon, for he jist takes +one holt on de coon, goes to sleep, an' nebber lets go; de coon he +scratch an' bite, but de possum he nebber min'; he keeps his holt, shuts +his eyes, and bimeby de coon he knocks under. De she coon am savager dan +de he coon. I climbed a tree onct, an' de she coon come out ob her hole +mitey savage, an' I leg go, an' tumbled down to de groun', and like ter +busted my head. De she coon am berry savage. De possum can't run berry +fast, but de coon can run faster'n a dog. You can tote a possum, but you +can't tote a coon, he scratch an' bite so."</p> + +<p>The gentlemen of the South have a great fondness for jewelry, canes, +cigars, and dogs. Out of forty white men thirty-nine, at least, will +have canes, and on Sunday the fortieth will have one also. White men +rarely work here. There are, it is true, tailors, merchants, saddlers, +and jewelers, but the whites never drive teams, work in the fields, or +engage in what may be termed rough work.</p> + +<p>Judging from the number of stores and present stocks, Huntsville, in the +better times, does a heavier retail jewelry business than Cleveland or +Columbus. Every planter, and every wealthy or even well-to-do man, has +plate. Diamonds, rings, gold watches, chains, and bracelets are to be +found in every family. The negroes buy large amounts of cheap jewelry, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> the trade in this branch is enormous. One may walk a whole day in a +Northern city without seeing a ruffled shirt. Here they are very common.</p> + +<p>The case of Colonel Mihalotzy was concluded to-day.</p> + +<p>5. General Ammen was a teacher for years at West Point, at Natchez, +Mississippi, in Kentucky, Indiana, and recently at Ripley, Ohio. He has +devoted particular attention to the education of children, and has no +confidence in the usual mode of teaching them. He labors to strengthen +or cultivate, first: <i>attention</i>, and to this end never allows their +interest in anything to flag; whenever he discovers that their minds +have become weary of a subject, he takes the book from them and turns +their thought in a new direction. Nor does he allow their attention to +be divided between two or three objects at the same time. By his method +they acquire the power to concentrate their whole mind upon a given +subject. The next thing to be cultivated is <i>observation</i>; teach them to +notice whatever may be around, and describe it. What did you see when +you came up street? The child may answer a pig. What is a pig, how did +it look, describe it. Saw a man, did you? Was he large or small? How was +he dressed? A room? What is a room? Thus will they be taught to observe +everything, and to talk about what they observe, and learn not only to +think but to express their thoughts. He often amuses them by what he +terms opposites. To illustrate: He will say "black," the child will +answer "white." Long, short; good, bad; heavy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> light; dark, light. +"What kind of light," he will ask, "is that kind which is the opposite +of heavy?" Here is a puzzle for them. Next in importance to observation, +and to be strengthened at the same time, is the <i>memory</i>. They are +required to learn little pieces; short stories perhaps, or songs that +their minds can comprehend; not too long, for neither the memory nor the +attention should be overtaxed.</p> + +<p>7. As General Ammen and I were returning to camp this evening, we were +joined by Colonel Fry, of General Buell's staff, who informed us that +General Robert McCook was murdered, near Winchester, yesterday, by a +small band of guerrillas. McCook was unwell, riding in an ambulance some +distance in advance of the column; while stopping in front of a +farm-house to make some enquiry, the guerrillas made a sudden dash, the +escort fled, and McCook was killed while lying in the ambulance +defenseless. When the Dutchmen of his old regiment learned of the +unfortunate occurrence they became uncontrollable, and destroyed the +buildings and property on five plantations near the scene of the murder. +McCook had recently been promoted for gallantry at Mill Springs. He was +a brave, bluff, talented man, and his loss will be sorely felt.</p> + +<p>Captain Mitchell started home in charge of a recruiting party this +morning. I am anxious to fill the regiment to a thousand strong.</p> + +<p>8. General Ammen was at Buell's quarters this evening, and ascertains +that hot work is expected soon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> The enemy is concentrating a heavy +force between Bridgeport and Chattanooga.</p> + +<p>The night is exceedingly beautiful; our camp lies at the foot of a low +range of mountains called the Montesano; the sky seems supported by +them. A cavalry patrol is just coming down the road, on its return to +camp, and the men are singing:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="An exile from home"> +<tr><td align='left'>"An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Oh! give me my lowly thatched cottage again;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The birds singing gayly, that came at my call,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Give me them, with the peace of mind dearer than all.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Home, home, sweet home, there is no place like home;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">There is no place like home."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>9. I have sometimes wondered how unimportant <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'occurences'">occurrences</ins> could suggest +so much, but the faculty of association brings similar things before the +mind, and a thousand collateral subjects as well. The band of the Tenth +Ohio is playing. Where, and under what circumstances, have I heard other +bands? The question carries my thoughts into half the States of the +Union, into a multitude of places, into an innumerable variety of +scenes—faces, conversations, theatres, balls, speeches, songs—the +chain is endless, and it might be followed for a lifetime.</p> + +<p>10. The enemy, a thousand strong, is said to be within five miles of us. +One hundred and sixty-five men of the Third, under Major Lawson, and +five companies of cavalry, the whole commanded by Colonel Kennett, left +at two o'clock to reconnoiter the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> front; they will probably go to the +river unless the enemy is met on the way.</p> + +<p>A negro came in about four o'clock to report that the enemy's pickets +were at his master's house, five miles from here, at the foot of the +other slope of the mountain. He was such an ignorant fellow that his +report was hardly intelligible. We sent him back, telling him to bring +us more definite information. He was a field hand, bare-footed, +horny-handed, and very black, but he knew all about "de mountings; dey +can't kotch him nohow. If de sesesh am at Massa Bob's when I git back, I +come to-night an' tell yer all." With these words, this poor proprietor +of a dilapidated pair of pants and shirt, started over the mountains. +What are his thoughts about the war, and its probable effects on his own +fortunes, as he trudges along over the hills? Is it the desire for +freedom, or the dislike for his overseer, that prompts him to run five +miles of a Sunday to give this information? Possibly both.</p> + +<p>Cæsar said to the Adjutant, "Massa Wilson, may I go to church?" "What do +you want to go church for, Cæsar?" "To hear de Gospel." One day Cæsar +said to me, "Co'nel, you belongs to de meetin don't you?" "Why so, +Cæsar?" "Kase I nebber heard you swar any."</p> + +<p>To-day one of the pet coons got after a chicken. A young half-naked +negro took after the coon; and a long and crooked chase the chicken, +coon, and negro had of it.</p> + +<p>12. At five o'clock the members of the court met<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> to say good-by, and +drink a dozen bottles of Scotch ale at General Ammen's expense. This was +quite a spree for the General, and quite his own spree. It was a big +thing, equal almost to the battle of "Shealoh." They were pint bottles, +and the General would persist in acting upon the theory that one bottle +would fill all our glasses. Seeing the glasses empty he would call for +another bottle, and say to us, "Gentlemen, I have ordered another +bottle." The General evidently drinks, when he imbibes at all, simply to +be social, and a thimble-full would answer his purpose as well as a +barrel.</p> + +<p>The court called on General Buell; he is cold, smooth-toned, silent, the +opposite of Nelson, who is ardent, loud-mouthed, and violent.</p> + +<p>17. Colonel Keifer has just received a telegram informing him that he +has been appointed Colonel of the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio. I regret +his departure too much to rejoice over his promotion. He has been a +faithful officer, always prompt and cheerful; much better qualified to +command the regiment than its Colonel.</p> + +<p>Watermelons, peaches, nectarines, are abundant. Peaches thrive better in +this climate than apples. I have eaten almost the whole of a watermelon +to-day, and am somewhat satiated. The melon had a cross (+) on the rind. +I enquired of the negro who brought it in, what the mark meant, and he +replied, "de patch war owned principally by a good many niggars, sah, +an' dey dewided dem afore day got ripe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> an' put de mark on de rine, to +show dat de p'tic'lar melon belonged to a p'tic'lar niggar, sah."</p> + +<p>Governor Tod is damaging the old regiments by injudicious promotions. He +does in some instances, it is true, reward faithful soldiers; but often +complaining, unwilling, incompetent fellows are promoted, who get upon +the sick list to avoid duty; lay upon their backs when they should be on +their feet, and are carousing when they should be asleep. On the march, +instead of pushing along resolutely at the head of their command, they +fall back and get into an ambulance. The troops have no confidence in +them; their presence renders a whole company worthless, and this company +contributes greatly to the demoralization of a regiment.</p> + +<p>22. A little vine has crept into my tent and put out a handsome flower.</p> + +<p>General Buell and staff, with bag and baggage, left this morning.</p> + +<p>25. Ordered to move.</p> + +<p>29. We are at Decherd, Tennessee. I am weak, discouraged, and worn out +with idleness.</p> + +<p>The negroes are busily engaged throwing up earth works and building +stockades. To-night, as they were in line, I stopped a moment to hear +the sergeant call the roll, "Scipio McDonald." "Here I is, sah." +"Cæsar—Cæsar McDonald." "Cæsar was 'sleep las' I saw ob him, sah." +These negroes take the family name of their masters.</p> + +<p>The whole army is concentrated here, or near here; but nobody knows +anything, except that the water is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> bad, whisky scarce, dust abundant, +and the air loaded with the scent and melody of a thousand mules. These +long-eared creatures give us every variety of sound of which they are +capable, from the deep bass bray to the most attenuated whinny.</p> + +<p>The Thirty-third Ohio was shelled out of its fortifications at Battle +creek yesterday. Colonel Moore is in the adjoining tent, giving an +account of his trials and tribulations to Shanks of the New York Herald.</p> + +<p>Fifty of the Third, under Lieutenant Carpenter, went to Stevenson +yesterday; on their return they were fired upon by guerrillas. Jack +Boston shot a man and captured a horse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SEPTEMBER_1862" id="SEPTEMBER_1862"></a>SEPTEMBER, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>4. Army has fallen back to Murfreesboro.</p> + +<p>5. At Nashville.</p> + +<p>6. To-night we cross the Cumberland.</p> + +<p>7. Bivouacked in Edgefield, at the north end of the railroad bridge. +Troops pouring over the bridge and pushing North rapidly. One of Loomis' +men was shot dead last night while attempting to run by a sentinel.</p> + +<p>10. The moving army with its immense transportation train, raises such a +cloud of dust that it is impossible to see fifty yards ahead.</p> + +<p>11. Arrived at Bowling Green. The two armies are running a race for the +Ohio river. At this time Bragg has the lead.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="OCTOBER_1862" id="OCTOBER_1862"></a>OCTOBER, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>3. At Taylorsville, Kentucky. Our first day's march out of Louisville +was disagreeable beyond precedent. The boys had been full of whisky for +three days, and fell out of the ranks by scores. The road for sixteen +miles was lined with stragglers. The new men bore the march badly. Rain +fell yesterday afternoon and during the night; I awoke at three o'clock +this morning to find myself lying in a puddle of water. A soldier of +Captain Rossman's company was wrestling with another, and being thrown, +died almost instantly from the effect of the fall.</p> + +<p>4. At Bloomfield. Shelled the rebels out of the woods in which we are +now bivouacking, and picked up a few prisoners. The greater part of the +rebel army is, we are told, at Bardstown—twelve miles away.</p> + +<p>5. Still at Bloomfield, in readiness to move at a moment's notice.</p> + +<p>7. Moved to Maxville, and bivouacked for the night.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Perryville</span>.</div> + +<p>8. Started in the early morning toward Perryville.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> The occasional boom +of guns at the front notified us that the enemy was not far distant. A +little later the rattle of musketry mingled with the roar of artillery, +and we knew the vanguard was having lively work. The boys marched well +and were in high spirits; the long-looked for battle appeared really +near, and that old notion that the Third was fated never to see a fight +seemed now likely to be exploded. At ten o'clock we were hastened +forward and placed in battle line on the left of the Maxville and +Perryville road; the cavalry in our front appeared to be seriously +engaged, and every eye peered eagerly through the woods to catch a +glimpse of the enemy. But in a little while the firing ceased, and with +a feeling of disappointment the boys lounged about on the ground and +logs awaiting further orders.</p> + +<p>They came very soon. At 11 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> the Third was directed to take the head +of the column and move forward. We anticipated no danger, for Rousseau +and his staff were in advance of us, followed by Lytle and his staff. +The regiment was marching by the flank, and had proceeded to the brow of +the hill overlooking a branch of the Chaplin river, and was about to +descend into the valley, when the enemy's artillery opened in front with +great fury. Rousseau and his staff wheeled suddenly out of the road to +the left, accompanied by Lytle. After a moment spent by them in +consultation, I was ordered to countermarch my regiment to the bottom of +the hill we had just ascended, and file off to the right of the road.</p> + +<p>Loomis' and Simonson's Batteries were soon put in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> position, and began +to reply to the enemy. A furious interchange of shell and solid shot +occurred, but after a little while our batteries ceased firing, and we +had comparative silence.</p> + +<p>About 2 o'clock the rebel infantry was seen advancing across the valley, +and I ordered the Third to ascend the hill and take position on the +crest. The enemy's batteries now reopened with redoubled fury, and the +air seemed filled with shot and exploding shells. Finding the rebels +were still too far away to make our muskets effective, I ordered the +boys to lie down and await their nearer approach. They advanced under +cover of a house on the side hill, and having reached a point one +hundred and fifty yards distant, deployed behind a stone fence which was +hidden from us by standing corn. At this time the left of my regiment +rested on the Maxville and Perryville road; the line extending along the +crest of the hill, and the right passing somewhat behind a barn filled +with hay. In this position, with the enemy's batteries pouring upon us a +most destructive fire, the Third arose and delivered its first volley. +For a time, I do not know how long thereafter, it seemed as if all hell +had broken loose; the air was filled with hissing balls; shells were +exploding continuously, and the noise of the guns was deafening; finally +the barn on the right took fire, and the flames bursting from roof, +windows, doors, and interstices between the logs, threw the right of the +regiment into disorder; the confusion, however, was but temporary. The +boys closed up to the left, steadied themselves on the colors, and stood +bravely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> to the work. Nearly two hundred of my five hundred men now lay +dead and wounded on the little strip of ground over which we fought.</p> + +<p>Colonel Curren Pope, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, whose regiment was being +held in reserve at the bottom of the hill, had already twice requested +me to retire my men and allow him to take the position. Finding now that +our ammunition was exhausted, I sent him notice, and as his regiment +marched to the crest the Third was withdrawn in as perfect order, I +think, as it ever moved from the drill-ground. The Fifteenth made a +gallant fight, and lost heavily both in officers and men; in fact, the +Lieutenant-Colonel and Major fell mortally wounded while it was moving +into position. Colonel Pope was also wounded, but not so seriously as to +prevent his continuing in command. The enemy getting now upon its right +and rear, the regiment was compelled to retire from the crest.</p> + +<p>After consultation with Colonel Pope, it was determined to move our +regiments to the left, and form <ins title="Transcriber's Note: this word added to the text">a</ins> line perpendicular to the one +originally taken, and thus give protection to the rear and right of the +troops on our left. The enemy observing this movement, and accepting it +as an indication of withdrawal, advanced rapidly toward us, when I about +faced my regiment, and ordered the men to fix bayonets and move forward +to meet him; but before we had proceeded many yards, I was overtaken by +Lieutenant Grover, of Colonel Lytle's staff, with an order to retire.</p> + +<p>Turning into a ravine a few rods distant, we found an ammunition wagon, +and, under a dropping fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> from the enemy, refilled our empty cartridge +boxes. Ascertaining while here that Colonel Lytle was certainly wounded, +and probably killed, I reported at once for duty to Colonel Len. Harris, +commanding Ninth Brigade of our division; but night soon thereafter put +an end to the engagement.</p> + +<p>We bivouacked in a corn-field. The regiment had grown suddenly small. It +was a sorry night for us indeed. Every company had its long list of +killed, wounded, and missing. Over two hundred were gone. Nearly two +hundred, we felt quite sure, had fallen dead or disabled on the field. +Many eyes were in tears, and many hearts were bleeding for lost comrades +and dear friends. General Rousseau rides up in the darkness, and, as we +gather around him, says, in a voice tremulous with emotion: "Boys of the +Third, you stood in that withering fire like men of iron." They did.</p> + +<p>They are thirsty and hungry. Few, however, think either of food or +water. Their thoughts are on the crest of that little hill, where +Cunard, McDougal, St. John, Starr, and scores of others lie cold in +death. They think of the wounded and suffering, and speak to each other +of the terrible ordeal through which they have passed, with bated breath +and in solemn tones, as if a laugh, or jest, or frivolous word, would be +an insult to the slain.</p> + +<p>They have long sought for a battle, and often been disappointed and sore +because they failed to find one; but now, for the first time, they +really realize what a battle is. They see it is to men what an arctic +wind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> is to autumn leaves, and are astonished to find that any have +outlived the furious storm of deadly missiles.</p> + +<p>The enemy is in the woods before us, and as the sentinels occasionally +exchange shots, we can see the flash of their guns and hear the whistle +of bullets above our heads. The two armies are too near to sleep +comfortably, or even safely, so the boys cling to their muskets and keep +ready for action. It is a long night, but it finally comes to an end.</p> + +<p>9. The enemy has disappeared, and we go to the hill where our fight +occurred. Within the compass of a few rods we find a hundred men of the +Third and Fifteenth lying stiff and cold. Beside these there are many +wounded, whom we pick up tenderly, carry off and provide for. Men are +already digging trenches, and in a little while the dead are gathered +together for interment. We have looked upon such scenes before; but then +the faces were strange to us. Now they are the familiar faces of +intimate personal friends, to whom we are indebted for many kindly acts. +We hear convulsive sobs, see eyes swollen and streaming with tears, and +as our fallen comrades are deposited in their narrow grave, the lines of +Wolfe recur to us:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="No useless coffin inclosed his breast"> +<tr><td align='left'>"No useless coffin inclosed his breast;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But he lay like a warrior taking his rest,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">With his martial cloak around him.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><br />* * * *<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Slowly and sadly we laid him down</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">From the field of his fame fresh and gory;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">We carved not a line, we raised not a stone,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But left him alone with his glory."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>13. We are in a field near Harrodsburg. Moved yesterday from Perryville. +We are without tents. Rain is falling, and the men uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>Many, perhaps most, of the boys of the regiment disliked me thoroughly. +They thought me too strict, too rigid in the enforcement of orders; but +now they are, without exception, my fast friends. During the battle of +Chaplin Hills, while the enemy's artillery was playing upon us with +terrible effect, I ordered them to lie down. The shot, shell, and +canister came thick as hail, hissing, exploding, and tearing up the +ground around us. There was a universal cry from the boys that I should +lie down also; but I continued to walk up and down the line, watching +the approaching enemy, and replied to their entreaties, "No; it is my +time to stand guard now, and I will not lie down."</p> + +<p>Meeting Captain Loomis yesterday, he said: "Do you know you captured a +regiment at Chaplin Hills?" "I do not." "Yes, you captured the Third. +You have not a man now who wouldn't die for you."</p> + +<p>I have been too much occupied of late to record even the most +interesting and important events. I should like to preserve the names of +the private soldiers who behaved like heroes in the battle; but I have +only time to mention the fact that our colors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> changed hands seven times +during the engagement. Six of our color bearers were either killed or +wounded, and as the sixth man was falling, a soldier of Company C, named +David C. Walker, a boyish fellow, whose cheeks were ruddy as a girl's, +and who had lost his hat in the fight, sprang forward, caught the +falling flag, then stepping out in front of the regiment, waved it +triumphantly, and carried it to the end of the battle.</p> + +<p>On the next morning I made him color bearer, and undertook to thank him +for his gallantry, but my eyes filled and voice choked, and I was unable +to articulate a word. He understood me, doubtless.</p> + +<p>If it had not been for McCook's foolish haste, it is more than probable +that Bragg would have been most thoroughly whipped and utterly routed. +As it was, two or three divisions had to contend for half a day with one +of the largest and best disciplined of the Confederate armies, and that, +too, when our troops in force were lying but a few miles in the rear, +ready and eager to be led into the engagement. The whole affair is a +mystery to me. McCook is, doubtless, to blame for being hasty; but may +not Buell be censurable for being slow? And may it not be true that this +butchery of men has resulted from the petty <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'jeolousies'">jealousies</ins> existing between +the commanders of different army corps and divisions?</p> + +<p>19. Encamped in a broken, hilly field, five miles south of Crab Orchard. +From Perryville to this place, there has been each day occasional +cannonading; but this morning I have heard no guns. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> Cumberland +mountains are in sight. We are pushing forward as fast probably as it is +possible for a great army to move. Buell is here superintending the +movement.</p> + +<p>24. In the woods near Lebanon, and still without tents. Bragg has left +Kentucky, and is thought to be hastening toward Nashville. We shall +follow him. Having now twice traveled the road, the march is likely to +prove tedious and uninteresting. The army has been marching almost +constantly for two months, and bivouacking at night with an +insufficiency of clothing.</p> + +<p>The troops are lying in an immense grove of large beech. We have had +supper, and a very good one, by the way: pickled salmon, currant jelly, +fried ham, butter, coffee, and crackers. It is now long after nightfall, +and the forest is aglow with a thousand camp-fires. The hum of ten +thousand voices strikes the ear like the roar of a distant sea. A band +away off to the right is mingling its music with the noise, and a mule +now and then breaks in with a voice not governed by any rules of melody +known to man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NOVEMBER_1862" id="NOVEMBER_1862"></a>NOVEMBER, 1862.</h2> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<p>9. In camp at Sinking Spring, Kentucky. Thomas commands the Fourteenth +Army Corps, consisting of Rousseau's, Palmer's, Dumont's, Negley's, and +Fry's divisions; say 40,000 men. McCook has Sill's, Jeff C. Davis', and +Granger's; say 24,000. Crittenden has three divisions, say 24,000. A +large army, which ought to sweep to Mobile without difficulty.</p> + +<p>Sinking Spring, as it is called by some, Mill Spring by others, and by +still others Lost river, is quite a large stream. It rises from the +ground, runs forty rods or more, enters a cave, and is lost. The wreck +of an old mill stands on its banks. Bowling Green is three miles +southward.</p> + +<p>When we get a little further south, we shall find at this season of the +year persimmons and opossums in abundance. Jack says: "Possum am better +dan chicken. In de fall we hunt de possum ebbery night 'cept Sunday. He +am mitey good an' fat, sah; sometimes he too fat."</p> + +<p>We move at ten o'clock to-morrow.</p> + +<p>11. We have settled down at Mitchellville for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> few days. After dinner +Furay and I rode six miles beyond this, on the road to Nashville, to the +house of a Union farmer whose acquaintance I made last spring. The old +gentleman was very glad to see us, and insisted upon our remaining until +after supper. In fact, he urged us to stay all night; but we consented +to remain for supper only, and would not allow him to put our horses in +the stable.</p> + +<p>We learned that a little over a week ago the rebels endeavored to +enforce the conscription law in this neighborhood, and one of Mr. +Baily's sons was notified to appear at Gallatin to enter the Southern +army. He was informed that if he did not appear voluntarily at the +appointed time, he would be taken, either dead or alive. He did not go, +and since has been constantly on the watch, expecting the guerrilla +bands, which rendezvous at Tyree Springs, ten miles distant, to come for +the purpose of taking him away. When, therefore, he saw Furay and me +galloping up to the house, he mounted his horse and rode for the woods +as fast as his steed could carry him. After we had been there half an +hour, he returned, and, while shaking hands with us, said: "You scared +me out of a full year's growth."</p> + +<p>Morgan, with a force, the strength of which is variously estimated, +passed near this a few days ago. Many of Mr. Baily's neighbors are +members of the guerrilla bands, and all of them willing spies and +informers.</p> + +<p>We had a splendid supper: chicken, pork, ham, milk, pumpkin pie; in +short, there was every thing on the table that a hungry man could +desire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had introduced Mr. Furay as the correspondent of the Cincinnati +Gazette; but the good folks, not understanding this long title exactly, +dubbed him Doctor. There were three strapping girls in the family, who +did not make their appearance until they had taken time to put on their +Sunday clothes. To one of these the Doctor paid special attention, and +finally won his way so far into her good favor as to induce her to play +him a tune on the dulcimer, an abominable instrument, which she pounded +with two little sticks. The Doctor declared that the music was +good—excellent—charming. He now attempts to get out of this outrageous +falsehood by affirming that he referred simply to the air—the tune—and +not to the manner in which it was executed by the young lady. This, +however, is a mere quibble.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark when we said good-by to this kind-hearted, excellent +family, and started on our way back to camp. The woods were on fire for +miles along the road. Many fences and farm buildings had caught. One +large house tumbled in as we were passing, and the fences, +out-buildings, and trees were all enveloped in flames. While riding +slowly forward, and looking back upon the dense cloud of smoke, the +flames stretching as far almost as the eye could reach, the dry trees +standing up like immense pillars of fire, we were startled not a little +by the sentinel's challenge, "Halt!" There had been no pickets on the +road when we were going out, and we were, therefore, uncertain whether +the challenge came from our own men or those of John Morgan. "Who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> comes +there?" continued the sentinel. "Friends." "Advance friends, and give +the countersign." Going up to the sentinel, I told him who we were, and +that we had not the countersign. After a little delay, the officer of +the guard came and allowed us to proceed.</p> + +<p>12. To-day farmer Baily came to see us. I sent his good wife a haversack +of coffee, to remunerate her somewhat for the excellent dinner she had +given us. He urged us to come again, and said they would have a turkey +prepared for us this afternoon; but I declined with thanks.</p> + +<p>15. At eight o'clock to-morrow morning we shall move to Tyree Springs, a +little village situated in the heart of a wild, broken tract of country, +which, of late, has been a favorite rendezvous for guerrillas and +highwaymen. Citizens and soldiers traveling to and from Nashville, +during the last two months, have, at or near this place, been compelled +to empty their pockets, and when their clothes were better than those of +their captors, have been compelled to spare them also.</p> + +<p>We have no certain information as to the enemy's whereabouts. One rumor +says he is at Lavergne, another locates him at Murfreesboro, and still +another puts him at Chattanooga. General Rosecrans is now in command, +and, urged on by the desires of the North, may follow him to the latter +place this winter. A man from whom the people are each day expecting +some extraordinary action, some tremendous battle, in which the enemy +shall be annihilated, is unfortunately situated, and likely very soon to +become unpopular.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> It takes two to make a fight, as it does to make a +bargain. General John Pope is the only warrior of modern times who can +find a battle whenever he wants to, and take any number of prisoners his +heart desires. Even his brilliant achievements, however, afford the +people but temporary satisfaction, for, upon investigation, they are +unable to find either the captives or the discomfited hosts.</p> + +<p>I predict that in twelve months Rosecrans will be as unpopular as Buell. +After the affair at Rich mountain, the former was a great favorite. When +placed in command of the forces in Western Virginia, the people expected +hourly to hear of Floyd's destruction; but after a whole summer was +spent in the vain endeavor to chase down the enemy and bring him to +battle, they began to abuse Rosecrans, and he finally left that +department, much as Buell has left this. Our generals should, +undoubtedly, do more, but our people should certainly expect less.</p> + +<p>19. At Tyree Springs. Am the presiding officer of a court-martial.</p> + +<p>The supplies for the great army at Nashville and beyond, are wagoned +over this road from Mitchellville to Edgefield Junction. Immense trains +are passing continually.</p> + +<p>20. General Bob Mitchell dined with me to-day. He is on the way to +Nashville. Blows his own trumpet, as of old, and expects that a division +will be given him.</p> + +<p>30. This is a delightful Indian summer day. I have been in the forest, +under the persimmon and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> butternut trees. It is the first ramble I have +had at this season for years, and I thought of the many quiet places in +the thick woods of the old homestead, where long ago I hunted for +hickory-nuts and walnuts; then of its hazel thickets, through which were +scattered the wild plum, black-haw, and thorn-apple—perfect solitudes, +in which the squirrels and birds had the happiest of times. How pleasant +it is to recur to those days; and how well I remember every path through +the dense woods, and every little open grassy plot, made brilliant by +the summer sunshine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="DECEMBER_1862" id="DECEMBER_1862"></a>DECEMBER, 1862.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>2. We move to-morrow, at six o'clock in the morning, to Nashville.</p> + +<p>9. Nashville. Every thing indicates an early movement. Whether a +reconnoissance is intended or a permanent advance, I do not even +undertake to guess. The capture of a brigade, at Hartsville, by John +Morgan, has awakened the army into something like life; before it was +idly awaiting the rise of the Cumberland, but this bold dash of the +rebels has made it bristle up like an angry boar; and this morning, I am +told, it starts out to show its tusks to the enemy. Our division has +been ordered to be in readiness.</p> + +<p>The kind of weather we desire now, is that which is generally considered +the most disagreeable, namely, a long rain; two weeks of rain-fall is +necessary to make the Cumberland navigable, and thus ensure to us +abundant supplies.</p> + +<p>The whole army feels deeply mortified over the loss of the brigade at +Hartsville; report says it was captured by an inferior force. One of our +regiments did not fire a gun, and certainly the other two could not have +made a very obstinate resistance. I am glad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> Ohio does not have to bear +the whole blame; two-thirds is rather too much.</p> + +<p>10. During all of the latter part of last night troops were pouring +through Nashville, and going southward. Our division, Rousseau's, moved +three miles beyond the city, and went into camp on the Franklin road.</p> + +<p>14. Our court has been holding its sessions in the city, but to-day it +adjourned to meet at division head-quarters to-morrow at ten o'clock <span class="smcap">a. +m.</span></p> + +<p>The most interesting character of our court-martial is Colonel H. C. +Hobart, of the Twenty-first Wisconsin; a gentleman who has held many +important public positions in his own State, and whose knowledge of the +law, fondness for debate, obstinacy in the maintenance of his opinions, +love of fun, and kind-heartedness, are immense. He makes use of the +phrase, "in my country," when he refers to any thing which has taken +place in Wisconsin; from this we infer that he is a foreigner, and +pretend to regard him as a savage from the great West. He has, +therefore, been dubbed Chief of the Wisconsins. The court occasionally +becomes exceedingly mellow of an evening, and then the favorite theme is +the "injin." Such horrible practices as dog eating and cannibalism are +imputed to the Chief. To-night we visited the theater to witness +Ingomar. On returning to our room at Bassay's restaurant, the members +took solemn Irish oaths that the man with the sheep-skin on his back, +purporting to be Ingomar, was no other than Hobart, the Wisconsin +savage; and the supposition that such an individual could ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> reform, +and become fitted for civilized society, was a monstrous fiction, too +improbable even for the stage.</p> + +<p>It should not be presumed from this, however, that the subject of our +raillery holds his tongue all the time. On the contrary, he expresses +the liveliest contempt for the opinions of his colleagues of the +court-martial, and professes to think if it were not for the aid which +the Nation receives from his countrymen, the Wisconsins, the effort to +restore the Union would be an utter failure.</p> + +<p>Bassay's restaurant is a famous resort for military gentlemen. +Major-General Hamilton just now took dinner; Major-General Lew Wallace, +Brigadier-Generals Tyler and Schoepf, and Major Donn Piatt occupy rooms +on the floor above us, and take their meals here; so that we move in the +vicinity of the most illustrious of men. We are hardly prepared now to +say that we are on intimate terms with the gentlemen who bear these +historic names; but we are at least allowed to look at them from a +respectful distance. A few years hence, when they are so far away as to +make contradiction improbable, if not impossible, we may claim to have +been their boon companions, and to have drank and played whist with them +in the most genial and friendly way.</p> + +<p>16. This afternoon Negley sent over a request for help, stating that his +forage train had been attacked. The alarm, however, proved groundless. A +few shots only had been fired at the foragers.</p> + +<p>17. The news from Fredericksburg has cast a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> shadow over the army. We +did hope that Burnside would be successful, and thus brighten the +prospect for a speedy peace; but we are in deeper gloom now than ever. +The repulse at Fredericksburg, while it has disabled thousands, has +disheartened, if not demoralized a great army, and given confidence and +strength to the rebels every-where. It may be, however, that this defeat +was necessary to bring us clearly to the point of extinguishing slavery +in all the States. The time is near when the strength of the President's +resolution in this regard will be put to the test. I trust he will be +firm. The mere reconstruction of the Union on the old basis would not +pay humanity for all the blood shed since the war began. The extinction +of slavery, perhaps, will.</p> + +<p>While the North raises immense numbers of men, and scatters them to the +four winds, the enemy concentrates, fortifies, and awaits attack. Will +the man ever come to consolidate these innumerable detachments of the +National army, and then sweep through the Confederacy like a tornado?</p> + +<p>It is said that many regiments in the Eastern army number less than one +hundred men, and yet have a full complement of field and company +officers. This is ridiculous; nay, it is an outrage upon the tax-payers +of the North. Worse still, so long as such a skeleton is called a +regiment, it is likely to bring discredit upon the State and Nation; for +how can it perform the work of a regiment when it has but one-tenth of a +regiment's strength? These regiments should be con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>solidated, and the +superfluous officers either sent home or put into the ranks.</p> + +<p>20. This morning, at one o'clock, we were ordered to hold ourselves in +readiness to march at a moment's notice, with five days' rations. Court +has adjourned to meet at nine o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Monday. It is disposing of +cases quite rapidly, and I think next week, if there be no +interruptions, it will be able to clear the docket.</p> + +<p>A brigade, which went out with a forage train yesterday, captured a +Confederate lieutenant at a private house. He was engaged at the moment +of his capture in writing a letter to his sweetheart. The letter was +headed Nashville, and he was evidently intent upon deceiving his +lady-love into the belief that he had penetrated the Yankee lines, and +was surrounded by foes. Had the letter reached her fair hands, what +earnest prayers would have gone up for the succor of this bold and +reckless youth.</p> + +<p>There was a meeting of the generals yesterday, but for what purpose they +only know.</p> + +<p>21. The dispatches from Indianapolis speak of the probable promotion of +Colonel Jones, Forty-second Indiana. This seems like a joke to those who +know him. He can not manage a regiment, and not even his best friends +have any confidence in his military capacity. In Indiana, however, they +promote every body to brigadierships. Sol Meredith, who went into the +service long after the war began, and who, in drilling his regiment, +would say: "Battalion, right or left face, as the case may be, march," +was made a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> brigadier some time ago. Milroy, Crittenden, and many others +were promoted for inconsiderable services in engagements which have long +since been forgotten by the public. Their promotions were not made for +the benefit of the service, but for the political advancement of the men +who caused them to be made.</p> + +<p>Last evening, a little after dark, we were startled by heavy cannonading +on our left, and thought the enemy was making an attack. The boys in our +division were all aglow with excitement, and cheered loudly; but after +ten or fifteen minutes the firing ceased, and I have heard no more about +it.</p> + +<p>The rebels are before us in force. The old game of concentration is +probably being played. The repulse of our army at Fredericksburg will +embolden them. It will also enable them to spare troops to reinforce +Bragg. The Confederates are on the inside of the circle, while we are on +the outside, scattered far and wide. They can cut across and concentrate +rapidly, while we must move around. They can meet Burnside at +Fredericksburg, and then whip across the country and face us, thus +making a smaller army than ours outnumber us in every battle.</p> + +<p>In the South the army makes public opinion, and moves along unaffected +by it. In the North the army has little or nothing to do with the +creation of public sentiment, and yet is its servant. The people of the +North, who were clamoring for action, are probably responsible for the +fatal repulse at Fredericksburg and the defeat at Bull run. The North +must be pa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>tient, and get to understand that the work before us is not +one that can be accomplished in a day or month. It should be pushed +deliberately, yet persistently. We should get rid of a vast number of +men who are forever in hospital. They are an expense to the country, and +an incumbrance to the army. We should consolidate regiments, and send +home thousands of unnecessary officers, who draw pay and yet make no +adequate return for it.</p> + +<p>23. The court met this morning as usual. We are now going on the fifth +week of the session. New cases arise just about as fast as old ones are +disposed of.</p> + +<p>The boys in front of my tent are singing:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="We are going home"> +<tr><td align='left'>"We are going home, we are going home,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">To die no more."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Were they to devote as much time to praying as they do to singing, they +would soon establish a reputation for piety; but, unfortunately for +them, after the hymn they generally proceed to swear, instead of prayer, +and one is left in doubt as to what home they propose to go to.</p> + +<p>25. About noon there were several discharges of artillery in our front, +and last night occasional shots served as cheerful reminders that the +enemy was near.</p> + +<p>At an expense of one dollar and seventy-five cents, I procured a small +turkey and had a Christmas dinner; but it lacked the collaterals, and +was a failure.</p> + +<p>For twenty months now I have been a sojourner in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> camps, a dweller in +tents, going hither and yon, at all hours of the day and night, in all +sorts of weather, sleeping for weeks at a stretch without shelter, and +yet I have been strong and healthy. How very thankful I should feel on +this Christmas night! There goes the boom of a cannon at the front.</p> + +<p>26. This morning we started south on the Franklin road. When some ten +miles away from Nashville, we turned toward Murfreesboro, and are now +encamped in the woods, near the head-waters of the Little Harpeth. The +march was exceedingly unpleasant. Rain began to fall about the time of +starting, and continued to pour down heavily for four hours, wetting us +all thoroughly.</p> + +<p>I have command of the brigade.</p> + +<p>27. We moved at eight o'clock this morning, over a very bad dirt road, +from Wilson's pike to the Nolansville road, where we are now +bivouacking. About ten the artillery commenced thundering in our front, +and continued during the greater portion of the day. Marched two miles +toward Triune to support McCook, who was having a little bout with the +enemy; but the engagement ending, we returned to our present quarters in +a drenching rain. Saw General Thomas, our corps commander, going to and +returning from the front. We are sixteen miles from Nashville, on a road +running midway between Franklin and Murfreesboro. The enemy is supposed +to be in force at the latter place.</p> + +<p>28. At four o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> we were ordered to leave baggage and teams +behind, and march to Stewart's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> creek, a point twenty miles from +Nashville. Night had set in before the brigade got fairly under way. The +road runs through a barren, hilly, pine district, and was exceedingly +bad. At eleven o'clock at night we reached the place indicated, and lay +on the damp ground until morning.</p> + +<p>29. At eight o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> the artillery opened in our front; but after +perhaps two hours of irregular firing, it ceased altogether, and we were +led to the conclusion that but few rebels were in this vicinity, the +main body being at Murfreesboro, probably. Going to the front about ten +o'clock, I met General Hascall. He had had a little fight at Lavergne, +the Twenty-sixth Ohio losing twenty men, and his brigade thirty +altogether. He also had a skirmish at this place, in which he captured a +few prisoners. Saw General Thomas riding to the front. Rosecrans is +here, and most of the Army of the Cumberland either here or hereabouts. +McCook's corps had an inconsiderable engagement at Triune on Saturday. +Loss small on both sides.</p> + +<p>Riding by a farm-house this afternoon, I caught a glimpse of Miss +Harris, of Lavergne, at the window, and stopped to talk with her a +minute. The young lady and her mother have experienced a great deal of +trouble recently. They were shelled out of Lavergne three times, two of +the shells passing through her mother's house. She claims to have been +shot at once by a soldier of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois, +the ball splintering the window-sill near her head. Her mother's house +has been converted into a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> hospital, and the clothes of the family taken +for bandages. She is, therefore, more rebellious now than ever. She is +getting her rights, poor girl!</p> + +<p>30. A little after daylight the brigade moved, and proceeded to within +three miles of Murfreesboro, where we have been awaiting orders since +ten o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span></p> + +<p>The first boom of artillery was heard at ten o'clock. Since then there +has been almost a continuous roar. McCook's corps is in advance of us, +perhaps a mile and a half, and, with divisions from other corps, has +been gradually approaching the enemy all day, driving his skirmishers +from one point to another.</p> + +<p>About four o'clock in the afternoon the artillery firing became more +vigorous, and, with Colonel Foreman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, I rode +to the front, and then along our advanced line from right to left. Our +artillery stationed on the higher points was being fired rapidly. The +skirmishers were advancing cautiously, and the contest between the two +lines was quite exciting. As I supposed, our army is feeling its way +into position. To-morrow, doubtless, the grand battle will be fought, +when I trust the good Lord will grant us a glorious victory, and one +that will make glad the hearts of all loyal people on New-Year's Day.</p> + +<p>I saw Lieutenant-Colonel Given, Eighteenth Ohio. Twelve of his men had +been wounded. Met Colonel Wagner, Fifteenth Indiana. Starkweather's +brigade<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> lost its wagon train this forenoon. Jeff C. Davis, I am told, +was wounded this evening. A shell exploded near a group, consisting of +General Rosecrans and staff, killing two horses and wounding two men.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />STONE RIVER.</div> + +<p>31. At six o'clock in the morning my brigade marches to the front and +forms in line of battle. The roar of musketry and artillery is +incessant. At nine o'clock we move into the cedar woods on the right to +support McCook, who is reported to be giving way. General Rousseau +points me to the place he desires me to defend, and enjoins me to "hold +it until hell freezes over," at the same time telling me that he may be +found immediately on the left of my brigade with Loomis' battery. I take +position. An open wood is in my front; but where the line is formed, and +to the right and left, the cedar thicket is so dense as to render it +impossible to see the length of a regiment. The enemy comes up directly, +and the fight begins. The roar of the guns to the right, left, and front +of my brigade sounds like the continuous pounding on a thousand anvils. +My men are favorably situated, being concealed by the cedars, while the +enemy, advancing through the open woods, is fully exposed. Early in the +action Colonel Foreman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, is killed, and his +regiment retires in disorder. The Third Ohio, Eighty-eighth, and +Forty-second Indiana, hold the position, and deliver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> their fire so +effectively that the enemy is finally forced back. I find a Michigan +regiment and attach it to my command, and send a staff officer to +General Rousseau to report progress; but before he has time to return, +the enemy makes another and more furious assault upon my line. After a +fierce struggle, lasting from forty to sixty minutes, we succeed in +repelling this also. I send again to General Rousseau, and am soon after +informed that neither he nor Loomis' battery can be found. Troops are +reported to be falling back hastily, and in disorder, on my left. I send +a staff officer to the right, and ascertain that Scribner's and +Shepperd's brigades are gone. I conclude that the contingency has arisen +to which General Rousseau referred—that is to say, that hell has frozen +over—and about face my brigade and march to the rear, where the guns +appear to be hammering away with redoubled fury. In the edge of the +woods, and not far from the Murfreesboro pike, I find the new line of +battle, and take position. Five minutes after the enemy strike us. For a +time—I can not even guess how long—the line stands bravely to the +work; but the regiments on our left get into disorder, and finally +become panic-stricken. The fright spreads, and my brigade sweeps by me +to the open field in our rear. I hasten to the colors, stop them, and +endeavor to rally the men. The field is by this time covered with flying +troops, and the enemy's fire is most deadly. My brigade, however, begins +to steady itself on the colors, when my horse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> is shot under me, and I +fall heavily to the ground. Before I have time to recover my feet, my +troops, with thousands of others, sweep in disorder to the rear, and I +am left standing alone. Going back to the railroad, I find my men, +General Rousseau, Loomis, and, in fact, the larger part of the army. The +artillery has been concentrated at this point, and now opens upon the +advancing columns of the enemy with fearful effect, and continues its +thunders until nightfall. The artillery saved the army. The battle +during the whole day was terrific.</p> + +<p>I find that soon after the fight began in the cedars, our division was +ordered back to a new line, and that the order had been delivered to +Scribner and Shepperd, but not to me. They had, consequently, retired to +the second position under fire, and had suffered most terribly in the +operation; while my brigade, being forgotten by the division commander, +or by the officer whose duty it was to convey the order, had held its +ground until it had twice repulsed the enemy, and then changed position +in comparative safety. A retrograde movement under fire must necessarily +be extremely hazardous. It demoralizes your own men, who can not, at the +moment, understand the purpose of the movement, while it encourages the +enemy. The one accepts it as an indication of defeat; the other as an +assurance of victory.</p> + +<p>McCook had been surprised and shattered in the morning. This unexpected +success had inspired<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> the rebels and dispirited us. They fought like +devils, and the victory—if victory there was to either army—belonged +to them.</p> + +<p>When the sun went down, and the firing ceased, the Union army, +despondent, but not despairing, weary and hungry, but still hopeful, lay +on its arms, ready to renew the conflict on the morrow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JANUARY_1863" id="JANUARY_1863"></a>JANUARY, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. At dawn we are all in line, expecting every moment the +re-commencement of the fearful struggle. Occasionally a battery engages +a battery opposite, and the skirmishers keep up a continual roar of +small arms; but until nearly night there is no heavy fighting. Both +armies want rest; both have suffered terribly. Here and there little +parties are engaged burying the dead, which lie thick around us. Now the +mangled remains of a poor boy of the Third is being deposited in a +shallow grave. A whole charge of canister seems to have gone through +him. Generals Rosecrans and Thomas are riding over the field, now +halting to speak words of encouragement to the troops, then going on to +inspect portions of the line. I have been supplied with a new horse, but +one far inferior to the dead stallion. A little before sun-down all hell +seems to break loose again, and for about an hour the thunder of the +artillery and volleys of musketry are deafening; but it is simply the +evening salutation of the combatants. The darkness deepens; the weather +is raw and disagreeable. Fifty thousand hungry men are stretched beside +their guns again on the field. Fortunately I have a piece of raw pork<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +and a few crackers in my pocket. No food ever tasted sweeter. The night +is gloomy enough; but our spirits are rising. We all glory in the +obstinacy with which Rosecrans has clung to his position. I draw closer +to the camp-fire, and, pushing the brands together, take out my little +Bible, and as I open it my eyes fall on the xci Psalm:</p> + +<p>"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him +will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, +and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, +and under His wings shall be thy trust. His truth shall be thy shield +and buckler. Thou shalt not be, afraid for the terror by night, nor for +the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in +darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand +shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall +not come nigh thee."</p> + +<p>Camp-fires innumerable are glimmering in the darkness. Now and then a +few mounted men gallop by. Scattering shots are heard along the picket +line. The gloom has lifted, and I wrap myself in my blanket and lie down +contentedly for the night.</p> + +<p>2. At sunrise we have a shower of solid shot and shell. The Chicago +Board of Trade battery is silenced. The shot roll up the Murfreesboro +pike like balls on a bowling alley. Many horses are killed. A soldier +near me, while walking deliberately to the rear, to seek a place of +greater safety, is struck between the shoulders by a ricochetting ball, +and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>stantly killed. We are ordered to be in readiness to repel an +attack, and form line of battle amid this fearful storm of iron. +Gaunther and Loomis get their batteries in position, and, after twenty +or thirty minutes' active work, silence the enemy and compel him to +withdraw. Then we have a lull until one or two o'clock, when Van Cleve's +division on the left is attacked. As the volume of musketry increases, +and the sound grows nearer, we understand that our troops are being +driven back, and brigade after brigade double quicks from the right and +center, across the open field, to render aid. Battery after battery goes +in the same direction on the run, the drivers lashing the horses to +their utmost speed. The thunder of the guns becomes more violent; the +volleys of musketry grow into one prolonged and unceasing roll. Now we +hear the yell which betokens encouraged hearts; but whose yell? Thank +God, it is ours! The conflict is working southward; the enemy has been +checked, repulsed, and is now in retreat. So ends another day.</p> + +<p>The hungry soldiers cut steaks from the slain horses, and, with the +scanty supplies which have come forward, gather around the fires to +prepare supper, and talk over the incidents of the day. The prospect +seems brighter. We have held the ground, and in this last encounter have +whipped the enemy. There is more cheerful conversation among the men. +They discuss the battle, the officers, and each other, and give us now +and then a snatch of song. Officers come over from adjoining brigades, +hoping to find a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> little whisky, but learn, with apparent resignation +and well-feigned composure, that the canteens have been long empty; that +even the private flasks, which officers carry with the photographs of +their sweethearts, in a side pocket next to their hearts, are destitute +of even the flavor of this article of prime necessity. My much-esteemed +colleague of the court-martial, Colonel Hobart, stumbles up in the thick +darkness to pay his respects. The sentinel, mistaking him for a private, +tells him, with an oath, that this is neither the time nor place for +stragglers, and orders him back to his regiment; and so the night wears +on, and fifty thousand men lay upon their guns again.</p> + +<p>3. Colonel Shanklin, with a strong detachment from my brigade, was +captured last night while on picket. Rifle pits are being dug, and I am +ordered to protect the workmen. The rebels hold a strip of woods in our +immediate front, and we get up a lively skirmish with them. Our men, +however, appear loth to advance far enough to afford the necessary +protection to the workers. Vexed at their unwillingness to venture out, +I ride forward and start over a line to which I desire the skirmishers +to advance, and discover, before I have gone twenty yards, that I have +done a foolish thing. A hundred muskets open on me from the woods; but +the eyes of my own brigade and of other troops are on me, and I can not +back out. I quicken the pace of my horse somewhat, and continue my +perilous course. The bullets whistle like bees about my head, but I ride +the whole length of the proposed skirmish line, and get back to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +brigade in safety. Colonel Humphrey, of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, comes +up to me, and with a tremor in his voice, which indicates much feeling, +says: "My God, Colonel, never do that again!" The caution is +unnecessary. I had already made up my mind never to do it again. We keep +up a vigorous skirmish with the enemy for hours, losing now and then a +man; but later in the day we are relieved from this duty, and retire to +a quieter place.</p> + +<p>About nightfall General Rousseau desires me to get two regiments in +readiness, and, as soon as it becomes quite dark, charge upon and clean +out the woods in our front. I select the Third Ohio and Eighty-eighth +Indiana for this duty, and at the appointed time we form line in the +open field in front of Gaunther's battery, and as we start, the battery +commences to shell the woods. As we get nearer the objective point, I +put the men on the double quick. The rebels, discovering our approach, +open a heavy fire, but in the darkness shoot too high. The blaze of +their guns reveals their exact position to us. We reach the rude log +breastworks behind which they are standing and grapple with them. +Colonel Humphrey receives a severe thrust from a bayonet; others are +wounded, and some killed. It is pitch dark under the trees. Some of +Gaunther's shells fall short, and alarm the men. Unable to find either +staff officer or orderly, I ride back and request him to elevate his +guns. Returning, I find my troops blazing away with great energy; but, +so far as I can discover,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> their fire is not returned. It is difficult, +however, in the noise, confusion, and darkness, to direct their +movements, and impossible to stop the firing. In the meantime a new +danger threatens. Spear's Tennesseeans have been sent to support us, +probably without any definite instructions. They are, most of them, raw +troops, and, becoming either excited or alarmed at the terrible racket +in the woods, deliver scattering shots in our rear. I ride back and urge +them either to cease firing or move to the left, go forward and look +after our flank. One regiment does move as directed; but the others are +immovable, and it is with great difficulty that I succeed in making them +understand that in firing they are more likely to injure friends than +foes. Fortunately, soon after this, the ammunition of the Third and +Eighty-eighth becoming exhausted, the firing in the woods ceases, and, +as the enemy has already abandoned the field, the affair ends. I try to +find General Rousseau to report results, but can not; and so, worn out +with fatigue and excitement, lie down for another night.</p> + +<p>4. Every thing quiet in our front. It is reported that the enemy has +disappeared. Investigation confirms the report, and the cavalry push +into Murfreesboro and beyond.</p> + +<p>During the forenoon the army crosses Stone River, and with music, +banners, and rejoicings, takes possession of the old camps of the enemy. +So the long and doubtful struggle ends.</p> + +<p>5. I ride over the battle-field. In one place a caisson and five horses +are lying, the latter killed in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> harness, and all fallen together. +Nationals and Confederates, young, middle-aged, and old, are scattered +over the woods and fields for miles. Poor Wright, of my old company, lay +at the barricade in the woods which we stormed on the night of the last +day. Many others lay about him. Further on we find men with their legs +shot off; one with brains scooped out with a cannon ball; another with +half a face gone; another with entrails protruding; young Winnegard, of +the Third, has one foot off and both legs pierced by grape at the +thighs; another boy lies with his hands clasped above his head, +indicating that his last words were a prayer. Many Confederate +sharpshooters lay behind stumps, rails, and logs, shot in the head. A +young boy, dressed in the Confederate uniform, lies with his face turned +to the sky, and looks as if he might be sleeping. Poor boy! what +thoughts of home, mother, death, and eternity, commingled in his brain +as the life-blood ebbed away! Many wounded horses are limping over the +field. One mule, I heard of, had a leg blown off on the first day's +battle; next morning it was on the spot where first wounded; at night it +was still standing there, not having moved an inch all day, patiently +suffering, it knew not why nor for what. How many poor men moaned +through the cold nights in the thick woods, where the first day's battle +occurred, calling in vain to man for help, and finally making their last +solemn petition to God!</p> + +<p>In the evening I met Rousseau, McCook, and Crittenden. They had been +imbibing freely. Rousseau<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> insisted upon my turning back and going with +them to his quarters. Crittenden was the merriest of the party. On the +way he sang, in a voice far from melodious, a pastorial ditty with which +childhood is familiar:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Mary had a little lamb"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Mary had a little lamb,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">His fleece was white as snow,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And every-where that Mary went</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The lamb was sure to go."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Evidently the lion had left the chieftain's heart, and the lamb had +entered and taken possession.</p> + +<p>McCook complimented me by saying that my brigade fought well. He should +know, for he sat behind it at the commencement of the second assault of +the enemy in the cedars, on the first day; but very soon thereafter +disappeared. Just when he left, and why he did so, I do not know.</p> + +<p>At Rousseau's we found a large number of staff and line officers. The +demijohn was introduced, and all paid their respects to it. The +ludicrous incidents, of which there are more or less even in battles, of +the last five days, were referred to, and much merriment prevailed.</p> + +<p>6. The army is being reorganized, and we are busily engaged repairing +the damages sustained in the battle.</p> + +<p>Visited the hospitals, and, so far as possible, looked after the wounded +of my brigade. To-morrow the chaplains will endeavor to hunt them all +up, and report their whereabouts and condition.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> + +<p>7. I was called upon late in the evening to make a report of the +operations of my brigade immediately, as General Rousseau intends to +leave for Louisville in the morning. It is impossible to collect the +information necessary in the short time allowed me. One of my regimental +commanders, Colonel Foreman, was killed; another, Colonel Humphrey, was +wounded, and is in hospital; another, Lieutenant-Colonel Shanklin, was +captured, and is absent; but I gathered up hastily what facts I could +obtain as to the casualties in the several regiments, and wrote my +report in the few minutes which remained for me to do so, and sent it +in. I have not had an opportunity to do justice either to my brigade or +myself.</p> + +<p>13. Move in the direction of Columbia, on a reconnoitering expedition. +My brigade stops at Salem, and the cavalry pushes on.</p> + +<p>14. Have been exposed to a drenching rain for thirty hours. The men are +cold, hungry, and mutinous.</p> + +<p>15. Ordered back to Murfreesboro, and march thither in a storm of snow +and sleet. It is decidedly the coldest day we have experienced since +last winter.</p> + +<p>I find two numbers of Harper's Weekly on my return. They abound in war +stories. The two heroes, of whom I read to-night, received saber cuts on +the face and head, obtained leave of absence, returned home, and married +forthwith. Saber cuts are very rare in the Army of the Cumberland, and +if young officers were compelled to defer entering into wedlock until +they got wounds of this kind, there would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> precious few soldiers +married. Bullet wounds are common enough; but the hand-to-hand +encounters, knightly contests of swords, the cleaving of head-pieces and +shattering of spears, are not incidents of modern warfare.</p> + +<p>The long rain has completely saturated the ground. The floor of my tent +is muddy; but my bed will be dry, and as I have not had my clothes off +for three days, I look forward to a comfortable night's rest.</p> + +<p>The picture in Harper, of "Christmas Eve," will bring tears to the eyes +of many a poor fellow shivering over the camp-fire in this winter +season. The children in the crib, the stockings in which Santa Claus +deposits his treasures, recall the pleasantest night of the year.</p> + +<p>Speaking of Christmas reminds me of the mistletoe bough. Mistletoe +abounds here. Old, leafless trees are covered and green with it. It was +in blossom a week or two ago, if we may call its white wax-like berries +blossoms. They are known as Christmas blossoms. The vine takes root in +the bark—in any crack, hole, or crevice of the tree—and continues +green all winter. The berries grow in clusters.</p> + +<p>16. I have as guests Mr. and Mrs. Johnson House, my old neighbors. They +have come from their quiet home in Ohio to look over a battle-field, and +I take pleasure in showing them the points of interest. Mr. House, with +great frankness, tells me, in the presence of my staff, that he had been +afraid I was not qualified for the high position I hold, and that I was +getting along too fast; but he now feels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> satisfied that I am capable +and worthy, and would be well pleased to see me again promoted. I +introduced my friends to Lieutenant Van Pelt, of Loomis' battery, and +Mr. House asked: "Lieutenant, will these guns shoot with any kind of +decision?" "Precision," I suggested. "Yes," Van Pelt replied, "they will +throw a ball pretty close to the mark."</p> + +<p>17. Dr. Peck tells me that the wounded of the Third are doing well, and +all comfortably quartered. He is an excellent physician and surgeon, and +the boys are well pleased with him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FEBRUARY_1863" id="FEBRUARY_1863"></a>FEBRUARY, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>3. This has been the coldest day of the season in this latitude. The +ground is frozen hard. I made the round of the picket line after dinner, +and was thoroughly chilled. Visited the hospital this evening. Young +Willets, of the Third, whom I thought getting along well before I left +for home, died two days before my return. Benedict is dead, and Glenn, +poor fellow, will go next. His leg is in a sling, and he is compelled to +lie in one position all the time. Mortification has set in, and he can +not last more than a day or two. Murfreesboro is one great hospital, +filled with Nationals and Confederates.</p> + +<p>4. At noon cannonading began on our left and front, and continued with +intervals until sunset. I have heard no explanation of the firing, but +think it probable our troops started up the Shelbyville road to +reconnoiter, discovered the enemy, and a small fight ensued.</p> + +<p>5. It is said the enemy came within six miles of Murfreesboro yesterday, +and attacked a forage train.</p> + +<p>The weather has been somewhat undecided, and far from agreeable.</p> + +<p>6. A lot of rebel papers, dated January 31st, have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> been brought in. +They contain many extracts clipped from the Northern Democratic press, +and the Southern soul is jubilant over the fact that a large party in +Ohio and Indiana denounce President Lincoln. The rebels infer from this +that the war must end soon, and the independence of the Southern States +be acknowledged. Our friends at home should not give aid and comfort to +the enemy. They may excite hopes which, in time, they will themselves be +compelled to help crush.</p> + +<p>7. Few of the men who started home when I did have returned. The General +is becoming excited on the subject of absentees. From General Thomas' +corps alone there are sixteen thousand men absent, sick, pretending to +be sick, or otherwise. Of my brigade there are sixteen hundred men +present for duty, and over thirteen hundred absent—nearly one-half +away. The condition of other brigades is similar. If a man once gets +away, either into hospital or on detached duty, it is almost impossible +to get him back again to his regiment. A false excuse, backed up by the +false statement of a family physician, has hitherto been accepted; but +hereafter, I am told, it will not be. Uncle Sam can not much longer +stand the drain upon his finances which these malingerers occasion, and +his reputation suffers also, for he can not do with fifty thousand men +what it requires one hundred thousand to accomplish.</p> + +<p>People may say Rosecrans had at the battle of Murfreesboro nearly one +hundred regiments. A reg<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>iment should contain a thousand men; in a +hundred regiments, therefore, there should have been one hundred +thousand men. With this force he should have swallowed Bragg; but they +must understand that the largest of these regiments did not contain over +five hundred men fit for duty, and very many not over three hundred. The +men in hospital, the skulkers at home, and the skedaddlers here, count +only on the muster and pay-rolls; our friends at home should remember, +therefore, that when they take a soldier by the hand who should be with +his regiment, and say to him, "Poor fellow, you have seen hard times +enough, stay a little longer, the army will not miss you," that some +other poor fellow, too brave and manly to shirk, shivers through the +long winter hours at his own post, and then through other long hours at +the post of the absentee, thus doing double duty; and they should bear +in mind, also, that in battle this same poor fellow has to fight for +two, and that battles are lost, the war prolonged, and the National arms +often disgraced, by reason of the absence of the men whom they encourage +to remain at home a day or two longer. If every Northern soldier able to +do duty would do it, Rosecrans could sweep to Mobile in ninety days; but +with this skeleton of an army, we rest in doubt and idleness. There is a +screw loose somewhere.</p> + +<p>10. Fortifications are being constructed. My men are working on them.</p> + +<p>Just now I heard the whistle of a locomotive, on the opposite side of +the river. This is the first inti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>mation we have had of the completion +of the road to this point. The bridge will be finished in a day or two, +and then the trains will arrive and depart from Murfreesboro regularly.</p> + +<p>11. Called at Colonel Wilder's quarters, and while there met General J. +J. Reynolds. He made a brief allusion to the Stalnaker times. On my +return to camp, I stopped for a few minutes at Department head-quarters +to see Garfield. General Rosecrans came into the room; but, as I was +dressed in citizens' clothes, did not at first recognize me. Garfield +said: "General Rosecrans, Colonel Beatty." The General took me by the +hand, turned my face to the light, and said he did not have a fair view +of me before. "Well," he continued, "you are a general now, are you?" I +told him I was not sure yet, and he said: "Is it uncertainty or modesty +that makes you doubt?" "Uncertainty." "Well," he replied, "you and Sam +Beatty have both been recommended. I guess it will be all right." He +invited me to remain for supper, but I declined.</p> + +<p>16. To-day I rode over the battle-field, starting at the river and +following the enemy's line off to their left, then crossing over on to +the right of our line, and following it to the left. For miles through +the woods evidences of the terrible conflict meet one at every step. +Trees peppered with bullet and buckshot, and now and then one cut down +by cannon ball; unexploded shell, solid shot, dead horses, broken +caissons, haversacks, old shoes, hats, fragments of muskets, and unused +cartridges, are to be seen every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>-where. In an open space in the oak +woods is a long strip of fresh earth, in which forty-one sticks are +standing, with intervals between them of perhaps a foot. Here forty-one +poor fellows lie under the fresh earth, with nothing but the forty-one +little sticks above to mark the spot. Just beyond this are twenty-five +sticks, to indicate the last resting-place of twenty-five brave men; and +so we found these graves in the woods, meadows, corn-fields, +cotton-fields, every-where. We stumbled on one grave in a solitary spot +in the thick cedars, where the sunshine never penetrates. At the head of +the little mound of fresh earth a round stick was standing, and on the +top of this was an old felt hat; the hat still doing duty over the head, +if not on the head, of the dead soldier who lay there. The rain and sun +and growing vegetation of one summer will render it impossible to find +these graves. The grass will cover the fresh earth, the sticks will +either rot or become displaced, and then there will be nothing to +indicate that—</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>17. The army is turning its attention to politics somewhat. Generals and +colonels are ventilating their opinions through the press. I think their +letters may have good effect upon the people at home, and prevent them +from discouraging the army and crippling the Administration. Surely the +effort now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> being put forth by a great party in the North to convince +the troops in the field that this is an unjust war, an abolition or +nigger war, must have a tendency to injure the army, and, if persisted +in, may finally ruin it.</p> + +<p>19. Work on the fortifications still continues. This is to be a depot of +supplies, and there are provisions enough already here to subsist the +army for a month. Now that the Cumberland is high, and the railroads in +running order, any amount of supplies may be brought through.</p> + +<p>Expeditions go out occasionally to different parts of the country, and +slight affairs occur, which are magnified into serious engagements; but +really nothing of any importance has transpired since we obtained +possession of Murfreesboro. A day or two ago we had an account of an +expedition into the enemy's country by the One Hundred and Twenty-third +Illinois, Colonel Monroe commanding. According to this veracious report, +the Colonel had a severe fight, killed a large number of the enemy, and +captured three hundred stand of arms; but the truth is, that he did not +take time to count the rebel dead, and the arms taken were one hundred +old muskets found in a house by the roadside.</p> + +<p>The expeditions sent out to capture John Morgan have all been failures. +His own knowledge of the country is thorough, and besides, he has in his +command men from every neighborhood, who know not only every road and +cow-path in the locality, but every man, woman, and child. The people +serve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> him also, by advising him of all our movements. They guide him to +our detachments when they are weak, and warn him away from them when +strong. Were the rebel army in Ohio, and as bitterly hated by the people +of that State as the Nationals are by those of Kentucky and Tennessee, +it would be an easy matter indeed to hang upon the skirts of that army, +pick up stragglers, burn bridges, attack wagon trains, and now and then +pounce down on an outlying picket and take it in.</p> + +<p>20. Colonel Lytle, my old brigade commander, called on me to-day. He +informed me that he had not been assigned yet. I inferred from this that +he thought it utterly impossible for one so distinguished as himself to +come down to a regiment. His own regiment, the Tenth Ohio, is here, and +nominally a part of my brigade, although it has not acted with it since +Rosecrans assumed command of the Army of the Cumberland. Under +Lieutenant-Colonel Burke, it is doing guard duty at Department +head-quarters.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MARCH_1863" id="MARCH_1863"></a>MARCH, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. There is talk of consolidation at Washington. This is a sensible +idea, and should be carried into effect at once. There are too many +officers and too few men. The regiments should be consolidated, and kept +full by conscription, if it can not be done otherwise. The best officers +should be retained, and the others sent home to stand their chances of +the draft.</p> + +<p>A major of the Fifteenth Kentucky sent in his resignation a few days +ago, assigning as a reason for so doing that the object of the war was +now the elevation of the negro. The concluding paragraph of his letter +was in these words: "The service can not possibly suffer by my +resignation." The document passed through my hands on its way to +Department head-quarters, and I indorsed it as follows:</p> + +<p>"Major H. F. Kalfus, Fifteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, being +'painfully and reluctantly convinced' that the party in power is +disposed to elevate the negro, desires to quit the service. I trust he +will be allowed to do so, and cheerfully certify to the correctness of +one statement which he makes herein, to-wit: The service can not +possibly suffer by his resignation."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p> + +<p>General Rosecrans has just sent me an order to arrest the Major, and +send him under guard to the Provost-Marshal General. The arrest will be +made in a few minutes, and may create some excitement among our Kentucky +friends.</p> + +<p>3. The fortifications are progressing. The men work four hours each day +in the trenches. The remainder of the time they spend pretty much as +they see fit.</p> + +<p>General Garfield is now chief of staff. It is the first instance in the +West of an officer of his rank being assigned to that position. It is an +important place, however, and one too often held not merely by officers +of inferior rank, but of decidedly inferior ability. General Buell had a +colonel as chief of staff, and, until the appointment of Garfield, +General Rosecrans had a lieutenant-colonel or major.</p> + +<p>To-night an ugly and most singular specimen of the negro called to +obtain employment. He was not over three feet and a half high, +hump-backed, crooked-legged, and quite forty years old. Poking his head +into my tent, and, taking off his hat, he said: "Is de Co'nel in?" +"Yes." "Hurd you wants a boy, sah. Man tole me Co'nel Eighty-eighth +Olehio wants a boy, sah." "What can you do? Can you cook?" "Yas, sah." +"Where did you learn to cook?" "On de plantation, sah." "What is your +master's name?" "Rucker, sah." "Is he a loyal man?" "No, sah, he not a +lawyer; his brudder, de cussen one, is de lawyer." "Is he secesh?" "O, +yas, sah; yas, he sesesh." "It is the Colonel of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> Eighty-eighth +Indiana you should see;" and I directed him to the Colonel's tent. As he +turned to leave, he muttered, "Man tole me Eighty-eighth Olehio;" but he +went hobbling over to the Eighty-eighth, with fear, anxiety, and hope +struggling in his old face.</p> + +<p>4. Major Kalfus, Fifteenth Kentucky, arrested on Sunday, and since held +in close confinement, was dishonorably dismissed from the service to-day +for using treasonable language in tendering his resignation. He was +escorted outside the lines and turned loose. The Major is a cross-roads +politician, and will, I doubt not, be a lion among his half-loyal +neighbors when he returns home.</p> + +<p>5. Our picket on the Manchester pike was driven in to-day. The cavalry, +under General Stanley, went to the rescue, when a fight occurred. No +particulars.</p> + +<p>9. T. Buchanan Reid, the poet, entertained us at the court-house this +evening. The room had been trimmed up by the rebels for a ball. The +words, "Shiloh," "Fort Donelson," "Hartsville," "Santa Rosa," +"Pensacola," were surrounded with evergreens. The letter "B," painted on +the walls in a dozen places, was encompassed by wreaths of flowers, now +faded and yellow. My native modesty led me to conclude that the letter +so highly honored stood for Bragg, and not for the commander of the +Seventeenth Brigade, U. S. A.</p> + +<p>General Garfield introduced Mr. Reid by a short speech, not delivered in +his usual happy style. I was impressed with the idea all the time, that +he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> had too many buttons on his coat—he certainly had a great many +buttons—and the splendor of the double row possibly detracted somewhat +from the splendor of his remarks.</p> + +<p>Mr. Reid is a small man, and has not sufficient voice to make himself +heard distinctly in so large a hall. In a parlor his recitations would +be capital. He read from his own poem, "The Wagoner," a description of +the battle of Brandywine. It is possibly a very good representation of +that battle; but, if so, the battle of Brandywine was very unlike that +of Stone river. At Brandywine, it appears, the generals slashed around +among the enemy's infantry with drawn swords, doing most of the hard +fighting and most of the killing themselves. I did not discover anything +of that kind at Stone river. It is possible the style went out of +fashion before the rebellion began. It would, however, be very +satisfactory to the rank and file to see it restored. Mr. Reid said some +good things in his lecture, and was well applauded; but, in the main, he +was too ethereal, vapory, and fanciful for the most of us leather-heads. +When he puts a soldier-boy on the top of a high mountain to sing +patriotic songs, and bid defiance to King George because "Eagle is +King," we are impressed with the idea that that soldier could have been +put to better use; that, in fact, he is entirely out of the line of +duty. The position assigned him is unnatural, and the modern soldier-boy +will be apt to conclude that nobody but a simpleton would be likely to +wander about in solitary places, extemporizing in measured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> sentences; +besides it is hard work, as I know from experience. I tried my hand at +it the other day until my head ached, and this is the best I could do:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">O! Lord, when will this war end?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>These days of marchings, nights of lonely guard?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>This terrible expenditure of health and life?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Where is the glory? Where is the reward,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For sacrifice of comfort, quiet, peace?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For sacrifice of children, wife, and friends?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For sacrifice of firesides—genial homes?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>What hour, what gift, will ever make amends</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For broken health, for bruised flesh and bones,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For lives cut short by bullet, blade, disease?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Where balm to heal the widow's heart, or what</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Shall soothe a mother's grief for woes like these?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hold, murmurer, hold! Is country naught to thee?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Is freedom nothing? Naught an honored name?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>What though the days be cold, or the nights dark,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The brave heart kindles for itself a flame</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>That warms and lightens up the world!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Home! What's home, if in craven shame</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>We seek its hearthstone? Bitterest of cold.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Better creep thither bruised, and torn, and lame,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Than seek it in health when justice needs our aid.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where is the glory? Where is the reward?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Think of the generations that will come</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>To praise and bless the hero. Think of God,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Who in due time will call His soldiers home.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>How comfort mother for the loss of son?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>What balm to which her heaviest grief must yield?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ah! the plain, simple, ever-glorious words:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>"Your son died nobly on the battle-field!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>What balm to soothe a widow's aching heart?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The grand assurance that in the battle shock</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Foremost her husband stood, defying all,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For freedom and truth, unyielding as the rock.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Then, courage, all, and when the strife is past,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And grief for lost ones takes a milder hue,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>This thought shall crown the living and the dead:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"He lived, he died, to God and duty true."</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>10. Rain has been descending most of the day, and just now is pouring +down with great violence. A happy party in the adjoining tent are +exercising their lungs on a negro melody, of which this is something +like the chorus:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="De massa run"> +<tr><td align='left'>"De massa run, ha, ha!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">De nigger stay, ho, ho!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">It mus' be now de kingdom comin',</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And de year of jubelo."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>I can not affirm that the music with which these gentlemen so abound, on +this rainy and dismal night, has that soothing effect on the human heart +ascribed to music in general; but, however little I may feel like +rejoicing now, I am quite sure I shall feel happier when the concert +ends. The singers have concluded the negro melody, and are breathing out +their souls in a sentimental piece. Now and then, when more than +ordinarily successful in the higher strains, they nearly equal the most +exalted efforts of the tom-cat; and then, again, in the execution of the +lower notes and more pathetic passages, we are brought nigh unto tears +by an inimitable imitation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> of the wailings of a very young and sick +kitten.</p> + +<div class='center'> +"Do they miss me at home; do they miss me?"<br /> +</div> + +<p>I venture to say they do, and with much gratification if, when there, +you favored them often with this infernal noise.</p> + +<p>14. The weather is remarkably fine to-day. I saw Mrs. and Major-General +McCook and Mrs. and Major-General Wood going out to the battle-field, on +horseback, this morning. Mrs. General Rosecrans arrived last night on a +special train.</p> + +<p>16. The roads are becoming good, and every body is on horseback. Many +officers have their wives here. On the way to Murfreesboro this morning, +I met two ladies with an escort going to the battle-field. Returning I +met General Rosecrans and wife. The General hallooed after me, "How d'ye +do?" to which I shouted back, at the top of my voice, the very original +reply, "Very well, thank you." From the number of ladies gathering in, +one might very reasonably conclude that no advance was contemplated +soon. Still all signs fail in war times, as they do in dry weather. As a +rule, perhaps, when a movement appears most improbable, we should be on +the lookout for orders to start.</p> + +<p>The army, under Rosecrans' administration, looks better than it ever did +before. He certainly enters into his work with his whole soul, and +unless some unlucky mishap knocks his feet from under him, he will soon +be recognized as the first general of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> Union. I account for his +success thus far, in part at least, by the fact that he has been long +enough away from West Point, mixing with the people, to get a little +common sense rubbed into him.</p> + +<p>While writing the last word above, the string band of the Third struck +up at the door of my tent. Going out, I found all the commissioned +officers of that regiment standing in line. Adjutant Wilson nudged me, +and said they expected a speech. I asked if beer would not suit them +better. He thought not. I have not attempted to make a speech for two +years, and never made a successful attempt in my life; but I knocked the +ashes out of my pipe and began:</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>: I am informed that all the officers of the Third are here. I +am certainly very glad to see you, and extremely sorry that I am not +better prepared to receive and entertain you. The press informs us that +I have been very highly honored. If the report that I have been promoted +is true, I am indebted to your gallantry, and that of the brave men of +the Third, for the honor. You gave me my first position, and then were +kind enough to deem me worthy of a second; and if now I have obtained a +third, and higher one, it is because I have had the good fortune to +command good soldiers. The step upward in rank will simply increase my +debt of gratitude to you."</p> + +<p>The officers responded cordially, by assuring me that they rejoiced over +my promotion, and were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> anxious that I should continue in command of the +brigade to which the Third is attached.</p> + +<p>Charlie Davison can sing as many songs as Mickey Free, of "Charles +O'Malley," and sing them well. In Irish melodies he is especially happy. +Hark!</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Dear Erin, how sweetly thy green bosom rises"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Dear Erin, how sweetly thy green bosom rises,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">An emerald set in the ring of the sea;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Each blade of thy meadows my faithful heart prizes,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Thou Queen of the West, the world's cush la machree.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><br />* * * * * *</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Thy sons they are brave; but the battle once over,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In brotherly peace with their foes they agree,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And the roseate cheeks of thy daughters discover,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The soul-speaking blush that says cush la machree."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>17. Dined with General Wagner, and, in company with Wagner and General +Palmer, witnessed an artillery review.</p> + +<p>18. My brigade is still at work on the fortifications. They are, +however, nearly completed.</p> + +<p>Shelter tents were issued to our division to-day. We are still using the +larger tent; but it is evidently the intention to leave these behind +when we move. Last fall the shelter tents were used for a time by the +Pioneer Brigade. They are so small that a man can not stand up in them. +The boys were then very bitter in condemnation of them, and called them +dog tents and dog pens. Almost every one of these tents was marked in a +way to indicate the unfavorable opinion which the boys entertained of +them, and in riding through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> the company quarters of the Pioneer +Brigade, the eye would fall on inscriptions of this sort:</p> + +<div class="center">PUPS FOR SALE—RAT TERRIERS—BULL PUPS +HERE—DOG-HOLE NO. 1—SONS OF BITCHES +WITHIN—DOGS—PURPS. </div> + +<p>General Rosecrans and staff, while riding by one day, were greeted with +a tremendous bow-wow. The boys were on their hands and knees, stretching +their heads out of the ends of the tents, barking furiously at the +passing cavalcade. The General laughed heartily, and promised them +better accommodations.</p> + +<p>The news from Vicksburg is somewhat encouraging, but certainly very +indefinite, and far from satisfactory.</p> + +<p>19. Reviews are the order of the hour. All the brigades of our division, +except mine, were reviewed by General Rosecrans this afternoon. It was a +fine display, but hard on the soldiers; they were kept so long standing.</p> + +<p>At Middletown, sixteen miles away, the rebels are four thousand strong, +and within a day or two they have ventured to Salem, five miles distant.</p> + +<p>20. Loomis, who has just returned from home, called this evening, and we +drank a bottle of wine over the promotion. He is in trouble about his +commission as colonel of artillery. Two months ago the Governor of +Michigan gave him the commission, and since that time he has been +wearing a colonel's uniform; but General Rosecrans has expressed doubts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +about his right to assume the rank. Loomis is all right, doubtless, and +to-morrow, when the matter is talked over between the General and +himself, it will be settled satisfactorily.</p> + +<p>21. I have been running over Russell's diary, "North and South," and +must say the Yankee Nation, when looked at through Mr. Russell's +spectacles, does not appear enveloped in that star-spangled glory and +super-celestial blue with which it is wont to loom up before patriotic +eyes on Fourth of July occasions. He has treated us, however, fully as +well as we have treated him. We became angry because he told unpleasant +truths about us, and he became enraged because we abused him for it. He +thanks God that he is not an American; and should not we, in a spirit of +conciliation, meet him half way, and feel thankful that he is not?</p> + +<p>Flaming dispatches will appear in the Northern papers to-morrow +respecting the defeat of John Morgan, by a small brigade of our troops +under Colonel Hall. The report will say that forty of the enemy were +killed, one hundred and fifty wounded, and one hundred and twenty +captured; loss on our side inconsiderable. The reporters have probably +contributed largely to the brilliancy of this affair. It is always safe +to accept with distrust all reports which affirm that a few men, with +little loss, routed, slaughtered, or captured a large force.</p> + +<p>Peach and cherry trees are in full bloom. The grass is beginning to +creep out. Summer birds occa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>sionally sing around us. In a few weeks +more the trees will be in full leaf again.</p> + +<p>23. General Negley, who went home some time ago, returned to-day, and, I +see, wears two stars.</p> + +<p>General Brannan arrived a day or two ago. He was on the train captured +by guerrillas, but was rescued a few minutes after.</p> + +<p>The boys have a rumor that Bragg is near, and has sent General Rosecrans +a very polite note requesting him to surrender Murfreesboro at once. If +the latter refuses to accept this most gentlemanly invitation to deliver +up all his forces, Bragg proposes to commence an assault upon our works +at twelve <span class="smcap">m.</span>, and show us no mercy. This, of course, is reliable.</p> + +<p>At sunset rain began to fall, and has continued to pour down steadily +ever since. The night is gloomy. Adjutant Wilson, in the next tent, is +endeavoring to lift himself from the slough of despond by humming a +ditty of true love; but the effort is evidently a failure.</p> + +<p>This morning I stood on the bank of the river and observed the +pontoniers as they threw their bridge of boats across the stream. Twice +each week they unload the pontoons from the wagons, run them into the +water, put the scantling from boat to boat, lay down the plank, and thus +make a good bridge on which men, horses, and wagons can cross. After +completing the bridge, they immediately begin to take it up, load the +lumber and pontoons on the wagons, and return to camp. They can bridge +any stream between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> this and the Tennessee in an hour, and can put a +bridge over that in probably three hours.</p> + +<p>General Rosecrans makes a fine display in his visits about the camps. He +is accompanied by his staff and a large and well-equipped escort, with +outriders in front and rear. The National flag is borne at the head of +the column.</p> + +<p>Rosecrans is of medium height and stout, not quite so tall as McCook, +and not nearly so heavy. McCook is young, and very fleshy. Rousseau is +by far the handsomest man in the army; tall and well-proportioned, but +possibly a little too bulky. R. S. Granger is a little man, with a +heavy, light sandy mustache. Wood is a small man, short and slim, with +dark complexion, and black whiskers. Crittenden, the major-general, is a +spare man, medium height, lank, common sort of face, well whiskered. +Major-General Stanley, the cavalryman, is of good size, gentlemanly in +bearing, light complexion, brown hair. McCook and Wood swear like +pirates, and affect the rough-and-ready style. Rousseau is given to +profanity somewhat, and blusters occasionally. Rosecrans indulges in an +oath now and then; but is a member of the Catholic Church in good +standing. Crittenden, I doubt not, swears like a trooper, and yet I have +never heard him do so. He is a good drinker; and the same can be said of +Rousseau. Rosecrans is an educated officer, who has rubbed much against +the world, and has experience. Rousseau is brave, but knows little of +military science. McCook is a chucklehead. Wood and Crittenden know how +to blow their own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> horns exceedingly well. Major-General Thomas is tall, +heavy, sedate; whiskers and head grayish. Puts on less style than any of +those named, and is a gentlemanly, modest, reliable soldier. Rosecrans +and McCook shave clean; Crittenden and Wood go the whole whisker; Thomas +shaves the upper lip. Rosecrans' nose is large, and curves down; +Rousseau's is large, and curves up; McCook has a weak nose, that would +do no credit to a baby. Rosecrans' laugh is not one of the free, open, +hearty kind; Rousseau has a good laugh, but shows poor teeth; McCook has +a grin, which excites the suspicion that he is either still very green +or deficient in the upper story.</p> + +<p>22. Colonels Wilder and Funkhauser called. We had just disposed of a +bottle of wine, when Colonel Harker made his appearance, and we entered +forthwith upon another. Colonel Wilder expects to accomplish a great +work with his mounted infantry. He is endeavoring to arm them with the +Henry rifle, a gun which, with a slight twist of the wrist, will throw +sixteen bullets in almost that many seconds. I have no doubt he will +render his command very efficient and useful, for he has wonderful +energy and nerve, and is, besides, sensible and practical. Colonel +Harker is greatly disappointed because he was not confirmed as +brigadier-general during the last session of Congress. He is certainly +young enough to afford to wait; but he seems to fear that, after +commanding a brigade for nine months, he may have to go back to a +regiment. He feels, too, that, being a New Jersey man, commanding Ohio +troops, neither State will take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> an interest in him, and render him that +assistance which, under other circumstances, either of them might do. +These gentlemen dined with me. Harker and Wilder expressed a high +opinion of General Buell. Wilder says Gilbert is a d—d scoundrel, and +responsible for the loss at Mumfordsville. Harker, however, defended +Gilbert, and is the only man I have ever heard speak favorably of him.</p> + +<p>The train coming from Nashville to-day was fired upon and four men +wounded. Yesterday there was a force of the enemy along the whole south +front of our picket line.</p> + +<p>From the cook's tent, in the rear, comes a devotional refrain:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="I'm gui-en home"> +<tr><td align='left'>"I'm gui-en home, I'm gui-en home,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To d-i-e no mo'."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>24. We are still pursuing the even tenor of our way on the +fortifications. There are no indications of an advance. The army, +however, is well equipped, in good spirits, and prepared to move at an +hour's notice. Its confidence in Rosecrans is boundless, and whatever it +may be required to do, it will, I doubt not, do with a will.</p> + +<p>The conscript law, and that clause especially which provides for the +granting of a limited number of furloughs, gives great satisfaction to +the men. They not only feel that they will soon have help, but that if +their conduct be good, there will be a fair chance for them to see home +before the expiration of their term<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> of enlistment. Hitherto they have +been something like prisoners without hope.</p> + +<p>26. Another little misfortune has occurred to our arms at Brentwood. The +Twenty-second Wisconsin, numbering four hundred men, was captured by +General Forrest. The rebels succeed admirably in gathering up and +consolidating our scattered troops.</p> + +<p>The Adjutant and others are having a concert in the next tent, and +certainly laugh more over their own performance than singers do +generally. They have just executed</p> + +<div class='center'> +"The foin ould Irish gintleman,"<br /> +</div> + +<p>And are at this present writing shouting</p> + +<div class='center'> +"Vive l' America, home of the free."<br /> +</div> + +<p>I think it more than probable that as their enthusiasm increases, the +punch in their punch-bowl diminishes.</p> + +<p>27. A mule has just broken the stillness of the night by a most +discordant bray, and I am reminded that all horses are to be turned over +to the mounted infantry regiments, and mules used in the teams in their +stead. Mules are far better for the wagons than horses. They require +less food, are hardier, and stand up better under rough work and +irregular feeding.</p> + +<p>I catch the faintest possible sound of a violin. Some indomitable spirit +is enlivening the night, and trenching upon the Sabbath, by giving loose +rein to his genius.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the light baggage and rapid marches of the latter part of Buell's +administration, together with the mishaps at Perryville, the string band +of the Third was very considerably damaged; but the boys have recently +resuscitated and revived it to all the glory and usefulness of former +days. One of its sweetest singers, however, has either deserted or +retired to hospital or barracks, where the duties are less onerous and +life more safe. His greatest hit was a song known as "The Warble," in +which the following lines occurred:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Mein fadter"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Mein fadter, mein modter, mein sister, mein frau,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Und zwi glass of beer for meinself.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Dey called mein frau one blacksmit-schopt;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Und such dings I never did see in my life."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>When, at Shelbyville and Huntsville, this melody mingled with the +moonlight of summer evenings, people generally were deluded into the +supposition that an ethereal songster was on the wing, enrapturing them +with harmonies of other spheres. But sutlers, it is well known, are men +of little or no refinement, with ears for money rather than music. To +their unappreciative and perverted senses the warble seemed simply a +dolorous appeal for more whisky; and while delivering up their last +bottle to get rid of the warbler and his friends, in order that they +might get sleep themselves, they have been known to express the hope +that both song and singers might, without unnecessary delay, go to that +region which we are told is paved with good intentions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p> + +<p>The voice of a colored person in the rear breaks in upon my +recollections of the warbler. The most interesting and ugliest negro now +in camp, is known as Simon Bolivar Buckner. He is an animal that has +been worth in his day eighteen hundred dollars, an estray from the +estate of General S. B. Buckner. He manages, by blacking boots and +baking leather pies, to make money. He deluded me into buying a second +pie from him one day, by assuring me, "on honah, sah, dat de las pie was +better'n de fus', case he hab strawberries in him." True, the pie had +"strawberries in him," but not enough to pay one for chewing the +whit-leather crust.</p> + +<p>30. Read Judge Holt's review of the proceedings and findings in the case +of Fitzjohn Porter. If the review presents the facts fairly, Porter +should have been not only dismissed, but hung. An officer who, with +thirteen thousand men, will remain idle when within sight of the dust +and in hearing of the shouts of the enemy and the noise of battle, +knowing that his friends are contending against superior numbers, and +having good reason to believe that they are likely to be overwhelmed, +deserves no mercy.</p> + +<p>It is dull. I have hardly enough to do to keep me awake. The members of +the staff each have their separate duties to perform, which keep them +more or less engaged. The quartermaster issues clothing to the troops; +the commissary of subsistence issues food; the inspector looks into the +condition of each regiment as to clothing, arms, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> camp equipage; the +adjutant makes out the detail for guard and other duties, and transmits +orders received from the division commander to the regiments. All of +these officers have certain reports to make also, which consumes much of +their time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="APRIL_1863" id="APRIL_1863"></a>APRIL, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. Adjutant Wilson received a letter to-day, written in a hand that +bespoke the writer to be feminine. He looked at the name, but could not +recollect having heard it before. The writer assured him, however, that +she was an old friend, and said many tender and complimentary things of +him. He tried to think; called the roll of his lady friends, but the +advantage, as people say, which the writer had of him was entirely too +great. If he had ever heard the name, he found it impossible now to +recall it. Finally, as he was going to fold the letter and put it away, +he noticed one line at the top, written upside down. On reading it the +mystery was solved: "If this reaches you on the first day of April, a +reply to it is not expected."</p> + +<p>The colored gentlemen of the staff are in a great state of excitement. +One of the number has been illustrating the truth of that maxim which +affirms that a nigger will steal. The war of words is terrible. "Yer +d—d ole nigger thief," says one. "Hush! I'll break yer black jaw fer +yer," says another. They say very few harder things of each other than +"you dam nigger." One would think the pot in this in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>stance would hardly +take to calling the kettle black, but it does. They use the word nigger +to express contempt, dislike, or defiance, as often and freely as the +whites. Finally, the parties to this controversy agree to leave the +matter to "de Co'nel." The accused was the first to thrust his head into +my tent, and ask permission to enter. "Dey is a gwine to tell yer as I +stole some money from ole Hason. I didn't done it, Co'nel; as sure as +I'm a livin' I didn't done it." "Yaas, yer did, you lyin' nigger!" broke +in old Hason. "Now, Co'nel, I want ter tell you the straight of it." I +listened patiently to the old man's statement and to the evidence +adduced, and as it was very clear that the accused was guilty, put him +under guard.</p> + +<p>The first day of April has been very pleasant, cool but clear. The night +is beautiful; the moon is at its full almost, and its light falls mellow +and soft on the scene around me. The redoubt is near, with its guns +standing sentinel at each corner, the long line of earthworks stretches +off to the right and left; the river gleams and sparkles as it flows +between its rugged banks of stone; the shadowy flags rise and fall +lazily; the sentinels walk to and fro on their beats with silvered +bayonets, and the dull glare of the camp-fires, and the snow-white +tents, are seen every-where.</p> + +<p>Somebody, possibly the Adjutant, whose thoughts may be still running on +the fair unknown, breaks forth:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="O why did she flatter my boyish pride"> +<tr><td align='left'>"O why did she flatter my boyish pride,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">She is going to leave me now;"</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p> + +<p>And then, with a vehemence which betokens desperation,</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="I'll hang my harp on a willow tree"> +<tr><td align='left'>"I'll hang my harp on a willow tree,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And off to the wars again."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>From which I infer it would be highly satisfactory to the young man to +be demolished at the enemy's earliest convenience.</p> + +<p>A large amount of stores are accumulated here. Forty thousand boxes of +hard bread are stacked in one pile at the depot, and greater quantities +of flour, pork, vinegar, and molasses, than I have ever seen before.</p> + +<p>3. An Indiana newspaper reached camp to-day containing an obituary +notice of a lieutenant of the Eighty-eighth Indiana. It gives quite a +lengthy biographical sketch of the deceased, and closes with a letter +which purports to have been written on the battle-field by one +Lieutenant John Thomas, in which Lieutenant Wildman, the subject of the +sketch, is said to have been shot near Murfreesboro, and that his last +words were: "Bury me where I have fallen, and do not allow my body to be +removed." The letter is exceedingly complimentary to the said lamented +young man, and affirms that "he was the hero of heroes, noted for his +reckless daring, and universally beloved." The singular feature about +this whole matter is that the letter was written by the lamented young +officer himself to his own uncle. The deceased justifies his action by +saying that he had expended two dollars for foolscap and one dollar for +postage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> stamps in writing to the d—d old fool, and never received a +reply, and he concluded finally he would write a letter which would +interest him. It appears by the paper referred to that the lieutenant +succeeded. The uncle and his family are in mourning for another martyr +gone—the hero of heroes and the universally beloved.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant DuBarry, topographical engineer, has just been promenading +the line of tents in his nightshirt, with a club, in search of some +scoundrel, supposed to be the Adjutant, who has stuffed his bed with +stove-wood and stones. Wilson, on seeing the ghostly apparition +approach, breaks into song:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Meet me by moonlight alone"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Meet me by moonlight alone,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And there I will tell you a tale."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Lieutenant Orr, commissary of subsistence, coming up at this time, +remarks to DuBarry that he "is surprised to see him take it so coolly," +whereupon the latter, notwithstanding the chilliness of the atmosphere, +and the extreme thinness of his dress, expresses himself with very +considerable warmth. Patterson, a clerk, and as likely to be the +offender as any one, now joins the party, and affirms, with great +earnestness, that "this practical joke business must end, or somebody +will get hurt."</p> + +<p>4. Saw Major-General McCook, wife, and staff riding out this morning. +General Rosecrans was out this afternoon, but I did not see him. At this +hour the signal corps is communicating from the dome of the court-house +with the forces at Triune, sixteen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> miles away, and with the troops at +Readyville and other points. In daylight this is done by flags, at night +by torches.</p> + +<p>5. There are many fine residences in Murfreesboro and vicinity; but the +trees and shrubbery, which contributed in a great degree to their beauty +and comfort, have been cut or trampled down and destroyed. Many frame +houses, and very good ones, too, have been torn down, and the lumber and +timber used in the construction of hospitals.</p> + +<p>There is a fearful stench in many places near here, arising from +decaying horses and mules, which have not been properly buried, or +probably not buried at all. The camps, as a rule, are well policed and +kept clean; but the country for miles around is strewn with dead +animals, and the warm weather is beginning to tell on them.</p> + +<p>6. It is said that the Third Regiment, with others, is to leave +to-morrow on an expedition which may keep it away for months. No +official notice of the matter has been given me, and I trust the report +may be unfounded. I should be sorry indeed to be separated from the +regiment. I have been with it now two years, and to lose it would be +like losing the greater number of my army friends and acquaintances.</p> + +<p>7. The incident of the day, to me at least, is the departure of the +Third. It left on the two <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> train for Nashville. I do not think I +have been properly treated. They should at least have consulted me +before detaching my old regiment. I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> informed that Colonel Streight, +who is in command of the expedition, was permitted to select the +regiments, and the matter has been conducted so secretly that, before I +had an intimation of what was contemplated, it was too late to take any +steps to keep the Third. I never expect to be in command of it again. It +will get into another current, and drift into other brigades, divisions, +and army corps. The idea of being mounted was very agreeable to both +officers and men; but a little experience in that branch of the service +will probably lead them to regret the choice they have made. My best +wishes go with them.</p> + +<p>All are looking with eager eyes toward Vicksburg. Its fall would send a +thrill of joy through the loyal heart of the country, especially if +accompanied by the capture of the Confederate troops now in possession.</p> + +<p>8. Six months ago this night, parching with thirst and pinched with +hunger, we were lying on Chaplin Hills, thinking over the terrible +battle of the afternoon, expecting its renewal in the morning, listening +to the shots on the picket line, and notified by an occasional bullet +that the enemy was occupying the thick woods just in our front, and very +near. A little over three months ago we were in the hurry, confusion, +anxiety, and suspense of an undecided battle, surrounded by the dead and +dying, with the enemy's long line of camp-fires before us. Since then we +have had a quiet time, each succeeding day seeming the dullest.</p> + +<p>Rode into town this afternoon; invested twenty-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>five cents in two red +apples; spoke to Captain Blair, of Reynolds' staff; exchanged nods with +W. D. B., of the Commercial; saw a saddle horse run away with its rider; +returned to camp; entertained Shanks, of the New York Herald, for ten +minutes; drank a glass of wine with Colonel Taylor, Fifteenth Kentucky, +and soon after dropped off to sleep.</p> + +<p>A brass band is now playing, away over on the Lebanon pike. The +pontoniers are singing a psalm, with a view, doubtless, to making the +oaths with which they intend to close the night appear more forcible. +The signal lights are waving to and fro from the dome of the +court-house. The hungry mules of the Pioneer Corps are making the night +hideous with howls. So, and amid such scenes, the tedious hours pass by.</p> + +<p>10. A soldier of the Fortieth Indiana, who, during the battle of Stone +river, abandoned his company and regiment, and remained away until the +fight ended, was shot this afternoon. Another will be shot on the 14th +instant for deserting last fall. A man in our division who was sentenced +to be shot, made his escape.</p> + +<p>It seems these cases were not affected by the new law, and the +President's proclamation to deserters. Hitherto deserters have been +seldom punished, and, as a rule, never as severely as the law allowed.</p> + +<p>My parchment arrived to-day, and I have written the necessary letter of +acceptance and taken the oath, and henceforth shall subscribe myself +yours, very re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>spectfully, B. G., which, in my case, will probably stand +for big goose.</p> + +<p>General Rosecrans halted a moment before my quarters this evening, shook +hands with me very cordially, and introduced me to his brother, the +Bishop, as a young general. The General asked why I had not called. I +replied that I knew he must be busy, and did not care to intrude. +"True," said he, "I am busy, but have always time to say how d'ye do." +He promised me another regiment to replace the Third, and said my boys +looked fat enough to kick up their heels. The General's popularity with +the army is immense. On review, the other day, he saw a sergeant who had +no haversack; calling the attention of the boys to it he said: "This +sergeant is without a haversack; he depends on you for food; don't give +him a bite; let him starve."</p> + +<p>The General appears to be well pleased with his fortifications, and +asked me if I did not think it looked like remaining. I replied that the +works were strong, and a small force could hold them, and that I should +be well pleased if the enemy would attack us here, instead of compelling +us to go further south. "Yes," said he, "I wish they would."</p> + +<p>General Lytle is to be assigned to Stanley Matthews' brigade. The latter +was recently elected judge, and will resign and return to Cincinnati.</p> + +<p>The anti-Copperhead resolution business of the army must be pretty well +exhausted. All the resolutions and letters on this subject that may +appear hereafter may be accepted as bids for office. They have,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +however, done a great deal of good, and I trust the public will not be +forced to swallow an overdose. I had a faint inclination, at one time, +to follow the example of my brother officers, and write a patriotic +letter, but concluded to reserve my fire, and have had reason to +congratulate myself since that I did so, for these letters have been as +plenty as blackberries, and many of them not half so good.</p> + +<p>A Republican has not much need to write. His patriotism is taken for +granted. He is understood to be willing to go the whole nigger, and, +like the ogre of the story books, to whom the most delicious morsel was +an old woman, lick his chops and ask for more.</p> + +<p>Wilder came in yesterday, with his mounted infantry, from a scout of +eight or ten days, bringing sixty or seventy prisoners and a large +number of horses.</p> + +<p>11. A railway train was destroyed by the rebels near Lavergne yesterday. +One hundred officers fell into the hands of the enemy, and probably one +hundred thousand dollars in money, on the way to soldiers' families, was +taken. This feat was accomplished right under the nose of our troops.</p> + +<p>To the uninitiated army life is very fascinating. The long marches, +nights of picket, and ordeal of battle are so festooned by the +imagination of the inexperienced with shoulder straps, glittering +blades, music, banners, and glory, as to be irresistible; but when we +sit down to the hard crackers and salt pork, with which the soldier is +wont to regale himself, we can not avoid recurring to the loaded tables +and delicious morsels of other days, and are likely at such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> times to +put hard crackers and glory on one side, the good things of home and +peace on the other and owing probably to the unsubstantial quality of +glory, and the adamantine quality of the crackers, arrive at conclusions +not at all favorable to army life.</p> + +<p>A fellow claiming to have been sent here by the Governor of Maine to +write songs for the army, and who wrote songs for quite a number of +regiments, was arrested some days ago on the charge of being a spy. Last +night he attempted to get away from the guard, and was shot. Drawings of +our fortifications were found in his boots. He was quite well known +throughout the army, and for a long time unsuspected.</p> + +<p>12. Called on General Rousseau. He referred to his trip to Washington, +and dwelt with great pleasure on the various efforts of the people along +the route to do him honor. At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they stood in the +cold an hour and a half awaiting his appearance. Our division, he +informs me, is understood to possess the chivalric and dashing qualities +which the people admire. With all due respect, I suggested that dash was +a good thing, doubtless, but steady, obstinate, well-directed fighting +was better, and, in the end, would always succeed.</p> + +<p>W. D. B., of the Commercial, Major McDowell, of Rousseau's staff, and +Lieutenant Porter, called this afternoon. My report of the operations of +my brigade at Stone river was referred to. Bickham thought it did not do +justice to my command, and I have no doubt it is a sorry affair, +compared with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> the elaborate reports of many others. The historian who +accepts these reports as reliable, and permits himself to be guided by +them through all the windings of a five-days' battle, with the +expectation of finally allotting to each one of forty brigades the +proper credit, will probably not be successful. My report was called for +late one evening, written hastily, without having before me the reports +of my regimental commanders, and is incomplete, unsatisfactory to me, +and unjust to my brigade.</p> + +<p>13. General Thomas called for a moment this evening, to congratulate me +on my promotion.</p> + +<p>The practical-joke business is occasionally resumed. Quartermaster Wells +was astonished to find that his stove would not draw, or, rather, that +the smoke, contrary to rule, insisted upon coming down instead of going +up. Examination led to the discovery that the pipe was stuffed with old +newspapers. Their removal heated the stove and his temper at the same +time, but produced a coolness elsewhere, which the practical joker +affected to think quite unaccountable.</p> + +<p>14. Colonel Dodge, commanding the Second Brigade of Johnson's division, +called this afternoon. The Colonel is a very industrious talker, chewer, +spitter, and drinker. He has been under some tremendous hot firing, I +can tell you! Well, if he don't know what heavy firing is, and the +d—dest hottest work, too, then there is no use for men to talk! The +truth is, however much other men may try to conceal it, his command +stood its ground at Shiloh, and never gave back an inch. No, sir! Every +other brigade fal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>tered or fell back, damned if they didn't; but he +drove the enemy, got 'em started, other brigades took courage and joined +in the chase. At Stone river he drove the enemy again. Bullets came +thicker'n hail; but his men stood up. He was with 'em. Damned hot, you +better believe! Well, if he must say it himself, he knew what hard +fighting was. Why, sir, one of his men has five bullets in him; dam' me +if he hasn't five! Says he, Dick says he, how did they hit you so many +times? The first time I fired, says Dick, I killed an officer; yes, sir, +killed him dead; saw him fall, dam me, if he didn't, sir; and at the +same time, says Dick, I got a ball in my leg; rose up to fire again, and +got one in my other leg, and one in my thigh, and fell; got on my knees +to fire the third time, says Dick, and received two more. Well, you see, +the firing was hotter'n hell, and Colonel Dodge knows what hot firing +is, sir!</p> + +<p>15. Since the fight at Franklin, and the capture of the passenger train +at Lavergne, nothing of interest has occurred. There were only fifteen +or twenty officers on the captured train. A large amount of money, +however, fell into rebel hands. The postmaster of our division was on +the train, and the Confederates compelled him to accompany them ten +miles. He says they could have been traced very easily by the letters +which they opened and scattered along the road.</p> + +<p>16. Morgan, with a considerable force, has taken possession of Lebanon, +and troops are on the way thither to rout him. The tunnel near Gallatin +has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> been blown up, and in consequence trains on the Nashville and +Louisville Railroad are not running.</p> + +<p>17. Am member of a board whose duty it will be to inquire into the +competency, qualifications, and conduct of volunteer officers. The other +members are Colonels Scribner, Hambright, and Taylor. We called in a +body on General Rousseau, and found him reading "Les Miserables." He +apologized for his shabby appearance by saying that he had become +interested in a foolish novel. Colonel Scribner expressed great +admiration for the characters Jean Val Jean and Javort, when the General +confessed to a very decided anxiety to have Javort's neck twisted. This +is the feeling of the reader at first; but when he finds the old granite +man taking his own life as punishment for swerving once from what he +considered to be the line of duty, our admiration for him is scarcely +less than that we entertain for Jean Val Jean.</p> + +<p>18. The Columbus (Ohio) Journal, of late date, under the head of +"Arrivals," says: "General John Beatty has just married one of Ohio's +loveliest daughters, and is stopping at the Neil House. Good for the +General." This is a slander. I trust the paper of the next day made +proper correction, and laid the charge, where it belongs, to wit: on +General Samuel. If General Sam continues to demean himself in this +youthful manner, I shall have to beg him to change his name. My +reputation can not stand many more such blows. What must those who know +I have a wife and children think,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> when they see it announced that I +have married again, and am stopping at the Neil with "one of Ohio's +loveliest daughters?" What a horrible reflection upon the character of a +constant and faithful husband! (This last sentence is written for my +wife.)</p> + +<p>19. Colonel Taylor and I rode over to General Rousseau's this morning. +Returning, we were joined by Colonel Nicholas, Second Kentucky; Colonel +Hobart, Twenty-first Wisconsin, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham, First +Wisconsin, all of whom took dinner with me. We had a right pleasant +party, but rather boisterous, possibly, for the Sabbath day.</p> + +<p>There is at this moment a lively discussion in progress in the cook's +tent, between two African gentlemen, in regard to military affairs. Old +Hason says: "Oh, hush, darkey!" Buckner replies: "Yer done no what'r +talkin' about, nigger." "I'll bet yer a thousand dollars." "Hush! yer +ain't got five cents." "Gor way, yer don't no nuffin'." And so the +debate continues; but, like many others, leads simply to confusion and +bitterness.</p> + +<p>20. This evening an order came transferring my brigade to Negley's +division. It will be known hereafter as the Second Brigade, Second +Division, Fourteenth Army Corps.</p> + +<p>28. Late last Monday night an officer from Stokes' battery reported to +me for duty. I told him I had received no orders, and knew of no reason +why he should report to me, and that in all probability General Samuel +Beatty, of Van Cleve's division, was the person to whom he should +report. I regarded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> the matter as simply one of the many blunders which +were occurring because there were two men of the same name and rank +commanding brigades in this army; and so, soon after the officer left, I +went to bed. Before I had gotten fairly to sleep, some one knocked again +at my tent-door. While rising to strike a light the person entered, and +said that he had been ordered to report to me. Supposing it to be the +officer of the battery persisting in his mistake, I replied as before, +and then turned over and went to sleep. I thought no more of the matter +until 11:30 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> next day, when an order came which should have been +delivered twenty-four hours before, requiring me to get my brigade in +readiness, and with one regiment of Colonel Harker's command and the +Chicago Board of Trade Battery, move toward Nashville at two o'clock +Tuesday morning. Then, of course, I knew why the two officers had +reported to me on the night previous, and saw that there had been an +inexcusable delay in the transmission of the order to me. Giving the +necessary directions to the regimental commanders, and sending notice to +Harker and the battery, I proceeded with all dispatch direct to +Department head-quarters, whence the order had issued, to explain the +delay. When I entered General Rosecrans shook hands with me cordially, +and seemed pleased to see me; but I had no sooner announced my business, +and informed him that the order had been delivered to me not ten minutes +before, than he flew into a violent passion, and asked if a battery and +regiment had not reported to me the night<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> before. I replied yes, and +was proceeding to give my reasons for supposing that the officers +reporting them were in error, when he shouted: "Why, in hell and +damnation, did you not mount your horse and come to head-quarters to +inquire what it meant?" I undertook again to tell him I had received no +order, and as my brigade had been detailed to work on fortifications I +was expecting none; that I had taken it for granted that it was another +of the many mistakes occurring constantly because there were two +officers of the same name and rank in the army, and had so told the +parties reporting; but he would not listen to me. His face was inflamed +with anger, his rage uncontrollable, his language most ungentlemanly, +abusive, and insulting. Garfield and many officers, commissioned and +non-commissioned, and possibly not a few civilians, were present to +witness my humiliation. For an instant I was tempted to strike him; but +my better sense checked me. I turned on my heel and left the room. Death +would have had few terrors for me just then. I had never felt such +bitter mortification before, and it seemed to me that I was utterly and +irreparably disgraced. However, I had a duty to perform, and while in +the execution of that I would have time to think.</p> + +<p>My brigade, one regiment of Colonel Harker's brigade, and the Chicago +Board of Trade Battery, were already on the road. We marched rapidly, +and that night (Tuesday) encamped in the woods north of Lavergne. Rain +fell most of the night; but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> men had shelter tents, and I passed the +time comfortably in a wagon. The next morning at daylight we started +again, and a little after sunrise arrived at Scrougeville. Here my +orders directed me to halt and watch the movements of the enemy. The +rebel cavalry, in pretty strong force, had been in the vicinity during +the day and evening before; but on learning of our approach had galloped +away. We were exceedingly active, and scoured the country for miles +around, but did not succeed in getting sight of even one of these +dashing cavaliers.</p> + +<p>The sky cleared, the weather became delightful, and the five days spent +in the neighborhood of Scrougeville were very agreeable. It was a +pleasant change from the dull routine of camp duty, and my men were in +exuberant spirits, excessively merry and gay. While there, a +good-looking non-commissioned officer of the battery came up to me, and, +extending his hand, said: "How do you do, General?" I shook him by the +hand, but could not for the life of me recollect that I had ever seen +him before. Seeing that I failed to recognize him, he said: "My name is +Concklin. I knew you at Sandusky, and used to know your wife well." +Still I could not remember him. "You knew General Patterson?" he asked. +"Yes." "Mary Patterson?" "Yes; I shall never forget her." "Do you +recollect a stroll down to the bay shore one moonlight night?" Of course +I remembered it. This was John Concklin, Mary's cousin. I remembered +very well how he devoted himself to one I felt considerable interest in, +while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> his cousin Mary and I talked in a jocular way about the cost of +housekeeping, both agreeing that it would require but a very small sum +to set up such an establishment as our modest ambition demanded. I was +heartily glad to meet the young man. He looks very different from the +smooth-faced boy of ten years ago. I was slightly jealous of him then, +and I do not know but I might have reason to be now, for he is a fine, +manly fellow.</p> + +<p>At Scrougeville—how softly the name ripples on the ear!—we were +entertained magnificently. Above us was the azure canopy; around us a +dense forest of cedars, and in a shady nook, a sylvan retreat as it +were, a barrel of choice beer. The mocking-birds caroled from the +evergreen boughs. The plaintive melody of the dove came to us from over +the hills, and pies at a quarter each poured in upon us in profusion; +and such pies! When night threw over us her shadowy mantle, and the +crescent moon blessed us with her mellow light, the notes of the +whip-poor-will mingling with the bark of watch-dogs and the barbaric +melody of the Ethiopian, floated out on the genial air, and, as +stretched on the green sward, we smoked our pipes and drank our beer, +thoughts of fairy land possessed us, and we looked wonderingly around +and inquired, is Scrougeville a reality or a vision? I fear we shall +never see the like of Scrougeville again.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 26th instant I received a telegram ordering our +immediate return, and we reached Murfreesboro at two o'clock <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> same +day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had not forgotten the terrible scolding received from the General just +before starting on this expedition; in fact, I am not likely ever to +forget it. It had now been a millstone on my heart for a week. I could +not stand it. What could I do? At first I thought I would send in my +resignation, but that I concluded would afford me no relief; on the +contrary, it would look as if I had been driven out of the army. My next +impulse was to ask to be relieved from duty in this department, and +assigned elsewhere; but on second thought this did not seem desirable. +It would appear as if I was running away from the displeasure of the +commanding general, and would affect me unfavorably wherever I might go. +I felt that if I was to blame at all in this matter, it was in a very +slight degree. The General's language was utterly inexcusable. He was a +man simply, and I concluded finally that I would not leave either the +army or the department under a cloud. I, therefore, sat down and wrote +the following letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<div class='right'> +"<span class="smcap">Murfreesboro</span>, <i>April 27, 1863</i>.<br /></div> +'"<span class="smcap">Major-General W. S. Rosecrans</span>,<br /> +<div class='center'>"<i>Commanding Department of the Cumberland:</i><br /></div> + + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>—Your attack upon me, on the morning of the +21st instant, has been the subject of thought +since. I have been absent on duty five days, and, +therefore, have not referred to it before. It is +the first time since I entered the army, two years +ago, as it is the first time in my life, that it +has been my misfortune to listen to abuse so +violent and unreasonable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> as that with which you +were pleased to favor me in the presence of the +aids, orderlies, officers, and visitors, at your +quarters. While I am unwilling to rest quietly +under the disgrace and ridicule which attaches to +the subject of such a tirade, I do not question +your right to censure when there has been +remissness in the discharge of duties; and to such +reasonable admonition I am ever ready to yield +respectful and earnest attention; but I know of no +rule, principle, or precedent, which confers upon +the General commanding this Department the right +to address language to an officer which, if used +by a private soldier to his company officer, or by +a company officer to a private soldier, would be +deemed disgraceful and lead to the punishment of +the one or the dismissal of the other. Insisting, +therefore, upon that right, which I conceive +belongs to the private in the ranks, as well at to +every subordinate officer in the army who has been +aggrieved, I demand from you an apology for the +insulting language addressed to me on the morning +of the 21st instant.</p> + +<div class='right'> +<span style="margin-right: 12em;">"I am, sir, respectfully,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-right: 8em;">"Your obedient servant,</span><br /> +"<span class="smcap">John Beatty</span>, Brig.-Gen'l."<br /></div> +</div> + +<p>I sent this. Would it be regarded as an act of presumption and treated +with ridicule and contempt? I feared it might, and sat thinking +anxiously over the matter until my orderly returned, with the envelope +marked "W. S. R.," the army mode of acknowl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>edging receipt of letter or +order. Fifteen minutes later this reply came:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<div class='right'>"<span class="smcap">Head-quarters Department of the Cumberland</span>, }<br /> +"<span class="smcap">Murfreesboro</span>, <i>April, 1863</i>. }<br /> +</div> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear General</span>—I have just received the +inclosed note, marked "Private," but addressed to +me as commanding the Department of the Cumberland. +It compromises you in so many ways that I return +it to you. I am your friend, and regretted that +the circumstances of the case compelled me, as a +commanding officer, to express myself warmly about +a matter which might have cost us dearly, to one +for whom I felt so kindly. You will report to me +in person, without delay.</p> + +<div class='right'> +<span class="smcap">W. S. Rosecrans</span>, Maj.-Gen'l.<br /></div> +<p>"<span class="smcap">Brig.-Gen'l John Beatty</span>, Fortifications, Stone +river.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"P. S.—It might be well to bring this inclosure +with you." </p></div> + +<p>The inclosure referred to was, of course, my letter to him. The answer +was not, by any means, an apology. On the contrary, it assumed that he +was justifiable in censuring me as he did, and yet it expressed good +feeling for me. It was probably written in haste, and without thought. +It was not satisfactory; but I was led by it to hope that I could reach +a point which would be.</p> + +<p>I obeyed the order to report promptly. He took me into his private +office, where we talked over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> whole affair together. He expressed +regret that he had not known all the circumstances before, and said, in +conclusion: "I am your friend. Some men I like to scold, for I don't +like them; but I have always entertained the best of feeling for you." +Taking me, at the close of our interview, from his private office into +the public room, where General Garfield and others were, he turned and +asked if it was all right—if I was satisfied. I expressed my thanks, +shook hands with him, and left, feeling a thousand times more attached +to him, and more respect for him than I had ever felt before. He had the +power to crush me, for at this time he is almost omnipotent in this +department, and by a simple word he might have driven me from the army, +disgraced in the estimation of both soldiers and citizens. His +magnanimity and kindness, however, lifted a great load from my spirits, +and made me feel like a new man; and I am very sure that he felt better +and happier also, for no man does a generous act to one below him in +rank or station, without being recompensed therefor by a feeling of the +liveliest satisfaction. I may have been too sensitive, and may not, +probably did not, realize fully the necessity for prompt action, and the +weight of responsibility which rested upon the General. There are times +when there is no time for explanation; great exigencies, in the presence +of which lives, fortunes, friendships, and all matters of lesser +importance must give way; moments when men's thoughts are so +concentrated on a single object, and their whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> being so wrought up, +that they can see nothing, know nothing, but the calamity they desire to +avert, or the victory they desire to achieve. Nashville had been +threatened. To have lost it, or allowed it to be gutted by the enemy, +would have been a great misfortune to the army, and brought down upon +Rosecrans not only the anathemas of the War Department, but would have +gone far to lose him the confidence of the whole people. He supposed the +enemy's movements had been checked, and was startled and thrown off his +balance by discovering that they were still unopposed. The error was +attributable in part possibly to me, in part to a series of blunders, +which had resulted from the fact that there were two persons in the army +of the same name and rank, but mainly to those who failed to transmit +the order in proper time.</p> + +<p>29. Our large tents have been taken away, and shelter tents substituted. +This evening, when the boys crawled into the latter, they gave +utterance, good-humoredly, to every variety of howl, bark, snap, whine, +and growl of which the dog is supposed to be capable.</p> + +<p>Colonel George Humphreys, Eighty-eighth Indiana, whom I supposed to be a +full-blooded Hoosier, tells me he is a Scotchman, and was born in +Ayrshire, in the same house in which Robert Burns had birth. His +grandfather, James Humphreys, was the neighbor and companion of the +poet. It was of him he wrote this epitaph, at an ale-house, in the way +of pleasantry:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Below these stanes lie Jamie's banes"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Below these stanes lie Jamie's banes.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O! Death, in my opinion,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">You ne'er took sic a blither'n bitch</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Into thy dark dominion."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>30. This afternoon called on General Thomas; met General R. S. Granger; +paid my respects to General Negley, and stopped for a moment at General +Rousseau's. The latter was about to take a horseback ride with his +daughter, to whom I was introduced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MAY_1863" id="MAY_1863"></a>MAY, 1863.</h2> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<p>1. The One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio is at Franklin. Colonel Wilcox +has resigned; Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell will succeed to the colonelcy. +I rode over the battle-field with the latter this afternoon.</p> + +<p>4. Two men from Breckenridge's command strayed into our lines to-day.</p> + +<p>7. Colonels Hobart, Taylor, Nicholas, and Captain Nevin spent the +afternoon with me.</p> + +<p>The intelligence from Hooker's army is contradictory and unintelligible. +We hope it was successful, and yet find little beside the headlines in +the telegraphic column to sustain that hope. The German regiments are +said to have behaved badly. This is, probably, an error. Germans, as a +rule, are reliable soldiers. This, I think, is Carl Schurz's first +battle; an unfortunate beginning for him.</p> + +<p>9. The arrest of Vallandingham, we learn from the newspapers, is +creating a great deal of excitement in the North. I am pleased to see +the authorities commencing at the root and not among the branches.</p> + +<p>I have just read Consul Anderson's appeal to the peo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>ple of the United +States in favor of an extensive representation of American live stock, +machinery, and manufactures, at the coming fair in Hamburg. Friend James +made a long letter of it; and, I doubt not, drank a gallon of good Dutch +beer after each paragraph.</p> + +<p>11. The Confederate papers say Streight's command was surrendered to +four hundred and fifty rebels. I do not believe it. The Third Ohio would +have whipped that many of the enemy on any field and under any +circumstances. The expedition was a foolish one. Colonel Harker, who +knows Streight well, predicted the fate which has overtaken him. He is +brave, but deficient in judgment. The statement that his command +surrendered to an inferior force is, doubtless, false. Forrest had, I +venture to say, nearer four thousand and fifty than four hundred and +fifty. The rebels always have a great many men before a battle, but not +many after. They profess still to believe in the +one-rebel-to-three-Yankee theory, and make their statements to +correspond. The facts when ascertained will, I have no doubt, show that +the Union brigade was pursued by an overwhelming force, and being +exhausted by constant riding, repeated fights, want of food and sleep, +surrendered after ammunition had given out and all possibility of escape +gone. The enemy is strong in cavalry, and it is not at all probable that +he would have sent but four hundred and fifty men to look after a +brigade, which had boldly ventured hundreds of miles inside his lines. +In fact, General Forrest seldom, if ever,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> travels with so small a +command as he is said to have had on this occasion.</p> + +<p>13. An order has been issued prohibiting women from visiting the army. I +infer from this that a movement is contemplated.</p> + +<p>14. General Negley called to-day, and remained for half an hour. He is a +large, rosy-cheeked, handsome, affable man, and a good disciplinarian.</p> + +<p>I am going to have a horse-race in the morning with Major McDowell, of +Rousseau's staff. Stakes two bottles of wine.</p> + +<p>When we entered Murfreesboro, nearly a year ago, the boys brought in a +lame horse, which they had picked up on the road. The horse hobbled +along with difficulty, and for a long time was used to carry the +knapsacks and guns of soldiers who were either too unwell or too lazy to +transport these burdens themselves. The horse had belonged to a Texas +cavalryman, and had been abandoned when so lame as to be unfit for +service. Finally, when his shattered hoof got well, he was transferred +from the hospital department to the quartermaster's, where he became a +favorite. The quartermaster called my attention to the horse, and I had +him appraised and took him for my own use. Under the skillful and +attentive hands of my hostler he soon shook off his shaggy coat of ugly +brown, and put on one of velvety black. After a few days of trial I +discovered not only that he was an easy goer, but had the speed of the +wind. When at his fastest pace he is liable to overreach; it was thus +that his left fore hoof had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> been shattered. To prevent a recurrence of +the accident, I keep his hoof protected by leathers. I believe he is the +fastest horse in the Army of the Cumberland.</p> + +<p>15. Major McDowell did not put in an appearance until after I had +returned from my morning ride. He brought Colonel Loomis with him to +witness the grand affair; but as it was late, we finally concluded to +postpone the race until another morning.</p> + +<p>Some one has been kind enough to lay on my table a handsome bunch of red +pinks and yellow roses.</p> + +<p>My staff has been increased, the late addition being "U. S.," a large +and very lazy yellow dog. The two letters which give him his title are +branded on his shoulder. He sticks very close to me, for the reason, +possibly, that I do not kick him, and say "Get out," as most persons are +tempted to do when they look upon his most unprepossessing visage. He is +a solemn dog, and probably has had a rough row to hoe through life. At +times, when I speak an encouraging word, he brightens up, and makes an +effort to be playful; but cheerfulness is his forte no more than "fiten" +was A. Ward's, and he soon relapses into the deepest melancholy.</p> + +<p>16. Read Emil Schalk's article on Hooker. It is an easy matter for that +gentleman to sit in his library, plan a campaign, and win a battle. I +could do that myself; but when we undertake to make the campaign, fight +the battle, and win the victory, we find it very much more difficult. +Book farmers are wonderfully successful on paper, and show how fortunes +may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> be gathered in a single season, but when they come down to +practical farming, they discover quite often that frost, or rain, or +drouth, plays the mischief with their theories, and renders them +bankrupt.</p> + +<p>It can be demonstrated, doubtless, that a certain blow, delivered at a +certain place and time, against a certain force, will crush it; but does +it not require infinite skill and power to select the place and time +with certainty? A broken bridge, swollen stream, or even the most +trifling incident, which no man can foresee or overrule, may disarrange +and render futile the best-laid plans, and lead to defeat and disaster. +After a battle we can easily look back and see where mistakes have been +made; but it is more difficult, if not impossible, to look forward and +avoid them. War is a blind and uncertain game at best, and whoever plays +it successfully must not only hold good cards, but play them discreetly, +and under the most favorable circumstances.</p> + +<p>17. Starkweather informs me that he has been urged to return to +Wisconsin and become a candidate for governor, and for fear he might +accede to the wishes of the people in this regard, the present governor +was urging his promotion. He is still undecided whether to accept a +brigadier's commission or the nomination for this high civil office. +Wind.</p> + +<p>18. Two deserters came into our lines to-day. They were members of a +regiment in Cleburne's division, and left their command at Fosterville, +ten or fifteen miles out. They represent the Southern army in our front +as very strong, in good condition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> and fine spirits. The rebel successes +on the Rappahannock have inspired them with new life, and have, to some +extent, dispirited us. We do not, however, build largely on the Eastern +army. It is an excellent body of men, in good discipline, but for some +reason it has been unfortunate. When we hear, therefore, that the +Eastern army is going to fight, we make up our minds that it is going to +be defeated, and when the result is announced we feel sad enough, but +not disappointed.</p> + +<p>19. Generals Rosecrans, Negley, and Garfield, with the staffs of the two +former, appeared on the field where I was drilling the brigade. General +Rosecrans greeted me very cordially. I am satisfied that those who allow +themselves to be damned once without remonstrance are very likely to be +damned always.</p> + +<p>I am becoming quite an early riser; have seen the sun rise every morning +for two weeks. Saw the moon over my right shoulder. Lucky month ahead. +Am devoting a little more time than usual to my military books.</p> + +<p>Colonel Moody, Seventy-fourth Ohio, has resigned.</p> + +<p>20. This afternoon I received orders to be in readiness to move at a +moment's notice.</p> + +<p>21. The days now give us a specimen of the four seasons. At sunrise it +is pretty fair winter for this latitude. An hour after, good spring; at +noon, midsummer; at sunset, fall. Flies are too numerous to mention even +by the million. They come on drill at 8 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, and continue their +evolutions until sun-down.</p> + +<p>Wilson, Orr, and DuBarry are indisposed. My cast-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>iron constitution +holds good. As a rule, I take no medicine or medical advice. In a few +instances I have acceded to the wishes of my friends, and applied to the +doctors; but have been careful not to allow their prescriptions to get +further than my vest pocket.</p> + +<p>The colt has just whinnied in response to another horse. He is in fine +condition; coat as sleek and glossy as that of a bridegroom. Yesterday I +rode him on drill, and the little scamp got into a quarrel with another +horse, reared up, and made a plunge that came near unseating me. He +agrees with Wilson's horse very well, but seems to think it his duty to +exercise a sort of paternal care over him; and so on all occasions when +possible he takes the reins of Wilson's bridle between his teeth and +holds it tightly, as if determined that the speed of the Adjutant's +horse should be regulated by his own. My black is also in excellent +condition, and certainly very fast. My race has not yet come off.</p> + +<p>23. Received a box of catawba wine and pawpaw brandy from Colonel James +G. Jones, half of which I was requested to deliver to General Rosecrans, +and the other half keep to drink to the Colonel's health, which at +present is very poor.</p> + +<p>Colonel Gus Wood called this afternoon. He is one of those who were +captured on the railroad train near Lavergne, 10th of last April, and +has returned to camp via Tullahoma, Chattanooga, and Richmond. He says +the rebel troops are in good condition and good spirits; thinks there is +an immense force in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> our front, and that it would not be advisable to +advance.</p> + +<p>The enlisted men of the Third are at Annapolis, Maryland, and will soon +be at Camp Chase, Ohio. The officers are in Libby.</p> + +<p>The box of cigars presented to me by my old friend, W. H. Marvin, still +holds out. Whenever I am in a great straight for a smoke I try one; but +I have not yet succeeded in finding a good one. I affect to be very +liberal, and pass the box around freely; but all who have tried the +cigars once insist that they do not smoke. They will probably last to +the end of the war.</p> + +<p>26. The privates of the Eighty-eighth Indiana presented a +two-hundred-dollar sword to Colonel Humphreys, and the Colonel felt it +to be his duty to invest the price of the sword in beer for the boys.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Orr was kind enough to give me a field glass.</p> + +<p>Hewitt's Kentucky battery has been assigned to me. Colonel Loomis has +assumed command of his battery again. His commission as colonel was +simply a complimentary one, conferred by the Governor of Michigan. He +should be recognized by the War Department as colonel. No man in the +army is better entitled to the position. His services at Perryville and +Stone river, to say nothing of those in West Virginia and North Alabama, +would be but poorly requited by promotion.</p> + +<p>Hewitt's battery has not been fortunate in the past. It was captured at +this place last summer, when Gen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>eral T. T. Crittenden was taken, and +lost quite a number of men, horses, and one gun, in the battle of Stone +river.</p> + +<p>28. At midnight orderlies went clattering around the camps with orders +for the troops to be supplied with five days' provisions, and in +readiness to march at a moment's notice. We expected to be sent away +this morning, but no orders have yet come to move.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Colonel B. F. Scribner sent me a very handsome bouquet with her +compliments.</p> + +<p>Mr. Furay accompanied <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Vallandigham'">Vallandingham</ins> outside the Federal lines, and +received from him a parting declaration, written in pencil and signed by +himself, wherein he claimed that he was a citizen of Ohio and of the +United States, brought there by force and against his will, and that he +delivered himself up as a prisoner of war.</p> + +<p>30. Captain Gilbert E. Winters, A. C. S., took tea with me. He is as +jovial as the most successful man in the world, and overruns with small +jokes and stories, many of which he claims were told him by President +Lincoln. From this we might infer that the President has very little to +do but entertain and amuse gentlemen, who apply to him for appointments, +with conversation so coarse that it would be discreditable to a stable +boy.</p> + +<p>31. Received a letter from daughter Nellie, a little school girl. She +"wishes the war was out." So do I.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JUNE_1863" id="JUNE_1863"></a>JUNE, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. By invitation, the mounted officers of our brigade accompanied +General Negley to witness the review of Rousseau's division. There were +quite a large number of spectators, including a few ladies. I was +introduced to General Wood for the first time, although I have known him +by sight, and known of him well, for months. Many officers of Wood's and +Negley's divisions were present. After the review, and while the troops +were leaving the field, Colonel Ducat, Inspector-General on General +Rosecrans' staff, and Colonel Harker, challenged me for a race. Soon +after, Major McDowell, of Rousseau's staff, joined the party; and, while +we were getting into position for the start, General Wagner, who has a +long-legged white horse, which, he insisted, could beat any thing on the +ground, took place in the line. McCook, Wood, Loomis, and many others, +stopped to witness the race. The horses were all pacers; it was, in +fact, a gathering of the best horses in the army, and each man felt +confident. I was absolutely sure my black would win, and the result +proved that I was correct.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> + +<p>The only time during the race that I was honored with the company of my +competitors, was at the starting; then, I observed, they were all up; +but a half a minute later the black took the lead. The old fellow had +evidently been on the track before, and felt as much interest in the +contest as his owner. He knew what was expected of him, and as he went +flying over the ground astonished me, as he did every body else. Loomis, +who professes to know much about horses, said to me before the race took +place, "Your's is a good-looking horse, but he can't beat McDowell's." +Before leaving the field, however, he admitted that he had been +mistaken. My horse was quicker of foot than he supposed.</p> + +<p>2. Called on Colonel Scribner and wife, where I met also Colonel Griffin +and wife; had a long conversation about spiritualism, mesmerism, +clairvoyance, and subjects of that ilk. At night there was a fearful +thunder-storm. The rain descended in torrents, and the peals of thunder +were, I think, louder and more frequent than I ever heard before.</p> + +<p>Met Loomis; he had accompanied General Rosecrans and others to witness +the trial of a machine, invented by Wilder, for tearing up railroad +tracks and injuring the rails in such a manner as to render them +worthless. Hitherto the rebels, when they have torn up our railroads, +have placed the bars crosswise on a pile of ties, set fire to the +latter, and so heated and bent the rails; but by heating them again they +could be easily straightened and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> made good. Wilder's instrument twists +them so they can not be used again.</p> + +<p>The New York Herald, I observe, refers with great severity to General +Hascall's administration of affairs in Indiana; saying that "to place +such a brainless fool in a military command is not simply an error, it +is a crime." This is grossly unjust. Hascall is not only a gallant +soldier, but a man of education and excellent sense. He has been active, +and possibly severe, in his opposition to treasonable organizations and +notoriously disloyal men, whose influence was exerted to discourage +enlistments and retard the enforcement of the draft. Unfortunately, in +time of civil war, besides the great exigencies which arise to threaten +the commonwealth, innumerable lesser evils gather like flies about an +open wound, to annoy, irritate, and kill. Against these the law has made +no adequate provision. The military must, therefore, often interpose for +the public good, without waiting for legislative authority, or the slow +processes of the civil law, just as the fireman must proceed to batter +down the doors of a burning edifice, without stopping to obtain the +owner's permission to enter and subdue the flames.</p> + +<p>3. Our division was reviewed to-day. The spectators were numerous, +numbering among other distinguished personages Generals Rosecrans, +Thomas, Crittenden, Rousseau, Sheridan, and Wood. The weather was +favorable, and the review a success. In the evening, a large party +gathered at Negley's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> quarters, where lunch and punch were provided in +abundance.</p> + +<p>Generals Wood and Crittenden, of the Twenty-first Army Corps, claimed +that I did not beat Wagner fairly in the horse-race the other day. I +expressed a willingness to satisfy them that I could do so any day; and, +further, that my horse could out-go any thing in the Twenty-first Corps. +The upshot of the matter is that we have a race arranged for Friday +afternoon at four o'clock.</p> + +<p>The party was a merry one; gentlemen imbibed freely. General Rosecrans' +face was as red as a beet; he had, however, been talking with ladies, +and being a diffident man, was possibly blushing. Wood persisted that +the Twenty-first Corps could not be beaten in a horse-race, and that +Wagner's long-legged white was the most wonderful pacer he ever saw. +Negley seemed possessed with the idea that every body was trying to +escape, and that it was necessary for him to seize them by the arm and +haul them back to the table; he seemed also to be laboring under the +delusion that his guests would not drink unless he kept his eye on them, +and forced them to do so. Lieutenant-Colonel Ducat, an Irishman of the +Charles O'Malley school, insisted upon introducing me to the ladies, but +fortunately I was sober enough to decline the invitation. Harker, late +in the evening, thought he discovered a disposition on the part of +others to play off on him; he felt in duty bound to empty a full +tumbler, while they <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Shirked'">shirked</ins> by taking only half of one, which he +affirmed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> was unfair and inexcusable. General Thomas, after sitting at +his wine an hour, conversing the while with a lady, arose from the table +evidently very much refreshed, and proceeded to make himself exceedingly +agreeable. I never knew the old gentleman to be so affable, cordial, and +complimentary before.</p> + +<p>4. The guns have been reverberating in our front all day. I am told that +Sheridan's division advanced on the Shelbyville road. It is probable +that a part, if not the whole, of the firing is in his front.</p> + +<p>5. Read the Autobiography of Peter Cartright. It is written in the +language of the frontier, and presents a rough, strong, uneducated man, +full of vanity, courage, and religious zeal. He never reached the full +measure of dignity requisite to a minister of the Gospel. There are many +amusing incidents in the volume, and many tales of adventures with +sinners, in the cabin, on the road, and at camp meeting, in all of which +Cartright gets the better of the sons of Belial, and triumphs in the +Lord.</p> + +<p>8. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, Colonel Moore, reported to me +for duty, so that I have now four regiments and a battery. This Colonel +Moore is the same who was in command at Hartsville, and whose regiment +and brigade were captured by the ubiquitous John Morgan last winter. He +has but recently returned from the South, where, for a time, he was +confined in Libby prison.</p> + +<p>The rebels are still prowling about our lines, but making no great +demonstrations of power.</p> + +<p>9. Governor (?) Billy Williams;, of Indiana, dined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> with me to-day; he +resides in Warsaw, is a politician, a fair speaker, and an inveterate +story teller.</p> + +<p>Wilson has been appointed Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of +captain.</p> + +<p>13. Had brigade drill in a large clover field, just outside the picket +line. The men were in fine condition, well dressed, and well equipped. I +kept them on the jump for two hours. Generals Thomas and Negley were +present, and were well pleased. I doubt if any brigade in the army, can +execute a greater variety of movements than mine, or go through them in +better style. My voice is excellent, I can make myself heard distinctly +by a whole brigade, without becoming hoarse by hours of exertion. +Starkweather has the best voice in the army; he can be heard a mile +away.</p> + +<p>Our division and brigade flags have been changed from light to dark +blue. They look almost like a black no-quarter flag.</p> + +<p>We have one solitary rooster: he crows early in the morning, all day, +and through the night if it be moonlight. He mounted a stump near my +door this morning, stood between the tent and the sun, so that his +shadow fell on the canvas, and crowed for half an hour at the top of his +voice. I think the scamp knew I was lying abed longer than usual, and +was determined to make me get up. He is on the most intimate terms with +the soldiers, and struts about the camp with an air of as much +importance as if he wore shoulder-straps, and had been reared at West +Point. He enters the boys' tents, and inspects their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> quarters with all +the freedom and independence of a regularly detailed inspecting officer. +He is a fine type of the soldier, proud and vain, with a tremendous +opinion of his own fighting qualities.</p> + +<p>16. Had a grand corps drill. The line of troops, when stretched out, was +over a mile in length. The Corps was like a clumsy giant, and hours were +required to execute the simplest movement. When, for instance, we +changed front, my brigade marched nearly, if not quite, a mile to take +position in the new line. The waving of banners, the flashing of sabers +and bayonets, the clattering to and fro of muddle-headed aids-de-camp on +impatient steeds, the heavy rumble of artillery wagons, the blue coats +of the soldiers, the golden trappings of the field and staff, made a +grand scene for the disinterested spectator to look upon; but with the +thermometer ranging from eighty-five to one hundred, it was hard work +for the soldier who bore knapsack, haversack, and gun, and calculated to +produce an unusual amount of perspiration, and not a little profanity. +Major-General Thomas guided the immense mass of men, while the +operations of the divisions were superintended by their respective +commanders. I fear the brigade and regimental commanders profited little +by the drill, but I hope the major-generals learned something. The +latter, in their devotion to strategy, have evidently neglected tactics, +and failed to unravel the mysteries of the school of the battalion.</p> + +<p>In the morning, with my division commander, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> called on General Thomas, +at his quarters, and had the honor to accept from his hands the most +abominable cigar it has ever been my misfortune to attempt to smoke.</p> + +<p>19. The army has been lying here now nearly six months. It has of late +been kept pretty busy. Sunday morning inspections, monthly inspections +of troops, frequent inspections of arms and ammunition, innumerable +drills, and constant picketing.</p> + +<p>Colonel Miller assumes command of a brigade in Johnson's division. Since +the troops were at Nashville he has been commanding what was known as +the Second Brigade of Negley's division; but the colonels of the brigade +objected to having an imported colonel placed over them, and so Miller +takes command of the brigade to which his regiment is attached. He is a +brave man and a good officer. Colonel Harker's brigade has been relieved +from duty at the fortifications, and is now encamped near us, on the +Liberty road.</p> + +<p>21. Mrs. Colonel Scribner and Mrs. Colonel Griffin stopped at my +tent-door for a moment this morning. They were on horseback, and each +had a child on the saddle. They were giving Mrs. Scribner's children a +little ride.</p> + +<p>Attended divine service in the camp of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, and +afterward called for a few minutes on Colonel Moore, of the One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois. On returning to my quarters I found Colonels Hobart +and Taylor awaiting me. They were about to visit Colonel T. P. Nicholas, +of the Second<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> Kentucky Cavalry, and desired me to accompany them. We +dined with Colonel Nicholas, and, as is the custom, observed the +apostolic injunction of taking something for the stomach's sake. Toward +evening we visited the field hospital, and paid our respects to Surgeon +Finley and lady. Here, much against our wills, we were compelled to +empty a bottle of sherry. On the way to our own quarters Colonel Taylor +insisted upon our calling with him to see a friend, with whom we were +obliged to take a glass of ale. So that it was about dark when we three +sober gentlemen drew near to our respective quarters. We had become +immensely eloquent on the conduct of the war, and with great unanimity +concluded that if Grant were to take Vicksburg he would be entitled to +our profoundest admiration and respect. Hobart, as usual, spoke of his +State as if it were a separate and independent nation, whose sons, in +imitation of LaFayette, Kosciusko and DeKalb, were devoting their best +blood to the maintenance of free government in a foreign land; while +Taylor, incited thereto by this eulogy on Wisconsin, took up the cudgel +for Kentucky, and dwelt enthusiastically on the gallantry of her men and +the unrivaled beauty of her women.</p> + +<p>When I dismounted and turned my horse over to the servant, I caught a +glimpse of the signal lights on the dome of the court-house, and was +astonished to find just double the usual number, in the act of +performing a Dutch waltz. I concluded that the Signal Corps must be +drunk. Saddened by the reflection that those occupying high places, +whose duty it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> to let their light shine before men, should be found +in this condition of hopeless inebriety, I heaved a sigh which might +have been mistaken by the uncharitable for a hic-cough, and lay down to +rest.</p> + +<p>23. My colt had a sore eye a day or two ago, but it is now getting well. +The boys pet him, and by pinching him have taught him to bite. I fear +they will spoil him. I have not ridden him much of late. He has a way of +walking on his hind legs, for which the saddles in use are not +calculated, and there is, consequently, a constant tendency, on the part +of the rider, to slip over his tail.</p> + +<p>Captain Wells sent a colored teamster, who had just come in, tired and +hungry, to his quarters for dinner. Simon Bolivar Buckner, who now has +charge of the commissary and culinary branch of the Captain's +establishment, was in the act of dining when the teamster entered the +tent and seated himself at the table. Buckner, astonished at this +unceremonious intrusion, exclaimed: "What you doin' har, sah?" "De Capin +tole me fer to come and get my dinnah." "Hell," shouted Buckner, "does +de Capin 'spose I'm guiane to eat wid a d—n common nigger? Git out'er +har, till I'm done got through."</p> + +<p>Buckner gets married every time we move camp. On last Sunday Captain +Wells found him dressed very elaborately, in white vest and clean linen, +and said to him: "What's in the wind, Buckner?" "Gwine to be married dis +ebening, sah." "What time?" "Five o'clock, sah." "Can't spare you, +Buckner. Expect friends here to dine at six, and want a good dinner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +gotten up." "Berry well, sah; can pos'pone de wedin', sah. Dis'pintment +to lady, sah; but it'll be all right."</p> + +<p>24. The note of preparation for a general advance sounded late last +night. Reynolds moved at 4 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>; Rousseau at 7; our division will leave +at 10. A long line of cavalry is at this moment going out on the +Manchester pike. * * * * *</p> + +<p>Rain commenced falling soon after we left Murfreesboro, and continued +the remainder of the day. The roads were sloppy, and marching +disagreeable. Encamped at Big creek for the night; Rousseau and Reynolds +in advance.</p> + +<p>Before leaving Murfreesboro I handed John what I supposed to be a +package of tea, and told him to fill my canteen with cold tea. On the +road I took two or three drinks, and thought it tasted strongly of +tobacco; but I accounted for it on the supposition that I had been +smoking too much, and that the tobacco taste was in my mouth, and not in +the tea. After getting into camp I drank of it again, when it occurred +to me that John had neglected to cleanse the canteen before putting the +tea in, and go I began to scold him. "I did clean it, sah," retorted +John. "Well, this tea," I replied, "tastes very much like tobacco +juice." "It is terbacker juice, sah." "Why, how is that?" "You gib me +paper terbacker, an' tole me hab some tea made, sah, and I done jes as +you tole me, sah." "Why you are a fool, John; did you suppose I wanted +you to make me tea out of tobacco?" "Don<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> know, sah; dat's what you tole +me, sah; done jes as you tole me, sah."</p> + +<p>25. Marched to Hoover's Gap. Heavy skirmishing in front during the day. +Reynolds lost fifteen killed, and quite a number wounded. A stubborn +fight was expected, and our division moved up to take part in it; but +the enemy fell back. Rain has been falling most of the day. A pain in my +side admonishes me that I should have worn heavier boots.</p> + +<p>26. Moved to Beech Grove. Cannonading in front during the whole day; but +we have now become so accustomed to the noise of the guns that it hardly +excites remark. The sky is still cloudy, and I fear we shall have more +rain to-night. The boys are busy gathering leaves and twigs to keep them +from the damp ground. General Negley's quarters are a few rods to my +left, and General Thomas' just below us, at the bottom of the hill. +Reynolds is four miles in advance.</p> + +<p>27. We left Beech Grove, or Jacob's Store, this morning, at five +o'clock, and conducted the wagon train of our division through to +Manchester. Rosecrans and Reynolds are here. The latter took possession +of the place two or three hours before my brigade reached it, and the +former came up three hours after we had gone into camp. We are now +twelve miles from Tullahoma. The guns are thundering off in the +direction of Wartrace. <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Hardie'">Hardee</ins>'s corps was driven from Fairfield this +morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> My baggage has not come, and I am compelled to sleep on the +wet ground in a still wetter overcoat.</p> + +<p>28. My baggage arrived during the night, and this morning I changed my +clothes and expected to spend the Sabbath quietly; but about 10 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> I +was ordered to proceed to Hillsboro, a place eight miles from +Manchester, on the old stage road to Chattanooga. When we were moving +out I met Durbin Ward, who asked me where I was going. I told him. +"Why," said he, "I thought, from the rose in your button-hole, that you +were going to a wedding." "No," I replied; "but I hope we are going to +nothing more serious."</p> + +<p>29. My position is one of great danger, being so far from support and so +near the enemy. Last night my pickets on the Tullahoma road were driven +in, after a sharp fight, and my command was put in line of battle, and +so remained for an hour or more; but we were not again disturbed. No +fires were built, and the darkness was impenetrable.</p> + +<p>At noon I received orders to proceed to Bobo's Cross-roads, and reach +that point before nightfall. There were two ways of going there: the one +via Manchester was comparatively safe, although considerably out of the +direct line; the other was direct, but somewhat unsafe, because it would +take me near the enemy's front. The distance by this shorter route was +eleven miles. I chose the latter. It led through a sparsely settled, +open oak country. Two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> regiments of Wheeler's cavalry had been hovering +about Hillsboro during the day, evidently watching our movements. After +proceeding about three miles, a dash was made upon my skirmish line, +which resulted in the killing of a lieutenant, the capture of one man, +and the wounding of several others. I instantly formed line of battle, +and pushed forward as rapidly as the nature of the ground would admit; +but the enemy fell back.</p> + +<p>About five o'clock, as we drew near Bobo's, two cannon shots and quite a +brisk fire of musketry advised us that the rebels were either still in +possession of the Cross-roads or our friends were mistaking us for the +enemy. I formed line of battle, and ordered the few cavalrymen who +accompanied me to make a detour to the right and rear, and ascertain, if +possible, who were in our front. The videttes soon after reported the +enemy advancing, with a squadron of cavalry in the lead, and I put my +artillery in position to give them a raking fire when they should reach +a bend of the road. At this moment when life and death seemed to hang in +the balance, and when we supposed we were in the presence of a very +considerable, if not an overwhelming, force of the enemy, a half-grown +hog emerged from the woods, and ran across the road. Fifty men sprang +from the ranks and gave it chase, and before order was fully restored, +and the line readjusted, my cavalry returned with the information that +the troops in front were our own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p> + +<p>The incidents of the last six days would fill a volume; but I have been +on horseback so much, and otherwise so thoroughly engaged, that I have +been, and am now, too weary to note them down, even if I had the +conveniences at hand for so doing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JULY_1863" id="JULY_1863"></a>JULY, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. My brigade, with a battalion of cavalry attached, started from Bobo's +Cross-roads in the direction of Winchester. When one mile out we picked +up three deserters, who reported that the rebels had evacuated +Tullahoma, and were in full retreat. Half a mile further along I +overtook the enemy's rear guard, when a sharp fight occurred between the +cavalry, resulting, I think, in very little injury to either party. The +enemy fell back a mile or more, when he opened on us with artillery, and +a sharp artillery fight took place, which lasted for perhaps thirty +minutes. Several men on both sides were killed and wounded. The enemy +finally retired, and taking a second position awaited our arrival, and +opened on us again. I pushed forward in the thick woods, and drove him +from point to point for seven miles. Negley followed with the other +brigades of the division, ready to support me in case the enemy proved +too strong, but I did not need assistance. The force opposed to us +simply desired to retard pursuit; and whenever we pushed against it +vigorously fell back.</p> + +<p>2. This morning we discover that we bivouacked during the night within +half a mile of a large force<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> of rebel cavalry and infantry. After +proceeding a little way, we found the enemy in position on the bluffs on +the opposite side of Elk river, with his artillery planted so as to +sweep the road leading to the bridge. Halting my infantry and cavalry +under the cover of the hill, I sent to the rear for an additional +battery, and, before the enemy seemed to be aware of what we were doing, +I got ten guns in position on the crest of the hill and commenced +firing. The enemy's cavalry and infantry, which up to this time had +lined the opposite hills, began to scatter in great confusion; but we +did not have it all our own way by any means. The rebels replied with +shot and shell very vigorously, and for half an hour the fight was very +interesting; at the end of that time, however, their batteries limbered +up and left on the double quick. In the meantime, I had sent a +detachment of infantry to occupy a stockade which the enemy had +constructed near the bridge, and from this position good work was done +by driving off his sharpshooters. We found the bridge partially burned, +and the river too much swollen for either the men or trains to ford it. +Rousseau and Brannan, I understand, succeeded in crossing at an upper +ford, and are in hot pursuit.</p> + +<p>3. Repaired the bridge, and crossed the river this morning; and are now +bivouacking on the ground over which the cavalry fought yesterday +afternoon—quite a number of the dead were discovered in the woods and +fields. We picked up, at Elk river, an order of Brigadier-General +Wharton, commanding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> the troops which have been serving as the rear +guard of the enemy's column. It reads as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Colonel Hamar</span>: Retire the artillery when you +think best. Hold the position as long as you can +with your sharpshooters; when forced back, write +to Crew to that effect. Anderson is on your right. +Report all movements to me on this road.</p> + +<div class='right'> +"<span class="smcap">Jno. A. Wharton</span>, Brigadier-General.<br /></div> +<p>"July 2d, 1863."<br /> +</p></div> + +<p>I have been almost constantly in the saddle, and have hardly slept a +quiet three hours since we started on this expedition. My brigade has +picked up probably a hundred prisoners.</p> + +<p>4. At twelve o'clock, noon, my brigade was ordered to take the advance, +and make the top of the Cumberland before nightfall; proceeding four +miles, we reached the base of the mountain, and began the ascent. The +road was exceedingly rough, and the rebels had made it impassable, for +artillery, by rolling great rocks into it and felling trees across it. +The axmen were ordered up, and while they were clearing away the +obstructions I rode ahead with the cavalry to the summit, and some four +miles on the ridge beyond. In the meantime, General Negley ordered the +artillery and infantry to return to the foot of the mountain, where we +are now encamped.</p> + +<p>5. Since we left Murfreesboro (June 24) rain has been falling almost +constantly; to-day it has been coming down in torrents, and the low +grounds around us are overflowed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rousseau's division is encamped near us on the left, Reynolds in the +rear.</p> + +<p>The other day, while sitting on the fence by the roadside smoking my +pipe, waiting for my troops to get in readiness to march, some one cried +out, "Here is a philosopher," and General Reynolds rode up and shook my +hand very cordially.</p> + +<p>My brigade has been so fortunate, thus far, as to win the confidence of +the commanding generals. It has, during the last week, served as a sort +of a cow-catcher for Negley's division. At Elk river General Thomas rode +up, while I was making my dispositions to attack the enemy, and approved +what I had done and was doing.</p> + +<p>We hear that the Army of the East has won a decisive victory in +Pennsylvania. This is grand! It will show the rebels that it will not do +to put their feet on free soil. Now if Grant succeeds in taking +Vicksburg, and Rosecrans drives Bragg beyond the Tennessee, the country +will have reason to rejoice with exceeding great joy.</p> + +<p>6. An old lady, whose home is on the side of the mountain, called on me +to-day and said she had not had a cup of coffee since the war commenced. +She was evidently very poor; and, although we had no coffee to spare, I +gave her enough to remind her again of the taste.</p> + +<p>Our soldiers have been making a clean sweep of the hogs, sheep, and +poultry on the route. For the rich rebels I have no sympathy, but the +poor we must pity. The war cuts off from them entirely the food<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> which, +in the best of times, they acquire with great labor and difficulty. The +forage for the army horses and mules, and we have an immense number, +consists almost wholly of wheat in the sheaf—wheat that has been +selling for ten dollars per bushel in Confederate money. I have seen +hundreds of acres of wheat in the sheaf disappear in an hour. Rails have +been burned without stint, and numberless fields of growing corn left +unprotected. However much suffering this destruction of property may +entail on the people of this section, I am inclined to think the effect +will be good. It will bring them to a realizing sense of the loss +sustained when they threw aside the protecting shield of the old +Constitution, and the security which they enjoyed in the Union.</p> + +<p>The season's crop of wheat, corn, oats, and hogs would have been of the +utmost value to the Confederate army; when destroyed, there will be +nothing in middle Tennessee to tempt it back.</p> + +<p>7. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Tennesseeans have deserted from the +Southern army and are now wandering about in the mountains, endeavoring +to get to their homes. They are mostly conscripted men. My command has +gathered up hundreds, and the mountains and coves in this vicinity are +said to be full of them.</p> + +<p>It rains incessantly. We moved to Decherd and encamped on a ridge, but +are now knee-deep in mud and surrounded by water.</p> + +<p>This morning a hundred guns echoed among the mountain gorges over the +glad intelligence from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> East and South: Meade has won a famous +victory, and Grant has taken Vicksburg.</p> + +<p>Stragglers and deserters from Bragg's army continue to come in. It is +doubtless unfortunate for the country that rain and bad roads prevented +our following up Bragg closely and forcing him to fight in the present +demoralized condition of his army. We would have been certain of a +decisive victory.</p> + +<p>9. Dined with General Negley. Colonels Stoughton and Surwell, brigade +commanders, were present. The dinner was excellent; soups, punch, wine, +blackberries were on the table; and, to men who for a fortnight had been +feeding on hard crackers and salt pork, seemed delicious. The General +got his face poisoned while riding through the woods on the 2d instant, +and he now looks like an old bruiser.</p> + +<p>McCook, whose corps lies near Winchester, called while we were at +Negley's; he looks, if possible, more like a blockhead than ever, and it +is astonishing to me that he should be permitted to retain command of a +corps for a single hour. He brought us cheering information, however. +The intelligence received from the East and South a few days ago has +been confirmed, and the success of our armies even greater than first +reports led us to believe.</p> + +<p>10. We have a cow at brigade head-quarters. Blackberries are very +abundant. The sky has cleared, but the Cumberland mountains are this +morning covered by a thin veil of mist. Supply trains arrived last +night.</p> + +<p>11. We hear nothing of the rebel army. Rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>crans, doubtless, knows its +whereabouts, but his subordinates do not. A few of the enemy may be +lingering in the vicinity of Stevenson and Bridgeport, but the main body +is, doubtless, beyond the Tennessee. The rebel sympathizers here +acknowledge that Bragg has been outgeneraled. Our cavalry started on the +9th instant for Huntsville, Athens, and Decatur, and I have no doubt +these places were re-occupied without opposition.</p> + +<p>The rebel cavalry is said to be utterly worn out, and for this reason +has performed a very insignificant part in recent operations.</p> + +<p>The fall of Vicksburg, defeat of Lee, and retreat of Bragg, will, +doubtless, render the adoption of an entirely new plan necessary. How +long it will take to perfect this, and get ready for a concerted +movement, I have no idea.</p> + +<p>12. Our soldiers, I am told, have been entering the houses of private +citizens, taking whatever they saw fit, and committing many outrages. I +trust, however, they have not been doing so badly as the people would +have us believe. The latter are all disposed to grumble; and if a hungry +soldier squints wistfully at a chicken, some one is ready to complain +that the fowls are in danger, and that they are the property of a lone +woman, a widow, with nothing under the sun to eat but chickens. In nine +cases out of ten the husbands of these lone women are in the Confederate +army; but still they are women, and should be treated well.</p> + +<p>14. The brigade baker has come up, and will have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> his oven in operation +this afternoon; so we shall have fresh bread again.</p> + +<p>General Rosecrans will allow no ladies to come to the front. This would +seem to be conclusive that no gentlemen will be permitted to go to the +rear.</p> + +<p>16. We have blackberries and milk for breakfast, dinner, and supper. +To-night we had hot gingerbread also. I have eaten too much, and feel +uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>Meade's victory has been growing small by degrees and beautifully less; +but the success of Grant has improved sufficiently on first reports to +make it all up. Our success in this department, although attended with +little loss of life, has been very gratifying. We have extended our +lines over the most productive region of Tennessee, and have possession +also of all North Alabama, a rich tract of country, the loss of which +must be sorely felt by the rebels.</p> + +<p>18. To-night I received a bundle of Northern papers, and among others +the Union (?) Register. While reading it I felt almost glad that I was +not at home, for certainly I should be very uncomfortable if compelled +to listen every day to such treasonable attacks upon the Administration, +sugar-coated though they be with hypocritical professions of devotion to +the Union, the Constitution, and the soldier. How supremely wicked these +men are, who, for their own personal advantage, or for party success, +use every possible means to bring the Administration into disrespect, +and withhold from it what, at this time, it so greatly needs, the hearty +support and co-operation of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> the people. The simple fact that abuse of +the party in power encourages the rebels, not only by evincing +disaffection and division in the North, but by leading them to believe, +also, that their conduct is justifiable, should, of itself, be +sufficient to deter honest and patriotic men from using such language as +may be found in the opposition press. The blood of many thousand +soldiers will rest upon the peace party, and certainly the blood of many +misguided people at the North must be charged to the same account. The +draft riots of New York and elsewhere these croakers and libelers are +alone responsible for. After the war has ended there will be abundant +time to discuss the manner in which it has been conducted. Certainly +quarreling over it now can only tend to the defeat and disgrace of our +arms.</p> + +<p>We hardly hear of politics in the army, and I certainly did not dream +before that there was so much bitterness of feeling among the people in +the North. Republicans, Democrats, and every body else think nearly +alike here. I know of none who sympathize with the so-called peace +party. It is universally damned, for there is no soldier so ignorant +that he does not know and feel that this party is prolonging the war by +stimulating his enemies. A child can see this. The rebel papers, which +every soldier occasionally obtains, prove it beyond a peradventure.</p> + +<p>20. Mrs. General Negley, it appears, has been allowed to visit her +husband. Mrs. General McCook is said to be coming.</p> + +<p>Received a public document, in which I find all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> reports of the +battle of Stone river, and, I am sorry to say, my report is the poorest +and most unsatisfactory of the whole lot. The printer, as if for the +purpose of aggravating me beyond endurance, has, by an error of +punctuation, transformed what I considered a very considerable and +creditable action, into an inconsiderable skirmish. The report should +read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"On the second and third days my brigade was in +front, a portion of the time skirmishing. On the +night of January 3d, two regiments, led by myself, +drove the enemy from their breastworks in the edge +of the woods." </p></div> + +<p>This appears in the volume as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"On the second and third days my brigade was in +front a portion of the time. Skirmishing on the +night of January 3d, two regiments, led my myself, +drove the enemy from the breastworks in the edge +of the woods." </p></div> + +<p>Thus, by taking the last word of one sentence and making it the first +word of another, the intelligent compositor belittles a night fight for +which I thought my command deserved no inconsiderable credit. I regret +now that I did not take the time to make an elaborate report of the +operations of my brigade, describing all the terrible situations in +which it had been placed, and dwelling with special emphasis on the +courage and splendid fighting of the men. In contrast with my stupidly +modest report, is that of Brigadier-General Spears. He does not hesitate +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> claim for his troops all the credit of the night engagement referred +to; and yet while my men stormed the barricade of logs, and cleaned out +the woods, his were lying on their faces fully two hundred yards in the +rear, and I should never have known that they were even that near the +enemy if his raw soldiers had not fired an occasional shot into us from +behind. If General Spears was with his men, he must have known that his +report of their action on that occasion was utterly untruthful. If, +however, as I apprehend, he was behind the rifle pits, six hundred yards +in the rear, he might, like thousands of others, who were distant +spectators of the scene, have honestly conceived that his troops were +doing the fighting. General Rousseau's report contradicts his +statements, and in a meager way accords the credit to my regiments.</p> + +<p>Officers are more selfish, dishonest, and grasping in their struggle for +notoriety than the miser for gold. They lay claim to every thing within +reach, whether it belongs to them or not. I know absolutely that many of +the reports in the volume before me are base exaggerations—romances, +founded upon the smallest conceivable amount of fact. They are simply +elaborate essays, which seek to show that the author was a little +braver, a little more skillful in the management of his men, and a +little worthier than anybody else. I know of one officer who has great +credit, in official reports and in the newspapers, for a battle in which +he did not participate at all. In fact, he did not reach the field until +after the enemy had not only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> been repulsed, but retired out of sight; +and yet he has not the manliness to correct the error, and give the +honor to whom it is due.</p> + +<p>21. The day has been a pleasant one. The night is delightful. The new +moon favors us with just sufficient light to reveal fully the great +oaks, the white tents, and the shadowy outline of the Cumberland +mountains. The pious few of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, assembled in a +booth constructed of branches, are breathing out their devotional +inspirations and aspirations, in an old hymn which carries us back to +the churches and homes of the civilized world, or, as the boys term it, +"God's country."</p> + +<p>Katydids from a hundred trees are vigorous and relentless in their +accusations against poor Katy. That was a pleasant conceit of Holmes, +"What did poor Katy do?" I never appreciated it fully until I came into +the country of the katydids.</p> + +<p>Two trains, laden with forage, commissary, and quartermaster stores, are +puffing away at the depot.</p> + +<p>General Rosecrans will move to Winchester, two miles from us, to-morrow.</p> + +<p>No one ever more desired to look again on his wife and babies than I; +but, alack and alas! I am bound with a chain which seems to tighten more +and more each day, and draw me further and further from where I desire +to be. But I trust the time will soon come when I shall be free again.</p> + +<p>Morgan's command has come to grief in Ohio. I trust he may be captured +himself. The papers say Basil Duke is a prisoner. If so, the spirit of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> great raider is in our hands, and it matters but little, perhaps, +what becomes of the carcass.</p> + +<p>A soldier of the Forty-second Indiana, who ran away from the battle of +Stone river, had his head shaved and was drummed out of camp to-day. +David Walker, Paul Long, and Charley Hiskett, of the Third Ohio, go with +him to Nashville, where he is to be confined in military prison until +the end of the war.</p> + +<p>Shaving the head and drumming out of camp is a fearful punishment. I +could not help pitying the poor fellow, as with carpet-sack in one hand +and hat in the other he marched crest-fallen through the camps, to the +music of the "Rogue's March." Death and oblivion would have been less +severe and infinitely more desirable.</p> + +<p>25. General Rosecrans, although generally supposed to be here, has been, +it is said, absent for some days. It is intimated that he has gone to +Washington. If it be true, he has flanked the newspaper men by a +wonderful burst of strategy. He must have gone through disguised as an +old woman—a very ugly old woman with a tremendous nose—otherwise these +newspaper pickets would have arrested and put him in the papers +forthwith. They are more vigilant than the rebels, and terribly intent +upon finding somebody to talk about, to laud to the skies, or abuse in +the most fearful manner, for they seldom do things by halves, unless it +be telling the truth. They have a marvelous distaste for facts, and use +no more of them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> than are absolutely necessary to string their guesses +and imaginings upon.</p> + +<p>My colt has just whinnied. He is gay as a lark, and puts Davy, the +hostler, through many evolutions unknown to the cavalry service. The +other day Davy had him out for exercise, and when he came rearing and +charging back, I said: "How does he behave to-day, Davy?" "Mighty +rambunctious, sah; he's gettin' bad, sah."</p> + +<p>Major James Connelly, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois, called. His +regiment is mounted and in Wilder's brigade. It participated in the +engagement at Hoover's Gap. When my brigade was at Hillsboro, Connelly's +regiment accompanied Wilder <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'to to'">to</ins> this place (Decherd). The veracious +correspondent reported that Wilder, on that expedition, had destroyed +the bridge here and done great injury to the railroad, permanently +interrupting communication between Bridgeport and Tullahoma; but, in +fact, the bridge was not destroyed, and trains on the railroad were only +delayed two hours. The expedition succeeded, however, in picking up a +few stragglers and horses.</p> + +<p>26. General Stanley has returned from Huntsville, bringing with him +about one thousand North Alabama negroes. This is a blow at the enemy in +the right place. Deprived of slave labor, the whites will be compelled +to send home, or leave at home, white men enough to cultivate the land +and keep their families from starving.</p> + +<p>27. Adjutant Wilson visited Rousseau's division<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> at Cowan, and reports +the return of Starkweather from Wisconsin, with the stars. This +gentleman has been mourning over the ingratitude of Republics ever since +the battle of Perryville; but henceforth he will, doubtless, feel +better.</p> + +<p>A court-martial has been called for the trial of Colonel A. B. Moore, +One Hundred and Fourth Illinois. Some ill-feeling in his regiment has +led one of his officers to prefer charges against him.</p> + +<p>28. General Thomas is an officer of the regular army; the field is his +home; the tent his house, and war his business. He regards rather +coolly, therefore, the applications of volunteer officers for leaves of +absence. Why should they not be as contented as himself? He does not +seem to consider that they suddenly dropped business, every thing, in +fact, to hasten to the field. But, then, on second thought, I incline to +the opinion that the old man is right. Half the army would be at home if +leaves and furloughs could be had for the asking.</p> + +<p>29. Lieutenant Orr received notice yesterday of his appointment as +captain in the subsistence department, and last night opened a barrel of +beer and stood treat. I did not join the party until about ten o'clock, +and then Captain Hewitt, of the battery, the story-teller of the +brigade, was in full blast, and the applause was uproarious. He was +telling of a militia captain of Fentress county, Tennessee, who called +out his company upon the supposition that we were again at war with +Great Britain; that Washington had been captured by the invaders, and +the arch-iv-es destroyed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> A bystander questioned the correctness of the +Captain's information, when he became very angry, and, producing a +newspaper, said: "D—n you, sir, do you think <i>I</i> can't read, sir?" The +man thus interrogated looked over the paper, saw that it announced the +occupation of Washington by the British, but called the attention of the +excited militiaman to the fact that the date was 1812. "So it is," said +the old captain; "I did not notice the date. But, d—n me, sir, the +paper just come. Go on with the drill, boys." This story was told to +illustrate the fact that the people of many counties in Tennessee were +behind the times.</p> + +<p>It would take too much time to refer, even briefly, to all the stories +related, and I will allude simply to a <span class="smcap">London Ghost Story</span>, which Captain +Halpin, an Irishman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, undertook to tell. The +gallant Captain was in the last stages of inebriety, and laid the scene +of his London ghost story in Ireland. Steadying himself in his seat with +both hands, and with a tongue rather too thick to articulate clearly, he +introduced us to his ancestors for twenty generations back. It was a +famous old Irish family, and among the collateral branches were the +O'Tooles, O'Rourkes, and O'Flahertys. They had in them the blood of the +Irish kings, and accomplished marvelous feats in the wars of those +times. And so we staggered with the Captain from Dublin to Belfast, and +thence made sorties into all the provinces on chase of the London ghost, +until finally our leader wound up with a yawn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> and went to sleep. The +party, disappointed at this sudden and unsatisfactory termination of the +London ghost story, took a mug of beer all around, and then one +gentleman, drunker probably than the others, or possibly unwilling, +after all the time spent, to allow the ghost to escape, punched the +Captain in the ribs and shouted: "Captain—Captain Halpin, you said it +was a London ghost story; maybe you'll find the ghost in London, for +I'll be d—d if it's in Ireland!" The Captain was too far gone to profit +by the suggestion.</p> + +<p>30. This evening General Rosecrans, on his way to Winchester, stopped +for a few minutes at the station. He shook hands with me, and asked how +I liked the water at the foot of the mountains, and about the health of +my troops. I told him the water was good, and that the boys were +encamped on high ground and healthy. "Yes," he replied, "and we'll take +higher ground in a few days."</p> + +<p>On the march to Tullahoma I had my brigade stretched along a ridge to +guard against an attack from the direction of Wartrace. General +Rosecrans passed through my lines, and was making some inquiries, when I +stepped out: "Hello," said he, "here is the young General himself. +You've got a good ridge. Who lives in that house? Find a place for +Negley on your right or left. Send me a map of this ridge. How do ye +do?"</p> + +<p>31. Met General Turchin for the first time since he was before our +court-martial at Huntsville. He appeared to be considerably cast down in +spirit. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> had just been relieved from his cavalry command, and was on +his way to General Reynolds to take command of a brigade of infantry. +General Crook, hitherto in command of a brigade, succeeds Turchin as +commander of a division. In short, Crook and Turchin just exchange +places. The former is a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and +is an Ohio man, who has not, I think, greatly distinguished himself thus +far. He has been in Western Virginia most of the time, and came to +Murfreesboro after the battle of Stone river.</p> + +<p>General R. B. Mitchell is, with his command, in camp a little over a +mile from us. He is in good spirits, and dwells with emphasis on the +length and arduousness of the marches made by his troops since he left +Murfreesboro. The labor devolving upon him as the commander of a +division of cavalry is tremendous; and yet I was rejoiced to find his +physical system had stood the strain well. The wear and tear upon his +intellect, however, must have been very great.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AUGUST_1863" id="AUGUST_1863"></a>AUGUST, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>2. Rode with Colonel Taylor to Cowan; dined with Colonel Hobart, and +spent the day very agreeably. Returning we called on Colonel Scribner, +remained an hour, and reached Decherd after nightfall. My request for +leave of absence was lying on the table approved and recommended by +Negley and Thomas, but indorsed not granted by Rosecrans.</p> + +<p>General Rousseau has left, and probably will not return. The best of +feeling has not existed between him and the commanding general for some +time past. Rousseau has had a good division, but probably thought he +should have a corps. This, however, is not the cause of the breach. It +has grown out of small matters—things too trifling to talk over, think +of, or explain, and yet important enough to create a coldness, if not an +open rupture. Rosecrans is marvelously popular with the men.</p> + +<p>3. The papers state that General R. B. Mitchell has gone home on sick +leave. Poor fellow! he must have been taken suddenly, for when I saw +him, a day or two ago, he was the picture of health. It is wonderful to +me how a fellow as fat as Bob can come the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> sick dodge so successfully. +He can get sick at a moment's notice.</p> + +<p>4. Called on General Thomas; then rode over to Winchester. Saw Garfield +at department head-quarters. He said he regretted very much being +compelled to refuse my application for a leave. Told him I expected to +command this department soon, and when I got him and a few others, +including Rosecrans and Thomas, under my thumb, they would obtain no +favors. I should insist not only upon their remaining in camp, but upon +their wives remaining out.</p> + +<p>In company with Colonel Mihalotzy I called on Colonel Burke, Tenth Ohio, +and drank a couple of bottles of wine with him and his spiritual +adviser, Father O'Higgin. Had a very agreeable time. The Colonel pressed +us to remain for dinner; but we pleaded an engagement, and afterward +obtained a very poor meal at the hotel for one dollar each.</p> + +<p>The Board for the examination of applicants for commissions in colored +regiments, of which I have the honor to be Chairman, met, organized, and +adjourned to convene at nine o'clock to-morrow. Colonel Parkhurst, Ninth +Michigan, and Colonel Stanley, Eighteenth Ohio, are members.</p> + +<p>I am anxious to go home; but it is not possible for me to get away. +Almost every officer in the army desires to go, and every conceivable +excuse and argument are urged. This man is sick; another's house has +burned, and he desires to provide for his family; another has lawsuits +coming off involving large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> sums, and his presence during the trial is +necessary to save him from great loss; still another has deeds to make +out, and an immense property interest to look after.</p> + +<p>6. This is the day appointed by the President for thanksgiving and +prayer. The shops in Winchester are closed.</p> + +<p>Colonel Parkhurst has obtained a leave, and will go home on Monday.</p> + +<p>7. Captain Wilson and Lieutenant Ellsworth arose rather late this +morning, and found a beer barrel protruding from the door of their tent, +properly set up on benches, with a flaming placard over it:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<span class="smcap">"New Grocery!!</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Wilson & Ellsworth.</span><br /> +Fresh Beer, 3c. a Glass.<br /> +Give us a call."<br /> +</div> + +<p>Later in the day a grand presentation ceremony took place. All the +members of the staff and hangers-on about head-quarters were gathered +under the oaks; Lieutenant Calkins, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, was +sent for, and, when he appeared, Lieutenant Ellsworth proceeded to read +to him the following letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<div class='right'> +"<span class="smcap">Ottowa, Illinois</span>, <i>July</i> 20, 1863.<br /> +</div> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Lieutenant W. W. Calkins</span>—<i>Sir:</i> Your old friends +of Ottowa, as a slight testimonial of their +respect for you, and admiration for those +chivalrous instincts which, when the banner of +beauty and glory was assailed by traitorous +legions, induced you to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> spring unhesitatingly to +its defense, have the honor to present you a +beautiful field-glass. Trusting that, by its +assistance, you will be able to see through your +enemies, and ultimately find your way to the arms +of your admiring fellow-citizens, we have the +honor to subscribe ourselves,</p> + + +<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"Your most obedient servants,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Peter Brown</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">John Smith</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Thomas Jones</span>, and others."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>The box containing the gift was carefully opened, and the necks and +upper parts of two whisky bottles, fastened together by a piece of wood, +taken out and delivered in due form to the Lieutenant. He seemed greatly +surprised, and for a few minutes addressed the donors in a very emphatic +and uncomplimentary way; but finding this only added to the merriment of +the party, he finally cooled down, and, lifting the field-glass to his +eyes, leveled it upon the staff, and remarked that they appeared to be +thirsty. This, of course, was hailed as undeniable evidence that the +glass was perfect, and Lieutenant Calkins was heartily congratulated on +his good luck, and on the proof which the testimonial afforded of the +high estimation in which he was held by the people of his native town. +Many of his brother officers, in their friendly ardor, shook him warmly +by the hand.</p> + +<p>8. Hewitt's battery has been transferred to the Corps of Engineers and +Mechanics, and Bridges' battery, six guns, assigned to me. I gain two +guns and many men by the exchange.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span></p> + +<p>Our Board grinds away eight or nine hours a day, and turns out about the +usual proportion of wheat and chaff. The time was when we thought it +would be impossible to obtain good officers for colored regiments. Now +we feel assured that they will have as good, if not better, officers +than the white regiments. From sergeants applying for commissions we are +able to select splendid men; strong, healthy, well informed, and of +considerable military experience. In fact, we occasionally find a +non-commissioned officer who is better qualified to command a regiment +than nine-tenths of the colonels. I certainly know colonels who could +not obtain a recommendation from this Board for a second lieutenancy.</p> + +<p>Saw General Garfield yesterday; he was in bed sick. I have no fears of +his immediate dissolution; in fact, I think he could avail himself of a +twenty-day leave. I know if I were no worse than he appears to be, I +would, with the permission of the general commanding, undertake to ride +the whole distance home on horseback, and swim the rivers. In a little +over a week I think my wife would see me, and the black horse, followed +by the pepper-and-salt colt, charging up to the front door in such style +as would remind her of the days of chivalry and the knights of the olden +time. I should cry out in thunder tones, "Ho! within! Unbar the door!" +The colt would kick up his heels with joy at sight of the grass in the +yard, while the black would champ his bit with impatience to get into a +comfortable stall once more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> Altogether the sight would be worth +seeing; but it will not be seen.</p> + +<p>The Board holds its sessions in the office of an honorable Mr. Turney, +who left on our approach for a more congenial clime, and left suddenly. +His letters and papers are lying around us in great confusion and +profusion. Among these we have discovered a document bearing the +signatures of Jeff. Davis, John Mason, Pierre Soule, and others, +pledging themselves to resist, by any and every means, the admission of +California, unless it came in with certain boundaries which they +prescribed. The document was gotten up in Washington, and Colonel +Parkhurst says it is the original contract.</p> + +<p>Dined with Colonel D. H. Gilmer, Thirty-eighth Illinois. Dinner +splendid; corn, cabbage, beans; peach, apple, and blackberry pie; with +buttermilk and sweetmilk. It was a grand dinner, served on a snow-white +table-cloth. Where the Colonel obtained all these delicacies I can not +imagine. He is an out-and-out Abolitionist, and possibly the negroes had +favored him somewhat.</p> + +<p>Colonel Gilmer is delighted to find the country coming around to his +ideas. He believes the Lord, who superintends the affairs of nations, +will give us peace in good time, and <i>that time</i> will be when the +institution of slavery has been rooted up and destroyed. He is a +Kentuckian by birth, and says he has kinfolks every-where. He is the +only man he knows of who can find a cousin in every town he goes to.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span></p> + +<p>9. Dined with Colonel Taylor. Colonels Hobart, Nicholas, and Major +Craddock were present. After dinner we adjourned to my quarters, where +we spent the afternoon. Hobart dilated upon his adventures at New +Orleans and elsewhere, under Abou Ben Butler. He says Butler is a great +man, but a d—d scoundrel. I have heard Hobart say something like this +at least a thousand times, and am pleased to know that his testimony on +this point is always clear, decisive, and uncontradictory.</p> + +<p>My visitors are gone. The cars are bunting against each other at the +depot. The katydids are piping away on the old, old story. The trees +look like great shadows, and unlike the substantial oaks they really +are. The camps are dark and quiet. This is all I can say of the night +without.</p> + +<p>In a little booth made of cedar boughs is a table, on which sputters a +solitary tallow candle, in a stick not remarkable for polish. This light +illuminates the booth, and reveals to the observer—if there be one, +which is very unlikely, for those who usually observe have in all +probability retired—a wash basin, a newspaper, a penknife, which +originally had two blades, but at present has but one, and that one very +dull, a gentleman of say thirty, possibly thirty-five, two steel pens, +rusty with age, an inkstand, and one miller, which miller has repeatedly +dashed his head against the wick of the candle and discovered that the +operation led to unsatisfactory results. Wearied, disappointed, and +disheartened, the miller now sits quietly on the table, mourning, +doubtless, over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> unpleasant lesson which experience has taught him. +His head is now wiser; but, alas! his wings are shorter than they were, +and of what use is his head without wings? He feels very like the man +who made a dash for fame, and fell wounded and bleeding on the field, or +the child who, for the first time, discovers that all is not gold that +glitters. The gentleman referred to—and I trust it may be no stretch of +the verities to call him a gentleman—leans over the table writing. He +has an abundant crop of dark hair on his head, under his chin, and on +his upper lip. He is not just now troubled with a superabundance of +flesh, or, in other words, no one would suspect him of being fat. On the +contrary, he might remind one of the lean kine, or the prodigal son who +had been feeding on husks. He is wide awake at this late hour of the +night, from which I conclude he has slept more or less during the day. +No one, to look at this gentleman, would take him to be a remarkable +man; in fact, his most intimate friends could not find it in their +hearts to bring such an accusation against him. His face is browned by +exposure, and his blue eyes look quite dark, or would do so if there +were sufficient light to see them. When he straightens up—and he +generally straightens when up at all—he is five feet eleven, or +thereabouts. His appetite is good, and his education is of that superior +kind which enables him, without apparent effort, to misspell +three-fourths of the words in the English language; in fact, at this +present moment he is holding an imaginary discussion with his wife, who +has written him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> that the underclothing for gentlemen's feet should be +spelled <i>s-o-c-k-s</i>, and not "s-o-x". He begs leave to differ with her, +which he would probably not dare to do were she not hundreds of miles +away; and he argues the matter in this way: S-o-x, o-x, f-o-x—the +termination sounds alike in all. Now how absurd it would be to insist +that ox should be spelled o-c-k-s, or fox f-o-c-k-s. The commonest kind +of sense teaches one that the old lady is in error, and "sox" clearly +correct. Much learning hath evidently made her mad. Having satisfied +himself about this matter, he takes a photograph from an inside pocket; +it is that of his wife. He makes another dive, and brings out one of his +children; then he lights a laurel-wood pipe, and, as the white smoke +curls about his head and vanishes, his thoughts skip off five hundred +miles or less, to a community of sensible, industrious, quiet folks, and +when he finally awakes from the reverie and looks about him upon the +beggarly surroundings—he does not swear, for he bethinks him in time +that swearing would do no good.</p> + +<p>10. Colonel Hobart, Twenty-first Wisconsin, and Colonel Hays, Tenth +Kentucky, have been added to the Board—the former at my request.</p> + +<p>11. To-day I dined with a Wisconsin friend of Colonel Hobart's; had a +good dinner, Scotch ale and champagne, and a very agreeable time. +Colonel Hegg, the dispenser of hospitalities, is a Norwegian by birth, a +Republican, a gentleman who has held important public positions in +Wisconsin, and who stands well with the people. In the course of the +table talk I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> learned something of the history of my friend Hobart. He +is an old wheel-horse of the Democratic party of his State; was a +candidate for governor a few years ago, and held joint debates with +Randall and Carl Schurz. He is the father of the Homestead Law, which +has been adopted by so many States, and was for many years the leader of +the House of Representatives of Wisconsin. All this I gathered from +Colonel Hegg, for Hobart seldom, if ever, talks about himself. I imagine +that even the most polished orator would obtain but little, if any, +advantage over Hobart in a discussion before the people. He has the +imagination, the information, and the oratorical fury in discussion +which are likely to captivate the masses. He was at one time opposed to +arming the negroes; but now that he is satisfied they will fight, he is +in favor of using them.</p> + +<p>To-night Colonels Hays and Hobart held quite an interesting debate on +the policy of arming colored men, and emancipating those belonging to +rebels. Hays, who, by the way, is an honest man and a gallant soldier, +presented the Kentucky view of the matter, and his arguments, evidently +very weak, were thoroughly demolished by Hobart. I think Colonel Hays +felt, as the controversy progressed, that his position was untenable, +and that his hostility to the President's proclamation sprang from the +prejudice in which he had been educated, rather than from reason and +justice.</p> + +<p>12. Old Tom, known in camp as the veracious nigger, because of a +"turkle" story which he tells, is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> just coming along as I wait a moment +for the breakfast bell. The "turkle," which Tom caught in some creek in +Alabama, had two hundred and fifty eggs in "him." "Yas, sah, two hunder +an' fifty."</p> + +<p>Tom has peculiar notions about certain matters, and they are not, by any +means, complimentary to the white man. He says: "It jus' 'pears to me +dat Adam was a black man, sah, an' de Lord he scar him till he got +white, cos he was a sinner, sah."</p> + +<p>"Tom, you scoundrel, how dare you slander the white man in that way?"</p> + +<p>"'Pears to me dat way; hab to tell de truf, sah; dat's my min'. Men was +'riginally black; but de Lord he scare Adam till he got white; dat's de +reasonable supposition, sah. Do a man's har git black when he scared, +sah? No, sah, it gits white. Did you ebber know a man ter get black when +he's scard, sah? No, sah, he gits white."</p> + +<p>"That does seem to be a knock-down argument, Tom."</p> + +<p>"Yas, sah, I've argied with mor'n a hunder white men, sah, an' they +can't never git aroun dat pint. When yer strip dis subjec ob prejdice, +an' fetch to bar on it de light o' reason, sah, yer can 'rive at but one +'clusion, sah. De Lord he rode into de garden in chariot of fire, sah, +robed wid de lightnin', sah, thunder bolt in his han', an' he cried +<span class="smcap">Adam</span>, in de voice of a airthquake, sah, an' de 'fec on Adam was +powerful, sah. Dat's my min', sah." And so Tom goes on his way, +confident that the first man was black, and that another white man has +been vanquished in argument.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span></p> + +<p>13. The weather continues oppressively hot. The names of candidates for +admission to the corps <i>d'Afrique</i> continue to pour in. The number has +swelled to eight hundred. We begin our labors at nine, adjourn a few +minutes for lunch, and then continue our work until nearly six.</p> + +<p>16. We move at ten o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Had a heavy rain yesterday and a +fearful wind. The morning, however, is clear, and atmosphere delightful.</p> + +<p>Our Board has examined one hundred and twenty men. Perhaps forty have +been recommended for commissions.</p> + +<p>The present movement will, doubtless, be a very interesting one. A few +days will take us to the Tennessee, and thereafter we shall operate on +new ground. Georgia will be within a few miles of us, the long-suffering +and long-coveted East Tennessee on our left, Central Alabama to our +front and right. A great struggle will undoubtedly soon take place, for +it is not possible that the rebels will give us a foothold south of the +Tennessee until compelled to do it.</p> + +<p>21. We are encamped on the banks of Crow creek, three miles northerly +from Stevenson. The table on which I write is under the great beech +trees. Colonel Hobart is sitting near studying Casey. The light of the +new moon is entirely excluded by foliage. On the right and left the +valley is bounded by ranges of mountains eight hundred or a thousand +feet high. Crow creek is within a few feet of me; in fact, the sand +under my feet was deposited by its waters. The army extends along the +Tennessee, from opposite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> Chattanooga to Bellefonte. Before us, and just +beyond the river, rises a green-mountain wall, whose summit, apparently +as uniform as a garden hedge, seems to mingle with the clouds. Beyond +this are the legions of the enemy, whose signal lights we see nightly.</p> + +<p>22. Our Board has resumed its sessions at the Alabama House, Stevenson. +The weather is intensely hot. Father Stanley stripped off his coat and +groaned. Hobart's face was red as the rising sun, and the anxious +candidates for commissions did not certainly resemble cucumbers for +coolness.</p> + +<p>Hobart rides a very poor horse—poor in flesh, I mean; but he entertains +the most exalted opinion of the beast. This morning, as we rode from +camp, I thought I would please him by referring to his horse in a +complimentary way. Said I: "Colonel, your horse holds his own mighty +well." His face brightened, and I continued: "He hasn't lost a bone +since I have known him." This nettled him, and he began to badger me +about an unsuccessful attempt which I made some time ago to get him to +taste a green persimmon. Hobart has a good education, is fluent in +conversation, and in discussion gets the better of me without +difficulty. All I can do, therefore, is to watch my opportunity to give +him an occasional thrust as best I can. Father Stanley is slow, +destitute of either education or wit, and examines applicants like a +demagogue fishes for votes.</p> + +<p>Brigadier-General Jeff. C. Davis and Colonel Hegg called to-day. Davis +is, I think, not quite so tall as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> am, but a shade heavier. Met +Captain Gaunther. He has been relieved from duty here, and ordered to +Washington. He is an excellent officer, and deserves a higher position +than he holds at present. I thought, from the very affectionate manner +with which he clung to my hand and squeezed it, that possibly, in taking +leave of his friends, he had burdened himself with that "oat" which is +said to be one too many. Hobart says that Scribner calls him Hobart up +to two glasses, and further on in his cups ycleps him Hogan.</p> + +<p>Wood had a bout with the enemy at Chattanooga yesterday; he on the north +side and they on the south side of the river. Johnson is said to have +reinforced Bragg, and the enemy is supposed to be strong in our front. +Rosecrans was at Bridgeport yesterday looking over the ground, when a +sharpshooter blazed away at him, and put a bullet in a tree near which +the General and his son were standing.</p> + +<p>24. Deserters are coming in almost every day. They report that secret +societies exist in the rebel army whose object is the promotion of +desertion. Eleven men from one company arrived yesterday. Not many days +ago a Confederate officer swam the river and gave himself up. For some +time past the pickets of the two armies have not been firing at each +other; but yesterday the rebels gave notice that they should commence +again, as the "Yanks were becoming too d—n thick."</p> + +<p>26. To-day we were examining a German who desired to be recommended for +a field officer. "How<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> do you form an oblique square, sir?" "Black +square? Black square?" exclaimed the Dutchman; "I dush not know vot you +means by de black square."</p> + +<p>As I write the moon shines down upon me through an opening in the +branches of the beech forest in which we are encamped, and the objects +about me, half seen and half hidden, in some way suggest the +half-remembered and half-forgotten incidents of childhood.</p> + +<p>How often, when a boy, have I dreamed of scenes similar to those through +which I have passed in the last two years! Knightly warriors, great +armies on the march and in camp, the skirmish, the tumult and thunder of +battle, were then things of the imagination; but now they have become +familiar items of daily life. Then a single tap of the drum or note of +the bugle awakened thoughts of the old times of chivalry, and regrets +that the days of glory had passed away. Now we have martial strains +almost every hour, and are reminded only of the various duties of our +every-day life.</p> + +<p>As we went to Stevenson this morning, Hobart caught a glimpse of a +colored man coming toward us. It suggested to him a hobby which he rides +now every day, and he commenced his oration by saying, in his +declamatory way: "The negro is the coming man." "Yes," I interrupted, +"so I see, and he appears to have his hat full of peaches;" and so the +coming man had.</p> + +<p>28. Rode to the river with Hobart and Stanley. The rebel pickets were +lying about in plain view on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> the other side. Just before our arrival +quite a number of them had been bathing. The outposts of the two armies +appear still to be on friendly terms. "Yesterday," a soldier said to me, +"one of our boys crossed the river, talked with the rebs for some time, +and returned."</p> + +<p>29. The band is playing "Yankee Doodle," and the boys break into an +occasional cheer by way of indorsement. There is something defiant in +the air of "Doodle" as he blows away on the soil of the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'cavliers'">cavaliers</ins>, which +strikes a noisy chord in the breast of Uncle Sam's nephews, and the +demonstrations which follow are equivalent to "Let 'er rip," "Go in old +boy."</p> + +<p>Colonel Hobart's emphatic expression is "egad." He told me to-day of a +favorite horse at home, which would follow him from place to place as he +worked in the garden, keeping his nose as near to him as possible. His +wife remarked to him one day: "Egad, husband, if you loved me as well as +you do that horse, I should be perfectly happy."</p> + +<p>"Are you quite <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'sure sure'">sure</ins> Mrs. Hobart said 'egad,' Colonel?"</p> + +<p>"Well, no, I wouldn't like to swear to that."</p> + +<p>This afternoon Colonels Stanley, Hobart, and I rode down to the +Tennessee to look at the pontoon bridge which has been thrown across the +river. On the way we met Generals Rosecrans, McCook, Negley, and +Garfield. The former checked up, shook hands, and said: "How d'ye do?" +Garfield gave us a grip<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> which suggested "vote right, vote early." +Negley smiled affably, and the cavalcade moved on. We crossed the +Tennessee on the bridge of boats, and rode a few miles into the country +beyond. Not a gun was fired as the bridge was being laid. Davis' +division is on the south side of the river.</p> + +<p>The Tennessee at this place is beautiful. The bridge looks like a ribbon +stretched across it. The island below, the heavily-wooded banks, the +bluffs and mountain, present a scene which would delight the soul of the +artist. A hundred boys were frollicking in the water near the pontoons, +tumbling into the stream in all sorts of ways, kicking up their heels, +ducking and splashing each other, and having a glorious time generally.</p> + +<p>30. (Sunday.) The brigade moved into Stevenson.</p> + +<p>31. It crossed the Tennessee.</p> + +<p>In one of the classes for examination to-day was a sergeant, fifty years +old at least, but still sprightly and active; not very well posted in +the infantry tactics now in use, but of more than ordinary intelligence. +The class had not impressed the Board favorably. This Sergeant we +thought rather too old, and the others entirely too ignorant. When the +class was told to retire, this old Sergeant, who, by the way, belongs to +a Michigan regiment, came up to me and asked: "Was John Beatty, of +Sandusky, a relative of yours?" "He was my grandfather." "Yes, you +resemble your mother. You are the son of James Beatty. I have carried +you in my arms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> many a time. My mother saved your life more than once. +Thirty years ago your father and mine were neighbors. I recollect the +cabin where you were born as well as if I had seen it but yesterday." "I +am heartily glad to see you, my old friend," said I, taking his hand. +"You must stay with me to-night, and we will talk over the old times +together."</p> + +<p>When the Sergeant retired, Hobart, with a twinkle in his eye, said he +did not think much of that fellow; his early associations had evidently +been bad; he was entirely too old, anyway. What the army needed, above +all things, were young, vigorous, dashing officers; but he supposed, +notwithstanding all this, that we should have to do something for the +Sergeant. He had rendered important service to the country by carrying +the honored President of our Board in his arms, and but for the timely +doses of catnip tea, administered by the Sergeant's mother, the gallant +knight of the black horse and pepper-and-salt colt would have been +unknown. "What do you say, gentlemen, to a second <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'lieutenantcy'">lieutenancy</ins> for +General Beatty's friend?"</p> + +<p>"I shall vote for it," replied Stanley.</p> + +<p>"Recommend him for a first lieutenancy," I suggested; and they did.</p> + +<p>In the evening I had a long and very pleasant conversation with the +Sergeant. He had fought under Bradley in the Patriot war at Point au +Pelee; served five years in the regular army during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> Florida war, +and two years in the Mexican war. His name is Daniel Rodabaugh. He has +been in the United States service as a soldier for nine years, and +richly deserves the position for which we recommended him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SEPTEMBER_1863" id="SEPTEMBER_1863"></a>SEPTEMBER, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. Closed up the business of the Board, and at seven o'clock in the +evening (Tuesday) left Stevenson to rejoin the brigade. On the way to +the river I passed Colonel Stanley's brigade of our division. The air +was thick with dust. It was quite dark when I crossed the bridge. The +brigade had started on the march hours before, but I thought best to +push on and overtake it. After getting on the wrong road and riding +considerably out of my way, I finally found the right one, and about ten +o'clock overtook the rear of the column. The two armies will face each +other before the end of the week. General Lytle's brigade is bivouacking +near me. I have a bad cold, but otherwise am in good health.</p> + +<p>3. We moved from Moore's Spring, on the Tennessee, in the morning, and +after laboring all day advanced less than one mile and a quarter. We +were ascending Sand mountain; many of our wagons did not reach the +summit.</p> + +<p>4. With two regiments I descended into Lookout valley and bivouacked at +Brown's Springs about dark. Our transportation, owing to the darkness +and extreme badness of the roads, remained on the top of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> the mountain. +I have no blankets, and nothing to eat except one ear of corn which one +of the colored boys roasted for me. Wrapped in my overcoat, about nine +o'clock, I lay down on the ground to sleep; but a terrible toothache +took hold of me, and I was compelled to get up and find such relief as I +could in walking up and down the road. The moon shone brightly, and many +camp-fires glimmered in the valley and along the side of the mountain. +It was three o'clock in the morning before gentle sleep made me +oblivious to aching teeth and head, and all the other aches which had +possession of me.</p> + +<p>5. A few deserters come in to us, but they bring little information of +the enemy. We are now in Georgia, twenty miles from Chattanooga by the +direct road, which, like all roads here, is very crooked, and difficult +to travel. The enemy is, doubtless, in force very near, but he makes no +demonstrations and retires his pickets without firing a gun. The +developments of the next week or two will be matters for the historian.</p> + +<p>Sheridan's division is just coming into the valley; what other troops +are to cross the mountain by this road I do not know. As I write, heavy +guns are heard off in the direction of Chattanooga. The roads are +extremely dusty. This morning I consigned to the flames all letters +which have come to me during the last two months.</p> + +<p>I have just returned from a ride up the valley to the site of the +proposed iron works of Georgia. Work on the railroad, on the mountain +roads, and on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> the furnaces, was suspended on our approach. The negroes +and white laborers were run off to get them beyond our reach. The hills +in the vicinity of the proposed works are undoubtedly full of iron; the +ore crops out so plainly that it is visible to all passers. Here the +Confederacy proposed to supply its railroads with iron rail, an article +at present very nearly exhausted in the South. Had the Georgians +possessed common business sense and common energy, extensive furnaces +would have been in operation in this valley years ago; and now, instead +of a few poorly cultivated corn-fields, with here and there a cabin, the +valley and hillsides would be overflowing with <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'popuulation'">population</ins> and wealth.</p> + +<p>We returned from the site of the iron works by way of Trenton, the seat +of justice of Dade county. Reynolds and Sheridan are encamped near +Trenton. I feel better since my ride.</p> + +<p>6. (Sunday.) Marched to Johnson's Crook, and bivouacked, at nightfall, +at McKay's Spring, on the north side of Lookout mountain; here my +advance regiment, the Forty-second Indiana, had a slight skirmish with +the enemy, in which one man was wounded.</p> + +<p>7. We gained the summit of Lookout mountain, and the enemy retired to +the gaps on the south side.</p> + +<p>8. Started at four o'clock in the morning and pushed for Cooper's Gap. +Surprised a cavalry picket at the foot of the mountain, in McLemore's +Cove, Chattanooga valley. In this little affair we captured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> five +sabers, one revolver, one carbine, one prisoner, and seriously wounded +one man.</p> + +<p>While standing on a peak of Lookout, we saw far off to the east long +lines of dust trending slowly to the south, and inferred from this that +Bragg had abandoned Chattanooga, and was either retiring before us or +making preparations to check the center and right of our line.</p> + +<p>9. Marched up the valley to Stephen's Gap and rejoined the division.</p> + +<p>10. Our division marched across McLemore's Cove to Pigeon mountain, +found Dug Gap obstructed, and the enemy in force on the right, left, and +front. The skirmishers of the advance brigade, Colonel Surwell's, were +engaged somewhat, and during the night information poured in upon us, +from all quarters, that the enemy, in strength, was making dispositions +to surround and cut us off before reinforcements could arrive.</p> + +<p>11. Two brigades of Baird's division joined us about 10 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> Five +thousand of the enemy's cavalry were reported to be moving to our left +and rear; soon after, his infantry appeared on our right and left, and, +a little later, in our front. From the summit of Pigeon mountain, the +rebels could observe all our movements, and form a good estimate of our +entire force. Our immense train, swelled now by the transportation of +Baird's division to near four hundred wagons, compelled us to select +such positions as would enable us to protect the train, and not such as +were most favorable for making an offensive or defensive fight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was now impossible for Brannan and Reynolds to reach us in time to +render assistance. General Negley concluded, therefore, to fall back, +and ordered me to move to Bailey's Cross-roads, and await the passage of +the wagon train to the rear. The enemy attacked soon after, but were +held in check until the transportation had time to return to Stephens' +Gap.</p> + +<p>12. We expected an attack this morning, but, reinforcements arriving, +the enemy retired. This afternoon Brannan made a reconnoissance, but the +result I have not ascertained; there was, however, no fighting.</p> + +<p>I am writing this in the woods, where we are bivouacking for the night. +For nearly two weeks, now, I have not had my clothes off; and for +perhaps not more than two nights of the time have I had my boots and +spurs off. I have arisen at three o'clock in the morning and not lain +down until ten or eleven at night. My appetite is good and health +excellent. Last night my horse fell down with me, and on me, but strange +to say only injured himself.</p> + +<p>We find great numbers of men in these mountains who profess to be loyal. +Our army is divided—Crittenden on the left, our corps (Thomas) in the +center, and McCook far to the right. The greatest danger we need +apprehend is that the enemy may concentrate rapidly and fight our widely +separated corps in detail. Our transportation, necessarily large in any +case, but unnecessarily large in this, impedes us very much. The roads +up and down the mountains are extremely bad; our progress has therefore +been slow, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> march hither a tedious one. The brigade lies in the +open field before me in battle line. The boys have had no time to rest +during the day, and have done much night work, but they hold up well. A +katydid has been very friendly with me to-night, and is now sitting on +the paper as if to read what I have written.</p> + +<p>17. Marched from Bailey's Cross-roads to Owensford on the Chickamauga.</p> + +<p>18. Ordered to relieve General Hazen, who held position on the road to +Crawfish Springs; but as he had received no orders, and as mine were but +verbal, he declined to move, and I therefore continued my march and +bivouacked at the springs.</p> + +<p>About midnight I was ordered to proceed to a ford of the Chickamauga and +relieve a brigade of Palmer's division, commanded by Colonel Grose. The +night was dark and the road crooked. About two in the morning I reached +the place; and as Colonel Grose's pickets were being relieved and mine +substituted, occasional shots along the line indicated that the enemy +was in our immediate front.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />CHICKAMAUGA.</div> + +<p>19. At an early hour in the morning the enemy's pickets made their +appearance on the east side of the Chickamauga and engaged my +skirmishers. Some hours later he opened on us with two batteries, and a +sharp artillery fight ensued. During this engagement, the Fifteenth +Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, occupied an advanced position in the woods on +the low ground, and the shots of the artillery passed immedi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>ately over +it. I rode down to this regiment to see that the men were not disturbed +by the furious cannonading, and to obtain at the same time a better view +of the enemy. While thus absent, Captain Bridges, concluding that the +Confederate guns were too heavy for him, limbered up and fell back. +Hastening to the hill, I sent Captain Wilson with an order to Bridges to +return; and, being reinforced soon after by three pieces of Shultz's +First Ohio Battery, we opened again on the advancing columns of the +enemy, when they fell back precipitately, evidently concluding that the +lull in our firing and withdrawal of our artillery were simply devices +to draw them on.</p> + +<p>In this affair eight men of the infantry were wounded; and Captain +Bridges had two men killed, nine wounded, and lost twelve horses.</p> + +<p>About five o'clock in the afternoon I was directed to withdraw my picket +line—which had been greatly extended in order to connect with troops on +the left—as silently and carefully as possible, and return to Crawfish +Springs. Arriving at the springs, the boys were allowed time to fill +their canteens with water, when we pushed forward on the Chattanooga +road to a ridge near Osbern's, where we bivouacked for the night.</p> + +<p>There had been heavy fighting on our left during the whole afternoon; +and while the boys were preparing supper, a very considerable engagement +was occurring not far distant to the east and south of us. Elsewhere an +occasional volley of musketry, and boom of artillery, with scattered +firing along an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> extended line indicated that the two grand armies were +concentrating for battle, and that the morrow would give us hot and +dangerous work.</p> + +<p>20. (Sunday.) At an early hour in the morning I was directed to move +northward on the Chattanooga road and report to General Thomas. He +ordered me to go to the extreme left of our line, form perpendicularly +to the rear of Baird's division, connecting with his left. I disposed of +my brigade as directed. Baird's line appeared to run parallel with the +road, and mine running to the rear crossed the road. On this road and +near it I posted my artillery, and advanced my skirmishers to the edge +of the open field in front of the left and center of my line. The +position was a good one, and my brigade and the one on Baird's left +could have co-operated and assisted each other in maintaining it. +Fifteen minutes after this line was formed, Captain Gaw, of General +Thomas' staff, brought me a verbal order to advance my line to a ridge +or low hill (McDaniel's house), fully one-fourth of a mile distant. I +represented to him that in advancing I would necessarily leave a long +interval between my right and Baird's left, and also that I was already +in the position which General Thomas himself told me to occupy. He +replied that the order to move forward was imperative, and that I was to +be supported by Negley with the other two brigades of his division. I +could object no further, although the movement seemed exceedingly +unwise, and, therefore, pushed forward my men as rapidly as possible to +the point indicated. The Eighty-eighth Indiana (Colonel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> Humphreys), on +the left, moved into position without difficulty. The Forty-second +Indiana (Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre), on its right, met with +considerable opposition in advancing through the woods, but finally +reached the ridge. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois +(Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman), and Fifteenth Kentucky (Colonel Taylor), +on the right, became engaged almost immediately and advanced slowly. The +enemy in strong force pressed them heavily in front and on the right +flank.</p> + +<p>At this time I sent an aid to request General Baird or General King to +throw a force in the interval between my right and their left, and +dispatched Captain Wilson to the rear to hasten forward General Negley +to my support. My regiment on the right was confronted by so large a +force that it was compelled to fall back, which it did in good order, +contesting the ground stoutly. About this time a column of the enemy, +<i>en masse</i>, on the double quick, pressed into the interval between the +One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and Forty-second Indiana, and turned +with the evident intention of capturing the latter, which was then +busily engaged with the rebels in its front; but Captain Bridges opened +on it with grape and canister, when it broke and fell back in disorder +to the shelter of the woods. The Forty-second Indiana, but a moment +before almost surrounded, was thus enabled to fight its way to the left +and unite with the Eighty-eighth. Soon after this the enemy made another +and more furious assault upon the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and +Fifteenth Kentucky,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> and, driving them back, advanced to within fifty +yards of my battery, and poured into it a heavy fire, killing Lieutenant +Bishop, and killing or wounding all the men and horses belonging to his +section, which consequently fell into rebel hands. Captain Bridges and +his officers, by the exercise of great courage and coolness, succeeded +in saving the remainder of the battery. It was in this encounter that +Captain LeFevre, of my staff, was killed, and Lieutenant Calkins, also +of the staff, was wounded.</p> + +<p>The enemy having now gained the woods south of the open field and west +of the road, I opposed his further progress as well as I could with the +Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois; but as he had +two full brigades, the struggle on our part seemed a hopeless one. +Fortunately, at this juncture, I discovered a battery on the road in our +rear (I think it was Captain Goodspeed's), and at my request the Captain +ordered it to change front and open fire. This additional opposition +served for a time to entirely check the enemy.</p> + +<p>The Eighty-eighth and Forty-second Indiana, compelled, as their officers +claim, to make a detour to the left and rear, in order to escape capture +or utter annihilation, found General Negley, and were ordered to remain +with him, and finally to retire with him in the direction of Rossville. +This, however, I did not ascertain until ten hours later in the day.</p> + +<p>Firing having now ceased in my front, and being the only mounted officer +or mounted man present, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> left the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois temporarily in charge of Colonel Taylor, and hurried +back to see General Thomas or Negley, and urge the necessity for more +troops to enable me to re-establish the line. On the way, and before +proceeding far, I met the Second Brigade of our division, Colonel +Stanley, advancing to my support. Had it reached me an hour earlier, I +feel assured that I would have been able to maintain the position which +I had just been compelled to abandon. I directed Colonel Stanley to form +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: this word added to the text">a</ins> line of battle at once, at right angles with the road and on its left, +facing north. Returning to Colonel Taylor, I ordered him to fall back +with the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and +form in rear of the left of Stanley's line, as a support to it. Soon +after we had got our lines adjusted, the enemy pressed back the +skirmishers of the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth +Illinois, who had not been retired with the regiments, and, following +them up, drove in also the skirmish line of Stanley's brigade, whereupon +the Eleventh Michigan (Colonel Stoughton), and the Eighteenth Ohio +(Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor), gave him a well-directed volley, which +brought him to a halt. Our whole line then opened at short range, and he +wavered. I gave the order to advance, then to charge, and the brigade +rushed forward with a yell, drove the enemy fully one-fourth of a mile, +strewing the ground with his dead and wounded, and capturing many +prisoners.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> Among the latter was General Adams, the commander of a +Louisiana brigade.</p> + +<p>Finding now that Colonel Taylor had not followed the movement with his +regiment and the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and seeing the +necessity for some support for a single line so extended, I hastened to +the rear, and, being unable to find Taylor where I had left him, I +induced four regiments, of I know not what command, which I found idle +in the woods, to move forward and form a second line.</p> + +<p>At this time Captain Wilson, whom I had sent to General Negley some time +before the Second Brigade reached me, to inform him of my position and +need of assistance, returned, and brought from him a verbal order to +retire to the hill in the rear and join him. Convinced that the +withdrawal of the troops at this time from the position occupied might +endanger the whole left wing of the army, I thought best to defer the +execution of this order until I could see General Negley and explain to +him the necessity of maintaining and reinforcing it with the other +brigade of our division. But before Captain Wilson could find either +Colonel Taylor, who had in charge the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois, or General Negley, the enemy made a fierce attack +on Stanley's brigade and forced it back. The unknown brigade which I had +posted in the rear to support it retired with unseemly haste, and +without firing a shot.</p> + +<p>At this juncture frightened soldiers and occasional shots were coming +from the right and rear of our line,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> indicating that the right wing of +the army had either been thrown back or changed position. Stanley's +brigade, considerably scattered and shattered by the last furious +assault of the enemy, was gathered up by its officers and retired to the +ridge on the right and to the rear of the original line of battle. +Wilson and I made diligent efforts to find Taylor, but were unable to do +so. I was greatly provoked at his retirement without consulting me, and +at a time, too, when his presence was so greatly needed to support +Stanley. But later in the day I ascertained from him that he had been +ordered by Major Lowrie, General Negley's chief of staff, to join Negley +and retire with him to Rossville. He also had much to say about saving +many pieces of artillery; but it occurred to me that his presence on the +field was of much more importance than a few pieces of trumpery +artillery off the field. Why, at any rate, did he not notify me of the +order which he had received from the division commander? The charge of +Stanley's brigade had not occupied to exceed thirty minutes, and as soon +as it was ended I had returned to find him gone. The Colonel, however, +did, doubtless, what he conceived to be his duty, and for the best. His +courage had been tested on too many occasions to allow me to think that +anything but an error of judgment, or possibly the belief that under any +circumstances he was bound to obey the order of the major-general +commanding the division, could have induced him to abandon me.</p> + +<p>Supposing my regiments and General Negley to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> still on the field, I +again dispatched Captain Wilson in search of them, and in the meantime +stationed myself near a fragment of the Second Brigade of our division, +and gave such general directions to the troops about me as under the +circumstances I felt warranted in doing. I found abundant opportunity to +make myself useful. Gathering up scattered detachments of a dozen +different commands, I filled up an unoccupied space on the ridge between +Harker, of Wood's division, on the left, and Brannan, on the right, and +this point we held obstinately until sunset. Colonel Stoughton, Eleventh +Michigan; Lieutenant-Colonel Rappin, Nineteenth Illinois; +Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor, Eighteenth Ohio; Colonel Hunter, +Eighty-second Indiana; Colonel Hays and Lieutenant-Colonel Wharton, +Tenth Kentucky; Captain Stinchcomb, Seventeenth Ohio; and Captain +Kendrick, Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania, were there, each having a few men +of their respective commands; and they and their men fought and +struggled and clung to that ridge with an obstinate, persistent, +desperate courage, unsurpassed, I believe, on any field. I robbed the +dead of cartridges and distributed them to the men; and once when, after +a desperate struggle, our troops were driven from the crest, and the +enemy's flag waved above it, the men were rallied, and I rode up the +hill with them, waving my hat, and shouting like a madman. Thus we +charged, and the enemy only saved his colors by throwing them down the +hill. However much we may say of those who held command, justice compels +the acknowl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>edgment that no officer exhibited more courage on that +occasion than the humblest private in the ranks.</p> + +<p>About four o'clock we saw away off to our rear the banners and +glittering guns of a division coming toward us, and we became agitated +by doubt and hope. Are they friends or foes? The thunder, as of a +thousand anvils, still goes on in our front. Men fall around us like +leaves in autumn. Thomas, Garfield, Wood, and others are in consultation +below the hill just in rear of Harker. The approaching troops are said +to be ours, and we feel a throb of exultation. Before they arrive we +ascertain that the division is Steedman's; and finally, as they come up, +I recognize my old friend, Colonel Mitchell, of the One Hundred and +Thirteenth. They go into action on our right, and as they press forward +the roar of the musketry redoubles; the battle seems to be working off +in that direction. There is now a comparative lull in our front, and I +ride over to the right, and become involved in a regiment which has been +thrown out of line and into confusion by another regiment that retreated +through it in disorder. I assist Colonel Mitchell in rallying it, and it +goes into the fight again. Returning to my old place, I find that +disorganized bodies of men are coming rapidly from the left, in +regiments, companies, squads, and singly. I meet General Wood, and ask +if I shall not halt and reorganize them. He tells me to do so; but I +find the task impossible. They do not recognize me as their commander, +and most of them will not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> obey my orders. Some few, indeed, I manage to +hold together; but the great mass drift by me to the woods in the rear. +The dead are lying every-where; the wounded are continually passing to +the rear; the thunder of the guns and roll of musketry are unceasing and +unabated until nightfall. Then the fury of the battle gradually dies +away, and finally we have a silence, broken only by a cheer here and +there along the enemy's line.</p> + +<p>Wilson and I are together near the ridge, where we have been all the +afternoon. We have heard nothing of Negley nor of my regiments. We take +it for granted, however, that they are somewhere on the field. As the +night darkens we discover a line of fires off to our left and rear, +toward McDaniels' house. That is the place where Negley should have been +in the morning, and we conclude he must be there now.</p> + +<p>We have been badly used during the day; but it does not occur to us that +our army has been whipped. We start together to find Negley. We have had +nothing to eat since early morning, and so, passing a corn-field, we +stop for a moment to fill our pockets with corn; then, proceeding on our +way, we pass through an unused field, grown up with brush, and here meet +a man coming toward us on horseback. I said to him, "Are those our +troops?" pointing in the direction of the line of fires. He answered, +"Yes; our troops are on the road and just beyond it." Pretty soon we +emerged from the brushy woods and entered an open field; just before us +was a long line<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> of fires, and soldiers busily engaged preparing supper. +We had approached to within two hundred feet of them, and could hear the +soldiers talk and laugh, as soldiers will, over the incidents of the +day, when we discerned that we were riding straight into the enemy's +line. Instantly wheeling our horses, we drove the spurs into them and +lay down on their backs. We had been discovered, and a dozen or more +shots were sent after us; but we escaped unharmed. The man we met in the +unused field had mistaken us for Confederate officers. Two or three +shots were fired at us as we approached our own line, but the darkness +saved us.</p> + +<p>Near eight o'clock in the evening I ascertained, from General Wood, that +the army had been ordered to fall back to Rossville, and I started at +once to inform Colonel Stoughton and others on the ridge; but I found +that they had been apprised of the movement, and were then on the road +to the rear.</p> + +<p>The march to Rossville was a melancholy one. All along the road, for +miles, wounded men were lying. They had crawled or hobbled slowly away +from the fury of the battle, become exhausted, and lay down by the +roadside to die. Some were calling the names and numbers of their +regiments, but many had become too weak to do this; by midnight the +column had passed by. What must have been their agony, mental and +physical, as they lay in the dreary woods, sensible that there was no +one to comfort or to care for them, and that in a few hours more their +career on earth would be ended.</p> + +<p>At a little brook, which crossed the road, Wilson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> and I stopped to +water our horses. The remains of a fire, which some soldiers had +kindled, were raked together, and laying a couple of ears of corn on the +coals for our own use, we gave the remainder of what we had in our +pockets to the poor beasts; they, also, had fasted since early morning.</p> + +<p>How many terrible scenes of the day's battle recur to us as we ride on +in the darkness. We see again the soldier whose bowels were protruding, +and hear him cry, "Jesus, have mercy on my soul!" What multitudes of +thought were then crowding into the narrow half hour which he had yet to +live—what regrets, what hopes, what fears! The sky was darkening, earth +fading; wealth, power, fame, the prizes most esteemed of men, were as +nothing. His only hope lay in the Saviour of whom his mother had taught +him. I doubt not his earnest, agonizing prayer was heard. Nay, to doubt +would be to question the mercy of God!</p> + +<p>A Confederate boy, who should have been at home with his mother, and +whose leg had been fearfully torn by a minnie ball, hailed me as I was +galloping by early in the day. He was bleeding to death, and crying +bitterly. I gave him my handkerchief, and shouted back to him, as I +hurried on, "Bind up the leg tight!"</p> + +<p>The adjutant of the rebel General Adams called to me as I passed him. He +wanted help, but I could not help him—could not even help our own poor +boys who lay bleeding near him.</p> + +<p>Sammy Snyder lay on the field wounded; as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> handed him my canteen he +said, "General, I did my duty." "I know that, Sammy; I never doubted +that you would do your duty." The most painful recollection to one who +has gone through a battle, is that of the friends lying wounded and +dying and who needed help so much when you were utterly powerless to aid +them.</p> + +<p>Between ten and eleven o'clock, at night, I reached Rossville, and found +one of my regiments, the Forty-second Indiana, on picket one mile south +of that place, and the other regiments encamped near the town. My men +were surprised and rejoiced to see me. It had been currently reported +that I was killed. One fellow claimed to know the exact spot on my body +where the ball hit me; while another, not willing to be outdone, had +given a minute description of the locality where I fell. General Negley +rendered me good service by giving me something to eat and drink, for I +was hungry as a wolf.</p> + +<p>At this hour of the night (eleven to twelve o'clock) the army is simply +a mob. There appears to be neither organization nor discipline. The +various commands are mixed up in what seems to be inextricable +confusion. Were a division of the enemy to pounce down upon us between +this and morning, I fear the Army of the Cumberland would be blotted +out.</p> + +<p>21. Early this morning the army was again got into order. Officers and +soldiers found their regiments, regiments their brigades, and brigades +their divisions. My brigade was posted on a high ridge,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> east of +Rossville and near it. About ten o'clock <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> it was attacked by a +brigade of mounted infantry, a part of Forrest's command, under Colonel +Dibble. After a sharp fight of half an hour, in which the Fifteenth +Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, and the Forty-second Indiana, +Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre, were principally engaged, the enemy was +repulsed, and retired leaving his dead and a portion of his wounded on +the field. Of his dead, one officer and eight men were left within a few +rods of our line. One little boy, so badly wounded they could not carry +him off, said, with tears and sobs, "They have run off and left me in +the woods to die." I directed the boys to carry him into our lines and +care for him.</p> + +<p>At midnight, the Fifteenth Kentucky was deployed on the skirmish line; +the other regiments of the brigade withdrawn, and started on the way to +Chattanooga. A little later the Fifteenth Kentucky quietly retired and +proceeded to the same place.</p> + +<p>22. We are at Chattanooga.</p> + +<p>With the exception of a cold, great exhaustion, and extreme hoarseness, +occasioned by much hallooing, I am in good condition. The rebels have +followed us and are taking position in our front.</p> + +<p>24. At midnight the enemy attempted to drive in our pickets, and an +engagement ensued, which lasted an hour or more, and was quite brisk.</p> + +<p>26. This morning another furious assault was made on our picket line; +but, after a short time, the rebels retired and permitted us to remain +quiet for the remainder of the day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span></p> + +<p>Their pickets are plainly seen from our lines, and their signal flags +are discernable on Mission ridge. Occasionally we see their columns +moving. Our army is busily engaged fortifying.</p> + +<p>27. (Sunday.) Had a good night's rest, and am feeling very well. The day +is a quiet one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="OCTOBER_1863" id="OCTOBER_1863"></a>OCTOBER, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>1. Have been trying to persuade myself that I am unwell enough to ask +for a leave, but it will not work. The moment after I come to the +conclusion that I am really sick, and can not stand it longer, I begin +to feel better. The very thought of getting home, and seeing wife and +children, cures me at once.</p> + +<p>3. The two armies are lying face to face. The Federal and Confederate +sentinels walk their beats in sight of each other. The quarters of the +rebel generals may be seen from our camps with the naked eye. The tents +of their troops dot the hillsides. To-night we see their signal lights +off to the right on the summit of Lookout mountain, and off to the left +on the knobs of Mission ridge. Their long lines of camp fires almost +encompass us. But the camp fires of the Army of the Cumberland are +burning also. Bruised and torn by a two days' unequal contest, its flags +are still up, and its men still unwhipped. It has taken its position +here, and here, by God's help, it will remain.</p> + +<p>Colonel Hobart was captured at Chickamauga, and a fear is entertained +that he may have been wounded.</p> + +<p>4. This is a pleasant October morning, rather windy and cool, but not at +all uncomfortable. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> bands are mingling with the autumn breezes such +martial airs as are common in camps, with now and then a sentimental +strain, which awakens recollections of other days, when we were +younger—thought more of sweethearts than of war, when, in fact, we did +not think of war at all except as something of the past.</p> + +<p>Sitting at my tent door, with a field glass, I can see away off to the +right, on the highest peak of Lookout mountain, a man waving a red flag +to and fro. He is a rebel officer, signaling to the Confederate generals +what he observes of importance in the valley. From his position he can +look down into our camp, see every rifle pit, and almost count the +pieces of artillery in our fortifications.</p> + +<p>Captain Johnson, of General Negley's staff, has just been in, and tells +me the pickets of the two armies are growing quite intimate, sitting +about on logs together, talking over the great battle, and exchanging +views as to the results of a future engagement.</p> + +<p>General Negley called a few minutes ago and invited me to dine with him +at five o'clock. The General looks demoralized, and, I think, regrets +somewhat the part he took, or rather the part he failed to take, in the +battle of Chickamauga. Remarks are made in reference to his conduct on +that occasion which are other than complimentary. The General doubtless +did what he thought was best, and probably had orders which will justify +his action. After a battle there is always more or less bad feeling, +regi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span>ments, brigades, and corps claiming that other regiments, brigades, +and corps failed to do their whole duty, and should therefore be held +responsible for this or that misfortune.</p> + +<p>There was a rumor, for some days before the battle of Chickamauga, that +Burnside was on the way to join us, and we shouted Burnside to the boys, +on the day of the battle, until we became hoarse. Did the line stagger +and show a disposition to retire: "Stand up, boys, reinforcements are +coming; Burnside is near." Once, when Palmer's division was falling back +through a corn-field, our line was hotly pressed. Pointing to Palmer's +columns, which were coming from the left toward the right, the officers +shouted, "Give it to 'em, boys, Burnside is here," and the boys went in +with renewed confidence. But, alas, at nightfall Burnside had played +out, and the hearts of our brave fellows went down with the sun. +Burnside is now regarded as a myth, a fictitious warrior, who is said to +be coming to the rescue of men sorely pressed, but who never comes. When +an improbable story is told to the boys, now, they express their +unbelief by the simple word "Burnside," sometimes adding, "O yes, we +know him."</p> + +<p>5. The enemy opened on us, at 11 <span class="smcap">a. m.</span>, from batteries located on the +point of Lookout mountain, and continued to favor us with cast-iron in +the shape of shell and solid shot until sunset. He did little damage, +however, three men only were wounded, and these but slightly. A shell +entered the door of a dog tent, near which two soldiers of the +Eighteenth Ohio<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> were standing, and buried itself in the ground, when +one of the soldiers turned very coolly to the other and said, "There, +you d—d fool, you see what you get by leaving your door open."</p> + +<p>6. The enemy unusually silent.</p> + +<p>7. Visited the picket line this afternoon. A rebel line officer came to +within a few rods of our picket station, to exchange papers, and stood +and chatted for some time with the Federal officer. There appears to be +a perfect understanding that neither party shall fire unless an advance +is made in force.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NOVEMBER_1863" id="NOVEMBER_1863"></a>NOVEMBER, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>11. My new brigade consists of the following regiments:</p> + +<p>One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio Infantry, Colonel John G. Mitchell.</p> + +<p>One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Infantry, Colonel H. B. Banning.</p> + +<p>One Hundred and Eighth Ohio Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Piepho.</p> + +<p>Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry, Major Shane.</p> + +<p>Third Ohio Infantry, Captain Leroy S. Bell.</p> + +<p>Seventy-eighth Illinois Infantry, Colonel Van Vleck.</p> + +<p>Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry, Colonel Van Tassell.</p> + +<p>There has been much suffering among the men. They have for weeks been +reduced to quarter rations, and at times so eager for food that the +commissary store-rooms would be thronged, and the few crumbs which fell +from broken boxes of hard-bread carefully gathered up and eaten. Men +have followed the forage wagons and picked up the grains of corn which +fell from them, and in some instances they have picked up the grains of +corn from the mud where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> mules have been fed. The suffering among the +animals has been intense. Hundreds of mules and horses have died of +starvation. Now, however, that we have possession of the river, the men +are fully supplied, but the poor horses and mules are still suffering. A +day or two more will, I trust, enable us to provide well for them also. +Two steamboats are plying between this and Chattanooga, and one immense +wagon train is also busy. Supplies are coming forward with a reasonable +degree of rapidity. The men appear to be in good health and excellent +spirits.</p> + +<p>12. We are encamped on Stringer's ridge, on the north side of the +Tennessee, immediately opposite Chattanooga. This morning Colonel +Mitchell and I rode to the picket line of the brigade. The line runs +along the river, opposite and to the north of the point of Lookout +mountain. At the time, a heavy fog rising from the water veiled somewhat +the gigantic proportions of Lookout point, or the nose of Lookout, as it +is sometimes designated. While standing on the bank, at the water's +edge, peering through the mist, to get a better view of two Confederate +soldiers, on the opposite shore, a heavy sound broke from the summit of +Lookout mountain, and a shell went whizzing over into Hooker's camps. +Pretty soon a battery opened on what is called Moccasin point, on the +north side of the river, and replied to Lookout. Later in the day +Moccasin and Lookout got into an angry discussion which lasted two +hours. These two batteries have a special spite at each other, and +almost every day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> thunder away in the most terrible manner. Lookout +throws his missiles too high and Moccasin too low, so that usually the +only loss sustained by either is in ammunition. Moccasin, however, makes +the biggest noise. The sound of his guns goes crashing and echoing along +the sides of Lookout in a way that must be particularly gratifying to +Moccasin's soul. I fear, however, that both these gigantic gentlemen are +deaf as adders, or they would not so delight in kicking up such a +hellebaloo.</p> + +<p>This afternoon I rode over to Chattanooga. Called at the quarters of my +division commander, General Jeff. C. Davis, but found him absent; +stopped at Department Head-quarters and saw General Reynolds, chief of +staff; caught sight of Generals Hooker, Howard, and Gordon Granger. Soon +General Thomas entered the room and shook hands with me. On my way back +to camp I called on General Rousseau; had a long and pleasant +conversation with him. He goes to Nashville to-morrow to assume command +of the District of Tennessee. He does not like the way in which he has +been treated; thinks there is a disposition on the part of those in +authority to shelve him, and that his assignment to Nashville is for the +purpose of letting him down easily. Palmer, who has been assigned to the +command of the Fourteenth Corps, is Rousseau's junior in rank, and this +grinds him. He referred very kindly to the old Third Division, and said +it won him his stars. I told him I was exceedingly anxious to get home; +that it seemed almost impossible for me to remain longer. He said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> that +I must continue until they made me a major-general. I replied that I +neither expected nor desired promotion.</p> + +<p>At the river I met Father Stanley, of the Eighteenth Ohio. He presides +over the swing ferry, in which he takes especial delight. A long rope, +fastened to a stake in the middle of the river, is attached to the boat, +and the current is made to swing it from one shore to the other.</p> + +<p>14. My fleet-footed black horse is dead. Did the new moon, which I saw +so squarely over my left shoulder when riding him over Waldron's ridge, +augur this?</p> + +<p>The rebel journals are expressing great dissatisfaction at Bragg's +failure to take Chattanooga, and insist upon his doing so without +further delay. On the other hand, the authorities at Washington are +probably urging Grant to move, fearing if he does not that Burnside will +be overwhelmed. Thus both generals must do something soon in order to +satisfy their respective masters. There will be a battle or a foot-race +within a week or two.</p> + +<p>15. Have read Whitelaw Reid's statement of the causes of Rosecrans' +removal. He is, I presume, in the main correct. Investigation will show +that the army could have gotten into Chattanooga without a battle on the +Chickamauga. There would have been a battle here, doubtless, and defeat +would have resulted probably in our destruction; yet it seems reasonable +to suppose that, if able to hold Chattanooga after defeat, we would have +been able to do so before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br />MISSION RIDGE.</div> + +<p>20. Orders have been issued, and to-morrow a great battle will be +fought. May God be with our army and favor us with a substantial +victory! My brigade will move at daylight. It is now getting ready.</p> + +<p>Order to move countermanded at midnight.</p> + +<p>22. The day is delightful. Lookout and Moccasin are furious. The +Eleventh Corps (Howard's) is now crossing the pontoon bridge, just below +and before us, to take position for to-morrow's engagement. Sherman is +also moving up the river on the north side, with a view to getting at +the enemy's right flank. My brigade will be under arms at daylight, and +ready to move. Our division will operate with Sherman on the left. +Hitherto I have gone into battle almost without knowing it; now we are +about to bring on a terrible conflict, and have abundant time for +reflection. I can not affirm that the prospect has a tendency to elevate +one's spirits. There are men, doubtless, who enjoy having their legs +sawed off, their heads trepanned, and their ribs reset, but I am not one +of them. I am disposed to think of home and family—of the great +suffering which results from engagements between immense armies. +Somebody—Wellington, I guess—said there was nothing worse than a great +victory except a great defeat.</p> + +<p>Rode with Colonel Mitchell four miles up the river to General Davis' +quarters; met there General Mor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>gan, commanding First Brigade of our +division; Colonel Dan McCook, commanding Third Brigade, and Mr. Dana, +Assistant Secretary of War.</p> + +<p>23. It is now half-past five o'clock in the morning. The moon has gone +down, and it is that darkest hour which is said to precede the dawn. My +troops have been up since three o'clock busily engaged making +preparation for the day's work. Judging from the almost continuous +whistling of the cars off beyond Mission Ridge, the rebels have an +intimation of the attack to be made, and are busy either bringing +reinforcements or preparing to evacuate.</p> + +<p>Noon. There has been a hitch in affairs, and I am still in my tent at +the old place.</p> + +<p>About 2 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> a division or more was sent out to reconnoiter the enemy's +front. The movement resulted in a sharp fight, which lasted until after +sunset. Both artillery and infantry were engaged. As night grew on we +could see the flash of the enemy's guns all along the crest of Mission +Ridge, and then hear the report, and the prolonged reverberations as the +sound went crashing among ridges, hills, and mountains. Rumor says that +our troops captured five hundred prisoners.</p> + +<p>24. Moved to Caldwell's, four miles up the river. A pontoon bridge was +thrown across the stream; but there were many troops in advance of us, +and my brigade did not reach the south side until after one o'clock. Our +division was held in reserve; so we stacked arms and lay upon the grass +midway between the river and the foot of Mission Ridge, and listened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> to +the preliminary music of the guns as the National line was being +adjusted for to-morrow's battle.</p> + +<p>25. During the day, as we listened to the roar of the conflict, I +thought I detected in the management what I had never discovered before +on the battle-field, a little common sense. Dash is handsome, genius +glorious; but modest, old-fashioned, practical, every-day sense is the +trump, after all, and the only thing one can securely rely upon for +permanent success in any line, either civil or military. This element +evidently dominated in this battle. The struggle along Mission Ridge +seemed more like a series of independent battles than one grand +conflict. There were few times during the day when the engagement +appeared to be heavy and continuous along the whole line. There +certainly was not an extended and unceasing roll, as at Chickamauga and +Stone river, but rather a succession of heavy blows. Now it would +thunder furiously on the extreme right; then the left would take up the +sledge, and finally the center would begin to pound; and so the National +giant appeared to skip from point to point along the ridge, striking +rapid and thundering blows here and there, as if seeking the weak place +in his antagonist's armor. The enemy, thoroughly bewildered, finally +became most fearful of Sherman, who was raising a perfect pandemonium on +his flank, and so strengthened his right at the expense of other +portions of his line, when Thomas struck him in the center, and he +abandoned the field. The loss must be comparatively small, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> the +victory is all the more glorious for this very reason.</p> + +<p>26. At one o'clock in the morning we crossed the Chickamauga in pursuit +of the retreating enemy. The First Brigade of our division having the +lead, I had nothing to do but follow it. At Chickamauga depot we came in +sight of the rebels, and formed line of battle to attack; but they +retired, leaving the warehouses containing their supplies in flames. At +3 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> my brigade was ordered to head the column, and we drove the +enemy's rear guard before us without meeting with any serious opposition +until nightfall, when, on arriving at Mrs. Sheppard's spring branch, +near Graysville, a brigade of Confederate troops, with a battery, under +command of Brigadier-General Manny, opened on us with considerable +violence. A sharp encounter ensued of about an hour's duration, +resulting in the defeat of the enemy and the wounding of the rebel +general. My brigade behaved well, did most of the fighting, and, owing +to the darkness, probably, sustained but little loss. When General Davis +came up I asked permission to make a detour through the woods to the +right, for the purpose of overtaking and cutting off the enemy's train; +but he thought it not advisable to attempt it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="DECEMBER_1863" id="DECEMBER_1863"></a>DECEMBER, 1863.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>I will not undertake to give a detailed account of our march to +Knoxville, for the relief of Burnside, and the return to Chattanooga. We +were gone three weeks, and during that time had no change of clothing, +and were compelled to obtain our food from the corn-cribs, hen-roosts, +sheep-pens, and smoke-houses on the way. The incidents of this trip, +through the valleys of East Tennessee, where the waters of the Hiawasse, +and the Chetowa, and the Ocoee, and the Estonola ripple through +corn-fields and meadows, and beneath shadows of evergreen ridges, will +be laid aside for a more convenient season. I append simply a letter of +General Sherman:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<div class='right'> +"<span class="smcap">Head-quarters Department of the Tennessee</span>,}<br /> +"<span class="smcap">Chattanooga</span>, <i>December 18, 1863</i>. }<br /> +</div> +"<span class="smcap">General Jeff. C. Davis</span>, <i>Chattanooga</i>.<br /> + + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear General</span>—In our recent short but most useful +campaign it was my good fortune to have attached +to me the corps of General Howard, and the +division commanded by yourself. I now desire to +thank you personally and officially for the +handsome manner in which you and your command have +borne<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> themselves throughout. You led in the +pursuit of Bragg's army on the route designated +for my command, and I admired the skill with which +you handled the division at Chickamauga, and more +especially in the short and sharp encounter, at +nightfall, near Graysville.</p> + +<p>"When General Grant called on us, unexpectedly and +without due preparation, to march to Knoxville for +the relief of General Burnside, you and your +officers devoted yourselves to the work like +soldiers and patriots, marching through cold and +mud without a murmur, trusting to accidents for +shelter and subsistence.</p> + +<p>"During the whole march, whenever I encountered +your command, I found all the officers at their +proper places and the men in admirable order. This +is the true test, and I pronounce your division +one of the best ordered in the service. I wish you +all honor and success in your career, and shall +deem myself most fortunate if the incidents of war +bring us together again.</p> + +<p>"Be kind enough to say to General Morgan, General +Beatty, and Colonel McCook, your brigade +commanders, that I have publicly and privately +commended their brigades, and that I stand +prepared, at all times, to assist them in whatever +way lies in my power.</p> + +<p>"I again thank you personally, and beg to +subscribe myself, Your sincere friend,</p> + +<div class='right'> +"<span class="smcap">W. T. Sherman</span>, Major-General."<br /></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Colonel Van Vleck, Seventy-eight Illinois, was kind enough in his report +to say:</p> + +<p>"In behalf of the entire regiment I tender to the general commanding the +brigade, my sincere thanks for his uniform kindness, and for his +solicitude for the men during all their hardships and suffering, as well +as for his undaunted courage, self-possession, and military skill in +time of danger."</p> + +<p>26. Moved to McAffee's Springs, six miles from Chattanooga, and two +miles from the battle-field of Chickamauga. My quarters are in the State +of Tennessee, those of my troops in Georgia. The line between the states +is about forty yards from where I sit. On our way hither, we saw many +things to remind us of the Confederate army—villages of log huts, +chimneys, old clothing, and miles of rifle pits.</p> + +<p>27. Just a moment ago I asked Wilson the day of the week, and he +astonished me by saying it was Sunday. It is the first time I ever +passed a Sabbath, from daylight to dark, without knowing it.</p> + +<p>Wilson lies on his cot to-night a disappointed man. His application for +a leave was disapproved.</p> + +<p>I am quartered in a log hut; a blanket over the doorway excludes the +damp air and the cold blasts. The immense chinks, or rather lack of +immense chinks, in various parts of the edifice, leave abundance of room +for the admission of light. There are no windows, but this is fortunate, +for if there were, they, like the door, would need covering, and +blankets are scarce. The fire-place, however, is grand, and would be +creditable to a castle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p> + +<p>The forest in which we are encamped, was, in former times, a rendezvous +for the blacklegs, thieves, murderers, and outlaws, generally of two +States, Tennessee and Georgia. An old inhabitant informs me he has seen +hundreds of these persecuted and proscribed gentry encamped about this +spring. When an officer of Tennessee came with a writ to arrest them, +they would step a few yards into the State of Georgia and laugh at him. +So, when Georgia sought to lay its official clutches on an offending +Georgian, the latter would walk over into Tennessee and argue the case +across the line. It was a very convenient spot for law-breakers. To +reach across this imaginary line, and draw a man from Tennessee, would +be kidnapping, an insult to a sovereign State, and in a States'-rights +country such a procedure could not be tolerated. Requisitions from the +governors of Tennessee and Georgia might, of course, be procured, but +this would take time, and in this time the offender could walk leisurely +into Alabama or North Carolina, neither of which States is very far +away. In fact, the presence of large numbers of these desperados, in +this locality, at all seasons of the year, has prevented its settlement +by good men, and, in consequence, there are thousands of acres on which +there has scarcely been a field cleared, or even a tree cut.</p> + +<p>The somber forest, with its peculiar history, suggests to our minds the +green woods of old England, where Robin Hood and his merry men were wont +to pass their idle time; or the Black Forest of Germany,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> where thieves +and highwaymen found concealment in days of old.</p> + +<p>What a country for the romancer! Here is the dense wilderness, the +Tennessee and Chickamauga, the precipitous Lookout with his foot-hills, +spurs, coves, and water-falls. Here are cosy little valleys from which +the world, with its noise, bustle, confusions, and cares, is excluded. +Here have congregated the bloody villains and sneaking thieves; the +plumed knights, dashing horsemen, and stubborn infantry. Here are the +two great battle-fields of Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. Here neighbors +have divided, and families separated to fight on questions of National +policy. Here, in short, every thing is supplied to the poet but the +invention to construct the plot of his tale, and the genius to breathe +life into the characters.</p> + +<p>It may be possible, however, that the country is yet too young, and its +incidents too new, to make it a fertile field for the novelist. The +imagination works best amid scenes half known and half forgotten. When +time shall have thrown its shadows over the events of the last century, +and the real and unreal become so intermingled in the minds of men as to +become indistinguishable, imaginary Robin Hoods will find hiding places +in the caves; innocent men, in deadly peril, will seek safety in the +mountain fastnesses until the danger be past; conspirators will meet in +the shadowy recesses to concoct their hellish plots, over which truth, +courage, and honesty will finally triumph. Here the blue and the gray +will meet to fight, and to be reconciled; and there will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> not be wanting +the Helen McGregors and Die Vernons to give color and interest to the +scene.</p> + +<p>27. Our horses are on quarter feed.</p> + +<p>Some benevolent gentleman should suggest a sanitary fair for the benefit +of the disabled horses and mules of the Federal army. There is no +suffering so intense as theirs. They are driven, with whip and spur, on +half and quarter food, until they drop from exhaustion, and then +abandoned to die in the mud-hole where they fall. At Parker's Gap, on +our return from Tennessee, I saw a poor white horse that had been rolled +down the hill to get it out of the road. It had lodged against a fallen +tree, feet uppermost; to get up the hill was impossible, and to roll +down certain destruction. So the poor brute lay there, looking pitiful +enough, his big frame trembling with fright, his great eyes looking +anxiously, imploringly for help. A man can give vent to his sufferings, +he can ask for assistance, he can find some relief either in crying, +praying, or cursing; but for the poor exhausted and abandoned beast +there is no help, no relief, no hope.</p> + +<p>To-day we picked up, on the battle-field of Chickamauga, the skull of a +man who had been shot in the head. It was smooth, white, and glossy. A +little over three months ago this skull was full of life, hope, and +ambition. He who carried it into battle had, doubtless, mother, sisters, +friends, whose happiness was, to some extent, dependent upon him. They +mourn for him now, unless, possibly, they hope still to hear that he is +safe and well. Vain hope. Sun, rain, and crows have united in the work +of stripping the flesh from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> his bones, and while the greater part of +these lay whitening where they fell, the skull has been rolling about +the field the sport and plaything of the winds. This is war, and amid +such scenes we are supposed to think of the amount of our salary, and of +what the newspapers may say of us.</p> + +<p>28. One of my orderlies approached me on my weak side to-day, by +presenting me four cigars. Cigars are now rarely seen in camp. Sutlers +have not been permitted to come further south than Bridgeport; and had +it not been for the trip into East Tennessee the brigade would have been +utterly destitute of tobacco.</p> + +<p>While bivouacking on the Hiawasse, a citizen named Trotter, came into +camp. He was an old man, and professed to be loyal. I interrogated him +on the tobacco question. He replied, "The crap has been mitey poor fur a +year or two. I don't use terbacker myself, but my wife used to chaw it; +but the frost has been a nippen of it fur a year or two, and it is so +poor she has quit chawen ontirely."</p> + +<p>When returning from Knoxville, we passed a farm house which stood near +the roadside. Three young women were standing at the gate, and appeared +to be in excellent spirits. Captain Wager inquired if they had heard +from Knoxville. "O yes," they answered, "General Longstreet has captured +Knoxville and all of General Burnside's men." "Indeed," said the +Captain; "what about Chattanooga?" "Well, we heard that Bragg had moved +back to Dalton." "You have not heard, then, that Bragg was whipped; +lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> sixty pieces of artillery and many thousand men?" "O no!" "You +have not heard that Longstreet was defeated at Knoxville, and compelled +to fall back with heavy loss?" "No, no; we don't believe a word of it. A +man, who came from Knoxville and knows all about it, says that you uns +are retreating now as fast as you can. You can't whip our fellers." +"Well, ladies," said the Captain, "I am glad to see you feeling so well +under adverse circumstances. Good-by."</p> + +<p>The girls were evidently determined that the Yank should not deceive +them.</p> + +<p>At another place quite a number of women and children were standing by +the roadside. As the column approached, said one of the women to a +soldier: "Is these uns Yankees?" "Yes, madam," replied the boy, "regular +blue-bellied Yankees." "We never seed any you uns before." "Well, keep a +sharp lookout and you'll see they all have horns on."</p> + +<p>One day, while I was at Davis' quarters, near Columbus, a preacher came +in and said he wanted to sell all the property he could to the army and +get greenbacks, as he desired to move to Illinois, where his +brother-in-law resided, and his Confederate notes would not be worth a +dime there. "How is that, Parson," said Davis, affecting to +misunderstand him; "not worth a damn there?" "No, sir, no, sir; not +worth a dime, sir. You misunderstood me, sir. I said not worth a dime +there." "I beg your pardon, Parson," responded Davis; "I thought you +said not worth a damn there, and was surprised to hear you say so."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span></p> + +<p>While we were encamped on the banks of the Hiawasse, a Union man, near +seventy years old, was murdered by guerrillas. Not long before, a young +lady, the daughter of a Methodist minister, was robbed and murdered near +the same place. Murders and robberies are as common occurrences in that +portion of Tennessee as marriages in Ohio, and excite about as little +attention. Horse stealing is not considered an offense.</p> + +<p>29. Nothing of interest has transpired to-day. Bugles, drums, drills, +parades—the old story over and over again; the usual number of +corn-cakes eaten, of pipes smoked, of papers respectfully forwarded, of +how-do-ye-do's to colonels, captains, lieutenants, and soldiers. You put +on your hat and take a short walk. It does you no good. Returning you +lie down on the cot, and undertake to sleep; but you have already slept +too much, and you get up and smoke again, look over an old paper, yawn, +throw the paper down, and conclude it is confoundedly dull. Jack brings +in dinner. You see somebody passing; it is Captain Clayson, the +Judge-Advocate, and you cry out: "Hold on, Captain; come in and have a +bite of dinner." He concludes to do so. Being a judge-advocate he talks +law, and impresses you with the idea that every other judge-advocate has +in some respects been faulty; but he has taken pains to master his +duties perfectly, and makes no mistakes. Pretty soon Major Shane drops +in, and you ask him to dine; but he has just been to dinner, and thanks +you. Observing Captain Clayson, he asks how the business of the +court<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>-martial progresses, and says: "By the way, Captain, the sentence +in that quartermaster's case was disapproved because the record was +defective." The Captain blushes. He made up the record, and it strikes +him the Major's remark is very untimely.</p> + +<p>It is dull!</p> + +<p>30. Took a ten-mile ride this afternoon. Two miles from camp I met +Lieutenant Platt, one of my aids. He had asked permission in the morning +to go into the country to secure a lady for a dance, which is to take +place a night or two hence. I asked: "Where have you been, Lieutenant?" +"At Mrs. Calisspe's, the house on the left, yonder." I did not, of +course, ask if he had been successful in his mission; but as I +approached the little frame in which Mrs. Calisspe resided, I thought I +would drop in and see what sort of a woman had drawn the Lieutenant so +far from camp. Knocking at the door, a feminine voice said "Come in," +and I entered. There were three females. The elder I took to be Mrs. +Calisspe. A handsome, neatly-dressed young lady I concluded was the one +the Lieutenant sought. A heavy and rather dull woman, who stood leaning +against the wall, I set down as a dependent or servant in the family. +"Beg pardon, madam, is this the direct road to Shallow Ford?" "Yes, sir, +the straight road. Won't you take a seat?" "Thank you, no. Good +evening." Trotting along over the road which Mrs. Calisspe said was +straight, but which, in fact, was exceedingly crooked, we came finally +to the camp of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span> the Thirteenth Michigan, a regiment which General Thomas +supposes to be engaged in cutting saw-logs, when, in truth, its +principal business is strolling about the country stealing chickens. It +is, however, known as the saw-log regiment.</p> + +<p>On our return from Shallow Ford, as we approached Mrs. Calisspe's, we +saw her handsome daughter on the porch inspecting a side-saddle, and +concluded from this that the gallant Lieutenant's application had been +successful, and that she proposed to accompany him to the ball on +horseback. As we galloped by the house, a little flaxen-haired, chubby +boy, who had climbed the fence, extended his head over the top rail and +jabbered at us at the top of his voice; but the handsome young lady did +not favor us with even a glance.</p> + +<p>31. It is late. Hours ago the bugles notified the boys that it was time +to retire to their dens. I have been reading Thackeray's "Lovell, the +Widower," and as I sat alone in the silence of the middle night, the +scenes depicted grew distinct and life-like; the characters encompassed +me about real living men and women; the drawing-rooms, dining-halls, +parlors, opened out before me; the streets, walks, drives, were all +visible, and I became a spectator instead of a reader. Suddenly a low, +unearthly wail broke the stillness, and my hair stiffened somewhat at +the roots, as the fancy struck me that I heard the voice of the defunct +Mrs. Lovell. A moment's reflection, however, dispelled this +disagreeable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> thought. Looking toward the corner of the cabin whence the +ghostly sound emanated, I discovered a strange cat. My long-legged boots +followed each other in quick succession toward the unhappy kitten, and I +yelled "scat" in a very vindictive way.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JANUARY_1_1864" id="JANUARY_1_1864"></a>JANUARY 1, 1864.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Standing on a peak of Mission Ridge to-day, we had spread out before us +one of the grandest prospects which ever delighted the eye of man. +Northward Waldron's Ridge and Lookout mountain rose massive and +precipitous, and seemed the boundary wall of the world. Below them was +the Tennessee, like a ribbon of silver; Chattanooga, with its thousands +of white tents and miles of fortifications. Southward was the +Chickamauga, and beyond a succession of ridges, rising higher and +higher, until the eye rested upon the blue tops of the great mountains +of North Carolina. The fact that a hundred and fifty thousand men, with +all the appliances of war, have struggled for the possession of these +mountains, rivers, and ridges, gives a solemn interest to the scene, and +renders it one of the most interesting, as it is one of the grandest, in +the world.</p> + +<p>When history shall have recorded the thrilling tragedies enacted here; +when poets shall have illuminated every hill-top and mountain peak with +the glow of their imagination; when the novelist shall have given it a +population from his fertile brain, what place can be more attractive to +the traveler?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span></p> + +<p>Looking on this panorama of mountains, ridges, rivers, and valleys, one +has a juster conception of the power of God. Reflecting upon the deeds +that have been done here, he obtains a truer knowledge of the character +of man, and the incontestable evidences of his nobility.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Standing here to-day, I take off my hat to the reader, if by possibility +there be one who has had the patience to follow me thus far, and as I +bid him good-by, wish him "A Happy New Year."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CAPTURE_IMPRISONMENT" id="CAPTURE_IMPRISONMENT"></a>CAPTURE, IMPRISONMENT,</h2> + +<h4>AND</h4> + +<h2>ESCAPE,</h2> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>GENERAL HARRISON C. HOBART,</h3> + +<h4>OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.</h4> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="EXPLANATORY" id="EXPLANATORY"></a>EXPLANATORY.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Among the Union officers who escaped from Libby Prison at Richmond, on +the night of the 9th of February, 1864, was my esteemed friend, General +Harrison C. Hobart, then Colonel of the Twenty-first Wisconsin Volunteer +Infantry. His name is mentioned quite frequently in the preceding pages. +Ten years after the war closed, he spent a few days at my house, and +while there was requested to tell the story of his capture, +imprisonment, and escape. My children gathered about him, and listened +to his narrative with an intensity of interest which I am very sure they +never exhibited when receiving words of admonition and advice from their +father.</p> + +<p>While my manuscript was in the hands of the publishers, it occurred to +me that General Hobart's story would be as interesting to others as it +had been to my own family, and so I wrote, urging him to furnish it to +me for publication. He finally consented to do so, and I have the +pleasure now of presenting it to the reader. It bears upon its face the +evidence of its entire truthfulness, and yet is as interesting as a +romance.</p> + + +<div class='right'><span style="margin-right: 6em;">JOHN BEATTY.</span></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="GENERAL_HOBARTS_NARRATIVE" id="GENERAL_HOBARTS_NARRATIVE"></a>GENERAL HOBART'S NARRATIVE.</h2> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<p>The battles of Chickamauga were fought on the 19th and 20th of +September, 1863. The Twenty-first Wisconsin, which I then commanded, +formed a part of Thomas' memorable line, and fought through the battles +of Saturday and Sunday. At the close of the second day, Thomas' Corps +still maintained its position, and presented an unbroken front to the +enemy, but the right of our army having fallen back, the tide of battle +was turning against us.</p> + +<p>To avoid a flank movement, our brigade was ordered to leave the +breastworks, which they had held against the severest fire of the enemy +during the day, and fall back to a second position. Here only a portion +of the men, with three regimental standards, were rallied. A rebel +battery was instantly placed in position on our right, and rebel cavalry +swept between us and the retreating army.</p> + +<p>Being the ranking officer among those who rallied, I directed the men to +cut their way through to our retreating line. I was on the left of this +movement to the rear, and, to avoid the approach of horsemen, rapidly +passed to the left through a dense cluster of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span> small pines, and +instantly found myself in the immediate front of a rebel line of +infantry. I halted, being dismounted, and an officer advanced and +offered his hand, saying that he was glad to see me, and proposed to +introduce me to his commander, General Cleburne. I replied, that I was +not particularly pleased to see him, but, under the circumstances, +should not decline his invitation.</p> + +<p>I met the General, who was mounted and being cheered by his men, and +surrendered to him my sword. He inquired where I had been fighting. I +said, "Right there," pointing to the line of Thomas' Corps. He replied, +"This line has given us our chief trouble, sir; your soldiers have +fought like brave men; come with me and I will see that no one insults +or interferes with you."</p> + +<p>It was now after sun-down, and the last guns of the terrible battle of +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Chicamauga'">Chickamauga</ins> were dying away along the hillsides of Mission Ridge. A +large number of prisoners of war were soon gathered, and marched to the +enemy's rear across the Chickamauga. Here we witnessed the fearful +results of the battle. The ground strewed with the dead and wounded, the +shattered fragments of transportation, and a general demoralization +among the forces, told the fearful price which the enemy had paid for +their victory. More than fifteen hundred soldiers, prisoners of war, +camped by a large spring to pass the remainder of a cold night; some +without blankets or overcoats, and all without provisions.</p> + +<p>The next day we were marched about thirty miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> to Tunnel Hill, where +we received our first rations from the enemy. On this march, the only +food we obtained was from a field of green sorghum. Here we were placed +in box cars and taken to Atlanta. On arriving at this place, we were +first marched to an open field outside of the city, near a fountain of +water, and surrounded by a guard. Kind-hearted people came out of the +city, bringing bread with them, which they threw to us across the guard +line. Immediately a second line was established, distant several rods +outside of the first, to prevent them from giving us food.</p> + +<p>From this place we were marched to the old slave-pen, and every man, as +he entered the narrow gate, was compelled to give up his overcoat and +blanket. I remonstrated with the officers for stripping the soldiers of +their necessary clothing, as an act in violation of civilized warfare +and inhuman. The men who were executing this infamous duty, did not deny +these charges, but excused themselves on the ground that they were +simply obeying an order of General Bragg from the front. That night I +saw seventeen hundred Union soldiers lie down upon the ground, without +an overcoat or blanket to protect them from the cold earth, or shield +them from the heavy Southern dew.</p> + +<p>The next morning we were ordered to take the cars, and proceed on our +way to Richmond. These men arose from the ground, cold and wet with dew, +and under my command organized and formed in column by companies, and +marched to the depot through one of the main streets of Atlanta, singing +in full chorus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span> the Star Spangled Banner. Crowds gathered around us as +we entered the cars. A guard with muskets accompanied the train.</p> + +<p>I will here relate an incident which occurred on our way. We overtook a +train of open cars, filled with Confederate wounded from the +battle-field. The two trains stopped for some time alongside and in +close proximity. It was a spectacle to see the men of the two armies +intently observe each other. On the one side was the calm, pale face of +the wounded; on the other, the earnest, deep sympathy of the captive. No +unkind look or word passed between them. Of the seventeen hundred +prisoners, there was not one who would not have given his coat, or +reached for his last cent, to help his wounded brother.</p> + +<p>On the last day of September, after traveling more than eight hundred +miles from the battle-field of Chickamauga, we arrived at Richmond, and +the officers of the Cumberland Army, to the number of about two hundred +and fifty, were marched to Libby Prison.</p> + +<p>This building has a front of about one hundred and forty feet, with a +depth of about one hundred and five. There are nine rooms, each one +hundred and two feet long, by forty-five wide. The height of ceilings +from the floor is about seven feet. The building is also divided into +three apartments by brick walls, and there is a basement below.</p> + +<p>On entering the prison, we were severally searched, and every thing of +value taken from us. Some of us saved our money by putting it into the +seams of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span> garments before we arrived at Richmond. The officers of +the Army of the Cumberland were assigned to the middle rooms of the +second and third stories. The lower middle room was used as a general +kitchen, and the basement immediately below was fitted up with cells for +the confinement and punishment of offenders. These rooms received the +<i>sobriquet</i> of Chickamauga.</p> + +<p>The whole number of officers of the army and navy in prison at this time +was about eleven hundred—all having access to each other, except those +in the hospital. There were no beds or chairs, and all slept on the +floor. I shared a horse blanket with Surgeon Dixon, of Wisconsin, which +was the only bedding we had for some time. Our bread was made of +unbolted corn, and was cold and clammy. We were sometimes furnished with +fresh beef, corn beef, and sometimes with rice and vegetable soup. The +men formed themselves into messes, and each took his turn in preparing +such food as we could get.</p> + +<p>At one time, no meat was furnished for about nine days, and the reason +given was, that their soldiers at the front required all they could +obtain. During this period, we received nothing but corn bread. Kind +friends sent us boxes of provisions from the North, which were opened +and examined by the Confederates, and if nothing objectionable was +found, and it pleased them, the party to whom a box was sent was +directed to come down and get it. Many of these were never delivered. +Every generous soul shared the contents of his box with his more +unfortunate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span> companions. Had it not been for this provision, our life in +Libby would have been intolerable.</p> + +<p>There was no glass in the windows, and for some time no fire in the +rooms. An application for window glass, made during the severest cold +weather, was answered by the assurance that the Confederates had none to +furnish. The worst affliction, however, was the vermin, which invaded +every department.</p> + +<p>Each officer was permitted to write home the amount of three lines per +week; but even these brief messages were not always allowed to leave +Richmond.</p> + +<p>A variety of schemes were adopted to improve or kill time. We played +chess, cards, opened a theater, organized a band of minstrels, delivered +lectures, established schools for teaching dancing, singing, the French +language, and military tactics, read books, published a manuscript +newspaper, held debates, and by these means rendered life tolerable, +though by no means agreeable.</p> + +<p>An incident occurred, after we had been in prison some time, which made +a deep impression upon every one. Some of our men had been confined in a +block not far from Libby, called the Pemberton Building. An order had +been issued to remove them to North Carolina. When they left, their line +of march was along the street in our front, and when they passed under +our windows, we threw out drawers, shirts, stockings, etc., which they +gathered up; and when they raised their pale and emaciated faces to +greet their old commanders, there were but few dry eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span> in Libby. Many +of them were making their last march.</p> + +<p>Our sick were removed to the room set apart, on the ground floor, for a +hospital; and, when one died, he was put in a box of rough boards, +placed in an open wagon, and rapidly driven away over the stony streets. +There were no flowers from loving hands, and no mourning pageant, but a +thousand hearts in Libby followed the gallant dead to his place of rest.</p> + +<p>We were seldom visited by any person. The only call I received was from +General Breckenridge, of Kentucky; I had known him before the war. +During our interview, I referred to the resources of the North and +South, and asked him upon what ground he hoped the Confederacy could +succeed. His only reply was, that, "five millions of people, determined +to be free, could not be conquered."</p> + +<p>There being no exchange of prisoners at this time, projects of escape +were discussed from the beginning. One scheme was, for a few persons at +a time to put on the dress of a citizen, and attempt to pass the guard +as visitors. A few actually recovered their liberty in this manner. +Another plan was, to dig a tunnel to the city sewer, which was +understood to pass under the street in front of the prison, and escape +through that to the river. This project might have succeeded had not the +water interfered. The final and successful plan was as follows:</p> + +<p>On the ground floor of the building, on a level with the street, was a +kitchen containing a fire-place, at a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> stove connected with which the +prisoners inhabiting the rooms above did their cooking. Beneath this +floor was a basement, one of the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'rooms in which'">rooms which</ins> was used as a store-room. +This store-room was under the hospital and next to the street, and +though not directly under the kitchen, was so located that it was +possible to reach it by digging downward and rearward through the +masonry work of the chimney. From this basement room it was proposed to +construct a tunnel under the street to a point beneath a shed, connected +with a brick block upon the opposite side, and from this place to pass +into the street in the guise of citizens. A knowledge of this plan was +confided to about twenty-five, and nothing was known of the proceedings +by the others until two or three days before the escape. A table knife, +chisel, and spittoon were secured for working tools, when operations +commenced. Sufficient of the masonry was removed from the fire-place to +admit the passage of a man through a diagonal cut to the store-room +below; and an excavation was then made through the foundation wall +toward the street, and the construction of the tunnel proceeded night by +night. But two persons could work at the same time. One would enter the +hole with his tools and a small tallow candle, dragging the spittoon +after him attached to a string. The other would fan air into the passage +with his hat, and with another string would draw out the novel dirt car +when loaded, concealing its contents beneath the straw and rubbish of +the cellar. Each morning before daylight the working party returned to +their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span> rooms, after carefully closing the mouth of the tunnel, and +skillfully replacing the bricks in the chimney.</p> + +<p>An error occurred during the prosecution of this work that nearly proved +fatal to the enterprise. After a sufficient distance was supposed to +have been made, an excavation was commenced to reach the top of the +ground. The person working, carefully felt his way upward, when suddenly +a small amount of the top earth fell in, and through this he could +plainly see two sentinels apparently looking at him. One said to the +other, "I have been hearing a strange noise in the ground there!" After +listening a short time, the other replied that it was "nothing but +rats." The working party had not been seen. After consultation, this +opening was carefully filled with dirt and shored up. The work was then +recommenced, and after digging about fifteen feet further the objective +point under the shed was successfully reached.</p> + +<p>This tunnel required about thirty days of patient, tedious and dangerous +labor. It was eight feet below the street, between sixty and seventy +feet in length, and barely large enough for a full-grown person to crawl +through, by pulling and pushing himself along with his hands and feet. +Among the officers entitled to merit in the execution of this work, Col. +T. E. Rose, of Pennsylvania, deserves particular mention.</p> + +<p>When all was complete, the company was organized into two parties; the +first under the charge of Major McDonald, of Ohio, and the second was +placed under my direction. The parties having provided themselves with +citizens' clothing, which had at different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span> times been sent to the +prison by friends in the North, and having filled their pockets with +bread and dried meat from their boxes, commenced to escape about seven +<span class="smcap">p. m.</span>, on the 9th of February, 1864; Major McDonald's party leaving +first. In order to distract the attention of the guard, a dancing party +with music was extemporized in the same room. As each one had to pass +out in the immediate presence of these Confederate soldiers, when he +stepped into the street from the outside of the line, and as the guard +were under orders to fire upon a prisoner escaping, without even calling +upon him to halt, the first men who descended to the tunnel wore that +quiet gloom so often seen in the army before going into battle. It was a +living drama; dancing in one part of the room, dark shadows disappearing +through the chimney in another part, and the same shadows re-appearing +upon the opposite walk, and the sentinel at his post, with a voice that +rang out upon the evening air, announcing: "Eight o'clock, Post No. +One," and "All is well!" and at the same time a Yankee soldier was +passing in his front, and a line of Yankee soldiers were crawling under +his feet. The passage was so small that the process of departure was +necessarily slow; a few inches of progress only being made at each +effort, and to facilitate locomotion outside garments were taken off and +pushed forward.</p> + +<p>By this time the proceedings had become known to the whole prison, and +as the first men emerged upon the street, and quietly walked away, seen +by hundreds of their fellows, who crowded the win<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>dows, a wild +excitement and enthusiasm were created, and they rushed down to the +chimney, clamoring for the privilege of going out. It was the intention +of the parties, organized by those who constructed the tunnel, that no +others should leave until the next night, as it might materially +diminish their own chances of escape. But the thought of liberty and +pure air, and the death damp of the dark loathsome prison would not +allow them to listen to any denial. Major McDonald and myself then held +a parley, and it was arranged that the rope upon which we descended into +the basement, after the last of the two parties had passed out, should +be pulled up for the space of one hour; then it should be free to all in +prison.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> + +<p>Having joined my fortunes with Col. T. S. West, of Wisconsin, we were +among the last of the second party who crawled through. About nine +o'clock in the evening we emerged from the tunnel, and cautiously +crossing an open yard to an arched driveway, we stepped out upon the +street and slowly walked away, apparently engaged in an earnest +conversation. As soon as we were out of range of the sentinels' guns, we +concluded it would be the safest course to turn and pass up through one +of the main streets of Richmond, as they would not suspect that +prisoners escaping would take that direction. My face being very pale, +and my beard long, clinging to the arm of Colonel W., I assumed the part +of a decrepit old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span> man, who seemed to be in exceeding ill health, and +badly affected with a consumptive cough.</p> + +<p>In this manner we passed beneath the glaring gaslights, and through the +crowded street, without creating a suspicion as to our real character. +We met the police, squads of soldiers, and many others, who gave me a +sympathizing look, and stepped aside on account of my apparent +infirmities. Approaching the suburbs of the town, we retreated into a +ravine, which enabled us to leave the city without passing out upon one +of the streets. While in prison I copied McClellan's war map of +Virginia, which aided us materially in this escape. Our objective points +were to cross the Chickahominy above New Bridge, then cross the +Yorkville Railroad, then strike and follow down the Miamisburg pike.</p> + +<p>After resting and breathing pure air, the first time for more than four +months, we resumed our journey, agreeing not to speak above a whisper, +avoiding all houses and roads, and determining our course by the North +Star. In crossing roads, we traveled backwards, that the footsteps might +mislead our pursuers.</p> + +<p>We soon came in sight of the main fortifications around Richmond, and +instantly dropping upon the ground we lay for a long time, listening and +watching for the presence of sentinels upon that part of the line. Being +satisfied that there were none in our immediate front, in the most +silent and cautious manner, we crossed over the fortification and +pursued our way through a tangled forest. Coming to a piece of low +ground, tired and exhausted, we lay down to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span> rest. Our attention was +soon attracted by the presence of a series of excavations; and on a +close examination we found we were resting upon the battle-field of Fair +Oaks, and among the trenches in which the Confederates had buried our +dead; and, although it was the midnight hour, a strange feeling of +safety stole over me, and I felt as if we were among our friends. It was +the step and voice of the living that we dreaded.</p> + +<p>At early dawn (Wednesday) we crossed a brook, and went upon a hillside +of low, thick pines to conceal ourselves, and rest during the day. The +Valley of the Chickahominy lay before us. While in this concealment, we +saw a blood-hound scenting our steps down to the place where we jumped +over the brook; it then went back and returned two or three times, but +finally left without attempting to cross the little stream. Late in the +evening, we went to the river and worked till after midnight to make or +find a crossing. The water was deep and cold, and, failing to accomplish +our purpose, we turned back to a haystack, and, covering ourselves with +hay, rested until the first light of morning (Thursday).</p> + +<p>Going back to the river, we followed down its course until we found a +tree which had fallen nearly across the stream. Discovering a long pole, +we found that it would just touch the opposite shore from the limbs of +this tree. Hitching ourselves carefully along this pole, we reached the +left bank of the Chickahominy River.</p> + +<p>We now felt as if escape was possible; but, hearing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> a noise like the +approach of troops, for we were satisfied that the enemy's cavalry must +be in full pursuit, we fled into a neighboring forest. As we approached +the center of a thicket, my eye suddenly caught the glimpse of a man +watching us from behind the root of a fallen tree. I concluded that we +had fallen into an ambush; but our momentary apprehension was joyfully +relieved by the discovery that this new-made acquaintance was Colonel W. +B. McCreary, of Michigan, and with him Major Terrence Clark, of +Illinois, who had gone through the tunnel with the first party that went +out, and were now passing the day in this secluded place. The Colonel +was one of my intimate friends, and when he recognized me he jumped to +his feet and threw his arms around me in an ecstasy of delight.</p> + +<p>By this time the whole population had been informed of the escape, and +the country was alive with pursuers. We could distinctly hear the +reveille of the rebel troops, and the hum of their camps. Thus +reinforced, we agreed to travel in company. It was arranged that one of +the four should precede, searching out the way in the darkness, and +giving due notice of danger.</p> + +<p>At dark we left our hiding place, and cautiously proceeded on our way. +Late at night we crossed the railroad running from Richmond to White +House, our second objective point. Here Colonel West saw a sentinel +sitting close by the railroad, asleep, with his gun resting against his +shoulder. Just before daybreak we went into a pine woods, after +traveling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> a distance of more than twenty miles, and, weary and tired, +we lay down to rest.</p> + +<p>The morning (Friday) broke clear and beautiful, but with its bright +light came the bugle notes of the enemy's cavalry, who were in the pines +close by us. We instantly arose and fled away at the top of our speed, +expecting every moment to hear the crack of the rifle, or the sharp +command to halt. We struck a road and about faced to cross it, the only +time that we looked back. We pursued our rapid step until we came to a +dense chaparral, and into this we threaded our way until we reached an +almost impenetrable jungle. Crawling into the center, we threw ourselves +upon the ground completely exhausted. A bird flew into the branches +above us as we lay upon our backs, and the words burst from my lips: +"Dear little bird! Oh, that I had your wings!"</p> + +<p>As soon as friendly darkness again returned, we moved forward, weary, +hungry, and footsore, still governed in our course by the North Star. +During all this toilsome way, but few words passed between us, and these +generally in low whispers. So untiring was the search, and so thoroughly +alarmed and watchful were the population, that we felt that our safety +depended upon a bare chance. Again making our way from wood to wood, and +avoiding farm houses as best we might, till the light of another morning +(Saturday), we retired to cover in the shade of a thick forest.</p> + +<p>Saturday night the journey was resumed as usual. It was my turn to act +the part of picket and pilot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span> While rapidly leading the way through a +forest of low pines, I suddenly found myself in the presence of a +cavalry reserve. The men were warming themselves by a blazing fire, and +their horses were tied to trees around them. I was surprised and +alarmed; but recovering my self-possession, I remained motionless, and +soon perceived that my presence was unobserved. Carefully putting one +foot behind the other I retreated out of sight, and rapidly returned to +my party. Knowing that there were videttes sitting somewhere at the +front in the dark, we concluded to go back about two miles to a +plantation, and call at one of the outermost negro houses for +information. We returned, and I volunteered to make the call while the +others remained concealed at a distance.</p> + +<p>I approached the door and rapped, and a woman's voice from within asked, +"who was there?" I replied, that "I was a traveler and had lost my way, +and wished to obtain some information about the road." She directed me +to go to another house, but I declined to do so, and after some further +conversation the door was opened, and I was surprised to find a large, +good-looking negro standing by her side, who had been listening to the +interview. He invited me to come in, and as soon as the door was closed, +he said: "I know who you are; you're one of dem 'scaped officers from +Richmond." Looking him full in the face, I placed my hand firmly upon +his shoulder, and said: "I am, and I know you are my friend." His eyes +sparkled as he repeated: "Yes, sir; yes, sir; but you musn't stay here; +a reg'ment of cavalry is right thar'," pointing to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> a place near by, +"and they pass this road all times of the night." The woman gave me a +piece of corn-bread and a cup of milk, and the man accompanying me, I +left the house, and soon finding my companions, our guide took us to a +secluded spot in a canebrake, and there explained the situation of the +picket in front. It was posted on a narrow neck of land between two +impassable swamps, and over this neck ran the main road to Williamsburg. +The negro proved to be a sharp, shrewd fellow, and we engaged him to +pilot us round this picket. After impressing us in his strongest +language with the danger both to him and to us of making the least +noise, he conducted us through a long canebrake path, then through +several fields, then directly over the road, crossing between the +cavalry reserve and their videttes, who were sitting upon their horses +but a few rods in front, and then took us around to the pike about a +mile beyond this last post of the rebels. After obtaining important +information from him concerning the way to the front, and giving him a +substantial reward, we cordially took his hand in parting. If good deeds +are recorded in Heaven, this slave appeared in the record that night.</p> + +<p>The line of the pike was then rapidly followed as far as Diascum river, +which was reached just at light Sunday morning. To cross this river +without assistance from some quarter was found impossible. We tried to +wade through it, but failed in this attempt. We were seen by some of the +neighboring population, which largely increased our danger and +trepidation;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span> for we had been informed by our guide that the enemy's +scouts came to this point every morning. After awhile we succeeded in +reaching an island in the river, but could get no farther, finding deep +water beyond. We endeavored to construct a raft but failed. The water +being extremely cold, and we being very wet and weary, we did not dare +attempt to swim the stream; and expecting every moment to see the +enemy's cavalry, our hearts sank within us. At this juncture a rebel +soldier was seen coming up the river in a row-boat with a gun. +Requesting my companions to lie down in the grass, I concealed myself in +the bushes close to the water to get a good view of the man. Finding his +countenance to indicate youth and benevolence, I accosted him as he +approached.</p> + +<p>"Good morning; I have been waiting for you; they told me up at those +houses that I could get across the stream, but I find the bridge is +gone, and I am very wet and cold; if you will take me over, I will pay +you for your trouble."</p> + +<p>The boat was turned into the shore, and as I stepped into it I knew that +boat was mine. Keeping my eye upon his gun, I said to him, "there are +three more of us," and they immediately stepped into the boat. "Where do +you all come from?" said the boatman, seeming to hesitate and consider. +We represented ourselves as farmers from different localities on the +Chickahominy. "The officers don't like to have me carry men over this +river," he said, evidently suspecting who we were. I replied, "that is +right; you should not carry soldiers or suspected characters."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span> Then +placing my eyes upon him, I said, "pass your boat over!" it sped to the +other shore. We gave him one or two greenbacks, and he rapidly returned. +We knew we were discovered, and that the enemy's cavalry would very soon +be in hot pursuit, therefore we determined, after consultation, to go +into the first hiding place, and as near as possible to the river. The +wisdom of this course was soon demonstrated. The cavalry crossed the +stream, dashed by us, and thoroughly searched the country to the front, +not dreaming but we had gone forward. We did not leave our seclusion +until about midnight, and then felt our way with extreme care. The +proximity to Williamsburg was evident from the destruction every where +apparent in our path. There were no buildings, no inhabitants, and no +sound save our own weary footsteps; desolation reigned supreme. Stacks +of chimneys stood along our way like sentinels over the dead land.</p> + +<p>For five days and six nights, hunted and almost exhausted, with the +stars for our guide, we had picked our way through surrounding perils +toward the camp-fires of our friends. We knew we were near the outposts +of the Union troops, and began to feel as if our trials were nearly +over. But we were now in danger of being shot as rebels by scouting +parties of our own army. To avoid the appearance of being spies, we took +the open road, alternately traveling and concealing ourselves, that we +might reconnoiter the way. About two o'clock in the morning, coming near +the shade of a dark forest that overhung the road, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> were startled, +and brought to a stand, by the sharp and sudden command, "Halt!" Looking +in the direction whence it proceeded, we discovered the dark forms of a +dozen cavalrymen drawn up in line across the road. A voice came out of +the darkness, asking, "who are you?" We replied, "we are four +travelers!" The same voice said, "if you are travelers, come up here!" +Moving forward the cavalry surrounded us, and carefully looking at their +coats, I concluded they were gray, and was nerving myself for a +recapture. It was a supreme moment to the soul. One of my companions +asked, "are you Union soldiers?" In broad Pennsylvania language the +answer came, "well we are!" In a moment their uniforms changed to +glorious blue, and taking <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'of'">off</ins> our hats we gave one long exultant shout. +It was like passing from death unto life. Our hearts filled with +gratitude to Him whose sheltering arm had protected us in all that +dangerous way. Turning toward Richmond, I prayed in my heart that I +might have strength to return to my command.</p> + +<p>I was afterwards in Sherman's advance to Atlanta; the March to the Sea +and through the Carolinas; entered Richmond with the Western army; and +had the supreme satisfaction of marching my brigade by Libby Prison.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Note.</span>—One hundred and nine prisoners escaped through this +tunnel that night, of whom fifty-seven reached our lines.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Index"> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">page.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>March from Buckhannon West Virginia to Rich Mountain</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_18'>18</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Battle of Rich Mountain</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_24'>24</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Beverly and Huttonville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_26'>26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Incidents at Cheat Mountain Pass</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Camp at Elk Water</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_43'>43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The flag of truce</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_46'>46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Capture of De Lagniel</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_52'>52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The flood</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_61'>61</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The advance and retreat of Lee</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_67'>67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ride to a log cabin in the mountains</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_68'>68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Moonlight and music</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_69'>69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Hoosiers stir up the enemy</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The expedition to Big Springs</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_75'>75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The accomplished colored gentleman</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_78'>78</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>At Louisville Kentucky</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_84'>84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>March to Bacon Creek</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_86'>86</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Incidents of the camp</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_87'>87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Trouble in the regiment</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_91'>91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A little unpleasantness with the Colonel</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_97'>97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A case of disappointed love</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_99'>99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The advance to Green River</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_103'>103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The march to Nashville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_109'>109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Southern lady wants protection</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_112'>112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>John Morgan on the rampage</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_114'>114</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Incidents at Nashville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span>March to Murfreesboro</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_118'>118</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The dash into North <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Alaabma'">Alabama</ins></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_124'>124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General O. M. Mitchell</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_127'>127</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Rumors of the battle at Shiloh</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_131'>131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Affair at Bridgeport</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_135'>135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The rendezvous of the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Bushwackers'">Bushwhackers</ins></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The negro preacher</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_141'>141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Provost Marshal of Huntsville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_142'>142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Pudin' an' Tame</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_146'>146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Grape-vines from Richmond</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_151'>151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Garfield and Ammen</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_156'>156</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Two Pious men meet at Pittsburgh Landing</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_162'>162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Uncle Jacob tells a few stories</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_163'>163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>De coon am a great fiter</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_167'>167</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General Ammen as a teacher</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_168'>168</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The murder of General Robert McCook</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_169'>169</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The race for the Ohio River</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_175'>175</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The battle of Perryville, Kentucky</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Pursuit of Bragg</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_182'>182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Army of the Cumberland</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_185'>185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Incidents on the way to Nashville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_186'>186</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Colonel H. C. Hobart</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_192'>192</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The advance on Murfreesboro</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_198'>198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The battle of Stone River</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_201'>201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A ride over the battle-field</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_210'>210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The absentees</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_217'>217</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>T. Buchanan Reid, the poet</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_225'>225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Chiefs</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_235'>235</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>An interesting letter</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_244'>244</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Third starts on the Streight raid</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_246'>246</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A good fighter</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_252'>252</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General Rosecrans angry</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_255'>255</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>The Confederate account of Streight's surrender</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_267'>267</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The lame horse</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_268'>268</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Negley's party</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_277'>277</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Go out to dinner</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_283'>283</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Simon Bolivar Buckner (colored)</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_284'>284</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Advance on Tullahoma</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_285'>285</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The retreat of the enemy</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_290'>290</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Peace party</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_297'>297</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Fact vs. Fiction</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_299'>299</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Board for the examination of applicants for commissions in colored regiments </td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_312'>312</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The advance to the Tennessee</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_319'>319</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Cross the Tennessee</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_327'>327</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Battle of Chickamauga</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_332'>332</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Fight at Rossville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_346'>346</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Incidents at Chattanooga</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_348'>348</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Battle of Mission Ridge</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_356'>356</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>March to Knoxville</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_359'>359</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General Sherman's letter</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_360'>360</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Camp at McAffee's Spring</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_362'>362</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Good-bye'">Good-by</ins></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_372'>372</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>General H. C. Hobart's Narrative</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_379'>379</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes</h3> + +<p>The original text did not have a table of contents. One was created for this +html version.</p> +<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p> +<p>One instance each of the following words was retained:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="one instance words"> +<tr><td align='left'>barefooted/bare-footed</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>whitleather/whit-leather</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Jerroloman/Jerroloaman</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Three instances each of secesh/sesesh were retained.</p> + +<p><a href='#Page_234'>Page 234</a>, the section reads "an assault upon our works at twelve <span class="smcap">m.</span>" in the +original. It is unclear whether <span class="smcap">a. m.</span> or <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> was intended and so this was +retained.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. +Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Citizen-Soldier, by John Beatty + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER *** + +***** This file should be named 20460-h.htm or 20460-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/6/20460/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/20460.txt b/20460.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e5b4b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/20460.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10484 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Citizen-Soldier, by John Beatty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Citizen-Soldier + or, Memoirs of a Volunteer + +Author: John Beatty + +Release Date: January 27, 2007 [EBook #20460] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + +THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER; + +OR, + +MEMOIRS OF A VOLUNTEER. + +BY + +JOHN BEATTY. + + * * * * * + + CINCINNATI: + WILSTACH, BALDWIN & CO., PUBLISHERS, + NOS. 141 AND 143 RACE STREET. + 1879. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by + +ELLEN B. HENDERSON, + +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + +TO MY BROTHER, + +MAJOR WILLIAM GURLEY BEATTY, + +WHOSE GENEROUS SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN INCLINATION AT THE + +COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR, AND FAITHFUL DEVOTION + +TO MY FAMILY AND BUSINESS, + +ENABLED ME TO ENTER THE ARMY AND REMAIN THREE YEARS, + +THIS VOLUME + +IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +In the lifetime of all who arrive at mature age, there comes a period +when a strong desire is felt to know more of the past, especially to +know more of those from whom we claim descent. Many find even their +chief pleasure in searching among parish records and local histories for +some knowledge of ancestors, who for a hundred or five hundred years +have been sleeping in the grave. Long pilgrimages are made to the Old +World for this purpose, and when the traveler discovers in the crowded +church-yard a moss-covered, crumbling stone, which bears the name he +seeks, he takes infinite pains to decipher the half-obliterated epitaph, +and finds in this often what he regards as ample remuneration for all +his trouble. How vastly greater would be his satisfaction if he could +obtain even the simplest and briefest history of those in whom he takes +so deep an interest. Who were they? How were their days spent, and +amongst what surroundings? What were their thoughts, fears, hopes, acts? +Who were their associates, and on which side of the great questions of +the day did they stand? A full or even partial answer to these queries +would possess for him an incalculable value. + +So, sitting here to-night, in my little library, with wife and children +near, and by God's great kindness all in life and health, I look +forward one, two, five hundred years, and see in each succeeding +century, and possibly in each generation, so long as the name shall +last, a wonder-eyed boy, curious youth, or inquisitive old man, +exploring closets and libraries for things of the old time, stumbling +finally on this volume, which has, by the charity of the State +Librarian, still been preserved; he discovers, with quickening pulse, +that it bears his own name, and that it was written for him by one whose +body has for centuries been dust. Dull and uninteresting as it may be to +others, for him it will possess an inexpressible charm. It is his own +blood speaking to him from the shadowy and almost forgotten past. The +message may be poorly written, the matter in the main may be worthless, +and the greater events recorded may be dwarfed by more recent and +important ones, but the volume is nevertheless of absorbing interest to +him, for by it he is enabled to look into the face and heart of one of +his own kin, who lived when the Nation was young. In leaving this +unpretentious record, therefore, I seek to do simply what I would have +had my fathers do for me. + +Kinsmen of the coming centuries, I bid you hail and godspeed! + +COLUMBUS, _December_ 16, 1878. + + * * * * * + +The Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry served under two separate terms of +enlistment--the one for three months, and the other for three years. + +The regiment was organized April 21, 1861, and on April 27th it was +mustered into the United States service, with the following field +officers: Isaac H. Marrow, Colonel; John Beatty, Lieutenant Colonel, and +J. Warren Keifer, Major. + +The writer's record begins with the day on which his regiment entered +Virginia, June 22, 1861, and ends on January 1, 1864. He does not +undertake to present a history of the organizations with which he was +connected, nor does he attempt to describe the operations of armies. His +record consists merely of matters which came under his own observation, +and of camp gossip, rumors, trifling incidents, idle speculations, and +the numberless items, small and great, which, in one way and another, +enter into and affect the life of a soldier. In short, he has sought +simply to gather up the scraps which fell in his way, leaving to other +and more competent hands the weightier matters of the great civil war. + +Many errors of opinion and of fact he might now correct, and many items +which appear unworthy of a paragraph he might now strike out, but he +prefers to leave the record as it was written, when cyclopedias could +not be consulted, nor time taken for thorough investigation. + +Who can really know what an army is unless he mingles with the +individuals who compose it, and learns how they live, think, talk, and +act? + + + + +THE CITIZEN SOLDIER; + +OR, + +MEMOIRS OF A VOLUNTEER. + + + * * * * * + +JUNE, 1861. + + +22. Arrived at Bellaire at 3 P. M. There is trouble in the neighborhood +of Grafton. Have been ordered to that place. + +The Third is now on the Virginia side, and will in a few minutes take +the cars. + +23. Reached Grafton at 1 P. M. All avowed secessionists have run away; +but there are, doubtless, many persons here still who sympathize with +the enemy, and who secretly inform him of all our movements. + +24. Colonel Marrow and I dined with Colonel Smith, member of the +Virginia Legislature. He professes to be a Union man, but his sympathies +are evidently with the South. He feels that the South is wrong, but does +not relish the idea of Ohio troops coming upon Virginia soil to fight +Virginians. The Union sentiment here is said to be strengthening daily. + +26. Arrived at Clarksburg about midnight, and remained on the cars until +morning. We are now encamped on a hillside, and for the first time my +bed is made in my own tent. + +Clarksburg has apparently stood still for fifty years. Most of the +houses are old style, built by the fathers and grandfathers of the +present occupants. Here, for the first time, we find slaves, each of the +wealthier, or, rather, each of the well-to-do, families owning a few. + +There are probably thirty-five hundred troops in this vicinity--the +Third, Fourth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and part of the Twenty-second +Ohio, one company of cavalry, and one of artillery. Rumors of skirmishes +and small fights a few miles off; but as yet the only gunpowder we have +smelled is our own. + +28. At twelve o'clock to-day our battalion left Clarksburg, followed a +stream called Elk creek for eight miles, and then encamped for the +night. This is the first march on foot we have made. The country through +which we passed is extremely hilly and broken, but apparently fertile. +If the people of Western Virginia were united against us, it would be +almost impossible for our army to advance. In many places the creek on +one side, and the perpendicular banks on the other, leave a strip barely +wide enough for a wagon road. + +Buckhannon, twenty miles in advance of us, is said to be in the hands of +the secession troops. To-morrow, or the day after, if they do not leave, +a battle will take place. Our men appear eager for the fray, and I pray +they may be as successful in the fight as they are anxious for one. + +29. It is half-past eight o'clock, and we are still but eight miles from +Clarksburg. We were informed this morning that the secession troops had +left Buckhannon, and fallen back to their fortifications at Laurel Hill +and Rich mountain. It is said General McClellan will be here to-morrow, +and take command of the forces in person. + +In enumerating the troops in this vicinity, I omitted to mention Colonel +Robert McCook's Dutch regiment, which is in camp two miles from us. The +Seventh Ohio Infantry is now at Clarksburg, and will, I think, move in +this direction to-morrow. + +Provisions outside of camp are very scarce. I took breakfast with a +farmer this morning, and can say truly that I have eaten much better +meals in my life. We had coffee without sugar, short-cake without +butter, and a little salt pork, exceedingly fat. I asked him what the +charge was, and he said "Ninepence," which means one shilling. I +rejoiced his old soul by giving him two shillings. + +The country people here have been grossly deceived by their political +leaders. They have been made to believe that Lincoln was elected for the +sole purpose of liberating the negro; that our army is marching into +Virginia to free their slaves, destroy their property, and murder their +families; that we, not they, have set the Constitution and laws at +defiance, and that in resisting us they are simply defending their homes +and fighting for their constitutional rights. + + + + +JULY, 1861. + + +2. Reached Buckhannon at 5 P. M., and encamped beside the Fourth Ohio, +in a meadow, one mile from town. The country through which we marched is +exceedingly hilly; or, perhaps, I might say mountainous. The scenery is +delightful. The road for miles is cut around great hills, and is just +wide enough for a wagon. A step to the left would send one tumbling a +hundred or two hundred feet below, and to the right the hills rise +hundreds of feet above. The hills, half way to their summits, are +covered with corn, wheat, or grass, while further up the forest is as +dense as it could well have been a hundred years ago. + +3. For the first time to-day, I saw men bringing tobacco to market in +bags. One old man brought a bag of natural leaf into camp to sell to the +soldiers, price ten cents per pound. He brought it to a poor market, +however, for the men have been bankrupt for weeks, and could not buy +tobacco at a dime a bagfull. + +4. The Fourth has passed off quietly in the little town of Buckhannon +and in camp. + +At ten o'clock the Third and Fourth Regiments were reviewed by General +McClellan. The day was excessively warm, and the men, buttoned up in +their dress-coats, were much wearied when the parade was over. + +In the court-house this evening, the soldiers had what they call a "stag +dance." Camp life to a young man who has nothing specially to tie him to +home has many attractions--abundance of company, continual excitement, +and all the fun and frolic that a thousand light-hearted boys can +devise. + +To-night, in one tent, a dozen or more are singing "Dixie" at the top of +their voices. In another "The Star-Spangled Banner" is being executed so +horribly that even a secessionist ought to pity the poor tune. Stories, +cards, wrestling, boxing, racing, all these and a thousand other things +enter into a day in camp. The roving, uncertain life of a soldier has a +tendency to harden and demoralize most men. The restraints of home, +family, and society are not felt. The fact that a few hours may put them +in battle, where their lives will not be worth a fig, is forgotten. They +think a hundred times less of the perils by which they may be surrounded +than their friends do at home. They encourage and strengthen each other +to such an extent that, when exposed to danger, imminent though it be, +they do not seem to realize it. + +7. On the 5th instant a scouting party, under Captain Lawson, started +for Middle Fork bridge, a point eighteen miles from camp. At eight +o'clock last night, when I brought the battalion from the drill-ground, +I found that a messenger had arrived with intelligence that Lawson had +been surrounded by a force of probably four hundred, and that, in the +engagement, one of his men had been killed and three wounded. The camp +was alive with excitement. Each company of the Third had contributed +five men to Captain Lawson's detachment, and each company, therefore, +felt a special interest in it. The messenger stated that Captain Lawson +was in great need of help, and General McClellan at once ordered four +companies of infantry and twenty mounted men to move to his assistance. +I had command of the detachment, and left camp about nine o'clock P. M., +accompanied by a guide. The night was dark. My command moved on silently +and rapidly. After proceeding about three miles, we left the turnpike +and turned onto a narrow, broken, bad road, leading through the woods, +which we followed about eight miles, when we met Captain Lawson's +detachment on its way back. Here we removed the wounded from the farm +wagon in which they had been conveyed thus far, to an ambulance brought +with us for the purpose, countermarched, and reached our quarters about +three o'clock this morning. + +I will not undertake to give the details of Captain Lawson's skirmish. I +may say, however, that the number of the enemy killed and wounded, +lacerated and torn, by Corporal Casey, was beyond all computation. Had +the rebels not succeeded in getting a covered bridge between themselves +and the invincible Irishman, he would, if we may believe his own +statement, have annihilated the whole force, and brought back the head +of their commanding officer on the point of his bayonet. + +8. This morning, at seven o'clock, our tents were struck, and, with +General McClellan and staff in advance, we moved to Middle Fork bridge. +It was here that Captain Lawson's skirmish on Saturday had occurred. The +man killed had been buried by the Fourth Ohio before our arrival. Almost +every house along the road is deserted by the men, the women sometimes +remaining. The few Union men of this section have, for weeks past, been +hiding away in the hills. Now the secessionists have taken to the woods. +The utmost bitterness of feeling exists between the two. A man was found +to-day, within a half mile of this camp, with his head cut off and +entrails ripped out, probably a Union man who had been hounded down and +killed. The Dutch regiment (McCook's), when it took possession of the +bridge, had a slight skirmish with the enemy, and, I learn, killed two +men. On the day after to-morrow I apprehend the first great battle will +be fought in Western Virginia. + +I ate breakfast in Buckhannon at six o'clock A. M., and now, at six +o'clock P. M. am awaiting my second meal. + +The boys, I ascertain, searched one secession house on the road, and +found three guns and a small amount of ammunition. The guns were hunting +pieces, all loaded. The woman of the house was very indignant, and spoke +in disrespectful terms of the Union men of the neighborhood, whom she +suspected of instigating the search. She said she "had come from a +higher sphere than they, and would not lay down with dogs." She was an +Eastern Virginia woman, and, although poor as a church mouse, thought +herself superior to West Virginia people. As an indication of this +lady's refinement and loyalty, it is only necessary to say that a day or +two before she had displayed a secession flag made, as she very frankly +told the soldiers, of the tail of an old shirt, with J. D. and S. C. on +it, the letters standing for Jefferson Davis and the Southern +Confederacy. + +Four or five thousand men are encamped here, huddled together in a +little circular valley, with high hills surrounding. A company of +cavalry is just going by my tent on the road toward Beverly, probably to +watch the front. + +As we were leaving camp this morning, an officer of an Ohio regiment +rode at break-neck speed along the line, inquiring for General +McClellan, and yelling, as he passed, that four companies of the +regiment to which he belongs had been surrounded at Glendale, by twelve +hundred secessionists, under O. Jennings Wise. Our men, misapprehending +the statement, thought Buckhannon had been attacked, and were in a great +state of excitement. + +The officers of General Schleich's staff were with me on to-day's march, +and the younger members, Captains Hunter and Dubois, got off whatever +poetry they had in them of a military cast. "On Linden when the sun was +low," was recited to the hills of Western Virginia in a manner that must +have touched even the stoniest of them. I could think of nothing but +"There was a sound of revelry by night," and as this was not +particularly applicable to the occasion, owing to the exceeding +brightness of the sun, and the entire absence of all revelry, I thought +best not to astonish my companions by exhibiting my knowledge of the +poets. + +West Virginia hogs are the longest, lankest, boniest animals in +creation. I am reminded of this by that broth of an Irish lad, Conway, +who says, in substance, and with a broad Celtic accent, that their noses +have to be sharpened every morning to enable them to pick a living among +the rocks. + +Colonel Marrow informs me that an attack is apprehended to-night. We +have sent out strong pickets. The cannon are so placed as to shoot up +the road. Our regiment is to form on the left of the turnpike, and the +Dutch regiment on the right, in case the secession forces should be bold +enough to come down on us. + +9. Moved from the Middle Fork of the Buckhannon river at seven o'clock +this morning, and arrived at Roaring creek at four P. M. We came over +the hills with all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war; infantry, +cavalry, artillery, and hundreds of army wagons; the whole stretching +along the mountain road for miles. The tops of the Alleghanies can now +be seen plainly. We are at the foot of Rich mountain, encamped where our +brothers of the secession order pitched their tents last night. Our +advance guard gave them a few shots and they fled precipitately to the +mountains, burning the bridge behind them. When our regiment arrived a +few shots were heard, and the bayonets and bright barrels of the +enemy's guns could be seen on the hills. + +It clouded up shortly after, and before we had pitched our tents, the +clouds came over Rich mountain, settling down upon and hiding its summit +entirely. Heaven gave us a specimen of its artillery firing, and a heavy +shower fell, drenching us all completely. As I write, the sound of a +cannon comes booming over the mountain. There it goes again! Whether it +is at Phillippi or Laurel Hill, I can not tell. Certain it is that the +portion of our army advancing up the Valley river is in battle, +somewhere, and not many miles away. + +We do not know the strength of our opponents, nor the character and +extent of their fortifications. These mountain passes must be ugly +things to go through when in possession of an enemy; our boys look +forward, however, to a day of battle as one of rare sport. I do not. I +endeavor to picture to myself all its terrors, so that I may not be +surprised and dumbfounded when the shock comes. Our army is probably now +making one of the most interesting chapters of American history. God +grant it may be a chapter our Northern people will not be ashamed to +read! + +I am not confident of a speedy termination of the war. These people are +in the wrong, but have been made to believe they are in the right--that +we are the invaders of their hearthstones, come to conquer and destroy. +That they will fight with desperation, I have no doubt. Nature has +fortified the country for them. He is foolishly oversanguine who +predicts an easy victory over such a people, intrenched amidst mountains +and hills. I believe the war will run into a war of emancipation, and +when it ends African slavery will have ended also. It would not, +perhaps, be politic to say so, but if I had the army in my own hands, I +would take a short cut to what I am sure will be the end--commence the +work of emancipation at once, and leave every foot of soil behind me +free. + +10. From the best information obtainable, we are led to believe the +mountains and hills lying between this place and Beverly are strongly +fortified and full of men. We can see a part of the enemy's +fortifications very plainly from a hill west of camp. Our regiment was +ordered to be in readiness to march, and was under arms two hours. +During this time the Dutch regiment (McCook's), the Fourth Ohio, four +pieces of artillery, one company of cavalry, with General McClellan, +marched to the front, the Dutchmen in advance. They proceeded, say a +mile, when they overhauled the enemy's pickets, and in the little +skirmish which ensued one man of McCook's regiment was shot, and two of +the enemy captured. By these prisoners it is affirmed that eight or nine +thousand men are in the hills before us, well armed, with heavy +artillery planted so as to command the road for miles. How true this is +we can not tell. Enough, however, has been learned to satisfy McClellan +that it is not advisable to attack to-day. What surprises me is that the +General should know so little about the character of the country, the +number of the enemy, and the extent of his fortifications. + +During the day, Colonel Marrow, apparently under a high state of +excitement, informed me that he had just had an interview with George +(he usually speaks of General McClellan in this familiar way), that an +attack was to be made, and the Third was to lead the column. He desired +me, therefore, to get out my horse at once, take four men with me, and +search the woods in our front for a practicable road to the enemy. I +asked if General McClellan had given him any information that would aid +me in this enterprise, such as the position of the rebels, the location +of their outposts, their distance from us, and the character of the +country between our camp and theirs. He replied that George had not. It +occurred to me that four men were rather too few, if the work +contemplated was a reconnoissance, and rather too many if the service +required was simply that for which spies are usually employed. I +therefore spoke distrustingly of the proposed expedition, and questioned +the propriety of sending so small a force, so utterly without +information, upon so hazardous an enterprise, and apparently so foolish +a one. My language gave offense, and when I finally inquired what four +men I should take, the Colonel told me, rather abruptly, to take whom I +pleased, and look where I pleased. His manner, rather than his words, +indicated a doubt of my courage, and I turned from him, mounted my +horse, and started for the front, determined to obey the order to the +best of my ability, but to risk the lives of no others on what was +evidently a fool's errand. After proceeding some distance, I found that +the wagon-master was at my heels, and, together, we traced every +cow-path and mountain road we could find, and passed half a mile beyond +the enemy's outposts, and over ground visited by his scouts almost +hourly. When I returned to make my report, I was curtly informed that no +report was desired, as the plan had been changed. + +A little after midnight the Colonel returned from head-quarters with +important information, which he desired to communicate to the regiment. +The men were, therefore, ordered to turn out, and came hesitatingly and +sleepily from their tents. They looked like shadows as they gathered in +the darkness about their chieftain. It was the hour when graveyards are +supposed to yawn, and the sheeted dead to walk abroad. The gallant +Colonel, with a voice in perfect accord with the solemnity of the hour, +and the funereal character of the scene, addressed us, in substance, as +follows: + +"Soldiers of the Third: The assault on the enemy's works will be made in +the early morning. The Third will lead the column. The secessionists +have ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon. They are strongly +fortified. They have more men and more cannon than we have. They will +cut us to pieces. Marching to attack such an enemy, so intrenched and so +armed, is marching to a butcher-shop rather than to a battle. There is +bloody work ahead. Many of you, boys, will go out who will never come +back again." + +As this speech progressed my hair began to stiffen at the roots, and a +chilly sensation like that which might ensue from the unexpected and +clammy touch of the dead, ran through me. It was hard to die so young +and so far from home. Theological questions which before had attracted +little or no attention, now came uppermost in our minds. We thought of +mothers, wives, sweethearts--of opportunities lost, and of good advice +disregarded. Some soldiers kicked together the expiring fragments of a +camp-fire, and the little blaze which sprang up revealed scores of +pallid faces. In short, we all wanted to go home. + +When a boy I had read Plutarch, and knew something of the great warriors +of the old time; but I could not, for the life of me, recall an instance +wherein they had made such an address to their soldiers on the eve of +battle. It was their habit, at such a time, to speak encouragingly and +hopefully. With all due respect, therefore, for the superior rank and +wisdom of the Colonel, I plucked him by the sleeve, took him one side, +and modestly suggested that his speech had had rather a depressing +effect on the regiment, and had taken that spirit out of the boys so +necessary to enable them to do well in battle. I urged him to correct +the mistake, and speak to them hopefully. He replied that what he had +said was true, and they should know the truth. + +The morning dawned; but instead of being called upon to lead the +column, we were left to the inglorious duty of guarding the camp, while +other regiments moved forward toward the enemy's line. In half an hour, +in all probability, the work of destruction will commence. I began this +memoranda on the evening of the 10th, and now close it on the morning of +the 11th. + +11. At 10 A. M. we were ordered to the front; passed quite a number of +regiments on our way thither, and finally took position not far from the +enemy's works. We were now at the head of the column. A small brook +crossed the road at this point, and the thick woods concealed us from +the enemy. A few rods further on, a bend in the road gave us a good view +of the entire front of his fortifications. Major Keifer and a few other +gentlemen, in their anxiety to get more definite information in regard +to the position of the secessionists, and the extent of their works, +went up the road, and were saluted by a shot from their battery. We +expected every moment to receive an order to advance. After a time, +however, we ascertained that Rosecrans, with a brigade, was seeking the +enemy's rear by a mountain path, and we conjectured that, so soon as he +had reached it, we would be ordered to make the assault in front. It was +a dark, gloomy day, and the hours passed slowly. + +Between two and three o'clock we heard shots in the rear of the +fortifications; then volleys of musketry, and the roar of artillery. +Every man sprang to his feet, assured that the moment for making the +attack had arrived. General McClellan and staff came galloping up, and a +thousand faces turned to hear the order to advance; but no order was +given. The General halted a few paces from our line, and sat on his +horse listening to the guns, apparently in doubt as to what to do; and +as he sat there with indecision stamped on every line of his +countenance, the battle grew fiercer in the enemy's rear. Every volley +could be heard distinctly. There would occasionally be a lull for a +moment, and then the uproar would break out again with increased +violence. If the enemy is too strong for us to attack, what must be the +fate of Rosecrans' four regiments, cut off from us, and struggling +against such odds? Hours passed; and as the last straggling shots and +final silence told us the battle had ended, gloom settled down on every +soldier's heart, and the belief grew strong that Rosecrans had been +defeated, and his brigade cut to pieces or captured. This belief grew to +certain conviction soon after, when we heard shout after shout go up +from the fortifications in our front. + +Major Keifer with two companies had, early in the afternoon, climbed the +hill on our right to look for a position from which artillery could be +used effectively. The ground over which he moved was broken and covered +with a dense growth of trees and underbrush; finally an elevation was +discovered which commanded the enemy's camp, but before a road could be +cut, and the artillery brought up, it was too late in the day to begin +the attack. + +Night came on. It was intensely dark. About nine o'clock we were ordered +to withdraw our pickets quietly and return to our old quarters. On our +way thither a rough voice cried: "Halt! Who comes there?" And a thousand +shadowy forms sprang up before us. The challenge was from Colonel Robert +McCook, and the regiment his. The scene reminded me of the one where + + "That whistle garrisoned the glen + At once with full five hundred men, + As if the yawning hill to heaven + A subterranean host had given." + +12. We were rejoiced this morning to hear of Rosecrans' success, and, at +the same time, not well pleased at the escape of the enemy under cover +of night. We were ordered to move, and got under way at eight o'clock. +On the road we met General Rosecrans and staff. He was jubilant, as well +he might be, and as he rode by received the congratulations of the +officers and cheers of the men. + +Arriving on yesterday's battle-field, the regiment was allowed a half +hour for rest. The dead had been gathered and placed in a long trench, +which was still open. The wounded of both armies were in hospital, +receiving the attention of the surgeons. There were a few prisoners, +most of them too unwell to accompany their friends in retreat. + +Soon after reaching the summit of Rich mountain, we caught glimpses of +Tygart's valley, and of Cheat mountain beyond, and before nightfall +reached Beverly and went into camp. + +13. Six or eight hundred Southern troops sent in a flag of truce, and +surrendered unconditionally. They are a portion of the force which +fought Rosecrans at Rich mountain, and Morris at Laurel Hill. + +We started up the Valley river at seven o'clock this morning, our +regiment in the lead. Found most of the houses deserted. Both Union men +and secessionists had fled. The Southern troops, retreating in this +direction, had frightened the people greatly, by telling them that we +shot men, ravished women, and destroyed property. When within +three-quarters of a mile of Huttonville, we were informed that forty or +fifty mounted secessionists were there. The order to double-quick was +given, and the regiment entered the village on a run. As we made a turn +in the road, we discovered a squad of cavalry retreating rapidly. The +bridge over the river had been burned, and was still smoking. Our troops +sent up a hurrah and quickened their pace, but they had already traveled +eleven miles on a light breakfast, and were not in condition to run down +cavalry. That we might not lose at least one shot at the enemy, I got an +Enfield rifle from one of the men, galloped forward, and fired at the +retreating squad. It was the best shot I could make, and I am forced to +say it was a very poor one, for no one fell. On second thought, it +occurred to me that it would have been criminal to have killed one of +these men, for his death could have had no possible effect on the result +of the war. + +Huttonville is a very small place at the foot of Cheat mountain. We +halted there perhaps one hour, to await the arrival of General +McClellan; and when he came up, were ordered forward to secure a +mountain pass. It is thought fifteen hundred secessionists are a few +miles ahead, near the top of the mountain. Two Indiana regiments and one +battery are with us. More troops are probably following. + +The man who owns the farm on which we are encamped is, with his family, +sleeping in the woods to-night, if, indeed, he sleeps at all. + +14. The Ninth and Fourth Ohio, Fifteenth Indiana, and one company of +cavalry, started up the mountain between seven and eight o'clock. The +Colonel being unwell, I followed with the Third. Awful rumors were +afloat of fortifications and rebels at the top; but we found no +fortifications, and as for the rebels, they were scampering for Staunton +as fast as their legs could carry them. + +This mountain scenery is magnificent. As we climbed the Cheat the views +were the grandest I ever looked upon. Nests of hills, appearing like +eggs of the mountain; ravines so dark that one could not guess their +depth; openings, the ends of which seemed lost in a blue mist; +broken-backed mountains, long mountains, round mountains, mountains +sloping gently to the summit; others so steep a squirrel could hardly +climb them; fatherly mountains, with their children clustered about +them, clothed in birch, pine, and cedar; mountain streams, sparkling +now in the sunlight, then dashing down into apparently fathomless +abysses. + +It was a beautiful day, and the march was delightful. The road is +crooked beyond description, but very solid and smooth. + +The farmer on whose premises we are encamped has returned from the +woods. He has discovered that we are not so bad as we were reported. +Most of the negroes have been left at home. Many were in camp to-day +with corn-bread, pies, and cakes to sell. Fox, my servant, went out this +afternoon and bought a basket of bread. He brought in two chickens also, +which he said were presented to him. I suspect Fox does not always tell +the truth. + +16. The Fourteenth Indiana and one company of cavalry went to the summit +this morning to fortify. + +The Colonel has gone to Beverly. The boys repeat his Rich mountain +speech with slight variations: "Men, there are ten thousand +secessionists in Rich mountain, with forty rifled cannon, well +fortified. There's bloody work ahead. You are going to a butcher-shop +rather than a battle. Ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon! Hostler, +you d--d scoundrel, why don't you wipe Jerome's nose?" Jerome is the +Colonel's horse, known in camp as the White Bull. + +Conway, who has been detailed to attend to the Colonel's horses, is +almost as good a speech-maker as the Colonel. This, in brief, is +Conway's address to the White Bull: + +"Stand still there, now, or I'll make yer stand still. Hold up yer head +there, now, or I'll make yer hold it up. Keep quiet; what the h--ll yer +'bout there, now? D--n you! do you want me to hit you a lick over the +snoot, now--do you? Are you a inviten' me to pound you over the head +with a saw-log? D--n yer ugly pictures, whoa!" + +18. This afternoon, when riding down to Huttonville, I met three or four +hundred sorry-looking soldiers. They were without arms. On inquiry, I +found they were a part of the secession army, who, finding no way of +escape, had come into our lines and surrendered. They were badly +dressed, and a hard, dissolute-looking lot of men. To use the language +of one of the soldiers, they were "a milk-sickly set of fellows," and +would have died off probably without any help from us if they had been +kept in the mountains a little longer. They were on their way to +Staunton. General McClellan had very generously provided them with +provisions for three days, and wagons to carry the sick and wounded; and +so, footsore, weary, and chopfallen, they go over the hills. + +An unpleasant rumor is in camp to-night, to the effect that General +Patterson has been defeated at Williamsport. This, if true, will +counterbalance our successes in Western Virginia, and make the game an +even one. + +The Southern soldiers mentioned above are encamped for the night a +little over a mile from here. About dusk I walked over to their camp. +They were gathered around their fires preparing supper. Many of them +say they were deceived, and entered the service because they were led to +believe that the Northern army would confiscate their property, liberate +their slaves, and play the devil generally. As they thought this was +true, there was nothing left for them to do but to take up arms and +defend themselves. + +While we were at Buckhannon, an old farmer-looking man visited us daily, +bringing tobacco, corn-bread, and cucumber pickles. This innocent old +gentleman proves to have been a spy, and obtained his reward in the loss +of a leg at Rich mountain. + +19. To-day, eleven men belonging to a company of cavalry which +accompanied the Fourteenth Indiana to the Summit, were sent out on a +scouting expedition. When about ten miles from camp, on the opposite +side of the mountain, they halted, and while watering their horses were +fired upon. One man was killed and three wounded. The other seven fled. +Colonel Kimball sent out a detachment to bring in the wounded; but +whether it succeeded or not I have not heard. + +A musician belonging to the Fourth Ohio, when six miles out of Beverly, +on his way to Phillippi, was fired upon and instantly killed. So goes +what little there is of war in Western Virginia. + +20. The most interesting of all days in the mountains is one on which +the sky is filled with floating clouds, not hiding it entirely, but +leaving here and there patches of blue. Then the shadows shift from +place to place, as the moving clouds either let in the sunshine or +exclude it. Standing at my tent-door at eleven o'clock in the morning, +with a stiff breeze going, and the clouds on the wing, we see a peak, +now in the sunshine, then in the shadow, and the lights and shadows +chasing each other from point to point over the mountains, presenting +altogether a panorama most beautiful to look upon, and such an one as +God only can present. + +I can almost believe now that men become, to some extent, like the +country in which they live. In the plain country the inhabitants learn +to traffic, come to regard money-getting as the great object in life, +and have but a dim perception of those higher emotions from which spring +the noblest acts. In a mountain country God has made many things +sublime, and some things very beautiful. The rugged, the smooth, the +sunshine, and the shadow meet one at every turn. Here are peaks getting +the earliest sunlight of the morning, and the latest of the evening; +ravines so deep the light of day can never penetrate them; bold, rugged, +perpendicular rocks, which have breasted the storms for ages; gentle +slopes, swelling away until their summits seem to dip in the blue sky; +streams, cold and clear, leaping from crag to crag, and rushing down +nobody knows whither. Like the country, may we not look to find the +people unpolished, rugged and uneven, capable of the noblest heroism or +the most infernal villainy--their lives full of lights and shadows, +elevations and depressions? + +The mountains, rising one above another, suggest, forcibly enough, the +infinite power of the Creator, and when the peaks come in contact with +the clouds it requires but little imagination to make one feel that God, +as at Sinai, has set His foot upon the earth, and that earth and heaven +are really very near each other. + +21. This morning, at two o'clock, I was rattled up by a sentinel, who +had come to camp in hot haste to inform me that he had seen and fired +upon a body of twenty-five or more men, probably the advance guard of +the enemy. He desired me to send two companies to strengthen the +outpost. I preferred, however, to go myself to the scene of the trouble; +and, after investigation, concluded that the guard had been alarmed by a +couple of cows. + +Another lot of secession prisoners, some sixty in number, passed by this +afternoon. They were highly pleased with the manner in which they had +been treated by their captors. + +The sound of a musket is just heard on the picket post, three-quarters +of a mile away, and the shot is being repeated by our line of sentinels. +* * * The whole camp has been in an uproar. Many men, half asleep, +rushed from their tents and fired off their guns in their company +grounds. Others, supposing the enemy near, became excited and discharged +theirs also. The tents were struck, Loomis' First Michigan Battery +manned, and we awaited the attack, but none was made. It was a false +alarm. Some sentinel probably halted a stump and fired, thus rousing a +thousand men from their warm beds. This is the first night alarm we have +had. + +22. We hear that General Cox has been beaten on the Kanawha; that our +forces have been repulsed at Manassas Gap, and that our troops have been +unsuccessful in Missouri. I trust the greater part, if not all, of this +is untrue. + +We have been expecting orders to march, but they have not come. The men +are very anxious to be moving, and when moving, strange to say, always +very anxious to stop. + +23. Officers and men are low-spirited to-night. The news of yesterday +has been confirmed. Our army has been beaten at Manassas with terrible +loss. General McClellan has left Beverly for Washington. General +Rosecrans will assume command in Western Virginia. We are informed that +twenty miles from us, in the direction of Staunton, some three thousand +secessionists are in camp. We shall probably move against them. + +24. The news from Manassas Junction is a little more cheering, and all +feel better to-day. + +We have now a force of about four thousand men in this vicinity, and two +or three thousand at Beverly. We shall be in telegraphic communication +with the North to-morrow. + +The moon is at its full to-night, and one of the most beautiful sights I +have witnessed was its rising above the mountain. First the sky lighted +up, then a halo appeared, then the edge of the moon, not bigger than a +star, then the half-moon, not semi-circular, but blazing up like a great +gaslight, and, finally, the full, round moon had climbed to the top, +and seemed to stop a moment to rest and look down on the valley. + +27. The Colonel left for Ohio to-day, to be gone two weeks. + +I came from the quarters of Brigadier-General Schleich a few minutes +ago. He is a three-months' brigadier, and a rampant demagogue. Schleich +said that slaves who accompanied their masters to the field, when +captured, should be sent to Cuba and sold to pay the expenses of the +war. I suggested that it would be better to take them to Canada and +liberate them, and that so soon as the Government began to sell negroes +to pay the expenses of the war I would throw up my commission and go +home. Schleich was a State Senator when the war began. He is what might +be called a tremendous little man, swears terribly, and imagines that he +thereby shows his snap. Snap, in his opinion, is indispensable to a +military man. If snap is the only thing a soldier needs, and profanity +is snap, Schleich is a second Napoleon. This General Snap will go home, +at the expiration of his three-months' term, unregretted by officers and +men. Major Hugh Ewing will return with him. Last night the Major became +thoroughly elevated, and he is not quite sober yet. He thinks, when in +his cups, that our generals are too careful of their men. "What are a +th-thousand men," said he, "when (hic) principle is at stake? Men's +lives (hic) shouldn't be thought of at such a time (hic). Amount to +nothing (hic). Our generals are too d--d slow (hic)." The Major is a man +of excellent natural capacity, the son of Hon. Thomas Ewing, of +Lancaster, and brother-in-law of W. T. Sherman, now a colonel or +brigadier-general in the army. W. T. Sherman is the brother of John +Sherman. + +The news from Manassas is very bad. The disgraceful flight of our troops +will do us more injury, and is more to be regretted, than the loss of +fifty thousand men. It will impart new life, courage, and confidence to +our enemies. They will say to their troops: "You see how these +scoundrels run when you stand up to them." + +29. Was slightly unwell this morning; but about noon accompanied General +Reynolds, Colonel Wagner, Colonel Heffron, and a squad of cavalry, up +the valley, and returned somewhat tired, but quite well. +Lieutenant-Colonel Owen was also of the party. He is fifty or fifty-five +years old, a thin, spare man, of very ordinary personal appearance, but +of fine scientific and literary attainments. For some years he was a +professor in a Southern military school. He has held the position of +State Geologist of Indiana, and is the son of the celebrated Robert J. +Owen, who founded the Communist Society at New Harmony, Indiana. Every +sprig, leaf, and stem on the route suggested to Colonel Owen something +to talk about, and he proved to be a very entertaining companion. + +General Reynolds is a graduate of West Point, and has the theory of war +completely; but whether he has the broad, practical common sense, more +important than book knowledge, time will determine. As yet he is an +untried quantity, and, therefore, unknown. + +30. About two o'clock P. M., for want of something better to do, I +climbed the high mountain in front of our camp. The side is as steep as +the roof of a gothic house. By taking hold of bushes and limbs of trees, +after a half hour of very hard work, I managed to get to the top, +completely exhausted. The outlook was magnificent. Tygart's valley, the +river winding through it, and a boundless succession of mountains and +ridges, all lay before me. My attention, however, was soon diverted from +the landscape to the huckleberries. They were abundant; and now and then +I stumbled on patches of delicious raspberries. I remained on the +mountain, resting and picking berries, until half-past four. I must be +in camp at six to post my pickets, but there was no occasion for haste. +So, after a time, I started leisurely down, not the way I had come up, +but, as I supposed, down the eastern slope, a way, apparently, not so +steep and difficult as the one by which I had ascended. I traveled on, +through vines and bushes, over fallen timber, and under great trees, +from which I could scarcely obtain a glimpse of the sky, until finally I +came to a mountain stream. I expected to find the road, not the stream, +and began to be a little uncertain as to my whereabouts. After +reflection, I concluded I would be most likely to reach camp by going up +the stream, and so started. Trees in many places had fallen across the +ravine, and my progress was neither easy nor rapid; but I pushed on as +best I could. I never knew so well before what a mountain stream was. I +scrambled over rocks and fallen trees, and through thickets of laurel, +until I was completely worn out. Lying down on the rocks, which in high +water formed part of the bed of the stream, I took a drink, looked at my +watch, and found it was half-past five. My pickets were to be posted at +six. Having but a half hour left, I started on. I could see no opening +yet. The stream twisted and turned, keeping no one general direction for +twenty rods, and hardly for twenty feet. It grew smaller, and as the +ravine narrowed the way became more difficult. Six o'clock had now come. +I could not see the sun, and only occasionally could get glimpses of the +sky. I began to realize that I was lost; but concluded finally that I +would climb the mountain again, and ascertain, if I could, in what +direction the camp lay. I have had some hard tramps, and have done some +hard work, but never labored half so hard in a whole week as I did for +one hour in getting up that mountain, pushing through vines, climbing +over logs, breaking through brush. Three or four times I lay down out of +breath, utterly exhausted, and thought I would proceed no further until +morning; but when I thought of my pickets, and reflected that General +Reynolds would not excuse a trip so foolish and untimely, I made new +efforts and pushed on. Finally I reached the summit of the mountain, but +found it not the one from which I had descended. Still higher mountains +were around me. The trees and bushes were so dense I could hardly see a +rod before me. It was now seven o'clock, an hour after the time when I +should have been in camp. I lay down, determined to remain all night; +but my clothing was so thin that I soon became chilly, and so got up and +started on again. Once I became entangled in a wilderness of grapevines +and briers, and had much difficulty in getting through them. It was now +half-past seven, and growing dark; but, fortunately, at this time, I +heard a dog bark, a good way off to the right, and, turning in that +direction, I came to a cow-path. Which end of it should I take? Either +end, I concluded, would be better than to remain where I was; so I +worked myself into a dog-trot, wound down around the side of the +mountain, and reached the road, a mile and a half south of camp, and +went to my quarters fast as my legs could carry me. I found my detail +for picket duty waiting and wondering what could so detain the officer +of the day. + +31. The Fifteenth Indiana, Colonel Wagner, moved up the valley eight +miles. + +The sickly months are now on us. Considerable dysentery among the men, +and many reported unfit for duty. + +My limbs are stiff and sore from yesterday's exercise, but my adventure +proves to have been a lucky one. The mountain path I stumbled on was +unknown to us before, and we find, on inquiry, that it leads over the +ridges. The enemy might, by taking this path, follow it up during the +day, encamp almost within our picket lines without being discovered, and +then, under cover of night, or in the early morning, come down upon us +while we were in our beds. It will be picketed hereafter. + +A private of Company E wrote home that he had killed two secessionists. +A Zanesville paper published the letter. When the boys of his company +read it they obtained spades, called on the soldier who had drawn so +heavily on the credulity of his friends, and told him they had come to +bury the dead. The poor fellow protested, apologized, and excused +himself as best he could, but all to no purpose. He is never likely to +hear the last of it. + +I am reminded that when coming from Bellaire to Fetterman, a soldier +doing guard duty on the railroad said that a few mornings before he had +gone out, killed two secessionists who were just sitting down to +breakfast, and then eaten the breakfast himself. + + + + +AUGUST, 1861. + + +1. It is said the pickets of the Fourteenth Indiana and the enemy's +cavalry came in collision to-day, and that three of the latter were +killed. + +It is now 9 P. M. Sergeants are calling the roll for the last time +to-night. In half an hour taps will be sounded and the lights +extinguished in every private's tent. The first call in the morning, +reveille, is at five; breakfast call, six; surgeon's call, seven; drill, +eight; recall, eleven; dinner, twelve; drill again at four; recall, +five; guard-mounting, half-past five; first call for dress-parade, six; +second call, half-past six; tattoo at nine, and taps at half-past. So +the day goes round. + +Hardee for a month or more was a book of impenetrable mysteries. The +words conveyed no idea to my mind, and the movements described were +utterly beyond my comprehension; but now the whole thing comes almost +without study. + +2. Jerrolaman went out this afternoon and picked nearly a peck of +blackberries. Berries of various kinds are very abundant. The fox-grape +is also found in great plenty, and as big as one's thumb. + +The Indianians are great ramblers. Lieutenant Bell says they can be +traced all over the country, for they not only eat all the berries, but +nibble the thorns off the bushes. + +General Reynolds told me, this evening, he thought it probable we would +be attacked soon. Have been distributing ammunition, forty rounds to the +man. + +My black horse was missing this morning. Conway looked for him the +greater part of the day, and finally found him in possession of an +Indiana captain. It happened in this way: Captain Rupp, Thirteenth +Indiana, told his men he would give forty dollars for a _sesesh_ horse, +and they took my horse out of the pasture, delivered it to him, and got +the money. He rode the horse up the valley to Colonel Wagner's station, +and when he returned bragged considerably over his good luck; but about +dark Conway interviewed him on the subject, when a change came o'er the +spirit of his dream. Colonel Sullivan tells me the officers now talk to +Rupp about the fine points of his horse, ask to borrow him, and desire +to know when he proposes to ride again. + +A little group of soldiers are sitting around a camp-fire, not far away, +entertaining each other with stories and otherwise. Just now one of them +lifts up his voice, and in a melancholy strain sings: + + Somebody ---- "is weeping + For gallant Andy Gay, + Who now in death lies sleeping + On the field of Monterey." + +While I write he strikes into another air, and these are the words as I +catch them: + + "Come back, come back, my purty fair maid! + Ten thousand of my _jinture_ on you I will bestow + If you'll consent to marry me; + Oh, do not say me no." + +But the maid is indifferent to _jintures_, and replies indignantly: + + "Oh, hold your tongue, captain, your words are all in vain; + I have a handsome sweetheart now across the main, + And if I do not find him I'll mourn continuali." + +More of this interesting dialogue between the captain and the pretty +fair maid I can not catch. + +The sky is clear, but the night very dark. I do not contemplate my ride +to the picket posts with any great degree of pleasure. A cowardly +sentinel is more likely to shoot at you than a brave one. The fears of +the former do not give him time to consider whether the person advancing +is friend or foe. + +3. We hear of the enemy daily. Colonel Kimball, on the mountain, and +Colonel Wagner, up the valley, are both in hourly expectation of an +attack. The enemy, encouraged by his successes at Manassas, will +probably attempt to retrieve his losses in Western Virginia. + +4. At one o'clock P. M. General Reynolds sent for me. Two of Colonel +Wagner's companies had been surrounded, and an attack on Wagner's +position expected to-night. The enemy reported three thousand strong. +He desired me to send half of my regiment and two of Loomis' guns to the +support of Wagner. I took six companies and started up the valley. +Reached Wagner's quarters at six o'clock. Brought neither tents nor +provisions, and to-night will turn in with the Indianians. + +It is true that the enemy number three thousand; the main body being ten +or fifteen miles away. Their pickets and ours, however, are near each +other; but General Reynolds was misinformed as to two of Wagner's +companies. They had not been surrounded. + +To-morrow Colonel Wagner and I will make a reconnoissance, and ascertain +if the rebels are ready to fight. Wagner has six hundred and fifty men +fit for duty, and I have four hundred. Besides these, we have three +pieces of artillery. Altogether, we expect to be able to hoe them a +pretty good row, if they should advance on us. Four of the enemy were +captured to-day. A company of cavalry is approaching. "Halt! who comes +there?" cries the sentinel. "Lieutenant Denny, without the countersign." +"All right," shouts Colonel Wagner, "let him come." I write with at +least four fleas hopping about on my legs. + +5. To-day we felt our way up the valley eight miles, but did not reach +the rebels. + +To-night our pickets were sure they heard firing off in the direction of +Kanawha. If so, Cox and Wise must be having a pleasant little +interchange of lead. + +The chaplain of the Thirteenth Indiana is the counterpart of Scott's +Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, or the fighting friar of the times of Robin +Hood. In answer to some request he has just said that he will "go to +thunder before doing it." The first time I saw this fighting parson was +at the burnt bridge near Huttonville. He had two revolvers and a hatchet +in his belt, and appeared more like a firebrand of war than a minister +of peace. I now hear the rough voice of a braggadocio captain in the +adjoining tent, who, if we may believe his own story, is the most +formidable man alive. His hair-breadth escapes are innumerable, and his +anxiety to get at the enemy is intense. Is it not ancient Pistol come +again to astonish the world by deeds of reckless daring? + +We have sent out a scouting party, and hope to learn something more of +the rebels during the night. Wagner, Major Wood, Captain Abbott, and +others are having a game of whist. + +6. Our camp equipage came up to-day, so that we are now in our own +tents. + +Four of my companies are on picket, scattered up the valley for miles, +and half of the other two are doing guard duty in the neighborhood of +the camp. I do not, by any means, approve of throwing out such heavy +pickets and scattering our men so much. We are in the presence of a +force probably twice as large as our own, and should keep our troops +well in hand. + +Our scouts have been busy; but, although they have brought in a few +prisoners, mostly farmers residing in the vicinity of the enemy's camp, +we have obtained but little information respecting the rebels. I intend +to send out a scouting party in the morning. Lieutenant Driscoll will +command it. He is a brave, and, I think, prudent officer, and will leave +camp at four o'clock, follow the road six miles, then take to the +mountains, and endeavor to reach a point where he can overlook the enemy +and estimate his strength. + +7. The scouting party sent out this morning were conveyed by wagons six +miles up the valley, and were to take to the mountains, half a mile +beyond. I instructed Lieutenant Driscoll to exercise the utmost caution, +and not take his men further than he thought reasonably safe. Of course +perfect safety is not expected. Our object, however, is to get +information, not to give it by losing the squad. + +At eleven o'clock a courier came in hot haste from the front, to inform +us that a flag of truce, borne by a Confederate major, with an escort of +six dragoons, was on the way to camp. Colonel Wagner and I rode out to +meet the party, and were introduced to Major Lee, the son, as I +subsequently ascertained, of General Robert E. Lee, of Virginia. The +Major informed us that his communication could only be imparted to our +General, and a courier was at once dispatched to Huttonville. + +At four o'clock General Reynolds arrived, accompanied by Colonel +Sullivan and a company of cavalry. Wagner and I joined the General's +party, and all galloped to the outpost, to interview the Confederate +major. His letter contained a proposition to exchange prisoners captured +by the rebels at Manassas for those taken at Rich mountain. The General +appointed a day on which a definite answer should be returned, and Major +Lee, accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Owen and myself, rode to the +outlying picket station, where his escort had been halted and detained. + +Major Lee is near my own age, a heavy set, but well-proportioned man, +somewhat inclined to boast, not overly profound, and thoroughly +impregnated with the idea that he is a Virginian and a Lee withal. As I +shook hands at parting with this scion of an illustrious house, he +complimented me by saying that he hoped soon to have the honor of +meeting me on the battle-field. I assured him that it would afford me +pleasure, and I should make all reasonable efforts to gratify him in +this regard. I did not desire to fight, of course, but I was bound not +to be excelled in the matter of knightly courtesy. + +8. Major Wood, Fifteenth Indiana, thought he heard chopping last night, +and imagined that the enemy was engaged in cutting a road to our rear. + +Lieutenant Driscoll and party returned to-day. They slept on the +mountains last night; were inside the enemy's picket lines; heard +reveille sounded this morning, but could not obtain a view of the camp. + +Have just returned from a sixteen-mile ride, visiting picket posts. The +latter half of the ride was after nightfall. Found officers and men +vigilant and ready to meet an attack. + +Obtained some fine huckleberries and blackberries on the mountain +to-day. Had a blackberry pie and pudding for dinner. Rather too much +happiness for one day; but then the crust of the pudding was tolerably +tough. The grass is a foot high in parts of my tent, where it has not +been trodden down, and the gentle grasshopper makes music all the day, +and likewise all the night. + +Our fortifications are progressing slowly. If the enemy intends to +attack at all, he will probably do so before they are complete; and if +he does not, the fortifications will be of no use to us. But this is the +philosophy of a lazy man, and very similar to that of the Irishman who +did not put roof on his cabin: when it rained he could not, and in fair +weather he did not need it. + +9. Pickets report firing, artillery and musketry, over the mountain, in +the direction of Kimball. + +The enemy's scouts were within three miles of our camp this afternoon, +evidently looking for a path that would enable them to get to our rear. +Fifty men have just been sent in pursuit; but owing to a little +misunderstanding of instructions, I fear the expedition will be +fruitless. Colonel Wagner neither thinks clearly nor talks with any +degree of exactness. He has a loose, slip-shod, indefinite way with him, +that tends to confusion and leads to misunderstandings and trouble. + +I have been over the mountain on our left, hunting up the paths and +familiarizing myself with the ground, so as to be ready to defeat any +effort that may be made to turn our flank. Colonel Owen has been +investigating the mountain on our right. The Colonel is a good thinker, +an excellent conversationalist, and a very learned man. Geology is his +darling, and he keeps one eye on the enemy, and the other on the rocks. + +10. My tent is on the bank of the Valley river. The water, clear as +crystal, as it hurries on over the rocks, keeps up a continuous murmur. + +There will be a storm to-night. The sky is very dark, the wind rising, +and every few minutes a vivid flash of lightning illuminates the valley, +and the thunder rolls off among the mountains with a rumbling, echoing +noise, like that which the gods might make in putting a hundred trains +of celestial artillery in position. + +11. Lieutenant Bowen, of topographical engineers, and myself, with ten +men, carrying axes and guns, started up the mountain at seven o'clock +this morning, followed a path to the crest, or dividing ridge, and +felled trees to obstruct the way as much as possible. Returned to camp +for dinner. + +During the afternoon Lieutenant W. O. Merrill, Lieutenant Bowen, and I, +ascended the mountain again by a new route. After reaching the crest, we +endeavored to find the path which Lieutenant Bowen and I had traveled +over in the morning, but were unable to do so. We continued our search +until it became quite dark, when the two engineers, as well as myself, +became utterly bewildered. Finally, Lieutenant Merrill took out his +pocket compass, and said the camp was in that direction, pointing with +his hand. I insisted he was wrong; that he would not reach camp by +going that way. He insisted that he would, and must be governed by some +general principles, and so started off on his own hook, leaving us to +pursue our own course. Finally Bowen lost confidence in me, said I was +not going in the right direction at all, and insisted that we should +turn squarely around, and go the opposite way. At last I yielded with +many misgivings, and allowed him to lead. After going down a thousand +feet or more, we found ourselves in a ravine, through which a small +stream of water flowed. Following this, we finally reached the valley. +We knew now exactly where we were, and by wading the river reached the +road, and so got to camp at nine o'clock at night. + +Merrill, who was governed by general principles, failed to strike the +camp directly, strayed three or four miles to the right of it, came down +in Stewart's run valley, and did not reach camp until about midnight. + +On our trip to-day, we found a bear trap, made of heavy logs, the lid +arranged to fall when the bear entered and touched the bait. + +12. This is the fourth day that Captain Cunard's company has been lying +in the woods, three miles from camp, guarding an important road, +although a very rough and rugged one. Companies upon duty like this, +remain at their posts day and night, good weather and bad, without any +shelter, except that afforded by the trees, or by little booths +constructed of logs and branches. From the main station, where the +captain remains, sub-pickets are sent out in charge of sergeants and +corporals, and these often make little houses of logs, which they cover +with cedar boughs or branches of laurel, and denominate forts. In the +wilderness, to-day, I stumbled upon Fort Stiner, the head-quarters of a +sub-picket commanded by Corporal William Stiner, of the Third. The +Corporal and such of his men as were off duty, were sitting about a +fire, heating coffee and roasting slices of fat pork, preparing thus the +noonday meal. + +13. At noon Colonel Marrow, Major Keifer, and I, took dinner with +Esquire Stalnaker, an old-style man, born fifty years ago in the log +house where he now lives. Two spinning-wheels were in the best room, and +rattled away with a music which carried me back to the pioneer days of +Ohio. A little girl of five or six years stole up to the wheel when the +mother's back was turned, and tried her skill on a roll. How proud and +delighted she was when she had spun the wool into a long, uneven thread, +and secured it safely on the spindle. Surely, the child of the palace, +reared in the lap of luxury and with her hands in the mother's +jewel-box, could not have been happier or more triumphant in her +bearing. + +These West Virginians are uncultivated, uneducated and rough, and need +the common school to civilize and modernize them. Many have never seen a +railroad, and the telegraph is to them an incomprehensible mystery. + +Governor Dennison has appointed a Mr. John G. Mitchell, of Columbus, +adjutant of the Third. + +14. Privates Vincent and Watson, sentinels of a sub-picket, under +command of Corporal Stiner, discovered a man stealing through the woods, +and halted him. He professed to be a farm hand; said his employer had a +mountain farm not far away, where he pastured cattle. A two-year-old +steer had strayed off, and he was looking for him. His clothes were +fearfully torn by brush and briars. His hands and face were scratched by +thorns. He had taken off his boots to relieve his swollen feet, and was +carrying them in his hands. Imitating the language and manners of an +uneducated West Virginian, he asked the sentinel if he "had seed +anything of a red steer." The sentinel had not. After continuing the +conversation for a time, he finally said: "Well, I must be a goin'; it +is a gettin' late, and I am durned feared I won't git back to the farm +afore night. Good day." "Hold on," said the sentinel; "better go and see +the Captain." "O, no; don't want to trouble him; it is not likely he has +seed the steer, and it's a gettin' late." "Come right along," replied +the sentinel, bringing his gun down; "the Captain will not mind being +troubled; in fact, I am instructed to take such men as you to him." + +Captain Cunard questioned the prisoner closely, asked whom he worked +for, how much he was getting a month for his services, and, finally, +pointing to the long-legged military boots which he was still holding in +his hands, asked how much they cost. "Fifteen dollars," replied the +prisoner. "Fifteen dollars! Is not that rather more than a farm hand who +gets but twelve dollars a month can afford to pay for boots?" inquired +the Captain. "Well, the fact is, boots is a gettin' high since the war, +as well as every thing else." But Captain Cunard was not satisfied. The +prisoner was not well up in the character he had undertaken to play, and +was told that he must go to head-quarters. Finding that he was caught, +he at once threw off the mask, and confessed that he was Captain J. A. +De Lagniel, formerly of the regular army, but now in the Confederate +service. Wounded at the battle of Rich mountain, he had been secreted at +a farm-house near Beverly until able to travel, and was now trying to +get around our pickets and reach the rebel army. He had been in the +mountains five days and four nights. The provisions with which he +started, and which consisted of a little bag of biscuit, had become +moldy. He thought, from the distance traveled, that he must be beyond +our lines and out of danger. + +De Lagniel is an educated man, and his wife and friends believe him to +have been killed at Rich mountain. He speaks in high terms of Captain +Cunard, and says, when the latter began to question him, he soon found +it was useless to play Major Andre, for Paulding was before him, too +sharp to be deceived and too honest to be bribed. When De Lagniel was +brought into camp he was wet and shivering, weak, and thoroughly broken +down by starvation, cold, exposure, and fatigue. The officers supplied +him with the clothing necessary to make him comfortable. + +15. I have a hundred axmen in my charge, felling timber on the +mountain, and constructing rough breastworks to protect our left flank. + +General Reynolds came up to-day to see De Lagniel. They are old +acquaintances, were at West Point together, and know each other like +brothers. + +The irrepressible Corporal Casey, who, in fact, had nothing whatever to +do with the capture of De Lagniel, is now surrounded by a little group +of soldiers. He is talking to them about the prisoner, who, since it is +known that he is an acquaintance of General Reynolds, has become a +person of great importance in the camp. The Corporal speaks in the +broadest Irish brogue, and is telling his hearers that he knew the +fellow was a _sesesh_ at once; that he leveled his musket at him and +towld him to halt; that if he hadn't marched straight up to him he would +have put a minnie ball through his heart; that he had his gun cocked and +his finger on the trigger, and was a mind to shoot him anyway. Then he +tells how he propounded this and that question, which confused the +prisoner, and finally concludes by saying that De Lagniel might be d--d +thankful indade that he escaped with his life. + +The Corporal is the best-known man in the regiment. He prides himself +greatly on the Middle Fork "skrimage." A day or two after that affair, +and at a time when whisky was so scarce that it was worth its weight in +gold, some officers called the Corporal up and asked him to give them an +account of the "skrimage." Before he entered upon the subject, it was +suggested that Captain Dubois, who had the little whisky there was in +the party, should give him a taste to loosen his tongue. The Corporal, +nothing loth, took the flask, and, raising it to his mouth, emptied it, +to the utter dismay of the Captain and his friends. The dhrap had the +effect desired. The Corporal described, with great particularity, his +manner of going into action, dwelt with much emphasis on the +hand-to-hand encounters, the thrusts, the parries, the final clubbing of +the musket, and the utter discomfiture and mortal wounding of his +antagonist. In fact by this time there were two of them; and finally, as +the fight progressed, a dozen or more bounced down on him. It was +lively! There was no time for the loading of guns. Whack, thump, crack! +The head of one was broken, another lay dying of a bayonet thrust, and +still another had perished under the sledge-hammer blow of his fist. The +ground was covered now with the slain. He stood knee-deep in secesh +blood; but a bugle sounded away off on the hills, and the d--d +scoundrels who were able to get away ran off as fast as their legs could +carry them. Had they stood up like men he would have destroyed the whole +regiment; for, you see, he was just getting his hand in. "But, +Corporal," inquired Captain Hunter, "what were the other soldiers of +your company doing all this time?" "Bless your sowl, Captain, and do you +think I had nothing to do but to watch the boys? Be jabers, it was a day +when every man had to look after himself." + +16. The opinion seems to be growing that the rebels do not intend to +attack us. They have put it off too long. + +A scouting party will start out in the morning, under the guidance of +"old Leather Breeches," a primitive West Virginian, who has spent his +life in the mountains. His right name is Bennett. He wears an antiquated +pair of buckskin pantaloons, and has a cabin-home on the mountain, +twelve miles away. + +A tambourine is being played near by, and Fox, with a heart much lighter +than his complexion, is indulging in a double shuffle. + +There are many snakes in the mountains: rattlesnakes, copperheads, +blacksnakes, and almost every other variety of the snake kind; in short, +the boys have snake on the brain. To-day one of the choppers made a +sudden grab for his trouser leg; a snake was crawling up. He held the +loathsome reptile tightly by the head and body, and was fearfully +agitated. A comrade slit down the leg of the pantaloon with a knife, +when lo! an innocent little roll of red flannel was discovered. + +The boys are very liberal in the bestowal of titles. Colonel Hogseye is +indebted to them for his commission. The Colonel commands an ax just +now. Ordinarily he carries a musket, sleeps and dines with his +subordinates, and is not above traveling on foot. + +Fox's real name, I ascertained lately, is William Washington. His +brother, now in the service of the surgeon, is called Handsome, and +Colonel Marrow's servant is known by the boys as the Bay Nigger. + +17. Was awakened this morning at one o'clock, by a soldier in search of +a surgeon. One of our pickets had been wounded. The post was on the +river bank. The sentinel saw a man approaching on the opposite side of +the river, challenged, and saw him level his gun. Both fired. The +sentinel was wounded in the leg by a small squirrel bullet. The other +man was evidently wounded, for after it became light enough he was +traced half a mile by blood on the ground, weeds, and leaves. The +surgeon is of the opinion that the ball struck his left arm. From +information obtained this morning, it is believed this man is secreted +not many miles away. A party of ten has been sent to look for him. + +This is by far the pleasantest camp we have ever had. The river runs its +whole length. The hospital and surgeons' tents are located on a very +pretty little island, a quiet, retired spot, festooned with vines, in +the shadow of great trees, and carpeted with moss soft and velvety as +the best of Brussels. + +18. The name of our camp is properly Elk Water, not Elk Fork. The little +stream which comes down to the river, from which the camp derives its +name, is called Elk Water, because tradition affirms that in early days +the elk frequented the little valley through which it runs. + +The fog has been going up from the mountains, and the rain coming down +in the valley. The river roars a little louder than usual, and its water +is a little less clear. + +The party sent in pursuit of the bushwhacker has returned. Found no +one. + +Two men were seen this evening, armed with rifles, prowling among the +bushes near the place where the affair of last night occurred. They were +fired upon, but escaped. + +An accident, which particularly interests my old company, occurred a few +minutes ago. John Heskett, Jeff Long, and four or five other men, were +detailed from Company I for picket duty. Heskett and Long are intimate +friends, and were playing together, the one with a knife and the other +with a pocket pistol. The pistol was discharged accidentally, and the +ball struck Heskett in the neck, inflicting a serious wound, but whether +fatal or not the surgeon can not yet tell. The affair has cast a shadow +over the company. Young Heskett bears himself bravely. Long is +inconsolable, and begs the boys to shoot him. + +20. These mountain streams are unreliable. We had come to regard the one +on which we are encamped as a quiet, orderly little river, that would be +good enough to notify us when it proposed to swell out and overflow the +adjacent country. In fact we had bragged about it, made all sorts of +complimentary mention of it, put our tents on its margin, and allowed it +to encircle our sick and wounded; but we have now lost all confidence in +it. Yesterday, about noon, it began to rise. It had been raining, and we +thought it natural enough that the waters should increase a little. At +four o'clock it had swelled very considerably, but still kept within its +bed of rock and gravel, and we admired it all the more for the energy +displayed in hurrying along branches, logs, and sometimes whole trees. +At six o'clock we found it was rising at the rate of one foot per hour, +and that the water had now crept to within a few feet of the hospital +tent, in which lay two wounded and a dozen or more of sick. Dr. McMeens +became alarmed and called for help. Thirty or more boys stripped, swam +to the island, and removed the hospital to higher ground--to the highest +ground, in fact, which the island afforded. The boys returned, and we +felt safe. At seven o'clock, however, we found the river still rising +rapidly. It covered nearly the whole island. Logs, brush, green trees, +and all manner of drift went sweeping by at tremendous speed, and the +water rushed over land which had been dry half an hour before, with +apparently as strong a current as that in the channel. We knew then that +the sick and wounded were in danger. How to rescue them was now the +question. A raft was suggested; but a raft could not be controlled in +such a current, and if it went to pieces or was hurried away, the sick +and wounded must drown. Fortunately a better way was suggested; getting +into a wagon, I ordered the driver to go above some distance, so that we +could move with the current, and then ford the stream. After many +difficulties, occasioned mainly by floating logs and driftwood, and +swimming the horses part of the way, we succeeded in getting over. I saw +it was impossible to carry the sick back, and that there was but one way +to render them secure. I had the horses unhitched, and told the driver +to swim them back and bring over two or three more wagons. Two more +finally reached me, and one team, in attempting to cross, was carried +down stream and drowned. I had the three wagons placed on the highest +point I could find, then chained together and staked securely to the +ground. Over the boxes of two of these we rolled the hospital tent, and +on this placed the sick and wounded, just as the water was creeping upon +us. On the third wagon we put the hospital stores. It was now quite +dark. Not more than four feet square of dry land remained of all our +beautiful island; and the river was still rising. We watched the water +with much anxiety. At ten o'clock it reached the wagon hubs, and covered +every foot of the ground; but soon after we were pleased to see that it +began to go down a little. Those of us who could not get into the wagons +had climbed the trees. At one o'clock it commenced to rain again, when +we managed to hoist a tent over the sick. At two o'clock the long-roll, +the signal for battle, was beaten in camp, and we could just hear, above +the roar of the water, the noise made by the men as they hurriedly +turned out and fell into line. + +It will not do, however, to conclude that this was altogether a night of +terrors. It was, in fact, not so very disagreeable after all. There was +a by-play going on much of the time, which served to illuminate the +thick darkness, and divert our minds from the gloomier aspects of the +scene. Smith, the teamster who brought me across, had returned to the +mainland with the horses, and then swam back to the island. By midnight +he had become very drunk. One of the hospital attendants was very far +gone in his cups, also. These two gentlemen did not seem to get along +amicably; in fact, they kept up a fusillade of words all night, and so +kept us awake. The teamster insisted that the hospital attendant should +address him as Mr. Smith. The Smith family, he argued, was of the +highest respectability, and being an honored member of that family, he +would permit no man under the rank of a Major-General to call him Jake. +George McClellan sometimes addressed him by his christian name; but then +George and he were Cincinnatians, old neighbors, and intimate personal +friends, and, of course, took liberties with each other. This could not +justify one who carried out pukes and slop-buckets from a field hospital +in calling him Jake, or even Jacob. + +Mr. Smith's allusions to the hospital attendant were not received by +that gentleman in the most amiable spirit. He grew profane, and insisted +that he was not only as good a man as Smith, but a much better one, and +he dared the bloviating mule scrubber to get down off his perch and +stand up before him like a man. But Jake's temper remained unruffled, +and along toward morning, in a voice more remarkable for strength than +melody, he favored us with a song: + + "Ho! gif ghlass uf goodt lauger du me; + Du mine fadter, mine modter, mine vife: + Der day's vork vos done, undt we'll see + Vot bleasures der vos un dis life, + + Undt ve sit us aroundt mit der table, + Undt ve speak uf der oldt, oldt time, + Ven we lif un dot house mit der gable, + Un der vine-cladt banks uf der Rhine; + + Undt mine fadter, his voice vos a quiver, + Undt mine modter, her eyes vos un tears, + Ash da dthot uf dot home un der river, + Undt kindt friendst uf earlier years; + + Undt I saidt du mine fadter be cheerie, + Du mine modter not longer lookt sadt, + Here's a blace undt a rest for der weary, + Und ledt us eat, drink, undt be gladt. + + So idt ever vos cheerful mitin; + Vot dtho' idt be stormy mitoudt, + Vot care I vor der vorld undt idts din, + Ven dose I luf best vos about; + + So libft up your ghlass, mine modter, + Undt libft up yours, Gretchen, my dear, + Undt libft up your lauger, mine fadter, + Undt drink du long life und good cheer." + +21. Francis Union was shot and killed by one of our own sentinels last +night, the ball entering just under the nose. This resulted from the +cowardice of the soldier who fired. He was afraid to give the necessary +challenge: four simple words: "Halt! who comes there?" would have saved +a life. This illustrates the danger there is in visiting pickets at +night. If the sentinel halts the man, the man may fire at the sentinel. +The latter, if timid, therefore makes sure of the first shot, and does +not challenge. We buried the dead soldier with all the honors due one of +his rank, on a beautiful hill in the rear of our fortifications. He was +with me on the mountain chopping, a few days ago, strong, healthy, +vigorous, and young. No more hard work for him! + +23. With Wagner, Merrill, and Bowen, I rode up the mountain on our left +this afternoon. We had one field-glass and two spy-glasses, and obtained +a magnificent view of the surrounding country. Here and there we could +see a cultivated spot or grazing farm on the top of the mountain; but +more frequently these were on the slopes. We descried one house with our +glasses on the very tiptop of Rich, and so far away that it seemed no +larger than a tent. How the man of the house gets up to his airy height +and gets down again puzzles us. He has the first gush of the sunshine in +the morning, and the latest gleam in the evening. Very often, indeed, he +must look down upon the clouds, and, if he has a tender heart, pity the +poor devils in the valley who are being rained on continually. Is it a +pleasant home? Has he wife and children in that mountain nest? Is he a +man of dogs and guns, who spends his years in the mountains and glens +hunting for bear and deer? May it not be the baronial castle of "old +Leather Breeches" himself? + +Away off to the east a cloud, black and heavy, is resting on a peak of +the Cheat. Around it the mountain is glowing in the summer sun, and +appears soft and green. A gauze of shimmering blue mantles the crest, +darkens in the coves, and becomes quite black in the gorges. The rugged +rocks and scraggy trees, if there be any, are at this distance +invisible, and nothing is seen but what delights the eye and quickens +the imagination. + +We see by the papers that Ohio is preparing to organize a grand Union +party, with a platform on which both Republicans and Democrats can +stand. I am glad of this. There should be but one party in the North, +and that party willing to make all sacrifices for the Union. + +24. Last night a sentinel on one of the picket posts halted a stump and +demanded the countersign. No response being made, he fired. The entire +Fifteenth Indiana sprang to arms; the cannoniers gathered about their +guns, and a thousand eyes peered into the darkness to get a glimpse of +the approaching enemy. But the stump, evidently intimidated by the first +shot, did not advance, and so the Hoosiers returned again to their +couches, to dream, doubtless, of the subject of a song very common now +in camp, to wit: + + "Old Governor Wise, + With his goggle eyes." + +25. The Twenty-third Ohio, Colonel Scammon, will be here to-morrow. +Stanley Matthews is the lieutenant-colonel of this regiment, and my old +friend, Rutherford B. Hayes, the major. The latter is an accomplished +gentleman, graduate of Harvard Law School, and will, it is said, in all +probability, succeed Gurley in Congress. Matthews has a fine reputation +as a speaker and lawyer, and, I have been told, is the most promising +young man in Ohio. Scammon is a West Pointer. + +26. Five companies of the Twenty-third Ohio and five companies of the +Ninth Ohio arrived to-day, and are encamped in a maple grove about a +mile below us. A detachment of cavalry came up also, and is quartered +near. Other regiments are coming. It is said the larger portion of the +troops in West Virginia are tending in this direction; but on what +particular point it is proposed to concentrate them rumor saith not. + +General McClellan did not go far enough at first. After the defeat of +Pegram, at Rich mountain, and Garnett, at Laurel Hill, the Southern army +of this section was utterly demoralized. It scattered, and the men +composing it, who were not captured, fled, terror stricken, to their +homes. We could have marched to Staunton without opposition, and taken +possession of the very strongholds the enemy is now fortifying against +us. If in our advanced position supplies could not have been obtained +from the North, the army might have subsisted off the country. Thus, by +pushing vigorously forward, we could have divided the enemy's forces, +and thus saved our army in the East from humiliating defeat. This is the +way it looks to me; but, after all, there may have been a thousand good +reasons for remaining here, of which I know nothing. One thing, however, +is, I think, very evident: a successful army, elated with victory, and +eager to advance, is not likely to be defeated by a dispirited opponent. +One-fourth, at least, of the strength of this army disappeared when it +heard of the rebel triumphs on the Potomac. + + * * * * * + +Latter part of August the writer was sent to Ohio for recruits for the +regiment, and did not return to camp until the middle of September. + + + + +SEPTEMBER 1861. + + +19. Reached camp yesterday at noon. My recruits arrived to-day. + +The enemy was here in my absence in strength and majesty, and repeated, +with a slight variation, the grand exploit of the King of France, by + + "Marching up the hill with twenty thousand men, + And straightway marching down again." + +There was lively skirmishing for a few days, and hot work expected; but, +for reasons unknown to us, the enemy retired precipitately. + +On Sunday morning last fifty men of the Sixth Ohio, when on picket, were +surprised and captured. My friend, Lieutenant Merrill, fell into the +hands of the enemy, and is now probably on his way to Castle Pinckney. +Further than this our rebellious friends did us no damage. Our men, at +this point, killed Colonel Washington, wounded a few others, and further +than this inflicted but little injury upon the enemy. The country people +near whom the rebels encamped say they got to fighting among themselves. +The North Carolinians were determined to go home, and regiments from +other States claimed that their term of service had expired, and wanted +to leave. I am glad they did, and trust they may go home, hang up their +guns, and go to work like sensible people, for then I could do the same. + +23. This afternoon I rode by a mountain path to a log cabin in which a +half dozen wounded Tennesseeans are lying. One poor fellow had his leg +amputated yesterday, and was very feeble. One had been struck by a ball +on the head and a buckshot in the lungs. Two boys were but slightly +wounded, and were in good spirits. To one of these--a jovial, pleasant +boy--Dr. Seyes said, good-humoredly: "You need have no fears of dying +from a gunshot; you are too big a devil, and were born to be hung." +Colonel Marrow sought to question this same fellow in regard to the +strength of the enemy, when the boy said: "Are you a commissioned +officer?" "Yes," replied Marrow. "Then," returned he, "you ought to know +that a private soldier don't know anything." + +In returning to camp, we followed a path which led to a place where a +regiment of the rebels had encamped one night. They had evidently become +panic-stricken and left in hot haste. The woods were strewn with +knapsacks, blankets, and canteens. + +The ride was a pleasant one. The path, first wild and rugged, finally +led to a charming little valley, through which Beckey's creek hurries +down to the river. Leaving this, we traveled up the side of a ravine, +through which a little stream fretted and fumed, and dashed into spray +against slimy rocks, and then gathered itself up for another charge, and +so pushed gallantly on toward the valley and the sunshine. + +What a glorious scene! The sky filled with stars; the rising moon; two +mountain walls so high, apparently, that one might step from them into +heaven; the rapid river, the thousand white tents dotting the valley, +the camp fires, the shadowy forms of soldiers; in short, just enough of +heaven and earth visible to put one's fancy on the gallop. The boys are +in groups about their fires. The voice of the troubadour is heard. It is +a pleasant song that he sings, and I catch part of it. + + "The minstrel's returned from the war, + With spirits as buoyant as air, + And thus on the tuneful guitar + He sings in the bower of the fair: + The noise of the battle is over; + The bugle no more calls to arms; + A soldier no more, but a lover, + I kneel to the power of thy charms. + Sweet lady, dear lady, I'm thine; + I bend to the magic of beauty, + Though the banner and helmet are mine, + Yet love calls the soldier to duty." + +24. Our Indiana friends are providing for the winter by laying in a +stock of household furniture at very much less than its original cost, +and without even consulting the owners. It is probable that our Ohio +boys steal occasionally, but they certainly do not prosecute the +business openly and courageously. + +26. The Thirteenth Indiana, Sixth Ohio, and two pieces of artillery went +up the valley at noon, to feel the enemy. It rained during the +afternoon, and since nightfall has poured down in torrents. The poor +fellows who are now trudging along in the darkness and storm, will +think, doubtless, of home and warm beds. It requires a pure article of +patriotism, and a large quantity of it, to make one oblivious for months +at a time of all the comforts of civil life. + +This is the day designated by the President for fasting and prayer. +Parson Strong held service in the regiment, and the Rev. Mr. Reed, of +Zanesville, Ohio, delivered a very eloquent exhortation. I trust the +supplications of the Church and the people may have effect, and bring +that Higher Power to our assistance which hitherto has apparently not +been with our arms especially. + +27. To-night almost the entire valley is inundated. Many tents are waist +high in water, and where others stood this morning the water is ten feet +deep. Two men of the Sixth Ohio are reported drowned. The water got +around them before they became aware of it, and in endeavoring to escape +they were swept down the stream and lost. The river seems to stretch +from the base of one mountain to the other, and the whole valley is one +wild scene of excitement. Wherever a spot of dry ground can be found, +huge log fires are burning, and men by the dozen are grouped around +them, anxiously watching the water and discussing the situation. Tents +have been hastily pitched on the hills, and camp fires, each with its +group of men, are blazing in many places along the side of the mountain. +The rain has fallen steadily all day. + +28. The Thirteenth Indiana and Sixth Ohio returned. The reconnoissance +was unsuccessful, the weather being unfavorable. + + + + +OCTOBER, 1861. + + +2. Our camp is almost deserted. The tents of eight regiments dot the +valley; but those of two regiments and a half only are occupied. The +Hoosiers have all gone to Cheat mountain summit. They propose to steal +upon the enemy during the night, take him by surprise, and thrash him +thoroughly. I pray they may be successful, for since Rich mountain our +army has done nothing worthy of a paragraph. Rosecrans' affair at +Carnifex was a barren thing; certainly no battle and no victory, and the +operations in this vicinity have at no time risen to the dignity of a +skirmish. + +Captain McDougal, with nearly one hundred men and three days' +provisions, started up the valley this morning, with instructions to go +in sight of the enemy, the object being to lead the latter to suppose +the advance guard of our army is before him. By this device it is +expected to keep the enemy in our front from going to the assistance of +the rebels now threatening Kimball. + +3. To-night, half an hour ago, received a dispatch from the top of +Cheat, which reads as follows: + +"All back. Made a very interesting reconnoissance. Killed a large +number of the enemy. Very small loss on our side. J. J. REYNOLDS, + Brigadier-General." + +Why, when the battle was progressing so advantageously for our side, did +they not go on? This, then, is the result of the grand demonstration on +the other side of the mountain. + +McDougal's company returned, and report the enemy fallen back. + +The frost has touched the foliage, and the mountain peaks look like +mammoth bouquets; green, red, yellow, and every modification of these +colors appear mingled in every possible fanciful and tasteful way. + +Another dispatch has just come from the top of Cheat, written, I doubt +not, after the Indianians had returned to camp and drawn their whisky +ration. It sounds bigger than the first. I copy it: + +"Found the rebels drawn up in line of battle one mile outside of their +fortifications, drove them back to their intrenchments, and continued +the fight four hours. Ten of our men wounded and ten killed. Two or +three hundred of the enemy killed." + +If it be true that so many of the rebels were killed, it is probable +that two thousand at least were wounded; and when three hundred are +killed and two thousand wounded, out of an army of twelve or fifteen +hundred men, the business is done up very thoroughly. The dispatch which +went to Richmond to-night, I have no doubt, stated that "the Federals +attacked in great force, outnumbering us two or three to one, and after +a terrific engagement, lasting five hours, they were repulsed at all +points with great slaughter. Our loss one killed and five wounded. +Federal loss, five hundred killed and twenty-five hundred wounded." Thus +are victories won and histories made. Verily the pen is mightier than +the sword. + +4. The Indianians have been returning from the summit all day, +straggling along in squads of from three to a full company. + +The men are tired, and the camp is quiet as a house. Six thousand are +sleeping away a small portion of their three weary years of military +service. This time stretches out before them, a broad, unknown, and +extra-hazardous sea, with promise of some smooth sailing, but many days +and nights of heavy winds and waves, in which some--how many!--will be +carried down. + +Their thoughts have now forced the sentinel lines, leaped the mountains, +jumped the rivers, hastened home, and are lingering about the old +fireside, looking in at the cupboard, and hovering over faces and places +that have been growing dearer to them every day for the last five +months. Old-fashioned places, tame and uninteresting then, but now how +loved! And as for the faces, they are those of mothers, wives, and +sweethearts, around which are entwined the tenderest of memories. But at +daybreak, when reveille is sounded, these wanderers must come trooping +back again in time for "hard-tack" and double quick. + +5. Some of the Indiana regiments are utterly beyond discipline. The men +are good, stout, hearty, intelligent fellows, and will make excellent +soldiers; but they have now no regard for their officers, and, as a +rule, do as they please. They came straggling back yesterday from the +top of Cheat unofficered, and in the most unsoldierly manner. As one of +these stray Indianians was coming into camp, he saw a snake in the river +and cocked his gun. He was near the quarters of the Sixth Ohio, and many +men were on the opposite side of the stream, among them a lieutenant, +who called to the Indianian and begged him for God's sake not to fire; +but the latter, unmindful of what was said, blazed away. The ball, +striking the water, glanced and hit the lieutenant in the breast, +killing him almost instantly. + +6. The Third and Sixth Ohio, with Loomis' battery, left camp at +half-past three in the afternoon, and took the Huntersville turnpike for +Big Springs, where Lee's army has been encamped for some months. At nine +o'clock we reached Logan's Mill, where the column halted for the night. +It had rained heavily for some hours, and was still raining. The boys +went into camp thoroughly wet, and very hungry and tired; but they soon +had a hundred fires kindled, and, gathering around these, prepared and +ate supper. + +I never looked upon a wilder or more interesting scene. The valley is +blazing with camp-fires; the men flit around them like shadows. Now some +indomitable spirit, determined that neither rain nor weather shall get +him down, strikes up: + + "Oh! say, can you see by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?" + +A hundred voices join in, and the very mountains, which loom up in the +fire-light like great walls, whose tops are lost in the darkness, +resound with a rude melody befitting so wild a night and so wild a +scene. But the songs are not all patriotic. Love and fun make +contribution also, and a voice, which may be that of the invincible +Irishman, Corporal Casey, sings: + + "'T was a windy night, about two o'clock in the morning, + An Irish lad, so tight, all the wind and weather scorning, + At Judy Callaghan's door, sitting upon the paling, + His love tale he did pour, and this is part of his wailing: + Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan; + Don't say nay, charming Judy Callaghan." + +A score of voices pick up the chorus, and the hills and mountains seem +to join in the Corporal's appeal to the charming Judy: + + "Only say you'll be mistress Brallaghan; + Don't say nay, charming Judy Callaghan." + +Lieutenant Root is in command of Loomis' battery. Just before reaching +Logan's one of his provision wagons tumbled down a precipice, severely +injuring three men and breaking the wagon in pieces. + +7. Left Logan's mill before the sun was up. The rain continues, and the +mud is deep. At eleven o'clock we reached what is known as Marshall's +store, near which, until recently, the enemy had a pretty large camp. +Halted at the place half an hour, and then moved four miles further on, +where we found the roads impassable for our artillery and +transportation. + +Learning that the enemy had abandoned Big Springs and fallen back to +Huntersville, the soldiers were permitted to break ranks, while Colonel +Marrow and Major Keifer, with a company of cavalry, rode forward to the +Springs. Colonel Nick Anderson, Adjutant Mitchell and I followed. We +found on the road evidence of the recent presence of a very large force. +Quite a number of wagons had been left behind. Many tents had been +ripped, cut to pieces, or burned, so as to render them worthless. A +large number of beef hides were strung along the road. One wagon, loaded +with muskets, had been destroyed. All of which showed, simply, that +before the rebels abandoned the place the roads had become so bad that +they could not carry off their baggage. + +The object of the expedition being now accomplished, we started back at +three o'clock in the afternoon, and encamped for the night at Marshall's +store. + +8. Resumed the march early, found the river waist high, and current +swift; but the men all got over safely, and we reached camp at one +o'clock. + +The Third has been assigned to a new brigade, to be commanded by +Brigadier-General Dumont, of Indiana. + +The paymaster has come at last. + +Willis, my new servant, is a colored gentleman of much experience and +varied accomplishments. He has been a barber on a Mississippi river +steamboat, and a daguerreian artist. He knows much of the South, and +manipulates a fiddle with wonderful skill. He is enlivening the hours +now with his violin. + +Oblivious to rain, mud, and the monotony of the camp, my thoughts are +carried by the music to other and pleasanter scenes; to the cottage +home, to wife and children, to a time still further away when we had no +children, when we were making the preliminary arrangements for starting +in the world together, when her cheeks were ruddier than now, when +wealth and fame and happiness seemed lying just before me, ready to be +gathered in, and farther away still, to a gentle, blue-eyed mother--now +long gone--teaching her child to lisp his first simple prayer. + +9. The day has been clear. The mountains, decorated by the artistic +fingers of Jack Frost, loom up in the sunshine like magnificent, +highly-colored, and beautiful pictures. + +The night is grand. The moon, a crescent, now rests for a moment on the +highest peak of the Cheat, and by its light suggests, rather than +reveals, the outline of hill, valley, cove and mountain. + +The boys are wide awake and merry. The fair weather has put new spirit +in them all, and possibly the presence of the paymaster has contributed +somewhat to the good feeling which prevails. + +Hark! This from the company quarters: + + "Her golden hair in ringlets fair; + Her eyes like diamonds shining; + Her slender waist, her carriage chaste, + Left me, poor soul, a pining. + But let the night be e'er so dark, + Or e'er so wet and rainy, + I will return safe back again + To the girl I left behind me." + +From another quarter, in the rich brogue of the Celt, we have: + + "Did you hear of the widow Malone, + Ohone! + Who lived in the town of Athlone, + Alone? + Oh! she melted the hearts + Of the swains in those parts; + So lovely the widow Malone, + Ohone! + So lovely the widow Malone." + +10. Mr. Strong, the chaplain, has a prayer meeting in the adjoining +tent. His prayers and exhortations fill me with an almost irresistible +inclination to close my eyes and shut out the vanities, cares, and +vexations of the world. Parson Strong is dull, but he is very +industrious, and on secular days devotes his physical and mental powers +to the work of tanning three sheepskins and a calf's hide. On every +fair day he has the skins strung on a pole before his tent to get the +sun. He combs the wool to get it clean, and takes especial delight in +rubbing the hides to make them soft and pliable. I told the parson the +other day that I could not have the utmost confidence in a shepherd who +took so much pleasure in tanning hides. + +While Parson Strong and a devoted few are singing the songs of Zion, the +boys are having cotillion parties in other parts of the camp. On the +parade ground of one company Willis is officiating as musician, and the +gentlemen go through "honors to partners" and "circle all" with +apparently as much pleasure as if their partners had pink cheeks, white +slippers, and dresses looped up with rosettes. + +There comes from the Chaplain's tent a sweet and solemn refrain: + + "Perhaps He will admit my plea, + Perhaps will hear my prayer; + But if I perish I will pray, + And perish only there. + I can but perish if I go. + I am resolved to try. + For if I stay away I know + I must forever die." + +While these old hymns are sounding in our ears, we are almost tempted to +go, even if we do perish. Surely nothing has such power to make us +forget earth and its round of troubles as these sweet old church songs, +familiar from earliest childhood, and wrought into the most tender +memories, until we come to regard them as a sort of sacred stream, on +which some day our souls will float away happily to the better country. + +12. The parson is in my tent doing his best to extract something solemn +out of Willis' violin. Now he stumbles on a strain of "Sweet Home," then +a scratch of "Lang Syne;" but the latter soon breaks its neck over "Old +Hundred," and all three tunes finally mix up and merge into "I would not +live alway, I ask not to stay," which, for the purpose of steadying his +hand, the parson sings aloud. I look at him and affect surprise that a +reverend gentleman should take any pleasure in so vain and wicked an +instrument, and express a hope that the business of tanning skins has +not utterly demoralized him. + +Willis pretends to a taste in music far superior to that of the common +"nigger." He plays a very fine thing, and when I ask what it is, +replies: "Norma, an opera piece." Since the parson's exit he has been +executing "Norma" with great spirit, and, so far as I am able to judge, +with wonderful skill. I doubt not his thoughts are a thousand miles +hence, among brown-skinned wenches, dressed in crimson robes, and +decorated with ponderous ear-drops. In fact, "Norma" is good, and goes +far to carry one out of the wilderness. + +13. It is after tattoo. Parson Strong's prayer-meeting has been +dismissed an hour, and the camp is as quiet as if deserted. The day has +been a duplicate of yesterday, cold and windy. To-night the moon is +sailing through a wilderness of clouds, now breaking out and throwing a +mellow light over valley and mountain, then plunging into obscurity, and +leaving all in thick darkness. + +Major Keifer, Adjutant Mitchell, and Private Jerroloaman have been +stretching their legs before my fire-place all the evening. The Adjutant +being hopelessly in love, naturally enough gave the conversation a +sentimental turn, and our thoughts have been wandering among the rosy +years when our hearts throbbed under the gleam of one bright particular +star (I mean one each), and our souls alternated between hope and fear, +happiness and despair. Three of us, however, have some experience in +wedded life, and the gallant Adjutant is reasonably confident that he +will obtain further knowledge on the subject if this cruel war ever +comes to an end and his sweetheart survives. + +14. The paymaster has been busy. The boys are very bitter against the +sutler, realizing, for the first time, that "sutler's chips" cost money, +and that they have wasted on jimcracks too much of their hard earnings. +Conway has taken a solemn Irish oath that the sutler shall never get +another cent of him. But these are like the half repentant, but +resultless, mutterings of the confirmed drunkard. The "new leaf" +proposed to be turned over is never turned. + +16. Am told that some of the boys lost in gambling every farthing of +their money half an hour after receiving it from the paymaster. + +An Indiana soldier threw a bombshell into the fire to-day, and three men +were seriously wounded by the explosion. + + * * * * * + +The writer was absent from camp from October 21st to latter part of +November, serving on court-martial, first at Huttonville, and afterward +at Beverly. + +In November the Third was transferred to Kentucky. + + + + +NOVEMBER, 1861. + + +30. The Third is encamped five miles south of Louisville, on the +Seventh-street plank road. + +As we marched through the city my attention was directed to a sign +bearing the inscription, in large black letters, + + "NEGROES BOUGHT AND SOLD." + +We have known, to be sure, that negroes were bought and sold, like +cattle and tobacco, but it, nevertheless, awakened new, and not by any +means agreeable, sensations to see the humiliating fact announced on the +broad side of a commercial house. These signs must come down. + +The climate of Kentucky is variable, freezing nights and thawing in the +day. The soil in this locality is rich, and, where trodden, extremely +muddy. We shall miss the clear water of the mountain streams. A large +number of troops are concentrating here. + + + + +DECEMBER, 1861. + + +1. Sunday has just slipped away. Parson Strong attempted to get an +audience; but a corporal's guard, for numbers, were all who desired to +be ministered to in spiritual things. + +The Colonel spends much of his time in Louisville. He complains bitterly +because the company officers do not remain in camp, and yet fails to set +them a good example in this regard. We have succeeded poorly in holding +our men. Quite a number dodged off while the boat was lying at the +landing in Cincinnati, and still more managed to get through the guard +lines and have gone to Louisville. The invincible Corporal Casey has not +yet put in an appearance. + +The boys of the Sixth Ohio are exceedingly jubilant; the entire regiment +has been allowed a furlough for six days. This was done to satisfy the +men, who had become mutinous because they were not permitted to stop at +Cincinnati on their way hither. + +4. Rode to Louisville this afternoon; in the evening attended the +theatre, and saw the notorious Adah Isaacs Menken Heenan. The house was +packed with soldiers, mostly of the Sixth Ohio. It seemed probable at +one time that there would be a general free fight; but the brawlers were +finally quieted and the play went on. One of the performers resembled an +old West Virginia acquaintance so greatly that the boys at once +y'clepped him Stalnaker, and howled fearfully whenever he made his +appearance. + +7. Moved three miles nearer Louisville and encamped in a grove. Have had +much difficulty in keeping the men in camp; and this evening, to prevent +a general stampede, ordered the guards to load their guns and shoot the +first man who attempted to break over. Have succeeded also in getting +the officers to remain; notified them yesterday that charges would be +preferred against all who left without permission, and this afternoon I +put my very good friend, Lieutenant Dale, under arrest for disregarding +the order. + +12. In camp near Elizabethtown. The road over which we marched was +excellent; but owing to detention at Salt river, where the troops and +trains had to be ferried over, we were a day longer coming here than we +expected to be. The weather has been delightful, warm as spring time. +The nights are beautiful. + +The regiment was greatly demoralized by our stay in the vicinity of +Louisville, and on the march hither the boys were very disorderly and +loth to obey; but, by dint of much scolding, we succeeded in getting +them all through. + +13. Have been attached to the Seventeenth Brigade, and assigned to the +Third Division; the latter commanded by General O. M. Mitchell. The +General remarked to me this morning, that the best drilled and +conditioned regiments would lead in the march toward Nashville. + +15. Jake Smith, the driver of the head-quarters wagon, on his arrival in +Elizabethtown went to the hotel, and in an imperious way ordered dinner, +assuring the landlord, with much emphasis, that he was "no damned common +officer, and wanted a good dinner." + +18. In camp at Bacon creek, eight miles north of Green river. Have been +two days on the way from Elizabethtown; the road was bad. There were +nine regiments in the column, which extended as far almost as the eye +could reach. + +At Louisville I was compelled to bear heavily on officers and men. On +the march hither I have dealt very thoroughly with some of the most +disorderly, and in consequence have become unpopular with the regiment. + +20. General Mitchell called this afternoon and requested me to form the +regiment in a square. I did so, and he addressed it for twenty minutes +on guard duty, throwing in here and there patriotic expressions, which +encouraged and delighted the boys very much. When he departed they gave +him three rousing cheers. + +21. A reconnoissance was made beyond Green river yesterday, and no enemy +found. + +We are short of supplies; entirely out of sugar, coffee, and candles, +and the boys to-night indicated some faint symptoms of insubordination, +but I assured them we had made every effort possible to obtain these +articles, and so quieted them. + +Major Keifer was officer in charge of the camp yesterday, and when +making the rounds last night a sentinel challenged, "Halt! who comes +there?" The sergeant responded, "Grand rounds," whereupon the weary and +disappointed Irishman retorted in angry tones: "Divil take the grand +rounds, I thought it the relafe comin'." + +22. The pleasant days have ended. The clouds hang heavy and black, and +the rain descends in torrents. + +After eleven o'clock last night I accompanied General Mitchell to ten +regiments, and with him made the grand rounds in most of them. As we +rode from camp to camp the General made the time most agreeable and +profitable to me, by delivering a very able lecture on military affairs; +laying down what he denominated a simple and sure foundation for the +beginner to build upon. + +The wind is high and our stove smokes prodigiously. I have been out in +the rain endeavoring to turn the pipe, but have not mended the matter at +all. The Major insists that it is better to freeze than to be smoked to +death, so we shall extinguish the fire and freeze. + +Adjutant Mitchell has been commissioned captain and assigned to Company +C. + +25. Gave passes to all the boys who desired to leave camp. The Major, +Adjutant and I had a right royal Christmas dinner and a pleasant time. A +fine fat chicken, fried mush, coffee, peaches and milk, were on the +table. The Major is engaged now in heating the second tea-pot of water +for punch purposes. His countenance has become quite rosy; this is +doubtless the effect of the fire. He has been unusually powerful in +argument; but whether his intellect has been stimulated by the fire, the +tea, or the punch, we are at this time wholly unable to decide; he +certainly handles the tea-pot with consummate skill, and attacks the +punch with exceeding vigor. + +27. No orders to advance. Armies travel slowly indeed. Within fifteen +miles of the enemy and idly rotting in the mud. + +Acting Brigadier-General Marrow when informed that Dumont would assume +command of the brigade, became suddenly and violently ill, asked for and +obtained a thirty-day leave. + +I would give much to be home with the children during this holiday time; +but unfortunately my health is too good, and will continue so in spite +of me. The Major, poor man, is troubled in the same way. + +28. Lieutenant St. John goes to Louisville with a man who was arrested +as a spy; and strange to say the arrest was made at the instance of the +prisoner's uncle, who is a captain in the Union army. + +Captain Mitchell assumes command of company C to-morrow. The Colonel is +incensed at the Major and me, because of the Adjutant's promotion. He +intended to make a place in the company for a non-commissioned officer, +who begged money from the boys to buy him a sword. We astonished him, +however, by showing three commissions--one for the Adjutant, and one +each for a first and second lieutenant, all of the company's own +choosing. + +30. Called on General Dumont this morning; he is a small man, with a +thin piping voice, but an educated and affable gentleman. Did not make +his acquaintance in West Virginia, he being unwell while there and +confined to his quarters. + +This is a peculiar country; there are innumerable caverns, and every few +rods places are found where the crust of the earth appears to have +broken and sunk down hundreds of feet. One mile from camp there is a +large and interesting cave, which has been explored probably by every +soldier of the regiment. + +31. General Buell is here, and a grand review took place to-day. + +Since we left Elkwater there has been a steadily increasing element of +insubordination manifested in many ways, but notably in an unwillingness +to drill, in stealing from camp and remaining away for days. This, if +tolerated much longer, will demoralize even the best of men and render +the regiment worthless. + + + + +JANUARY, 1862. + + +1. Albert, the cook, was swindled in the purchase of a fowl for our New +Year's dinner; he supposed he was getting a young and tender turkey, but +we find it to be an ancient Shanghai rooster, with flesh as tough as +whitleather. This discovery has cast a shade of melancholy over the +Major. + +The boys, out of pure devilment, set fire to the leaves, and to-night +the forest was illuminated. The flames advanced so rapidly that, at one +time, we feared they might get beyond control, but the fire was finally +whipped out, not, however, without making as much noise in the operation +as would be likely to occur at the burning of an entire city. + +5. General Mitchell has issued an immense number of orders, and of +course holds the commandants of regiments responsible for their +execution. I have, as in duty bound, done my best to enforce them, and +the men think me unnecessarily severe. + +To-day a soldier about half drunk was arrested for leaving camp without +permission and brought to my quarters; he had two canteens of whisky on +his person. I remonstrated with him mildly, but he grew saucy, +insubordinate, and finally insolent and insulting; he said he did not +care a damn for what I thought or did, and was ready to go to the +guard-house; in fact wanted to go there. Finally, becoming exasperated, +I took the canteens from him, poured out the whisky, and directed +Captain Patterson to strap him to a tree until he cooled off somewhat. +The Captain failing in his efforts to fasten him securely, I took my +saddle girth, backed him up to the tree, buckled him to it, and returned +to my quarters. This proved to be the last straw which broke the +unfortunate camel's back. It was a high-handed outrage upon the person +of a volunteer soldier; the last and worst of the many arbitrary and +severe acts of which I had been guilty. The regiment seemed to arise _en +masse_, and led on by a few reckless men who had long disliked me, +advanced with threats and fearful oaths toward my tent. The bitter +hatred which the men entertained for me had now culminated. It being +Sunday the whole regiment was off duty, and while some, and perhaps +many, of the boys had no desire to resort to violent measures, yet all +evidently sympathized with the prisoner, and regarded my action as +arbitrary and cruel. The position of the soldier was a humiliating one, +but it gave him no bodily pain. Possibly I had no authority for +punishing him in this way; and had I taken time for reflection it is +more than probable I should have found some other and less objectionable +mode; confinement in the guard-house, however, would have been no +punishment for such a man; on the contrary it would have afforded him +that relief from disagreeable duty which he desired. At any rate the +act, whether right or wrong, had been done, and I must either stand by +it now or abandon all hope of controlling the regiment hereafter. I +watched the mob, unobserved by it, from an opening in my tent door. Saw +it gather, consult, advance, and could hear the boisterous and +threatening language very plainly. Buckling my pistol belt under my coat +where it could not be seen, I stepped out just as the leaders advanced +to the tree for the purpose of releasing the man. I asked them very +quietly what they proposed to do. Then I explained to them how the +soldier had violated orders, which I was bound by my oath to enforce; +how, when I undertook to remonstrate kindly against such unsoldierly +conduct, he had insulted and defied me. Then I continued as calmly as I +ever spoke, "I understand you have come here to untie him; let the man +who desires to undertake the work begin--if there be a dozen men here +who have it in their minds to do this thing--let them step forward--I +dare them to do it." They saw before them a quiet, plain man who was +ready to die if need be; they could not doubt his honesty of purpose. He +gave them time to act and answer, they stood irresolute and silent; with +a wave of the hand he bade them go to their quarters, and they went. + +General Mitchell hearing of my trouble sent for me. I explained to him +the difficulties under which I was laboring; told him what I had done +and why I had done it. He said he understood my position fully, that I +must go ahead, do my duty and he would stand by me, and, if necessary, +sustain me with his whole division. I replied that I needed no +assistance; that the officers, with but few exceptions, were my friends, +and that I believed there were enough good, sensible soldiers in the +regiment to see me through. He talked very kindly to me; but I feel +greatly discouraged. The Colonel has practically abandoned the regiment +in this period of bad weather, when rigorous discipline is to be +enforced, and the boys seem to feel that I am taking advantage of his +absence to display my authority, and require from them the performance +of hard and unnecessary tasks. Many non-commissioned officers have been +reduced to the ranks by court-martial for being absent without leave, +and many privates have been punished in various ways for the same +reason. It was my duty to approve or disapprove the finding of the +court. Disapproval in the majority of cases would have been subversive +of all discipline. Approval has brought down upon me not only the hatred +and curses of the soldiers tried and punished, but in some instances the +ill-will also of their fathers, who for years were my neighbors and +friends. + +Very many of these soldiers think they should be allowed to work when +they please, play when they please, and, in short, do as they please. +Until this idea is expelled from their minds the regiment will be but +little if any better than a mob. + +7. We hear of the Colonel occasionally. He is still at Louisville, +running his train on the broad gauge. His regiment, he says, has been +maneuvering in the face of the enemy beyond Green river, threatened +with an attack day and night. Constant vigilance and continued exposure +in this most inclement season of the year, so undermined his health that +he was compelled to retire a little while to recuperate. He affirms that +he has the best regiment of soldiers in the service; but, unfortunately, +has not a field officer worth a damn. + +Robt. E. Lee was the great man of the rebel army in West Virginia. The +boys all talked about Lee, and told how they would pink him if +opportunity offered. But Simon Bolivar Buckner is the man here on whom +they all threaten to fall violently. There are certainly a hundred +soldiers in the Third, each one of whom swears every day that he would +whip Simon Bolivar Buckner quicker than a wink if he dared present +himself. Simon is in danger. + +Had the third sergeants in my school to-night. Am getting to be a pretty +good teacher. + +10. General Mitchell gave the officers a very interesting lecture this +evening. He is indefatigable. The whole division has become a school. + +Had five lieutenants before me. Lesson: grand guards and other outposts. + +11. The General summoned the officers of his division about him and went +through the form of sending out advanced guard, posting picket, grand +guards, outposts, and sentinels. During these exercises we rode fifteen +or twenty miles, and listened to at least twenty speeches. My horse was +very gay, and I had the pleasure of running many races. I learned +something, and am learning a little each day. Had the lieutenants in my +school again to-night. Lesson: detachments, reconnoissances, partisans, +and flankers. + +12. The officers dress better, as a rule, than in West Virginia. The +only man who has not, in this regard, changed for the better, is the +Major. He continues the careless fellow he was. Occasionally he makes an +effort to have his boots polished; but finds the day altogether too +short for the work, and abandons the job in despair. + +14. Every day we have the roar of artillery, the rattle of musketry, the +prancing of impatient steeds, the marching and countermarching of +battalions, the roll of the drum, the clash and clatter of sabers, and +the thunder of a thousand mounted men, as they hurry hither and yon. But +nobody is hurt; it is all practice and drill. + +16. People who live in houses would hardly believe one can sleep +comfortably with his nose separated from the coldest winter wind by +simply a thin cotton canvas; but such is the fact. + +19. General Dumont called. He is to-day commandant of the camp. The +General is an eccentric genius, and has an inexhaustible fund of good +stories. He uses the words "damned" and "be-damned" rather too often; +but this adds, rather than detracts, from his popularity. He dispenses +good whisky at his quarters very freely, and this has a tendency also to +elevate him in the estimation of his subordinates. + +General Mitchell never drinks and never swears. Occasionally he uses +the words "confound it" in rather savage style; but further than this I +have never heard him go. Mitchell is military; Dumont militia. The +latter winks at the shortcomings of the soldier; the former does not. + +25. We are not studying so much as we were. The General's grasp has +relaxed, and he does not hold us with a tight reign and stiff bit any +longer. + +There is a great deal of sickness among the troops; many cases of colds, +rheumatism, and fever, resulting from exposure. Passing through the +company quarters of our regiment at midnight, I was alarmed by the +constant and heavy coughing of the men. I fear the winter will send many +more to the grave than the bullets of the enemy, for a year to come. + +26. A body of cavalry got in our rear last night and attempted to +destroy the Nolan creek bridge; but it was driven off by the guard, +after a sharp engagement, in which report says nine of the enemy were +killed and six of our men. + +The enemy is doing but little in our front. A night or two ago he +ventured to within a few miles of our forces on Green river, burnt a +station-house, and retired. + +28. The Colonel returned at noon. I was among the first to visit him. He +greeted me very cordially, and called God to witness that he had never +spoken a disparaging word of me. Busy bodies and liars, he said, had +created all the trouble between us. He had heard that charges were to +be preferred against him; he knew they could not be sustained, and +believed it an attempt of his enemies to injure him and prevent his +promotion. He affirmed that he had enlisted from the purest of motives, +and entered into a general defense of his acts as an officer and +gentleman. I listened respectfully to his statement, and then said: +"Colonel, if your conduct has been such as you describe, you need not +fear an investigation. I hold in my hand the charges and specifications +of which you have heard. They are signed by my hand. I make them +believing them to be true. If false, the court will so find, and I shall +be the one to suffer. If true, you are unfit to command this regiment or +any other, and it should be known. I present the charges to you, the +commanding officer of the Third Regiment, and with them a written +request that they be forwarded to the General commanding the division." +He took the package, tore open the envelope, and seated himself while he +read. + +In less than an hour Captains Lawson and Wing called on me to report +that the Colonel would resign if I would withdraw the charges. I +consented to do so. + +31. Had dress parade this evening, at which the Colonel officiated, it +being his first appearance since his return. + +Ascertaining that he had not sent in his resignation, I wrote him a note +calling attention to the promise made on the 29th instant, and +suggesting that it would be well to terminate an unpleasant matter +without unnecessary delay. + +We had a case of disappointed love in the regiment last night. A +sergeant of Captain Mitchell's company was engaged to a girl of Athens +county. They were to be married upon his return from the war, and until +within a month have been corresponding regularly. Suddenly and without +explanation she ceased to write, why he could not imagine. He never, +however, doubted that she would be faithful to him. His anxiety to hear +from home increased, until finally he learned from her brother, a +soldier of the _Eighteenth Ohio_, that she was married. Strong, healthy, +good-looking fellow that he was, this intelligence prostrated him +completely, and made him crazy as a loon. He imagined that he was in +hell, thought Dr. Seyes the devil, and so violent did he become that +they had to bind him. + +This morning he is more calm, but still deranged. He thought the straws +in his bunk were thorns, and would pluck at them with his fingers and +exclaim: "My God, ain't they sharp?" Captain Mitchell called, and the +boys said: "Sergeant, don't you know him?" "Yes," he replied, "he is one +of the devils." The Captain said: "Sergeant, don't you know where you +are?" "Of course I do; I'm in hell." When they were binding him he said: +"That's right; heap on the coals; put me in the hottest place." While +Dr. Seyes was preparing something to quiet him--laudanum, perhaps--he +said: "Bring on your poison; I'll take it." + +The boys, while living roughly, exposed to hardships and dangers, think +more of their sweethearts than ever before, and are constantly +recurring, in their talk, to the comfortable homes and pleasant scenes +from which they are for the present separated. + + + + +FEBRUARY, 1862. + + +1. The Colonel sent in his resignation this morning. It will go to +Department head-quarters to-morrow. + +Saw the new moon over my right shoulder this evening, which I accept as +an omen of good luck. Let it come. It will suit me just as well now as +at any time. If deceived, I shall never more have faith in the moon; and +as for the man in the moon, I shall call him a cheat to his face. + +2. The devil is to pay in the regiment. The Colonel is doing his utmost +to create a disturbance. His friends are busy among the privates. At +noon an effort was made to get up a demonstration on the color line in +his behalf. Now a petition is being circulated among the privates +requesting Major Keifer and me to resign. + +The night is as dark as pitch. A few minutes ago a shout went up for the +Colonel, and was swelled from point to point along the line of company +tents, until now possibly five hundred voices have joined in the yell. +The Colonel's friends tell the boys that if he were to remain he would +obtain leave for the regiment to go back to Camp Dennison to recruit; +that he was about to obtain rifles and Zouave uniforms for them, and +that there is a conspiracy among the officers to crush him. + +3. Petitions from four companies, embracing two hundred and twenty-five +names, have been presented, requesting the Major and Lieutenant-Colonel +to resign. + +4. We closed up the day with a dress parade, the Colonel in command. The +camp is more boisterous than usual. No more petitions have been +presented. + +The Major received a package from home to-night containing, among other +articles, a pair of slippers, which, greatly to my advantage, were too +small for him. They were turned over to me, and it happens that no +little thing could have been more acceptable. + +The bright moonlight of to-night enlivens our spirits somewhat, and +fills us with new courage. The days have been dark and gloomy, and the +nights still more so, for many days and nights past. + +From the band of the Tenth Ohio, half a mile away, come strains mellow +and sweet. The air is full of moonlight and music. The boys are in a +happier mood, and a round, full voice comes to us from the tents with +the words of an old Scotch song: + + "March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale! + Why, my lads, dinna ye march forward in order? + March, march, Eskale and Liddlesdale! + All the blue bonnets are over the border. + Many a banner spread flutters above your head, + Many a crest that is famous in story; + Mount and make ready, then, sons of the mountain glen! + Fight for the King and the old Scottish border!" + +5. The Major and Mr. Furay are engaged in a tremendous dispute. Furay is +positive he can not be mistaken, and the Major laughs him to scorn. When +these gentlemen lock horns in dead earnest the clatter of words becomes +terrible, and the combat ends only when both fall on their cots +exhausted. + +6. The Colonel's resignation has been accepted. He delivered his +valedictory to the regiment this evening. Subsequently he passed through +the company quarters, shaking hands with the boys and bidding them +farewell. Still later he made a speech, in which he called God to +witness that he was a loyal man, and promised to pray for us all. The +regiment is disorderly, if not mutinous even. The best thing he can do +for it and himself is to get out. + +8. The Colonel has bidden us a final adieu. His most devoted adherents +escorted him to the depot, and returned miserably drunk. + +One of the color guards, an honest, sensible, good-looking boy, has +written me a letter of encouragement. I trust that soon all will feel as +kindly toward me as he. + +10. We left Bacon creek at noon. There were ten thousand men in advance +of us, with immense baggage trains. The roads bad, and our march slow, +tedious, and disagreeable. Many of the officers imbibed freely, and the +senior surgeon, an educated gentleman, and very popular with the boys, +became gloriously elevated. He kept his eye pealed for secesh, and +before reaching Munfordsville found a citizen twice as big as himself in +possession of a double-barreled shot-gun. Taking it for granted that he +was an enemy, the Doctor drew a revolver and bade him surrender +unconditionally. The boys said the Doctor was as tight as a little bull. +What phase of inebriety this remark indicated I am unable to say; but +certain it is that he did not for a moment lose sight of his gigantic +prisoner, nor give him the slightest opportunity to escape. He was quite +triumphant in his bearing; directed the movements of the captive in a +loud and imperious tone, and favored him with much patriotic advice. + +A wagon with six unbroken mules attached is an uncertain conveyance. If +the mules are desired to stop suddenly, they are certain not to do so, +and if commanded to start suddenly, they are just as sure not to obey. +If, after an immense amount of whipping and many fervent asseverations +on the part of the driver that all mules should be in Tophet, they +conclude to start at all, they go as if determined to reach the place +indicated without unnecessary delay. If a mud-hole, ditch, tree, or any +other obstacle lies in the way, and the driver cries whoa, the mules +redouble their speed, and rush forward as if they did not in the +slightest degree consider themselves responsible either for the driver's +neck or the traps with which the wagon is laden. + +It was about eight o'clock in the evening when we crossed the bridge +over Green river. The moon had around it a halo, in which appeared very +distinctly all the colors of the National flag--red, white, and +blue--and the boys said it was a good omen; that they were Union people +up there, and had hung out the Stars and Stripes. + +12. To-morrow we start for Bowling Green, our division in the lead. +Before night we shall overtake the rebels, and before the next evening +will doubtless fight a battle. + +13. Long before sunrise the whole division was astir, and at seven +o'clock moved forward, our brigade in the center. Far as the eye could +reach, both in front and rear, the road was crowded with men. A score of +bands filled the air with martial strains, while the morning sun +brightened the muskets, and made the flags look more cheerful and +brilliant. The day was warm and pleasant. The country before us was, in +a military sense, unexplored, and every ear was open to catch the sound +of the first gun. The conviction that a battle was imminent kept the men +steady and prevented straggling. We passed many fine houses, and +extensive, well improved farms. But few white people were seen. The +negroes appeared to have entire possession. + +Six miles from Green river a young and very pretty girl stood in the +doorway of a handsome farm-house and waved the flag of the Union. Cheer +after cheer arose along the line; officers saluted, soldiers waved their +hats, and the bands played "Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie." That loyal girl +captured a thousand hearts, and I trust some gallant soldier who shall +win honorable scars in battle may return in good time to crown her his +Queen of Love and Beauty. + +From this on for fifteen miles we found neither springs nor streams. +The country is cavernous, and the only water is that of the ponds. In +all of these we discovered dead and decaying horses, mules, and dogs. +The rebels in this way had sought to deprive us of water; but while +their action in this regard occasioned a vast deal of profanity among +the boys, it did not in the least retard the column. We were, however, +delayed somewhat by the felled trees with which they had obstructed +miles of the road. At sunset we halted and pitched our tents in a large +field, near what is known as Bell's Tavern, on the Louisville and +Nashville Railroad. We had marched eighteen miles. + +The water used in the preparation of the evening meal was that of the +ponds. The thought of the rotting dogs, horses, and mules, could not be +banished, and when the Major sipped his coffee in a doubtful way and +remarked that it tasted soupy, my stomach quivered on the turning point, +and, hungry as I was, the supper gave me no further enjoyment. + +14. Resumed the march at daylight. Snow fell last night. The day was +exceedingly cold, and the wind pierced through us like needles of ice. I +think I never experienced so sudden and extreme a change in the weather. +It was too cold to ride, and I dismounted and walked twelve miles. We +were certain of a fight, and so pushed on with rapid pace. A regiment of +cavalry and Loomis' battery were in advance. When within ten miles of +Bowling Green the guns opened in our front. Leaving the regiment in +charge of the Major, I rode ahead rapidly as I could, and reached the +river bank opposite Bowling Green in time to see a detachment of rebel +cavalry fire the buildings which contained their army stores. The town +was ablaze in twenty different places. They had destroyed the bridge +over Barren river in the morning, and now, having finished the work of +destruction, went galloping over the hills. When the regiment arrived, +it was quartered in a camp but recently evacuated by the enemy. The +night was bitter cold; but the boys soon had a hundred fires blazing, +and made themselves very comfortable. + +15. This morning we were called out at daylight to cross the river and +take possession of the town; a sorrier, hungrier lot of fellows never +rolled out of warm blankets into the icy wind. It was impossible for +many of them to get their wet and frozen shoes on, but we hurried down +to the river, and were there halted until it was ascertained that our +presence on the opposite side was not required, when we went back to our +old quarters. + +16. To-day we crossed the Big Barren, and are now in Bowling Green. +Turchin's brigade preceded us, and has gutted many houses. The rebels +burned a million dollars worth of stores, but left enough pork, salt +beef, and other necessaries to supply our division for a month; in fact +the cigar I am smoking, the paper on which I write, the ink and pen, +were all captured. + +General Beauregard left the day before our arrival. It is said he was +for days reported to be lying in General Hardee's quarters, dangerously +ill, and that under cover of this report he left town dressed in +citizen's clothes and visited our camps on Green River. + +18. The weather is turning warm again, the men are quartered in houses. +I room at the hotel. This sort of life, however pleasant it may be, has +a demoralizing effect upon the soldier. + +19. Spent the forenoon at the river assisting somewhat in getting our +transportation over. It is a rainy day, and I got wet to the skin and +thoroughly chilled. After dinner I went to bed while William, my +servant, put a few necessary stitches in my apparel, and dried my +underclothing and boots. I am badly off for clothing; my coat is out at +the elbows, and my pantaloons are in a revolutionary condition, the seat +having seceded. + +The Cincinnati Gazette of the 14th instant reports that I have been +promoted. Thanks. + +20. We learn from a reliable source that Nashville has been evacuated. +The enemy is said to be concentrating at Murfreesboro, twenty or thirty +miles beyond. + +The river has risen fifteen feet, and many of our teams are still on the +other side. The water swelled so rapidly that two teams of six mules +each, parked on the river bank last night so as to be in readiness to +cross on the ferry this morning, were swept away. + +Captain Mitchell returned this evening from a trip North. We are glad to +have him back again. + +21. Hear that Fort Donelson has been taken after a terrible fight, and +ten thousand ears are eager to hear more about the engagement. No teams +crossed the river to-day; we are flood bound. + +There was an immense number of deaths in the rebel army while it +encamped here. It is said three thousand Southern soldiers are buried in +the vicinity of the town. They could not stand the rigorous Northern +climate. A Mississippi regiment reported but thirteen men for duty. + +22. Moved at seven in the morning toward Nashville without wagons, tents +or camp equipage. Marched twenty miles in the rain and were drenched +completely. The boys found some sort of shelter during the night in +tobacco houses, barns, and straw piles. + +23. The day pleasant and sunshiny. The feet of the men badly blistered, +and the regiment limps along in wretched style; made fifteen miles. + +24. Routed out at daylight and ordered to make Nashville, a distance of +thirty-two miles. Many of the boys have no shoes, and the feet of many +are still very sore. The journey seems long, but we are at the head of +the column, and that stimulates us somewhat. Have sent my horse to the +rear to help along the very lame, and am making the march on foot. + +The martial band of the regiment is doing its utmost to keep the boys in +good spirits; the base drum sounds like distant thunder, and the wind of +Hughes, the fifer, is inexhaustible; he can blow five miles at a +stretch. The members of the band are in good pluck, and when not +playing, either sing, tell stories, or indulge in reminiscences of a +personal character. Russia has been badgering William Heney, a drummer. +He says that while at Elkwater Heney sparked one of Esquire Stalnaker's +daughters, and that the lady's little sister going into the room quite +suddenly one evening called back to the father, "Dad, dad, William Heney +has got his arm around Susan Jane!" Heney affirms that the story is +untrue. Lochey favors us with a song, which is known as the warble. + + "Thou, thou reignest in this bosom, + There, there hast thou thy throne; + + Thou, thou knowest that I love thee; + Am I not fondly thine own? + + Ya--ya--ya--ya. + Am I not fondly thine own? + + CHORUS. + + Das unda claus ish mein, + Das unda claus ish mein, + Cants do nic mock un do. + + On the banks of the Ohio river, + In a cot lives my Rosa so fair; + She is called Jim Johnson's darky, + And has nice curly black hair. + Tre alo, tre alo, tre ola, ti. + + O come with me to the dear little spot, + And I'll show you the place I was born, + In a little log hut by a clear running brook, + Where blossom the wild plum and thorn. + Tre ola, tre ola, treo la ti. + + Mein fadter, mein modter, mein sister, mein frau, + Undt swi glass of beer for meinself, + Undt dey call mein wife one blacksmit shop; + Such dings I never did see in my life. + Tre ola, tre ola, tre ola ti." + +25. General Nelson's command came up the Cumberland by boat and entered +Nashville ahead of us. The city, however, had surrendered to our +division before Nelson arrived. We failed simply in being the first +troops to occupy it, and this resulted from detention at the +river-crossing. + +27. Crossed the Cumberland and moved through Nashville; the regiment +behaved handsomely, and was followed by a great crowd of colored people, +who appeared to be delighted with the music. General Mitchell +complimented us on our good behavior and appearance. + +28. Captain Wilson, Fourth Ohio Cavalry, was shot dead while on picket. +One of his sergeants had eight balls put through him, but still lives. + + + + +MARCH, 1862. + + +1. Our brigade, in command of General Dumont, started for Lavergne, a +village eleven miles out on the Murfreesboro road, to look after a +regiment of cavalry said to be in occupation of the place. Arrived there +a little before sunset, but found the enemy had disappeared. + +The troops obtained whisky in the village, and many of the soldiers +became noisy and disorderly. + +A little after nightfall the compliments of a Mrs. Harris were presented +to me, with request that I would be kind enough to call. The handsome +little white cottage where she lived was near our bivouac. It was the +best house in the village; and, as I ascertained afterward, very +tastefully if not elegantly furnished. She was a woman of perhaps forty. +Her husband and daughter were absent; the former, I think, in the +Confederate service. She had only a servant with her, and was +considerably frightened and greatly incensed at the conduct of some +soldiers, of she knew not what regiment, who had persisted in coming +into her house and treating her rudely. In short, she desired +protection. She had a lively tongue in her head, and her request for a +guard was, I thought, not preferred in the gentlest and most amiable +way. Her comments on our Northern soldiers were certainly not +complimentary to them. She said she had supposed hitherto that soldiers +were gentlemen. I confessed that they ought to be at least. She said, +rather emphatically, that Southern soldiers _were_ gentlemen. I replied +that I did not doubt at all the correctness of her statement; but, +unfortunately, the branch of the Northern army to which I had the honor +to belong had not been able to get near enough to them to obtain any +personal knowledge on the subject. + +The upshot of the five minutes' interview was a promise to send a +soldier to protect Mrs. Harris' property and person during the night. + +Returning to the regiment I sent for Sergeant Woolbaugh. He is one of +the handsomest men in the regiment; a printer by trade, an excellent +conversationalist, a man of extensive reading, and of thorough +information respecting current affairs. I said: "Sergeant, I desire you +to brighten up your musket, and clothes if need be, go over to the +little white cottage on the right and stand guard." "All right, sir." + +As he was leaving I called to him: "If the lady of the house shows any +inclination to talk with you, encourage and gratify her to the top of +her bent. I want her to know what sort of men our Northern soldiers +are." + +The Sergeant in due time introduced himself to Mrs. Harris, and was +invited into the sitting room. They soon engaged in conversation, and +finally fell into a discussion of the issue between the North and South +which lasted until after midnight. The lady, although treated with all +courtesy, certainly obtained no advantage in the controversy, and must +have arisen from it with her ideas respecting Northern soldiers very +materially changed. + +2. Started on the return to Nashville at three o'clock in the morning. +The boys being again disappointed in not finding the enemy, and +considerably under the influence of liquor, conducted themselves in a +most disorderly and unsoldierly way. + +Have not had a change of clothing since we crossed the Great Barren +river. + +6. Regiment on picket. + +When returning from the front I met a soldier of the Thirty-seventh +Indiana, trudging along with his gun on his shoulder. I asked him where +he was going; he replied that his father lived four miles beyond, and he +had just heard that his brother was home from the Southern army on sick +leave, and he was going out to take him prisoner. + +8. This afternoon the camp was greatly excited over a daring feat of a +body of cavalry under John Morgan. It succeeded in getting almost inside +the camps, and was five miles inside of our outposts. It came into the +main road between where Kennett's cavalry regiment is encamped and +Nashville; captured a wagon train, took the drivers, Captain Braden, of +Indiana, who was in charge of the train, and eighty-three horses, and +started on a by-road back for Murfreesboro. General Mitchell immediately +dispatched Kennett in pursuit. About fifteen miles out the rebels were +overtaken and our men and horses recaptured. Two rebels were killed and +two taken; Kennett is still in hot pursuit. Captain Braden says, as the +rebels were riding away they were exceedingly jubilant over the success +of their adventure, and promised to introduce him to General Hardee in +the evening. Without asking the Captain's permission they gave him a +very poor horse in exchange for a very good one, put him at the head of +the column and guarded him vigilantly; but when Kennett appeared and the +running fight occurred he dodged off at full speed, lay down on his +horse, and although fired at many times escaped unhurt. + +Morgan's men know the country so well that all the by-roads and +cow-paths are familiar to them; the citizens keep them informed also as +to the location of our camps and picket posts, and if need be are ready +to serve them either as guides or spies, hence the success which +attended the earlier part of their enterprise does not indicate so great +a want of vigilance on the part of our troops, as might at first thought +be supposed. + +9. The enemy made a descent on one of our outposts, killed one man and +wounded another. + +16. Went to Nashville this morning to buy a few necessaries. While +awaiting dinner at the St. Cloud I took a seat outside the door. Quite a +number of Union officers were seated or standing in front of the hotel, +when two well, extremely well, dressed women, followed by a negro lady, +approached, and while passing us _held their noses_. What disagreeable +thing the atmosphere in our immediate vicinity contained that made it +necessary for these lovely women to so pinch their nasal protuberances, +I could not discover; certainly the officers looked cleanly, many of +them were young men of the "double-bullioned" kind, who had spared no +expense in decorating their persons with shoulder straps, golden bugles, +and other shining trappings which appertain somehow to glorious war. + +After dinner I dropped into a drug store to buy a cake of soap. The +druggist gave me, in the way of change, several miserably executed +shinplasters. I asked: + +"Do you call this money?" + +"I do." + +"I wonder that every printing office in the South does not commence the +manufacture of such money." + +"O, no," he replied in a sneering way; "in the North they might do that, +but in the South no one is disposed to make counterfeit money." + +"Yes," I retorted, "the Southern people are very honest no doubt, but I +apprehend there is a better reason for not counterfeiting the money than +you have assigned. It is probably not worth counterfeiting." + +Private Hawes of the Third is remarkably fond of pies, and a notorious +straggler withal. He has just returned to camp after being away for some +days, and accounts for his absence by saying that he was in the country +looking for pies, when Morgan's men appeared suddenly, shot his horse +from under him, mounted him behind a soldier and carried him away. The +private is now in the guard-house entertaining a select company with a +narrative of his adventures. + +We have much trouble with escaped negroes. In some way we have obtained +the reputation of being abolitionists, and the colored folks get into +our regimental lines, and in some mysterious way are so disposed of that +their masters never hear of them again. It is possible the two +saw-bones, who officiate at the hospital, dissect, or desiccate, or boil +them in the interest of science, or in the manufacture of the villainous +compounds with which they dose us when ill. At any rate, we know that +many of these sable creatures, who joined us at Bowling Green and on the +road to Nashville, can not now be found. Their masters, following the +regiment, made complaint to General Buell, and, as we learn, spoke +disparagingly of the Third. An order issued requiring us to surrender +the negroes to the claimants, and to keep colored folks out of our camp +hereafter. I obeyed the order promptly; commanded all the colored men in +camp to assemble at a certain hour and be turned over to their masters; +but the misguided souls, if indeed there were any, failed to put in an +appearance, and could not be found. The scamps, I fear, took advantage +of my notice and hid away, much to the regret of all who desire to +preserve the Union as it was, and greatly to the chagrin of the +gentlemen who expected to take them handcuffed back to Kentucky. One of +these fugitives, a handsome mulatto boy, borrowed five dollars of me, +and the same amount of Doctor Seyes, not half an hour before the time +when he was to be delivered up, but I fear now the money will never be +repaid. + +18. Started for Murfreesboro. The day is beautiful and the regiment +marches well. Encamped for the night near Lavergne. I called on my +friend Mrs. Harris. She received me cordially and introduced me to her +daughter, a handsome young lady of seventeen or eighteen. They were both +extremely Southern in their views, but chatted pleasantly over the +situation, and Mrs. Harris spoke of Sergeant Woolbaugh, the guard +furnished her on our first visit, in very complimentary terms; in fact, +she was surprised to find such men in the ranks of the Federal army. I +assured her that there were scores like him in every regiment, and that +our army was made up of the flower of the Northern people. + +19. The rebels having burned the bridges on the direct road, we were +compelled to diverge to the left and take a longer route; toward evening +we went into camp on the plantation of a widow lady, and here for the +first time in my life I saw a field of cotton; the old stalks still +standing with many bulbs which had escaped the pickers. + +20. Turned out at four o'clock in the morning, got breakfast, struck our +tents, and were ready to march at six; but the brigade being now ordered +to take the rear, we stood uncovered in a drenching rain three hours +for the division and transportation to pass. All were thoroughly wet and +benumbed with cold, but as if to show contempt for the weather the Third +sang with great unction: + + "There is a land of pure delight, + Where saints immortal reign; + Infinite day excludes the night, + And pleasures banish pain. + + There everlasting spring abides, + And never withering flowers; + Death, like a narrow sea, divides + This heavenly land from ours." + +Soon after getting under way the sky cleared, and the sun made its +appearance; the band struck up, and at every plantation negroes came +flocking to the roadside to see us. They are the only friends we find. +They have heard of the abolition army, the music, the banners, the +glittering arms; possibly the hope that their masters will be humbled +and their own condition improved, gladdens their hearts and leads them +to welcome us with extravagant manifestations of joy. They keep time to +the music with feet and hands, and hurrah "fur de ole flag and de +Union," sometimes following us for miles. Parson Strong attempts to do a +little missionary work. A dozen or more negroes stand in a group by the +roadside. Said the Parson to an old man: "My friend, are you +religious?" + +"No, massa, I is not; seben of my folks is, an dey is all prayen fur +your side." + +Hailing a little knot, I said: "Boys where do you live?" + +"Lib wid Massa ----, sah." + +"All Union people, I suppose?" + +"Dey say dey is, but dey isn't." + +One old woman--evidently a great-grandmother in Israel--climbed on the +fence, clapped her hands, shouted for joy, and "bressed de Lord dat dar +was de ole flag agin." + +To a colored boy who stole into our lines last night, with his little +bundle under his arm, the Major said: "Doesn't it make you feel bad to +run away from your masters?" + +"Oh, no, massa; dey is gone, too." + +Reached Murfreesboro in the afternoon. + +22. Men at work rebuilding the railroad bridge. General Dumont returns +to Nashville. Colonel Lytle, of the Tenth Ohio, will assume command of +our brigade. + +My servant has imposed upon me for about a month. He arises in the +morning when he pleases; prepares my meals when it suits his pleasure, +and is disposed in every thing to make me adapt my business to his own +notions. This morning I became so provoked over his insolence and +laziness that, in a moment of passion, I knocked him down. Since then +there has been a decided improvement in his bearing. The blow seems to +have awakened him to a sense of his duty. + +25. So soon as the railroad is repaired, an immense amount of cotton +will be sent East from this section. The crops of two seasons are in the +hands of the producer. We are encamped in a cotton field. Peach trees +are now in bloom, and many early flowers are to be seen. + +26. The boys are having a grand cotillion party on the green in front of +my tent, and appear to have entirely forgotten the privations, +hardships, and dangers of soldiering. + +The army for a temperate, cleanly, cheerful man, is, I have no doubt, +the healthiest place in the world. The coarse fare provided by the +Government is the most wholesome that can be furnished. The boys +oftenest on the sick list are those who are constantly running to the +sutler's for gingerbread, sweetmeats, raisins, and nuts. They eat +enormous quantities of this unwholesome stuff, and lose appetite for +more substantial food. Finding that all desire for hard bread and bacon +has disappeared, they conclude that they must be ill, and instead of +taking exercise, lie in their tents until they finally become really +sick. A contented, temperate, cheerful, cleanly man will live forever in +the army; but a despondent, intemperate, gluttonous, dirty soldier, let +him be never so fat and strong when he enters the service, is sure to +get on the sick list, and finally into the hospital. + +The dance on the green is progressing with increased vigor. The music is +excellent. At this moment the gentlemen are going to the right; now +they promenade all; in a minute more the ladies will be in the center, +and four hands round. That broth of an Irish boy, Conway, wears a +rooster's feather in his cap, and has for a partner a soldier twice as +big as himself, whom he calls Susan. As they swing Conway yells at the +top of his voice: "Come round, old gal!" + +28. General Mitchell returned from Nashville on a hand-car. + +30. This is a pleasant Sunday. The sun shines, the birds sing, and the +air stirs pleasantly. + +The colored people of Murfreesboro pour out in great numbers on Sunday +evenings to witness dress parade, some of them in excellent holiday +attire. The women sport flounces and the men canes. Many are nearly +white, and all slaves. + +Murfreesboro is an aristocratic town. Many of the citizens have as fine +carriages as are to be seen in Cincinnati or Washington. On pleasant +week-day evenings they sometimes come out to witness the parades. The +ladies, so far as I can judge by a glimpse through a carriage window, +are richly and elegantly dressed. + +The poor whites are as poor as rot, and the rich are very rich. There is +no substantial well-to-do middle class. The slaves are, in fact, the +middle class here. They are not considered so good, of course, as their +masters, but a great deal better than the white trash. One enthusiastic +colored man said in my hearing this evening: "You look like solgers. No +wonder dat you wip de white trash ob de Southern army. Dey ced dey +could wip two ob you, but I guess one ob you could wip two ob dem. You +is jest as big as dey is, and maybe a little bigger." + +A few miles from here, at a cross roads, is a guide-board: +"[Illustration: Symbol: right index] 15 miles to Liberty." If liberty +were indeed but fifteen miles away, the stars to-night would see a +thousand negroes dancing on the way thither; old men with their wives +and bundles; young men with their sweethearts; little barefooted +children, all singing in their hearts: + + "De day ob jubilee hab come, ho ho!" + +On the march hither we passed a little, contemptible, tumble-down, +seven-by-nine frame school-house. Over the door, in large letters, were +the words: + + CENTRAL ACADEMY. + +The boys laughed and said: "If this is called an academy, what sort of +things must their common school-houses be?" But Tennessee is a beautiful +State. All it lacks is free schools and freemen. + +31. Colonel Keifer, in command of four hundred men, started with ninety +wagons for Nashville. He will repair the railroad in two or three places +and return with provisions. + + + + +APRIL, 1862. + + +3. Struck our tents and started south, at two o'clock this afternoon; +marched fifteen miles and bivouacked for the night. + +4. Resumed the march at seven o'clock in the morning, the Third in +advance. At one place on the road a young negro, perhaps eighteen years +old, broke from his hiding in the woods, and with hat in hand and a +broad grin on his face, came running to me. "Massa," said he, "I wants +to go wid you." "I am sorry, my boy, that I can not take you. I am not +permitted to do it." The light went out of the poor fellow's eyes in a +moment, and, putting on his slouched hat, he went away sorrowful enough. +It seems cruel to turn our backs on these, our only friends. If a dog +came up wagging his tail at sight of us, we could not help liking him +better than the master, who not only looks sullen and cross at our +approach, but in his heart desires our destruction. + +As we approach the Alabama line we find fewer, but handsomer, houses; +larger plantations, and negroes more numerous. We saw droves of women +working in the fields. When their ears caught the first notes of the +music, they would drop the hoe and come running to the road, their +faces all aglow with pleasure. May we not hope that their darkened minds +caught glimpses of the sun of a better life, now rising for them? + +Last night my bed-room was as grand as that ever occupied by a prince. +The floor was carpeted with soft, green, velvety grass. For walls it had +the primeval forest, with its drapery of luxuriant foliage. The ceiling, +higher even than one's thoughts can measure, was studded with stars +innumerable. The crescent moon added to its beauty for awhile, but +disappeared long before I dropped off to sleep. + +We entered Shelbyville at noon. There are more Union people here than at +Murfreesboro, and we saw many glad faces as we marched through the +streets. The band made the sky ring with music, and the regiment +deported splendidly. One old woman clapped her hands and thanked heaven +that we had come at last. Apparently almost wild with joy, she shouted +after us, "God be with you!" + +We went into camp on Duck river, one mile from the town. + +5. General Mitchell complimented me on the good behavior and good +appearance of the Third. He said it was the best regiment in his +division. At Bacon creek, Kentucky, he was particularly severe on us, +and attributed all our trouble to defective discipline and bad +management on the part of the officers. On the evening when the +acceptance of Marrow's resignation was read, the General was present. +After parade was dismissed, I shook hands with him and said: "General, +give us a little time and we will make the Third the best regiment in +your division." The old gentleman was glad to hear me say so, but smiled +dubiously. I am glad to have him acknowledge so soon that we have +fulfilled the promise. + +At Murfreesboro heavy details were made for bridge building, and one +day, while superintending the work, the General addressed the detail +from the Third in a very uncomplimentary way: "You lazy scoundrels, go +to work! Your regiment is the promptest in the division to report for +duty, but you will not work." At another time he gave an order to a +soldier which was not obeyed with sufficient alacrity, when he yelled: +"What regiment do you belong to?" "The Third." "Well, sir, I thought you +were one of the obstinate devils of that regiment." At another time he +rode into our camp, and the boys failed to rise at his approach, when he +reined in his horse suddenly and shouted: "Get up here, you lazy +scoundrels, and treat your superiors with respect!" Riding on a little +further, a private passed without touching his cap: "Hold on, here," +said the General, "don't you know how to salute a superior?" "Yes," +stammered the boy, "but I did not see you." "Hold up your head like a +soldier, and you will see me." + +One night I was making the rounds in the Second Ohio with the General. +The guard did not turn out promptly and he became angry; diving into the +guard-tent to rout them up, he ran against a big fellow so violently +that he was nearly thrown off his legs. This increased his fury, and +seizing the soldier by the coat collar he shook him roughly, and said: +"You insolent dog, I'll stand insolence from no man. Officer, put this +man under arrest immediately." + +On the same night the guard of the Thirty-third Ohio turned out slowly, +and some of them were found to have stolen off to their quarters. The +General was still in a bad humor. "Where is the officer of the day?" he +asked. "At his quarters, sir," replied a sergeant. "Present him the +compliments of the General commanding, and tell him if he does not come +to the guard-tent at once, I will send a file of soldiers after him." +The officer appeared very soon. I refer to these incidents to show +simply that the men of other regiments received reprimands as well as +those of my own. + +6. Late in the evening the officers of the regiment, with the string +band, started on a serenading expedition. After playing sundry airs and +singing divers songs, Ethiopian and otherwise, at the residence of a Mr. +Warren, Miss Julia Gurnie, sister of Mrs. Warren, appeared on the +veranda and made to us a very pretty Union speech. After a general +introduction to the family and a cordial reception, we bade them +good-night, and started for another portion of the village. On the way +thither we dropped into the store of a Mr. Armstrong, and imbibed rather +copiously of apple-jack, to protect us against the night air, which, by +the way, is always dangerous when apple-jack is convenient. After thus +fortifying ourselves, we proceeded to the residence of a Mr. Storey. +His doors were thrown open, and we entered his parlors. Here we had the +honor to be introduced to Miss Storey, a handsome young lady, and +Lieutenant O'Brien, nephew of Parson Brownlow. + +Lieutenant O'Brien is an officer of the rebel army. He accompanied +Parson Brownlow to Nashville under a flag of truce, and has been +loitering on his way back until the present time. He wears the +Confederate gray, and when we entered the room was seated on the sofa +with Miss Storey. After being introduced in due form, I placed myself by +the young lady and endeavored to at least divide her attention with my +Confederate friend. The apple-jack dilated most engagingly on the +remarkable beauty of the evening, the pleasantness of the weather +generally, and the delightfulness of Shelbyville. There was a piano in +the room, and finally, after having occupied her attention jointly with +O'Brien for some time, I took the liberty to ask her to favor us with a +song; but she pleaded an awful cold, and asked to be excused. The +apple-jack excused her. The Storeys are pleasant people, and I trust +that, full as we were, we did nothing to lessen their respect for us. + +From Mr. Storey's we went to the house of Mr. Cooper, President of the +Shelbyville Bank, but were not invited in, the family having retired. + +Our last call was at the residence of Mr. Weasner, whilom member of the +Tennessee Legislature. The doors were here thrown open, and a cordial +invitation given us to enter. A pitcher of good wine was set out, and +soon after Miss Weasner, a very pretty young lady, appeared, and played +and sang many patriotic songs. When finally we bade this pleasant family +good night, it was bordering on the Sabbath, and we returned to camp. + +7. Colonel Kennett, at the head of three hundred cavalry, made a dash +into the country toward the Tennessee river, captured and destroyed a +train on a branch of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and +returned to camp to-night with fifteen prisoners. + +8. Party at Mr. Warren's, to which many of the officers have gone. + +9. Moved at six o'clock in the morning. Roads sloppy, and in many places +overflowed. Marched sixteen miles. + +10. Resumed the march at six o'clock A. M. Reached Fayetteville at noon. +Passed through the town and encamped one mile beyond. General Mitchell, +with Turchin's and Sill's brigades and two batteries, left for +Huntsville on our arrival. + +There are various and contradictory rumors afloat respecting the +condition of affairs at Shiloh. The rebel sympathizers here are jubilant +over what they claim is reliable intelligence, that our army has been +surprised and defeated. Another report, coming via Nashville, says that +a part of our army was terribly beaten on Sunday; but reinforcements +arriving on Monday, the rebels were driven back, and our losses of the +first day retrieved. + +A courier arrived about dark with dispatches for General Mitchell; but +they were forwarded to him unopened. + +13. Confused and unsatisfactory accounts still reach us of the great +battle at Pittsburg Landing. + +It is strange what fortune, good or ill, our division has had. Taking +the lead at Green river, we doubted not that a battle awaited us at +Bowling Green. In advance again on the march to Nashville, we were sure +of fighting when we reached that place. Starting again, the division +pushed on alone to Murfreesboro, Shelbyville, Fayetteville, and finally +to Huntsville and Decatur, Alabama, at each place expecting a battle, +and yet meeting with no opposition. With but one division upon this +line, we looked for hard work and great danger, and yet have found +neither. As we advanced the honors we expected to win have receded or +gone elsewhere, to be snatched up by other divisions. The boys say the +Third is fated never to see a battle; that the Third Ohio in Mexico saw +no fighting; that there is something magical in the number which +preserves it from all danger. + +14. The Fifteenth Kentucky remains here. The Third and Tenth Ohio moved +at three in the afternoon. Roads bad and progress slow. Bivouacked for +the night near a distillery. Many of the men drunk; the Tenth Ohio +particularly wild. + +15. Resumed the march at six in the morning. Passed the plantation of +Leonidas Polk Walker. He is said to be the wealthiest man in North +Alabama. His domain extends for fifteen miles along the road. The +overseer's house and the negro huts near it make quite a village. + +Met a good many young men returning from Corinth and Pittsburg Landing. +Quite a number of them had been in the Sunday's battle, and, being +wounded, had been sent back to Huntsville. General Mitchell had captured +and released them on parole. Some had their heads bandaged, others their +arms, while others, unable to walk, were conveyed in wagons. As they +passed, our men made many good-natured remarks, as, "Well, boys, you're +tired of soldiering, ar'n't you?" "Goin' home on furlough, eh?" "Played +out." "Another bold soger boy!" "See the soger!" + +At one point a hundred or more colored people, consisting of men, women, +and children, flocked to the roadside. The band struck up, and they +accompanied the regiment for a mile or more, crowding and jostling each +other in their endeavors to keep abreast of the music. The boys were +wonderfully amused, and addressed to the motley troupe all the commands +known to the volunteer service: "Steady on the right;" "Guide center;" +"Forward, double quick." + +Reached Huntsville at five in the afternoon. + +16. Just after sunset Colonel Keifer and I strolled into the town, +stopped at the hotel for a moment, where we saw a rebel officer in his +gray uniform running about on parole. Visited the railroad depot, where +some two hundred rebels are confined. The prisoners were variously +engaged; some chatting, others playing cards, while a few of a more +devotional turn were singing + + "Come thou fount of every blessing, + Tune my heart to sing thy praise." + +By his timely arrival General Mitchell cut a division of rebel troops in +two. Four thousand got by, and were thus enabled to join the rebel army +at Corinth, while about the same number were obliged to return to +Chattanooga. + +20. At Decatur. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad crosses the +Tennessee river at this point. The town is a dilapidated old concern, as +ugly as Huntsville is handsome. + +There is a canebrake near the camp, and every soldier in the regiment +has provided himself with a fishing-rod; very long, straight, beautiful +rods they are, too. + +The white rebel, who has done his utmost to bring about the rebellion, +is lionized, called a plucky fellow, a great man, while the negro, who +welcomes us, who is ready to peril his life to aid us, is kicked, +cuffed, and driven back to his master, there to be scourged for his +kindness to us. Billy, my servant, tells me that a colored man was +whipped to death by a planter who lives near here, for giving +information to our men. I do not doubt it. We worm out of these poor +creatures a knowledge of the places where stores are secreted, or compel +them to serve as guides, and then turn them out to be scourged or +murdered. There must be a change in this regard before we shall be +worthy of success. + +21. A detachment went to Somerville yesterday. While searching for +buried arms forty-two hundred dollars, in gold, silver, and bank-notes, +were found. The money is, undoubtedly, private property, and will, I +presume, be returned to the owner. + +Fine, large fish are caught in the Tennessee. We have a buffalo for +supper--a good sort of fish--weighing six pounds. + +General Mitchell has been made a Major-General. He is a deserving +officer. No other man with so few troops has ventured so far into the +enemy's country, and accomplished so much. Battles if they result +favorably are great helps to the cause, but the general who by a bold +dash accomplishes equally important results, without loss of life, is +entitled to as great praise certainly as he who fights and wins a +victory. + +Colonel Keifer and I have been on horseback most of the afternoon, +examining all the roads leading from Decatur. On our way back to camp we +called at Mr. Rather's. He was a member of the Alabama Senate, favored +the secession movement, but claims now to be heartily sorry for it. He +received us cordially; introduced us to Mrs. Rather, brought in wine of +his own manufacture, and urged us to drink heartily. + +23. A beautiful day has gone by and a beautiful starlit night has come. +The camp is very still. The melody of the frog, if melody it can be +called, and the ripple of the Tennessee, are the only sounds to be +heard. Thoughts of home and the quiet evenings; of youth and the gay +visions; of the thousand and one pleasant scenes in life; of what we +might have been and where we might have been, had the cards of our life +been shuffled differently; of the deeds we might do, if peradventure the +opportunity were offered, and the little we have done; all come up +to-night, and we chew the cud over and over, without being able to +determine whether it is bitter or sweet. + +The enemy, three hundred strong, made a dash on our picket last night, +wounded one man, and made an unsuccessful effort to retake a bridge. + +24. Our forces are on the alert. I lay down in my clothes last night, or +rather this morning, for it was between one and two o'clock when I +retired. The division is stretched over a hundred miles of railway, but +in position to concentrate in a few hours. + +Before leaving this place, the rebels built a cotton fort, using in its +construction probably five hundred bales. + +To-day we filled the bridge over the Tennessee with combustible +material, and put it in condition to burn readily, in case we find it +necessary to retire to the north side. + +A man with his son and two daughters arrived to-night from Chattanooga, +having come all the way--one hundred and fifty miles probably--in a +small skiff. + +25. Price, with ten thousand men, is reported advancing from Memphis. +Turchin had a skirmish with his advance guard near Tuscumbia. + +26. Turchin's brigade returned from Tuscumbia and crossed the Tennessee. + +27. The Tenth and Third crossed to the north side of the river, and +Lieutenant-Colonel Burke of the Tenth applied the torch to the bridge; +in a few minutes the fire extended along its whole length, and as we +marched away, the flames were hissing among its timbers, and the smoke +hung like a cloud above it. + +28. Ordered to move to Stevenson. Took a freight train and proceeded to +Bellefonte, where we found a bridge had been burned; leaving the cars we +marched until twelve o'clock at night, and then bivouacked on the +railroad track. + +29. Resumed the march at daylight; one mile beyond Stevenson we found +the Ninth Brigade, Colonel Sill, in line of battle; formed the Third in +support of Loomis' Battery, and remained in this position until two in +the afternoon, when General Mitchell arrived and ordered the Ninth +Brigade, Loomis' Battery and my regiment to move forward. At Widow's +creek we met a detachment of the enemy; a few shots from the battery and +a volley from our skirmish line drove it back, and we hastened on toward +Bridgeport, exchanging shots occasionally with the enemy on the way. + +About five o'clock we formed in line of battle, on high ground in the +woods, one-half mile from Bridgeport, the Third having the right of the +column, and moved steadily forward until we came in sight of the town +and the enemy. The order to double quick was then given, and we dashed +into the village on a run. The enemy stood for a moment and then left as +fast as legs could carry him; in fact he departed in such haste that but +few muskets and one shot from a six pound gun were fired at us; one +piece of his artillery was found still loaded. We captured fifty +prisoners, a number of horses, two pieces of artillery and many muskets. +The bridge over the Tennessee had already been filled with combustible +material, and when the rear of the rebel column passed over the match +was applied; the fire extended rapidly, and we found it impossible to +proceed further. + +The fright of the enemy was so great that, after getting beyond the +river a mile or more, he threw away over a thousand muskets, and +abandoned every thing that could impede his flight. Unfortunately, +however, before a raft could be constructed to convey our troops across +the river, the rebels recovered from their panic, backed down a railroad +train, and gathered up most of their arms and camp equipage. + +A little more coolness on the part of our troops would have enabled us +to capture twenty-five or thirty cavalrymen, who came riding into +Bridgeport, supposing it to be still in the hands of their friends. As +they approached, a few scattering shots were fired at them by the +excited soldiers, when they wheeled and succeeded in making their +escape. + +30. The troops are short of provisions; there is a grist mill near, but +the owner claims that it is out of repair, and can not be put in running +order for some days, as part of the machinery is missing. On inquiry, I +found that the owner of the mill was a rebel, and that the missing +machinery had probably been hidden by himself. I therefore said to him +that if he did not have the mill going by noon, I would burn it down; +by ten o'clock it was running, and at three in the afternoon we had an +abundance of corn meal. + +A detachment of the Third under Colonel Keifer crossed the river and +reconnoitered the country beyond. It found no enemy, but returned to +camp with an abundance of bacon--an article very greatly needed by our +troops. + +Started at nine o'clock P. M. for Stevenson; marched all night. Whenever +we stopped on the way to rest, the boys would fall asleep on the +roadside, and we found much difficulty in getting them through. + + + + +MAY, 1862. + + +1. Moved to Bellefonte. + +2. Took the cars for Huntsville. + +At Paint Rock the train was fired upon, and six or eight men wounded. As +soon as it could be done, I had the train stopped, and, taking a file of +soldiers, returned to the village. The telegraph line had been cut, and +the wire was lying in the street. Calling the citizens together, I said +to them that this bushwhacking must cease. The Federal troops had +tolerated it already too long. Hereafter every time the telegraph wire +was cut we would burn a house; every time a train was fired upon we +should hang a man; and we would continue to do this until every house +was burned and every man hanged between Decatur and Bridgeport. If they +wanted to fight they should enter the army, meet us like honorable men, +and not, assassin-like, fire at us from the woods and run. We proposed +to hold the citizens responsible for these cowardly assaults, and if +they did not drive these bushwhackers from amongst them, we should make +them more uncomfortable than they would be in hell. I then set fire to +the town, took three citizens with me, returned to the train, and +proceeded to Huntsville. + +Paint Rock has long been a rendezvous for bushwhackers and bridge +burners. One of the men taken is a notorious guerrilla, and was of the +party that made the dash on our wagon train at Nashville. + +The week has been an active one. On last Saturday night I slept a few +hours on the bridge at Decatur. The next night I bivouacked in a cotton +field; the next I lay from midnight until four in the morning on the +railroad track; the next I slept at Bridgeport on the soft side of a +board, and on the return to Stevenson I did not sleep at all. My health +is excellent. + +5. Captain Cunard was sent yesterday to Paint Rock to arrest certain +parties suspected of burning bridges, tearing up the railroad track, and +bushwhacking soldiers. To-day he returned with twenty-six prisoners. + +General Mitchell is well pleased with my action in the Paint Rock +matter. The burning of the town has created a sensation, and is spoken +of approvingly by the officers and enthusiastically by the men. It is +the inauguration of the true policy, and the only one that will preserve +us from constant annoyance. + +The General rode into our camp this evening, and made us a stirring +speech, in which he dilated upon the rapidity of our movements and the +invincibility of our division. + +8. The road to Shelbyville is unsafe for small parties. Guerrilla bands +are very active. Two or three of our supply trains have been captured +and destroyed. Detachments are sent out every day to capture or disperse +these citizen cut-throats. + +10. Have been appointed President of a Board of Administration for the +post of Huntsville. After an ineffectual effort to get the members of +the Board together, I concluded to spend a day out of camp, the first +for more than six months; so I strolled over to the hotel, took a bath, +ate dinner, smoked, read, and slept until supper time, dispatched that +meal, and returned to my quarters in the cool of the evening. + +We have in our camp a superabundance of negroes. One of these, a +Georgian, belonged to a captain of rebel cavalry, and fell into our +hands at Bridgeport. Since that affair he has attached himself to me. +The other negroes I do not know. In fact they are too numerous to +mention. Whence they came or whither they are going it is impossible to +say. They lie around contentedly, and are delighted when we give them an +opportunity to serve us. All the colored people of Alabama are anxious +to go "wid yer and wait on you folks." There are not fifty negroes in +the South who would not risk their lives for freedom. The man who +affirms that they are contented and happy, and do not desire to escape, +is either a falsifier or a fool. + +11. Attended divine service with Captain McDougal at the Presbyterian +Church. The edifice is very fine. The audience was small; the sermon +tolerable. Troubles, the preacher said, were sent to discipline us. The +army was of God; they should, therefore, submit to it, not as slaves, +but as Christians, just as they submitted to other distasteful and +calamitous dispensations. + +12. My letters from home have fallen into the hands of John Morgan. The +envelopes were picked up in the road and forwarded to me. My wife should +feel encouraged. It is not every body's letters that are pounced upon at +midnight, taken at the point of the bayonet, and read by the flickering +light of the camp-fire. + +Moved at two o'clock this afternoon. Reached Athens after nightfall, and +bivouacked on the Fair Ground. + +13. Marched to Elk river. A great many negroes from the neighboring +plantations came to see us, among them an elderly colored man, whose +sanctimonious bearing indicated that he was a minister of the Gospel. +The boys insisted that he should preach to them, and, after some +hesitation, the old man mounted a stump, lined a hymn from memory, sang +it, and then commenced his discourse. He had not proceeded very far when +he uttered this sentence: "De good Lord He hab called me to preach de +Gospil. Many sinners hab been wakened by my poor words to de new life. +De Lord He hab been very kind to me, an' I can nebber pay Him fur all He +done fur me." + +"Never pay the Lord?" broke in the boys; "never pay the Lord? Oh! you +wicked nigger! Just hear him! He says he is never going to pay the +Lord!" + +The preacher endeavored to explain: the kindness and mercy of the Lord +had been so great that it was impossible for a poor sinner to make any +sufficient return; but the boys would accept no explanation. "Here," +they shouted, "is a nigger who will not pay the Lord!" and they groaned +and cried, "Oh! Oh!" and swore that they never saw so wicked a man +before. Fortunately for the poor colored man, a Dutchman began to +interrogate him in broken English, and the two soon fell into a +discussion of some point in theology, when the boys espoused the negro's +side of the question, and insisted that the Dutchman was no match for +him in argument. Finally, by groans and hisses, they compelled the +Dutchman to abandon the controversy, leaving the colored man well +pleased that he had vanquished his opponent and re-established himself +in the good opinion of his hearers. + +14. Resumed the march at two o'clock in the morning, and proceeded to a +point known as the Lower Ferry. Ascertaining here that the enemy had +recrossed the Tennessee, and was pushing southward, we abandoned pursuit +and turned to retrace our steps to Huntsville. Leaving the regiment in +command of Colonel Keifer, I accompanied General Mitchell on the return, +and reached camp a little after dark. + +16. Appointed Provost Marshal of the city. Have been busy hearing all +sorts of complaints, signing passes for all sorts of persons, sending +guards to this and that place in the city, and doing the numerous other +things necessary to be done in a city under martial law. Captain +Mitchell and Lieutenant Wilson are my assistants, and, in fact, do most +of the work. The citizens say I am the youngest Governor they ever had. + +17. Captain Mitchell and I were invited to a strawberry supper at Judge +Lane's. Found General Mitchell and staff, Colonel Kennett, +Lieutenant-Colonel Birdsall, and Captain Loomis, of the army, there. Mr. +and Mrs. Judge Lane, Colonel and Major Davis, and a general, whose name +I can not recall, were the only citizens present. General Mitchell +monopolized the conversation. He was determined to make all understand +that he was the greatest of living soldiers. Had his counsel prevailed, +the Confederacy would have been knocked to pieces long ago. The evening +was a very pleasant one. + +A few days ago we had John Morgan utterly annihilated; but he seems to +have gathered up the dispersed atoms and rebuilt himself. In the +destruction of our supply trains he imagines, doubtless, that he is +inflicting a great injury upon our division; but he is mistaken. The +bread and meat we fail to get from the loyal States are made good to us +from the smoke-houses and granaries of the disloyal. Our boys find +Alabama hams better than Uncle Sam's sidemeat, and fresh bread better +than hard crackers. So that every time this dashing cavalryman destroys +a provision train, their hearts are gladdened, and they shout "Bully for +Morgan!" + +19. Rumor says that Richmond is in the hands of our troops; and from the +same source we learn that a large force of the enemy is between us and +Nashville. Fifteen hundred mounted men were within seventeen miles of +Huntsville yesterday. A regiment with four pieces of artillery, under +command of Colonel Lytle, was sent toward Fayetteville to look after +them. + +20. The busiest time in the Provost Marshal's office is between eight +o'clock in the morning and noon. Then many persons apply for passes to +go outside the lines and for guards to protect property. Others come to +make complaints that houses have been broken open, or that horses, dogs, +and negroes, have strayed away or been stolen. + +23. The men of Huntsville have settled down to a patient endurance of +military rule. They say but little, and treat us with all politeness. +The women, however, are outspoken in their hostility, and marvelously +bitter. A flag of truce came in last night from Chattanooga, and the +bearers were overwhelmed with visits and favors from the ladies. When +they took supper at the Huntsville Hotel, the large dining-room was +crowded with fair faces and bright eyes; but the men prudently held +aloof. + +A day or two ago one of our Confederate prisoners died. The ladies +filled the hearse to overflowing with flowers, and a large number of +them accompanied the soldier to his last resting-place. + +The foolish, yet absolute, devotion of the women to the Southern cause +does much to keep it alive. It encourages, nay forces, the young to +enter the army, and compels them to continue what the more sensible +Southerners know to be a hopeless struggle. But we must not judge these +Huntsville women too harshly. Here are the families of many of the +leading men of Alabama; of generals, colonels, majors, captains, and +lieutenants in the Confederate army; of men, even, who hold cabinet +positions at Richmond, and of many young men who are clerks in the +departments of the rebel Government. Their wives, daughters, sisters, +and sweethearts feel, doubtless, that the honor of these gentlemen, and +possibly their lives, depend upon the success of the Confederacy. + +To-day two young negro men from Jackson county came in with their wives. +They were newly married, and taking their wedding journey. The vision of +a better and higher life had lured them from the old plantation where +they were born. At midnight they had stolen quietly away, plodded many +weary miles on foot, confident that the rainbow and the bag of gold were +in the camp of the Federal army. + +25. This in-door life has made me ill. I am as yellow as an orange. The +doctors say I have the jaundice. + + + + +JUNE, 1862. + + +3. Have requested General Mitchell to relieve me from duty as Provost +Marshal; am now wholly unfit to do business. + +We have heard of the evacuation of Corinth. The simple withdrawal of the +enemy amounts to but little, if anything; he still lives, is organized +and ready to do battle on some other field. + +5. Go home on sick leave. + + * * * * * + +25. There were three little girls on the Louisville packet, about the +age of my own children. They were great romps. I said to one, "what is +your name?" She replied "Pudin' an' tame." So I called her Pudin', and +she became very angry, so angry indeed that she cried. The other little +girls laughed heartily, and called her Pudin' also, and then asked my +name. I answered John Smith; they insisted then that Pudin' was my wife, +and called her Pudin' Smith. This made Pudin' furious, and she abused +her companions and me terribly; but John Smith invested a little money +in cherries, and thus pacified Pudin', and so got to Louisville without +getting his hair pulled. I saw no more of Pudin' until she got off the +cars at Elizabethtown. Going up to her, we shook hands, and I said, +"Good-by, Pudin'." She hung her head for a moment, and tried to look +angry, but finally breaking into a laugh she said, "I don't like you at +all any way, good-by." + +27. Reached Huntsville. The regiment in good condition, boys well; +weather hot. General Buell arrived last night. McCook's Division is +here; Nelson, Crittenden, and Wood on the road hither. + + + + +JULY, 1862. + + +2. We know, or think we know, that a great battle has been fought near +Richmond, but the result for some reason is withheld. We speculate, +talk, and compare notes, but this makes us only the more eager for +definite information. + +I am almost as well as ever, not quite so strong, but a few days will +make me right again. + +3. It is exceedingly dull; we are resting as quietly and leisurely as we +could at home. There are no drills, and no expeditions. The army is +holding its breath in anxiety to hear from Richmond. If McClellan has +been whipped, the country must in time know it; if successful, it would +be rejoiced to hear it. Why, therefore, should the particulars, and even +the result of the fighting, be suppressed. Rumor gives us a thousand +conflicting stories of the battle, but rumor has many tongues and lies +with all. + +General Mitchell departed for Washington yesterday. + +The rebels at Chattanooga claim that McClellan has been terribly +whipped, and fired guns along their whole line, within hearing of our +troops, in honor of the victory. + +A lieutenant of the Nineteenth Illinois, who fell into the enemy's +hands, has just returned on parole, and claims to have seen a dispatch +from the Adjutant-General of the Southern Confederacy, stating that +McClellan had been defeated and his army cut to pieces. He believes it. + +My horse is as fat as a stall-fed ox. He has had a very easy time during +my absence. + +To-morrow is the Fourth, hitherto glorious, but now, like to-day's +meridian sun, clouded, and sending out a somewhat uncertain light. Has +the great experiment failed? Shall we hail the Fourth as the birthday of +a great Nation, or weep over it as the beginning of a political +enterprise which resulted in dissolution, anarchy and ruin? Let us lift +up our eyes and be hopeful. The dawn may be even now breaking. + +The boys propose to have a barbecue to-morrow, and roast a corpulent, +good-natured Ethiopian, named Caesar. They are now discussing the matter +very voluminously, in Caesar's presence. He thinks they are probably +joking; but still they seem to be greatly in earnest, and he knows +little of these Yankees, and thinks maybe his "massa tole him de truff +about dem, after all." "The Fourth is a great day," the boys go on to +say, "whereon Yankees always dine on roast nigger. It is a part of their +religion. It is this which makes colored folks so scarce in the North." +Shall Caesar be stuffed or not? That is really the only question. One +party claims that if Caesar be stuffed with vegetables and nicely +roasted, he will be delicious. The other party insists that Caesar is +sufficiently stuffed already; vegetables would not improve him. They +have eaten roast nigger both ways and know. So the discussion waxes hot, +and the dusky Alabamian has some fear, even, that his last day may be +drawing very near. + +4. Thirty-four guns were fired at noon. + +5. An Atlanta paper of the 1st instant says the Confederates have won a +decisive victory at Richmond. No Northern papers have been allowed to +come into camp. + +6. McCook moved toward Chattanooga. General W. S. Smith has command of +our division. + +The boys have a great many game chickens. Not long ago Company G, of the +Third, and Company G, of the Tenth, had a rooster fight, the stakes +being fifteen dollars a side. After numerous attacks, retreats, charges, +and counter-charges, the Tenth rooster succumbed like a hero, and the +other was carried in triumph from the field. General Mitchell made his +appearance near the scene at the conclusion of the conflict; but, +supposing the crowd to be an enthusiastic lot of soldiers who were +cheering him, passed on, well pleased with them and himself. + +The boys have a variety of information from Richmond to-day. One party +affirms that McClellan has been cut to pieces; that a dispatch to that +effect has been received by General Buell. Another insists that he has +obtained a decided advantage, and is heating the shot to burn Richmond; +while still another affirms that he has utterly destroyed Richmond, +and, Marius-like, is sitting amid the ruins of that ill-fated city, +eating sow belly and doe-christers. + +7. Am detailed to serve on court-martial. + + +DETAIL FOR THE COURT. + + General James A. Garfield. + Colonel Jacob Ammen. + Colonel Curren Pope. + Colonel Jones. + Colonel Marc Mundy. + Colonel Sedgewick. + Colonel John Beatty. + +Convened at Athens at ten o'clock this morning. Organized and adjourned +to meet at ten to-morrow. + +General Buell proposes, I understand, to give General Mitchell's +administration of affairs in North Alabama a thorough overhauling. It is +asserted that the latter has been interested in cotton speculations; but +investigation, I am well satisfied, will show that General Mitchell has +been strictly honest, and has done nothing to compromise his honor, or +cast even the slightest shadow upon his good name. + +The first case to be tried is that of Colonel J. B. Turchin, Nineteenth +Illinois. He is charged with permitting his command, the Eighth Brigade, +to steal, rob, and commit all manner of outrages. + +10. Our court has been adjourning from day to day, until Colonel Turchin +should succeed in procuring counsel; but it is now in full blast. + +Nelson's division is quartered here. The town is enveloped in a dense +cloud of dust. + +14. There are many wealthy planters in this section. One of the +witnesses before our court has a cotton crop on hand worth sixty +thousand dollars. Another swears that Turchin's brigade robbed him of +twelve hundred dollars' worth of silver plate. + +Turchin's brigade has stolen a hundred thousand dollars' worth of +watches, plate, and jewelry, in Northern Alabama. Turchin has gone to +one extreme, for war can not justify the gutting of private houses and +the robbery of peaceable citizens, for the benefit of individual +officers or soldiers; but there is another extreme, more amiable and +pleasant to look upon, but not less fatal to the cause. Buell is likely +to go to that. He is inaugurating the dancing-master policy: "By your +leave, my dear sir, we will have a fight; that is, if you are +sufficiently fortified; no hurry; take your own time." To the +bushwhacker: "Am sorry you gentlemen fire at our trains from behind +stumps, logs, and ditches. Had you not better cease this sort of +warfare? Now do, my good fellows, stop, I beg of you." To the citizen +rebel: "You are a chivalrous people; you have been aggravated by the +abolitionists into subscribing cotton to the Southern Confederacy; you +had, of course, a right to dispose of your own property to suit +yourselves, but we prefer that you would, in future, make no more +subscriptions of that kind, and in the meantime we propose to protect +your property and guard your negroes." Turchin's policy is bad enough; +it may indeed be the policy of the devil; but Buell's policy is that of +the amiable idiot. There is a better policy than either. It will +neither steal nor maraud; it will do nothing for the sake of individual +gain, and, on the other hand, it will not crouch to rebels; it will not +fear to hurt the feelings of traitors; it will not fritter away the army +and the revenue of the Government in the insane effort to protect men +who have forfeited all right to protection. The policy we need is one +that will march boldly, defiantly, through the rebel States, indifferent +as to whether this traitor's cotton is safe, or that traitor's negroes +run away; calling things by their right names; crushing those who have +aided and abetted treason, whether in the army or out. In short, we want +an iron policy that will not tolerate treason; that will demand +immediate and unconditional obedience as the price of protection. + +15. The post at Murfreesboro, occupied by two regiments of infantry and +one battery, under Crittenden, of Indiana, has surrendered to the enemy. +A bridge and a portion of the railroad track between this place and +Pulaski have been destroyed. A large rebel force is said to be north of +the Tennessee. It crossed the river at Chattanooga. + +18. The star of the Confederacy appears to be rising, and I doubt not it +will continue to ascend until the rose-water policy now pursued by the +Northern army is superseded by one more determined and vigorous. We +should look more to the interests of the North, and less to those of the +South. We should visit on the aiders, abettors, and supporters of the +Southern army somewhat of the severity which hitherto has been aimed at +that army only. Who are most deserving of our leniency, those who take +arms and go to the field, or those who remain at home, raising corn, +oats, and bacon to subsist them? Plain people, who know little of +constitutional hair-splitting, could decide this question only one way; +but it seems those who have charge of our armies can not decide it in +any sensible way. They say: "You would not disturb peaceable citizens by +levying contributions from them?" Why not? If the husbands, brothers, +and fathers of these people, their natural leaders and guardians, do not +care for them, why should we? If they disregard and trample upon that +law which gave all protection, and plunge the country into war, why +should we be perpetually hindered and thwarted in our efforts to secure +peace by our care for those whom they have abandoned? If we make the +country through which we pass furnish supplies to our army, the +inhabitants will have less to furnish our enemies. The surplus products +of the country should be gathered into the Federal granaries, so that +they could not, by possibility, go to feed the rebels. The loyal and +innocent might occasionally and for the present suffer, but peace when +once established would afford ample opportunity to investigate and repay +these sufferers. Shall we continue to protect the property of our +enemies, and lose the lives of our friends? It is said that it is hard +to deprive men of their horses, cattle, grain, simply because they +differ from us in opinion; but is it not harder still to deprive men of +their lives for the same reason? The opinions from which we differ in +this instance are treasonable. The man who, of his own free will, +supplies the wood is no whit better than he who kindles the fire; and +the man who supplies the ammunition neither better nor worse than he who +does the killing. The severest punishment should be inflicted upon the +soldier who appropriates either private or public property to his own +use; but the Government should lay its mailed hand upon treasonable +communities, and teach them that war is no holiday pastime. + +19. Returned to Huntsville this afternoon; General Garfield with me. He +will visit our quarters to-morrow and dine with us. + +General Rousseau has been assigned to the command of our division. I am +glad to hear that he discards the rose-water policy of General Buell +under his nose, and is a great deal more thorough and severe in his +treatment of rebels than General Mitchell. He sent the Rev. Mr. Ross to +jail to-day for preaching a secession sermon last Sunday. He damns the +rebel sympathizers, and says if the negro stands in the way of the Union +he must get out. Rousseau is a Kentuckian, and it is very encouraging to +learn that he talks as he does. + +Turchin has been made a brigadier. + +21. An order issued late last evening transferring our court from Athens +to Huntsville. + +Colonel Turchin's case is still before us. No official notice of his +promotion has been communicated to the court. + +23. Garfield and Ammen are our guests. They are sitting with Colonel +Keifer, in the open air, in front of our tent. We have eaten supper, and +Colonel Ammen has the floor; he always has it. He is somewhat +superstitious. He never likes to see the moon through brush. He is to +some extent a believer in dreams. On one occasion he dreamed that his +father, who was drowned, came up from the muddy water, looked angrily at +him, and endeavored to stab him with a rusty knife. In his effort to +escape he awoke. Falling to sleep again, his father reappeared and made +a second attempt to stab him. This so thoroughly aroused and troubled +him that he could not sleep. In the morning he told this dream to a +friend, and was informed that two members of his family would soon die. +Soon after he was summoned home, when he found his mother dead and his +sister dying of cholera. At another time he felt a sharp pain in the +back of his neck, and was impressed with the idea that he had been shot. +Soon afterward he learned that his brother in the South had been shot in +the back of the neck and killed. He believes that his own sensation of +pain was experienced at the very instant when his brother received the +fatal wound; but as he could not remember the precise hour when he was +startled by the disagreeable impression, he could not be positive that +the occurrences were simultaneous. When going into battle at Greenbrier +and at Shiloh, the belief that his time to die had not come rendered him +cool and fearless. He never felt more at ease or more secure. So when, +at two different times, he was very ill, and informed that he could not +live through the night, he felt absolutely sure that he would recover. + +Garfield had a very impressionable relative. The night before his fight +with Humphrey Marshall, she wrote a very accurate general description of +the battle, giving the position of the troops; referring to the +reinforcements which came up, and the great shout with which they were +welcomed. + +These mysterious impressions suggested the existence of an undiscovered, +or possibly an undeveloped principle in nature, which time and +investigation would ultimately make familiar. + +Colonel Ammen says, "If superstition, or a belief in the supernatural, +is an indication of weakness, Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott were the +weakest of men." + +With General Garfield I called on General Rousseau this morning. He is a +larger and handsomer man than Mitchell, but I think lacks the latter's +energy, culture, system, and industry. + +24. We can not boast of what is occurring in this department. The tide +seems to have set against us every-where. The week of battles before +Richmond was a week of defeats. I trust the new policy indicated by the +confiscation act, just passed by Congress, will have good effect. It +will, at least, enable us to weaken the enemy, as we have not thus far +done, and strengthen ourselves, as we have hitherto not been able to do. +Slavery is the enemy's weak point, the key to his position. If we can +tear down this institution, the rebels will lose all interest in the +Confederacy, and be too glad to escape with their lives, to be very +particular about what they call their rights. + +Colonel Ammen has just received notice of his confirmation as brigadier. +He is a strange combination of simplicity and wisdom, full of good +stories, and tells those against himself with a great deal more pleasure +than any others. + +Colonels Turchin, Mihalotzy, Gazley, and Captain Edgerton form a group +by the window; all are smoking vigorously, and speculating probably on +the result of the present and prospective trials. Mihalotzy is what is +commonly termed "Dutch;" but whether he is from the German States, +Russia, Prussia, or Poland, I know not. + +Ammen left camp early this morning, saying he would go to town and see +if he could find an idea, he was pretty nearly run out. He talks +incessantly; his narratives abound in episode, parenthesis, switches, +side-cuts, and before he gets through, one will conclude a dozen times +that he has forgotten the tale he entered upon, but he never does. + +Colonel Stanley, Eighteenth Ohio, has just come in. He has in his time +been a grave and reverend senator of Ohio; he never loses sight of this +fact, and never fails to impress it upon those with whom he comes in +contact. + +An order has just been issued, and is now being circulated among the +members of the court, purporting to come from General Ammen, and signed +with his name. It recites the fact of his promotion, and forbids any one +hereafter to call him Uncle Jacob, that title being entirely too +familiar and undignified for one of his rank. All who violate the order +are threatened with the direst punishment. + +The General says if such orders please the court, he will not object to +their being issued; it certainly requires but very little ability to get +them up. + +The General prides himself on what he calls delicate irony. He says, in +the town of Ripley, men who can not manage a dray successfully criticise +the conduct of this and that general with great severity; when they +appeal to him, he tells them quietly he has not the capacity to judge of +such matters; it requires a great mind and a thorough understanding of +all the circumstances. + +After all I have said about General Ammen, it is hardly necessary to +remark that he does most of the talking. + +To-day Garfield and Keifer, who of course entertain the kindliest +feelings, and the greatest respect for the General, in a spirit of fun, +entered into a conspiracy against him. They proposed for one night to do +all the talking themselves, and not allow him to edge in even a word. +After supper Garfield was to commence with the earliest incidents of his +childhood, and without allowing himself to be interrupted, continue +until he had given a complete narrative of his life and adventures; then +Keifer was to strike in and finish up the night. General Ammen was not +to be permitted to open his mouth except to yawn. + +We ate supper and immediately adjourned to the adjoining tent. Before +Garfield was fairly seated on his camp stool, he began to talk with the +easy and deliberate manner of a man who had much to say. He dwelt +eloquently on the minutest details of his early life, as if they were +matters of the utmost importance. Keifer was not only an attentive +listener, but seemed wonderfully interested. Uncle Jacob undertook to +thrust in a word here and there, but Garfield was too much absorbed to +notice him, and so pushed on steadily, warming up as he proceeded. +Unfortunately for his scheme, however, before he had gone far he made a +touching reference to his mother, when Uncle Jacob, gesticulating +energetically, and with his forefinger leveled at the speaker, cried: +"Just a word--just one word right there," and so persisted until +Garfield was compelled either to yield or be absolutely discourteous. +The General, therefore, got in his word; nay, he held the floor for the +remainder of the evening. The conspirators made brave efforts to put him +down and cut him off, but they were unsuccessful. At midnight, when +Keifer and I left, he was still talking; and after we had got into bed, +he, with his suspenders dangling about his legs, thrust his head into +our tent-door, and favored us with the few observations we had lost by +reason of our hasty departure. Keifer turned his face to the wall and +groaned. Poor man! he had been hoisted by his own petard. I think Uncle +Jacob suspected that the young men had set up a job on him. + +The regiment went on a foraging expedition yesterday, under Colonel +Keifer, and was some fifteen miles from Huntsville, in the direction of +the Tennessee river. + +At one o'clock last night our picket was confronted by about one hundred +and fifty of the enemy's cavalry; but no shots were exchanged. + +29. The rebel cavalry were riding in the mountains south of us last +night. A heavy mounted patrol of our troops was making the rounds at +midnight. There was some picket firing along toward morning; but nothing +occurred of importance. + +Our forces are holding the great scope of country between Memphis and +Bridgeport, guarding bridges, railroads, and towns, frittering away the +strength of a great army, and wasting our men by permitting them to be +picked up in detail. In short, we put down from fifty to one hundred, +here and there, at points convenient to the enemy, as bait for them. +They take the bait frequently, and always when they run no risk of being +caught. The climate, and the insane effort to garrison the whole +country, consumes our troops, and we make no progress. May the good Lord +be with us, and deliver us from idleness and imbecility; and especially, +O! Lord, grant a little every-day sense--that very common sense which +plain people use in the management of their business affairs--to the +illustrious generals who have our armies in hand! + +30. We have just concluded Colonel Turchin's case, and forwarded the +proceedings to General Buell. + +General Ammen for many years belonged to a club, the members of which +were required either to sing a song or tell a story. He could not sing, +and, consequently, took to stories, and very few can tell one better. +The General is a member of the Episcopal Church, and, although a pious +man, emphasizes his language occasionally by an oath. When conducting +his brigade from the boat at Pittsburg Landing to position on the field, +he was compelled to pass through the immense crowd of skedaddlers who +had sought shelter under the bluffs from the storm of bullets. A +chaplain of one of the disorganized regiments was haranguing the mob in +what may be termed the whangdoodle style: "Rally, men; rally, and we may +yet be saved. O! rally! For God and your country's sake rally! +R-a-l-l-y! O-h! r-a-l-l-y around the flag of your c-o-w-n-try, my +c-o-wn-tryme-n!" "Shut up, you God damned old fool!" said Ammen, "or +I'll break your head! Get out of the way!" + +General Garfield is lying on the lounge unwell. He has an attack of the +jaundice, and will, I think, start home to-morrow. + +I find an article on the tables of the South, which, with coffee, I like +very much. The wheat dough is rolled very thin, cut in strips the width +of a table-knife, and about as long, baked until well done; if browned, +all the better. They become crisp and brittle, and better than the best +of crackers. + +31. General Ammen is so interesting to me that I can not avoid talking +about him, especially when items are scarce, as they are now. Our court +takes a recess at one, and assembles again at half-past three, giving us +two hours and a half for dinner. To-day the conversation turned on the +various grasses North and South. After the General had described the +peculiar grasses of many sections, he drifted to the people South who +lived on farms, where he had seen a variety of grass unknown in the +North, and the following story was told: + +In the part of Mississippi where he resided for a number of years, there +lived a Northern family named Greenfield. When he was there the farm was +known as the Greenfield farm. It was the peculiar grass on this farm +which suggested the story. The Greenfields were Quakers, originally from +Philadelphia. One of the wealthiest members of the family was a little +weazen-faced old maid, of fifty years or more. Her overseer was a large, +fine looking young man named Roach. After he had been in her service a +year she took a fancy to him, and proposed to give him twenty thousand +dollars if he would marry her. He accepted, and they were duly married. +A year after she grew tired of wedlock, and proposed to give thirty +thousand dollars to be unmarried. He accepted this proposition also. +They united in a petition for a divorce and obtained it. Roach took the +fifty thousand dollars thus made and invested it in the Yazoo country. +The property increased in value rapidly, and he soon became a +millionaire. When General Ammen saw him, he had married again more to +his liking, and was one of the prominent men in his section. + +The farm of the Gillyards lay near that of the Greenfields, and this +suggested another story. A Miss Gillyard was a great heiress; owned +plantations in Mississippi, and an interest in a large estate in South +Carolina. A doctor of prepossessing appearance came from the latter +State, and commenced practice in the neighborhood, and an acquaintance +of a few months resulted in a marriage. After living together a year +very happily, they started on a visit to South Carolina; she to visit +relatives and look after her interest in the estate mentioned, and he to +see his friends. On the way it was agreed that he should attend to his +wife's business, and so full power to sell or dispose of the property, +or her interest therein, was given him. At Charleston she was met by the +relatives with whom she was to remain, while the Doctor proceeded to a +different part of the State to see his friends, and afterward attend to +business. When about to separate, like a jolly soul, he proposed that +they should drink to each other's health during the separation. The wine +was produced; they touched glasses, and raised them to their lips, when +the door opened suddenly and the Doctor was called. Setting his wine on +the table, he stepped out of the room, and the wife, more affectionate, +possibly, than most women, took the glass which his lips had touched and +put her own in its place. The husband reappeared shortly, and they drank +off the wine. In an hour he was dead, and she in the deepest affliction. +After she had recovered somewhat from the shock, she left Charleston to +visit his people. She found them poor, and that he had a wife and three +children. The truth then broke in upon her; he had drank the wine +prepared for her. + +This story suggested one involving some of Miss Gillyard's relations. + +Two lady cousins resided in the same town. The father of one had amassed +a handsome fortune in the tailoring business. The father of the other +had been a saddler, and, carrying on the business extensively, had also +become wealthy. The descendant of the saddler would refer to her +cousin's father as the tailor, and intimate that his calling was +certainly not that of a gentleman. The other hearing of this, and +meeting her one evening at a large party, said: "Cousin Julia, I hear +that you have said my father was nothing but a tailor. Now, this is +true; he was a tailor, and a very good one, too. By his industry and +judgment he made a large fortune, which I am enjoying. I respect him; am +grateful, and not ashamed of him, if he was a tailor. Your father was a +saddler, and a very good one. He, by industry and good management, +accumulated great wealth, which you are enjoying. I see no reason, +therefore, why we should not both be proud of our fathers, and I +certainly can see no reason why a man-tailor should not be just as good +as a horse-tailor." + + + + +AUGUST, 1862. + + +1. The Judge-Advocate, Captain Swayne, was unwell this morning. The +court, therefore, took a recess until three o'clock. Captain Edgerton's +case was disposed of last evening. Colonel Mihalotzy's will come before +us to-day. A court-martial proceeds always with due respect to red tape. +The questions to witnesses are written out; the answers are written +down; the statement of the accused is in writing, and the defense of the +accused's counsel is written; so that the court snaps its fingers at +time, as if it were of no consequence, and seven men, against whom there +are no charges, are likely to spend their natural lives in investigating +seven men, more or less, against whom there are charges. It is thus the +rebels are being subjugated, the Union re-united, the Constitution and +the laws enforced. + +3. Among the curiosities in camp are two young coons and a pet opossum. +The latter is the property of Augustus Caesar, the esquire of Adjutant +Wilson. Caesar restrains the opossum with a string, and looks forward +with great pleasure to the time when he will be fat enough to eat. The +coons are just now playing on the wild cherry tree in front of my tent, +and several colored boys are watching them with great interest. One of +these, a native Alabamian, tells me "de coon am a great fiter; he can +wip a dog berry often; but de possum can wip de coon, for he jist takes +one holt on de coon, goes to sleep, an' nebber lets go; de coon he +scratch an' bite, but de possum he nebber min'; he keeps his holt, shuts +his eyes, and bimeby de coon he knocks under. De she coon am savager dan +de he coon. I climbed a tree onct, an' de she coon come out ob her hole +mitey savage, an' I leg go, an' tumbled down to de groun', and like ter +busted my head. De she coon am berry savage. De possum can't run berry +fast, but de coon can run faster'n a dog. You can tote a possum, but you +can't tote a coon, he scratch an' bite so." + +The gentlemen of the South have a great fondness for jewelry, canes, +cigars, and dogs. Out of forty white men thirty-nine, at least, will +have canes, and on Sunday the fortieth will have one also. White men +rarely work here. There are, it is true, tailors, merchants, saddlers, +and jewelers, but the whites never drive teams, work in the fields, or +engage in what may be termed rough work. + +Judging from the number of stores and present stocks, Huntsville, in the +better times, does a heavier retail jewelry business than Cleveland or +Columbus. Every planter, and every wealthy or even well-to-do man, has +plate. Diamonds, rings, gold watches, chains, and bracelets are to be +found in every family. The negroes buy large amounts of cheap jewelry, +and the trade in this branch is enormous. One may walk a whole day in a +Northern city without seeing a ruffled shirt. Here they are very common. + +The case of Colonel Mihalotzy was concluded to-day. + +5. General Ammen was a teacher for years at West Point, at Natchez, +Mississippi, in Kentucky, Indiana, and recently at Ripley, Ohio. He has +devoted particular attention to the education of children, and has no +confidence in the usual mode of teaching them. He labors to strengthen +or cultivate, first: _attention_, and to this end never allows their +interest in anything to flag; whenever he discovers that their minds +have become weary of a subject, he takes the book from them and turns +their thought in a new direction. Nor does he allow their attention to +be divided between two or three objects at the same time. By his method +they acquire the power to concentrate their whole mind upon a given +subject. The next thing to be cultivated is _observation_; teach them to +notice whatever may be around, and describe it. What did you see when +you came up street? The child may answer a pig. What is a pig, how did +it look, describe it. Saw a man, did you? Was he large or small? How was +he dressed? A room? What is a room? Thus will they be taught to observe +everything, and to talk about what they observe, and learn not only to +think but to express their thoughts. He often amuses them by what he +terms opposites. To illustrate: He will say "black," the child will +answer "white." Long, short; good, bad; heavy, light; dark, light. +"What kind of light," he will ask, "is that kind which is the opposite +of heavy?" Here is a puzzle for them. Next in importance to observation, +and to be strengthened at the same time, is the _memory_. They are +required to learn little pieces; short stories perhaps, or songs that +their minds can comprehend; not too long, for neither the memory nor the +attention should be overtaxed. + +7. As General Ammen and I were returning to camp this evening, we were +joined by Colonel Fry, of General Buell's staff, who informed us that +General Robert McCook was murdered, near Winchester, yesterday, by a +small band of guerrillas. McCook was unwell, riding in an ambulance some +distance in advance of the column; while stopping in front of a +farm-house to make some enquiry, the guerrillas made a sudden dash, the +escort fled, and McCook was killed while lying in the ambulance +defenseless. When the Dutchmen of his old regiment learned of the +unfortunate occurrence they became uncontrollable, and destroyed the +buildings and property on five plantations near the scene of the murder. +McCook had recently been promoted for gallantry at Mill Springs. He was +a brave, bluff, talented man, and his loss will be sorely felt. + +Captain Mitchell started home in charge of a recruiting party this +morning. I am anxious to fill the regiment to a thousand strong. + +8. General Ammen was at Buell's quarters this evening, and ascertains +that hot work is expected soon. The enemy is concentrating a heavy +force between Bridgeport and Chattanooga. + +The night is exceedingly beautiful; our camp lies at the foot of a low +range of mountains called the Montesano; the sky seems supported by +them. A cavalry patrol is just coming down the road, on its return to +camp, and the men are singing: + + "An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain, + Oh! give me my lowly thatched cottage again; + The birds singing gayly, that came at my call, + Give me them, with the peace of mind dearer than all. + Home, home, sweet home, there is no place like home; + There is no place like home." + +9. I have sometimes wondered how unimportant occurrences could suggest +so much, but the faculty of association brings similar things before the +mind, and a thousand collateral subjects as well. The band of the Tenth +Ohio is playing. Where, and under what circumstances, have I heard other +bands? The question carries my thoughts into half the States of the +Union, into a multitude of places, into an innumerable variety of +scenes--faces, conversations, theatres, balls, speeches, songs--the +chain is endless, and it might be followed for a lifetime. + +10. The enemy, a thousand strong, is said to be within five miles of us. +One hundred and sixty-five men of the Third, under Major Lawson, and +five companies of cavalry, the whole commanded by Colonel Kennett, left +at two o'clock to reconnoiter the front; they will probably go to the +river unless the enemy is met on the way. + +A negro came in about four o'clock to report that the enemy's pickets +were at his master's house, five miles from here, at the foot of the +other slope of the mountain. He was such an ignorant fellow that his +report was hardly intelligible. We sent him back, telling him to bring +us more definite information. He was a field hand, bare-footed, +horny-handed, and very black, but he knew all about "de mountings; dey +can't kotch him nohow. If de sesesh am at Massa Bob's when I git back, I +come to-night an' tell yer all." With these words, this poor proprietor +of a dilapidated pair of pants and shirt, started over the mountains. +What are his thoughts about the war, and its probable effects on his own +fortunes, as he trudges along over the hills? Is it the desire for +freedom, or the dislike for his overseer, that prompts him to run five +miles of a Sunday to give this information? Possibly both. + +Caesar said to the Adjutant, "Massa Wilson, may I go to church?" "What do +you want to go church for, Caesar?" "To hear de Gospel." One day Caesar +said to me, "Co'nel, you belongs to de meetin don't you?" "Why so, +Caesar?" "Kase I nebber heard you swar any." + +To-day one of the pet coons got after a chicken. A young half-naked +negro took after the coon; and a long and crooked chase the chicken, +coon, and negro had of it. + +12. At five o'clock the members of the court met to say good-by, and +drink a dozen bottles of Scotch ale at General Ammen's expense. This was +quite a spree for the General, and quite his own spree. It was a big +thing, equal almost to the battle of "Shealoh." They were pint bottles, +and the General would persist in acting upon the theory that one bottle +would fill all our glasses. Seeing the glasses empty he would call for +another bottle, and say to us, "Gentlemen, I have ordered another +bottle." The General evidently drinks, when he imbibes at all, simply to +be social, and a thimble-full would answer his purpose as well as a +barrel. + +The court called on General Buell; he is cold, smooth-toned, silent, the +opposite of Nelson, who is ardent, loud-mouthed, and violent. + +17. Colonel Keifer has just received a telegram informing him that he +has been appointed Colonel of the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio. I regret +his departure too much to rejoice over his promotion. He has been a +faithful officer, always prompt and cheerful; much better qualified to +command the regiment than its Colonel. + +Watermelons, peaches, nectarines, are abundant. Peaches thrive better in +this climate than apples. I have eaten almost the whole of a watermelon +to-day, and am somewhat satiated. The melon had a cross (+) on the rind. +I enquired of the negro who brought it in, what the mark meant, and he +replied, "de patch war owned principally by a good many niggars, sah, +an' dey dewided dem afore day got ripe, an' put de mark on de rine, to +show dat de p'tic'lar melon belonged to a p'tic'lar niggar, sah." + +Governor Tod is damaging the old regiments by injudicious promotions. He +does in some instances, it is true, reward faithful soldiers; but often +complaining, unwilling, incompetent fellows are promoted, who get upon +the sick list to avoid duty; lay upon their backs when they should be on +their feet, and are carousing when they should be asleep. On the march, +instead of pushing along resolutely at the head of their command, they +fall back and get into an ambulance. The troops have no confidence in +them; their presence renders a whole company worthless, and this company +contributes greatly to the demoralization of a regiment. + +22. A little vine has crept into my tent and put out a handsome flower. + +General Buell and staff, with bag and baggage, left this morning. + +25. Ordered to move. + +29. We are at Decherd, Tennessee. I am weak, discouraged, and worn out +with idleness. + +The negroes are busily engaged throwing up earth works and building +stockades. To-night, as they were in line, I stopped a moment to hear +the sergeant call the roll, "Scipio McDonald." "Here I is, sah." +"Caesar--Caesar McDonald." "Caesar was 'sleep las' I saw ob him, sah." +These negroes take the family name of their masters. + +The whole army is concentrated here, or near here; but nobody knows +anything, except that the water is bad, whisky scarce, dust abundant, +and the air loaded with the scent and melody of a thousand mules. These +long-eared creatures give us every variety of sound of which they are +capable, from the deep bass bray to the most attenuated whinny. + +The Thirty-third Ohio was shelled out of its fortifications at Battle +creek yesterday. Colonel Moore is in the adjoining tent, giving an +account of his trials and tribulations to Shanks of the New York Herald. + +Fifty of the Third, under Lieutenant Carpenter, went to Stevenson +yesterday; on their return they were fired upon by guerrillas. Jack +Boston shot a man and captured a horse. + + + + +SEPTEMBER, 1862. + + +4. Army has fallen back to Murfreesboro. + +5. At Nashville. + +6. To-night we cross the Cumberland. + +7. Bivouacked in Edgefield, at the north end of the railroad bridge. +Troops pouring over the bridge and pushing North rapidly. One of Loomis' +men was shot dead last night while attempting to run by a sentinel. + +10. The moving army with its immense transportation train, raises such a +cloud of dust that it is impossible to see fifty yards ahead. + +11. Arrived at Bowling Green. The two armies are running a race for the +Ohio river. At this time Bragg has the lead. + + + + +OCTOBER, 1862. + + +3. At Taylorsville, Kentucky. Our first day's march out of Louisville +was disagreeable beyond precedent. The boys had been full of whisky for +three days, and fell out of the ranks by scores. The road for sixteen +miles was lined with stragglers. The new men bore the march badly. Rain +fell yesterday afternoon and during the night; I awoke at three o'clock +this morning to find myself lying in a puddle of water. A soldier of +Captain Rossman's company was wrestling with another, and being thrown, +died almost instantly from the effect of the fall. + +4. At Bloomfield. Shelled the rebels out of the woods in which we are +now bivouacking, and picked up a few prisoners. The greater part of the +rebel army is, we are told, at Bardstown--twelve miles away. + +5. Still at Bloomfield, in readiness to move at a moment's notice. + +7. Moved to Maxville, and bivouacked for the night. + + +PERRYVILLE. + +8. Started in the early morning toward Perryville. The occasional boom +of guns at the front notified us that the enemy was not far distant. A +little later the rattle of musketry mingled with the roar of artillery, +and we knew the vanguard was having lively work. The boys marched well +and were in high spirits; the long-looked for battle appeared really +near, and that old notion that the Third was fated never to see a fight +seemed now likely to be exploded. At ten o'clock we were hastened +forward and placed in battle line on the left of the Maxville and +Perryville road; the cavalry in our front appeared to be seriously +engaged, and every eye peered eagerly through the woods to catch a +glimpse of the enemy. But in a little while the firing ceased, and with +a feeling of disappointment the boys lounged about on the ground and +logs awaiting further orders. + +They came very soon. At 11 A. M. the Third was directed to take the head +of the column and move forward. We anticipated no danger, for Rousseau +and his staff were in advance of us, followed by Lytle and his staff. +The regiment was marching by the flank, and had proceeded to the brow of +the hill overlooking a branch of the Chaplin river, and was about to +descend into the valley, when the enemy's artillery opened in front with +great fury. Rousseau and his staff wheeled suddenly out of the road to +the left, accompanied by Lytle. After a moment spent by them in +consultation, I was ordered to countermarch my regiment to the bottom of +the hill we had just ascended, and file off to the right of the road. + +Loomis' and Simonson's Batteries were soon put in position, and began +to reply to the enemy. A furious interchange of shell and solid shot +occurred, but after a little while our batteries ceased firing, and we +had comparative silence. + +About 2 o'clock the rebel infantry was seen advancing across the valley, +and I ordered the Third to ascend the hill and take position on the +crest. The enemy's batteries now reopened with redoubled fury, and the +air seemed filled with shot and exploding shells. Finding the rebels +were still too far away to make our muskets effective, I ordered the +boys to lie down and await their nearer approach. They advanced under +cover of a house on the side hill, and having reached a point one +hundred and fifty yards distant, deployed behind a stone fence which was +hidden from us by standing corn. At this time the left of my regiment +rested on the Maxville and Perryville road; the line extending along the +crest of the hill, and the right passing somewhat behind a barn filled +with hay. In this position, with the enemy's batteries pouring upon us a +most destructive fire, the Third arose and delivered its first volley. +For a time, I do not know how long thereafter, it seemed as if all hell +had broken loose; the air was filled with hissing balls; shells were +exploding continuously, and the noise of the guns was deafening; finally +the barn on the right took fire, and the flames bursting from roof, +windows, doors, and interstices between the logs, threw the right of the +regiment into disorder; the confusion, however, was but temporary. The +boys closed up to the left, steadied themselves on the colors, and stood +bravely to the work. Nearly two hundred of my five hundred men now lay +dead and wounded on the little strip of ground over which we fought. + +Colonel Curren Pope, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, whose regiment was being +held in reserve at the bottom of the hill, had already twice requested +me to retire my men and allow him to take the position. Finding now that +our ammunition was exhausted, I sent him notice, and as his regiment +marched to the crest the Third was withdrawn in as perfect order, I +think, as it ever moved from the drill-ground. The Fifteenth made a +gallant fight, and lost heavily both in officers and men; in fact, the +Lieutenant-Colonel and Major fell mortally wounded while it was moving +into position. Colonel Pope was also wounded, but not so seriously as to +prevent his continuing in command. The enemy getting now upon its right +and rear, the regiment was compelled to retire from the crest. + +After consultation with Colonel Pope, it was determined to move our +regiments to the left, and form a line perpendicular to the one +originally taken, and thus give protection to the rear and right of the +troops on our left. The enemy observing this movement, and accepting it +as an indication of withdrawal, advanced rapidly toward us, when I about +faced my regiment, and ordered the men to fix bayonets and move forward +to meet him; but before we had proceeded many yards, I was overtaken by +Lieutenant Grover, of Colonel Lytle's staff, with an order to retire. + +Turning into a ravine a few rods distant, we found an ammunition wagon, +and, under a dropping fire from the enemy, refilled our empty cartridge +boxes. Ascertaining while here that Colonel Lytle was certainly wounded, +and probably killed, I reported at once for duty to Colonel Len. Harris, +commanding Ninth Brigade of our division; but night soon thereafter put +an end to the engagement. + +We bivouacked in a corn-field. The regiment had grown suddenly small. It +was a sorry night for us indeed. Every company had its long list of +killed, wounded, and missing. Over two hundred were gone. Nearly two +hundred, we felt quite sure, had fallen dead or disabled on the field. +Many eyes were in tears, and many hearts were bleeding for lost comrades +and dear friends. General Rousseau rides up in the darkness, and, as we +gather around him, says, in a voice tremulous with emotion: "Boys of the +Third, you stood in that withering fire like men of iron." They did. + +They are thirsty and hungry. Few, however, think either of food or +water. Their thoughts are on the crest of that little hill, where +Cunard, McDougal, St. John, Starr, and scores of others lie cold in +death. They think of the wounded and suffering, and speak to each other +of the terrible ordeal through which they have passed, with bated breath +and in solemn tones, as if a laugh, or jest, or frivolous word, would be +an insult to the slain. + +They have long sought for a battle, and often been disappointed and sore +because they failed to find one; but now, for the first time, they +really realize what a battle is. They see it is to men what an arctic +wind is to autumn leaves, and are astonished to find that any have +outlived the furious storm of deadly missiles. + +The enemy is in the woods before us, and as the sentinels occasionally +exchange shots, we can see the flash of their guns and hear the whistle +of bullets above our heads. The two armies are too near to sleep +comfortably, or even safely, so the boys cling to their muskets and keep +ready for action. It is a long night, but it finally comes to an end. + +9. The enemy has disappeared, and we go to the hill where our fight +occurred. Within the compass of a few rods we find a hundred men of the +Third and Fifteenth lying stiff and cold. Beside these there are many +wounded, whom we pick up tenderly, carry off and provide for. Men are +already digging trenches, and in a little while the dead are gathered +together for interment. We have looked upon such scenes before; but then +the faces were strange to us. Now they are the familiar faces of +intimate personal friends, to whom we are indebted for many kindly acts. +We hear convulsive sobs, see eyes swollen and streaming with tears, and +as our fallen comrades are deposited in their narrow grave, the lines of +Wolfe recur to us: + + "No useless coffin inclosed his breast; + Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him, + But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, + With his martial cloak around him. + + * * * * * + + Slowly and sadly we laid him down + From the field of his fame fresh and gory; + We carved not a line, we raised not a stone, + But left him alone with his glory." + +13. We are in a field near Harrodsburg. Moved yesterday from Perryville. +We are without tents. Rain is falling, and the men uncomfortable. + +Many, perhaps most, of the boys of the regiment disliked me thoroughly. +They thought me too strict, too rigid in the enforcement of orders; but +now they are, without exception, my fast friends. During the battle of +Chaplin Hills, while the enemy's artillery was playing upon us with +terrible effect, I ordered them to lie down. The shot, shell, and +canister came thick as hail, hissing, exploding, and tearing up the +ground around us. There was a universal cry from the boys that I should +lie down also; but I continued to walk up and down the line, watching +the approaching enemy, and replied to their entreaties, "No; it is my +time to stand guard now, and I will not lie down." + +Meeting Captain Loomis yesterday, he said: "Do you know you captured a +regiment at Chaplin Hills?" "I do not." "Yes, you captured the Third. +You have not a man now who wouldn't die for you." + +I have been too much occupied of late to record even the most +interesting and important events. I should like to preserve the names of +the private soldiers who behaved like heroes in the battle; but I have +only time to mention the fact that our colors changed hands seven times +during the engagement. Six of our color bearers were either killed or +wounded, and as the sixth man was falling, a soldier of Company C, named +David C. Walker, a boyish fellow, whose cheeks were ruddy as a girl's, +and who had lost his hat in the fight, sprang forward, caught the +falling flag, then stepping out in front of the regiment, waved it +triumphantly, and carried it to the end of the battle. + +On the next morning I made him color bearer, and undertook to thank him +for his gallantry, but my eyes filled and voice choked, and I was unable +to articulate a word. He understood me, doubtless. + +If it had not been for McCook's foolish haste, it is more than probable +that Bragg would have been most thoroughly whipped and utterly routed. +As it was, two or three divisions had to contend for half a day with one +of the largest and best disciplined of the Confederate armies, and that, +too, when our troops in force were lying but a few miles in the rear, +ready and eager to be led into the engagement. The whole affair is a +mystery to me. McCook is, doubtless, to blame for being hasty; but may +not Buell be censurable for being slow? And may it not be true that this +butchery of men has resulted from the petty jealousies existing between +the commanders of different army corps and divisions? + +19. Encamped in a broken, hilly field, five miles south of Crab Orchard. +From Perryville to this place, there has been each day occasional +cannonading; but this morning I have heard no guns. The Cumberland +mountains are in sight. We are pushing forward as fast probably as it is +possible for a great army to move. Buell is here superintending the +movement. + +24. In the woods near Lebanon, and still without tents. Bragg has left +Kentucky, and is thought to be hastening toward Nashville. We shall +follow him. Having now twice traveled the road, the march is likely to +prove tedious and uninteresting. The army has been marching almost +constantly for two months, and bivouacking at night with an +insufficiency of clothing. + +The troops are lying in an immense grove of large beech. We have had +supper, and a very good one, by the way: pickled salmon, currant jelly, +fried ham, butter, coffee, and crackers. It is now long after nightfall, +and the forest is aglow with a thousand camp-fires. The hum of ten +thousand voices strikes the ear like the roar of a distant sea. A band +away off to the right is mingling its music with the noise, and a mule +now and then breaks in with a voice not governed by any rules of melody +known to man. + + + + +NOVEMBER, 1862. + + +9. In camp at Sinking Spring, Kentucky. Thomas commands the Fourteenth +Army Corps, consisting of Rousseau's, Palmer's, Dumont's, Negley's, and +Fry's divisions; say 40,000 men. McCook has Sill's, Jeff C. Davis', and +Granger's; say 24,000. Crittenden has three divisions, say 24,000. A +large army, which ought to sweep to Mobile without difficulty. + +Sinking Spring, as it is called by some, Mill Spring by others, and by +still others Lost river, is quite a large stream. It rises from the +ground, runs forty rods or more, enters a cave, and is lost. The wreck +of an old mill stands on its banks. Bowling Green is three miles +southward. + +When we get a little further south, we shall find at this season of the +year persimmons and opossums in abundance. Jack says: "Possum am better +dan chicken. In de fall we hunt de possum ebbery night 'cept Sunday. He +am mitey good an' fat, sah; sometimes he too fat." + +We move at ten o'clock to-morrow. + +11. We have settled down at Mitchellville for a few days. After dinner +Furay and I rode six miles beyond this, on the road to Nashville, to the +house of a Union farmer whose acquaintance I made last spring. The old +gentleman was very glad to see us, and insisted upon our remaining until +after supper. In fact, he urged us to stay all night; but we consented +to remain for supper only, and would not allow him to put our horses in +the stable. + +We learned that a little over a week ago the rebels endeavored to +enforce the conscription law in this neighborhood, and one of Mr. +Baily's sons was notified to appear at Gallatin to enter the Southern +army. He was informed that if he did not appear voluntarily at the +appointed time, he would be taken, either dead or alive. He did not go, +and since has been constantly on the watch, expecting the guerrilla +bands, which rendezvous at Tyree Springs, ten miles distant, to come for +the purpose of taking him away. When, therefore, he saw Furay and me +galloping up to the house, he mounted his horse and rode for the woods +as fast as his steed could carry him. After we had been there half an +hour, he returned, and, while shaking hands with us, said: "You scared +me out of a full year's growth." + +Morgan, with a force, the strength of which is variously estimated, +passed near this a few days ago. Many of Mr. Baily's neighbors are +members of the guerrilla bands, and all of them willing spies and +informers. + +We had a splendid supper: chicken, pork, ham, milk, pumpkin pie; in +short, there was every thing on the table that a hungry man could +desire. + +I had introduced Mr. Furay as the correspondent of the Cincinnati +Gazette; but the good folks, not understanding this long title exactly, +dubbed him Doctor. There were three strapping girls in the family, who +did not make their appearance until they had taken time to put on their +Sunday clothes. To one of these the Doctor paid special attention, and +finally won his way so far into her good favor as to induce her to play +him a tune on the dulcimer, an abominable instrument, which she pounded +with two little sticks. The Doctor declared that the music was +good--excellent--charming. He now attempts to get out of this outrageous +falsehood by affirming that he referred simply to the air--the tune--and +not to the manner in which it was executed by the young lady. This, +however, is a mere quibble. + +It was quite dark when we said good-by to this kind-hearted, excellent +family, and started on our way back to camp. The woods were on fire for +miles along the road. Many fences and farm buildings had caught. One +large house tumbled in as we were passing, and the fences, +out-buildings, and trees were all enveloped in flames. While riding +slowly forward, and looking back upon the dense cloud of smoke, the +flames stretching as far almost as the eye could reach, the dry trees +standing up like immense pillars of fire, we were startled not a little +by the sentinel's challenge, "Halt!" There had been no pickets on the +road when we were going out, and we were, therefore, uncertain whether +the challenge came from our own men or those of John Morgan. "Who comes +there?" continued the sentinel. "Friends." "Advance friends, and give +the countersign." Going up to the sentinel, I told him who we were, and +that we had not the countersign. After a little delay, the officer of +the guard came and allowed us to proceed. + +12. To-day farmer Baily came to see us. I sent his good wife a haversack +of coffee, to remunerate her somewhat for the excellent dinner she had +given us. He urged us to come again, and said they would have a turkey +prepared for us this afternoon; but I declined with thanks. + +15. At eight o'clock to-morrow morning we shall move to Tyree Springs, a +little village situated in the heart of a wild, broken tract of country, +which, of late, has been a favorite rendezvous for guerrillas and +highwaymen. Citizens and soldiers traveling to and from Nashville, +during the last two months, have, at or near this place, been compelled +to empty their pockets, and when their clothes were better than those of +their captors, have been compelled to spare them also. + +We have no certain information as to the enemy's whereabouts. One rumor +says he is at Lavergne, another locates him at Murfreesboro, and still +another puts him at Chattanooga. General Rosecrans is now in command, +and, urged on by the desires of the North, may follow him to the latter +place this winter. A man from whom the people are each day expecting +some extraordinary action, some tremendous battle, in which the enemy +shall be annihilated, is unfortunately situated, and likely very soon to +become unpopular. It takes two to make a fight, as it does to make a +bargain. General John Pope is the only warrior of modern times who can +find a battle whenever he wants to, and take any number of prisoners his +heart desires. Even his brilliant achievements, however, afford the +people but temporary satisfaction, for, upon investigation, they are +unable to find either the captives or the discomfited hosts. + +I predict that in twelve months Rosecrans will be as unpopular as Buell. +After the affair at Rich mountain, the former was a great favorite. When +placed in command of the forces in Western Virginia, the people expected +hourly to hear of Floyd's destruction; but after a whole summer was +spent in the vain endeavor to chase down the enemy and bring him to +battle, they began to abuse Rosecrans, and he finally left that +department, much as Buell has left this. Our generals should, +undoubtedly, do more, but our people should certainly expect less. + +19. At Tyree Springs. Am the presiding officer of a court-martial. + +The supplies for the great army at Nashville and beyond, are wagoned +over this road from Mitchellville to Edgefield Junction. Immense trains +are passing continually. + +20. General Bob Mitchell dined with me to-day. He is on the way to +Nashville. Blows his own trumpet, as of old, and expects that a division +will be given him. + +30. This is a delightful Indian summer day. I have been in the forest, +under the persimmon and butternut trees. It is the first ramble I have +had at this season for years, and I thought of the many quiet places in +the thick woods of the old homestead, where long ago I hunted for +hickory-nuts and walnuts; then of its hazel thickets, through which were +scattered the wild plum, black-haw, and thorn-apple--perfect solitudes, +in which the squirrels and birds had the happiest of times. How pleasant +it is to recur to those days; and how well I remember every path through +the dense woods, and every little open grassy plot, made brilliant by +the summer sunshine. + + + + +DECEMBER, 1862. + + +2. We move to-morrow, at six o'clock in the morning, to Nashville. + +9. Nashville. Every thing indicates an early movement. Whether a +reconnoissance is intended or a permanent advance, I do not even +undertake to guess. The capture of a brigade, at Hartsville, by John +Morgan, has awakened the army into something like life; before it was +idly awaiting the rise of the Cumberland, but this bold dash of the +rebels has made it bristle up like an angry boar; and this morning, I am +told, it starts out to show its tusks to the enemy. Our division has +been ordered to be in readiness. + +The kind of weather we desire now, is that which is generally considered +the most disagreeable, namely, a long rain; two weeks of rain-fall is +necessary to make the Cumberland navigable, and thus ensure to us +abundant supplies. + +The whole army feels deeply mortified over the loss of the brigade at +Hartsville; report says it was captured by an inferior force. One of our +regiments did not fire a gun, and certainly the other two could not have +made a very obstinate resistance. I am glad Ohio does not have to bear +the whole blame; two-thirds is rather too much. + +10. During all of the latter part of last night troops were pouring +through Nashville, and going southward. Our division, Rousseau's, moved +three miles beyond the city, and went into camp on the Franklin road. + +14. Our court has been holding its sessions in the city, but to-day it +adjourned to meet at division head-quarters to-morrow at ten o'clock A. +M. + +The most interesting character of our court-martial is Colonel H. C. +Hobart, of the Twenty-first Wisconsin; a gentleman who has held many +important public positions in his own State, and whose knowledge of the +law, fondness for debate, obstinacy in the maintenance of his opinions, +love of fun, and kind-heartedness, are immense. He makes use of the +phrase, "in my country," when he refers to any thing which has taken +place in Wisconsin; from this we infer that he is a foreigner, and +pretend to regard him as a savage from the great West. He has, +therefore, been dubbed Chief of the Wisconsins. The court occasionally +becomes exceedingly mellow of an evening, and then the favorite theme is +the "injin." Such horrible practices as dog eating and cannibalism are +imputed to the Chief. To-night we visited the theater to witness +Ingomar. On returning to our room at Bassay's restaurant, the members +took solemn Irish oaths that the man with the sheep-skin on his back, +purporting to be Ingomar, was no other than Hobart, the Wisconsin +savage; and the supposition that such an individual could ever reform, +and become fitted for civilized society, was a monstrous fiction, too +improbable even for the stage. + +It should not be presumed from this, however, that the subject of our +raillery holds his tongue all the time. On the contrary, he expresses +the liveliest contempt for the opinions of his colleagues of the +court-martial, and professes to think if it were not for the aid which +the Nation receives from his countrymen, the Wisconsins, the effort to +restore the Union would be an utter failure. + +Bassay's restaurant is a famous resort for military gentlemen. +Major-General Hamilton just now took dinner; Major-General Lew Wallace, +Brigadier-Generals Tyler and Schoepf, and Major Donn Piatt occupy rooms +on the floor above us, and take their meals here; so that we move in the +vicinity of the most illustrious of men. We are hardly prepared now to +say that we are on intimate terms with the gentlemen who bear these +historic names; but we are at least allowed to look at them from a +respectful distance. A few years hence, when they are so far away as to +make contradiction improbable, if not impossible, we may claim to have +been their boon companions, and to have drank and played whist with them +in the most genial and friendly way. + +16. This afternoon Negley sent over a request for help, stating that his +forage train had been attacked. The alarm, however, proved groundless. A +few shots only had been fired at the foragers. + +17. The news from Fredericksburg has cast a shadow over the army. We +did hope that Burnside would be successful, and thus brighten the +prospect for a speedy peace; but we are in deeper gloom now than ever. +The repulse at Fredericksburg, while it has disabled thousands, has +disheartened, if not demoralized a great army, and given confidence and +strength to the rebels every-where. It may be, however, that this defeat +was necessary to bring us clearly to the point of extinguishing slavery +in all the States. The time is near when the strength of the President's +resolution in this regard will be put to the test. I trust he will be +firm. The mere reconstruction of the Union on the old basis would not +pay humanity for all the blood shed since the war began. The extinction +of slavery, perhaps, will. + +While the North raises immense numbers of men, and scatters them to the +four winds, the enemy concentrates, fortifies, and awaits attack. Will +the man ever come to consolidate these innumerable detachments of the +National army, and then sweep through the Confederacy like a tornado? + +It is said that many regiments in the Eastern army number less than one +hundred men, and yet have a full complement of field and company +officers. This is ridiculous; nay, it is an outrage upon the tax-payers +of the North. Worse still, so long as such a skeleton is called a +regiment, it is likely to bring discredit upon the State and Nation; for +how can it perform the work of a regiment when it has but one-tenth of a +regiment's strength? These regiments should be consolidated, and the +superfluous officers either sent home or put into the ranks. + +20. This morning, at one o'clock, we were ordered to hold ourselves in +readiness to march at a moment's notice, with five days' rations. Court +has adjourned to meet at nine o'clock A. M. Monday. It is disposing of +cases quite rapidly, and I think next week, if there be no +interruptions, it will be able to clear the docket. + +A brigade, which went out with a forage train yesterday, captured a +Confederate lieutenant at a private house. He was engaged at the moment +of his capture in writing a letter to his sweetheart. The letter was +headed Nashville, and he was evidently intent upon deceiving his +lady-love into the belief that he had penetrated the Yankee lines, and +was surrounded by foes. Had the letter reached her fair hands, what +earnest prayers would have gone up for the succor of this bold and +reckless youth. + +There was a meeting of the generals yesterday, but for what purpose they +only know. + +21. The dispatches from Indianapolis speak of the probable promotion of +Colonel Jones, Forty-second Indiana. This seems like a joke to those who +know him. He can not manage a regiment, and not even his best friends +have any confidence in his military capacity. In Indiana, however, they +promote every body to brigadierships. Sol Meredith, who went into the +service long after the war began, and who, in drilling his regiment, +would say: "Battalion, right or left face, as the case may be, march," +was made a brigadier some time ago. Milroy, Crittenden, and many others +were promoted for inconsiderable services in engagements which have long +since been forgotten by the public. Their promotions were not made for +the benefit of the service, but for the political advancement of the men +who caused them to be made. + +Last evening, a little after dark, we were startled by heavy cannonading +on our left, and thought the enemy was making an attack. The boys in our +division were all aglow with excitement, and cheered loudly; but after +ten or fifteen minutes the firing ceased, and I have heard no more about +it. + +The rebels are before us in force. The old game of concentration is +probably being played. The repulse of our army at Fredericksburg will +embolden them. It will also enable them to spare troops to reinforce +Bragg. The Confederates are on the inside of the circle, while we are on +the outside, scattered far and wide. They can cut across and concentrate +rapidly, while we must move around. They can meet Burnside at +Fredericksburg, and then whip across the country and face us, thus +making a smaller army than ours outnumber us in every battle. + +In the South the army makes public opinion, and moves along unaffected +by it. In the North the army has little or nothing to do with the +creation of public sentiment, and yet is its servant. The people of the +North, who were clamoring for action, are probably responsible for the +fatal repulse at Fredericksburg and the defeat at Bull run. The North +must be patient, and get to understand that the work before us is not +one that can be accomplished in a day or month. It should be pushed +deliberately, yet persistently. We should get rid of a vast number of +men who are forever in hospital. They are an expense to the country, and +an incumbrance to the army. We should consolidate regiments, and send +home thousands of unnecessary officers, who draw pay and yet make no +adequate return for it. + +23. The court met this morning as usual. We are now going on the fifth +week of the session. New cases arise just about as fast as old ones are +disposed of. + +The boys in front of my tent are singing: + + "We are going home, we are going home, + To die no more." + +Were they to devote as much time to praying as they do to singing, they +would soon establish a reputation for piety; but, unfortunately for +them, after the hymn they generally proceed to swear, instead of prayer, +and one is left in doubt as to what home they propose to go to. + +25. About noon there were several discharges of artillery in our front, +and last night occasional shots served as cheerful reminders that the +enemy was near. + +At an expense of one dollar and seventy-five cents, I procured a small +turkey and had a Christmas dinner; but it lacked the collaterals, and +was a failure. + +For twenty months now I have been a sojourner in camps, a dweller in +tents, going hither and yon, at all hours of the day and night, in all +sorts of weather, sleeping for weeks at a stretch without shelter, and +yet I have been strong and healthy. How very thankful I should feel on +this Christmas night! There goes the boom of a cannon at the front. + +26. This morning we started south on the Franklin road. When some ten +miles away from Nashville, we turned toward Murfreesboro, and are now +encamped in the woods, near the head-waters of the Little Harpeth. The +march was exceedingly unpleasant. Rain began to fall about the time of +starting, and continued to pour down heavily for four hours, wetting us +all thoroughly. + +I have command of the brigade. + +27. We moved at eight o'clock this morning, over a very bad dirt road, +from Wilson's pike to the Nolansville road, where we are now +bivouacking. About ten the artillery commenced thundering in our front, +and continued during the greater portion of the day. Marched two miles +toward Triune to support McCook, who was having a little bout with the +enemy; but the engagement ending, we returned to our present quarters in +a drenching rain. Saw General Thomas, our corps commander, going to and +returning from the front. We are sixteen miles from Nashville, on a road +running midway between Franklin and Murfreesboro. The enemy is supposed +to be in force at the latter place. + +28. At four o'clock P. M. we were ordered to leave baggage and teams +behind, and march to Stewart's creek, a point twenty miles from +Nashville. Night had set in before the brigade got fairly under way. The +road runs through a barren, hilly, pine district, and was exceedingly +bad. At eleven o'clock at night we reached the place indicated, and lay +on the damp ground until morning. + +29. At eight o'clock A. M. the artillery opened in our front; but after +perhaps two hours of irregular firing, it ceased altogether, and we were +led to the conclusion that but few rebels were in this vicinity, the +main body being at Murfreesboro, probably. Going to the front about ten +o'clock, I met General Hascall. He had had a little fight at Lavergne, +the Twenty-sixth Ohio losing twenty men, and his brigade thirty +altogether. He also had a skirmish at this place, in which he captured a +few prisoners. Saw General Thomas riding to the front. Rosecrans is +here, and most of the Army of the Cumberland either here or hereabouts. +McCook's corps had an inconsiderable engagement at Triune on Saturday. +Loss small on both sides. + +Riding by a farm-house this afternoon, I caught a glimpse of Miss +Harris, of Lavergne, at the window, and stopped to talk with her a +minute. The young lady and her mother have experienced a great deal of +trouble recently. They were shelled out of Lavergne three times, two of +the shells passing through her mother's house. She claims to have been +shot at once by a soldier of the One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois, +the ball splintering the window-sill near her head. Her mother's house +has been converted into a hospital, and the clothes of the family taken +for bandages. She is, therefore, more rebellious now than ever. She is +getting her rights, poor girl! + +30. A little after daylight the brigade moved, and proceeded to within +three miles of Murfreesboro, where we have been awaiting orders since +ten o'clock A. M. + +The first boom of artillery was heard at ten o'clock. Since then there +has been almost a continuous roar. McCook's corps is in advance of us, +perhaps a mile and a half, and, with divisions from other corps, has +been gradually approaching the enemy all day, driving his skirmishers +from one point to another. + +About four o'clock in the afternoon the artillery firing became more +vigorous, and, with Colonel Foreman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, I rode +to the front, and then along our advanced line from right to left. Our +artillery stationed on the higher points was being fired rapidly. The +skirmishers were advancing cautiously, and the contest between the two +lines was quite exciting. As I supposed, our army is feeling its way +into position. To-morrow, doubtless, the grand battle will be fought, +when I trust the good Lord will grant us a glorious victory, and one +that will make glad the hearts of all loyal people on New-Year's Day. + +I saw Lieutenant-Colonel Given, Eighteenth Ohio. Twelve of his men had +been wounded. Met Colonel Wagner, Fifteenth Indiana. Starkweather's +brigade lost its wagon train this forenoon. Jeff C. Davis, I am told, +was wounded this evening. A shell exploded near a group, consisting of +General Rosecrans and staff, killing two horses and wounding two men. + + +STONE RIVER. + +31. At six o'clock in the morning my brigade marches to the front and +forms in line of battle. The roar of musketry and artillery is +incessant. At nine o'clock we move into the cedar woods on the right to +support McCook, who is reported to be giving way. General Rousseau +points me to the place he desires me to defend, and enjoins me to "hold +it until hell freezes over," at the same time telling me that he may be +found immediately on the left of my brigade with Loomis' battery. I take +position. An open wood is in my front; but where the line is formed, and +to the right and left, the cedar thicket is so dense as to render it +impossible to see the length of a regiment. The enemy comes up directly, +and the fight begins. The roar of the guns to the right, left, and front +of my brigade sounds like the continuous pounding on a thousand anvils. +My men are favorably situated, being concealed by the cedars, while the +enemy, advancing through the open woods, is fully exposed. Early in the +action Colonel Foreman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, is killed, and his +regiment retires in disorder. The Third Ohio, Eighty-eighth, and +Forty-second Indiana, hold the position, and deliver their fire so +effectively that the enemy is finally forced back. I find a Michigan +regiment and attach it to my command, and send a staff officer to +General Rousseau to report progress; but before he has time to return, +the enemy makes another and more furious assault upon my line. After a +fierce struggle, lasting from forty to sixty minutes, we succeed in +repelling this also. I send again to General Rousseau, and am soon after +informed that neither he nor Loomis' battery can be found. Troops are +reported to be falling back hastily, and in disorder, on my left. I send +a staff officer to the right, and ascertain that Scribner's and +Shepperd's brigades are gone. I conclude that the contingency has arisen +to which General Rousseau referred--that is to say, that hell has frozen +over--and about face my brigade and march to the rear, where the guns +appear to be hammering away with redoubled fury. In the edge of the +woods, and not far from the Murfreesboro pike, I find the new line of +battle, and take position. Five minutes after the enemy strike us. For a +time--I can not even guess how long--the line stands bravely to the +work; but the regiments on our left get into disorder, and finally +become panic-stricken. The fright spreads, and my brigade sweeps by me +to the open field in our rear. I hasten to the colors, stop them, and +endeavor to rally the men. The field is by this time covered with flying +troops, and the enemy's fire is most deadly. My brigade, however, begins +to steady itself on the colors, when my horse is shot under me, and I +fall heavily to the ground. Before I have time to recover my feet, my +troops, with thousands of others, sweep in disorder to the rear, and I +am left standing alone. Going back to the railroad, I find my men, +General Rousseau, Loomis, and, in fact, the larger part of the army. The +artillery has been concentrated at this point, and now opens upon the +advancing columns of the enemy with fearful effect, and continues its +thunders until nightfall. The artillery saved the army. The battle +during the whole day was terrific. + +I find that soon after the fight began in the cedars, our division was +ordered back to a new line, and that the order had been delivered to +Scribner and Shepperd, but not to me. They had, consequently, retired to +the second position under fire, and had suffered most terribly in the +operation; while my brigade, being forgotten by the division commander, +or by the officer whose duty it was to convey the order, had held its +ground until it had twice repulsed the enemy, and then changed position +in comparative safety. A retrograde movement under fire must necessarily +be extremely hazardous. It demoralizes your own men, who can not, at the +moment, understand the purpose of the movement, while it encourages the +enemy. The one accepts it as an indication of defeat; the other as an +assurance of victory. + +McCook had been surprised and shattered in the morning. This unexpected +success had inspired the rebels and dispirited us. They fought like +devils, and the victory--if victory there was to either army--belonged +to them. + +When the sun went down, and the firing ceased, the Union army, +despondent, but not despairing, weary and hungry, but still hopeful, lay +on its arms, ready to renew the conflict on the morrow. + + + + +JANUARY, 1863. + + +1. At dawn we are all in line, expecting every moment the +re-commencement of the fearful struggle. Occasionally a battery engages +a battery opposite, and the skirmishers keep up a continual roar of +small arms; but until nearly night there is no heavy fighting. Both +armies want rest; both have suffered terribly. Here and there little +parties are engaged burying the dead, which lie thick around us. Now the +mangled remains of a poor boy of the Third is being deposited in a +shallow grave. A whole charge of canister seems to have gone through +him. Generals Rosecrans and Thomas are riding over the field, now +halting to speak words of encouragement to the troops, then going on to +inspect portions of the line. I have been supplied with a new horse, but +one far inferior to the dead stallion. A little before sun-down all hell +seems to break loose again, and for about an hour the thunder of the +artillery and volleys of musketry are deafening; but it is simply the +evening salutation of the combatants. The darkness deepens; the weather +is raw and disagreeable. Fifty thousand hungry men are stretched beside +their guns again on the field. Fortunately I have a piece of raw pork +and a few crackers in my pocket. No food ever tasted sweeter. The night +is gloomy enough; but our spirits are rising. We all glory in the +obstinacy with which Rosecrans has clung to his position. I draw closer +to the camp-fire, and, pushing the brands together, take out my little +Bible, and as I open it my eyes fall on the xci Psalm: + +"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him +will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, +and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, +and under His wings shall be thy trust. His truth shall be thy shield +and buckler. Thou shalt not be, afraid for the terror by night, nor for +the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in +darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand +shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall +not come nigh thee." + +Camp-fires innumerable are glimmering in the darkness. Now and then a +few mounted men gallop by. Scattering shots are heard along the picket +line. The gloom has lifted, and I wrap myself in my blanket and lie down +contentedly for the night. + +2. At sunrise we have a shower of solid shot and shell. The Chicago +Board of Trade battery is silenced. The shot roll up the Murfreesboro +pike like balls on a bowling alley. Many horses are killed. A soldier +near me, while walking deliberately to the rear, to seek a place of +greater safety, is struck between the shoulders by a ricochetting ball, +and instantly killed. We are ordered to be in readiness to repel an +attack, and form line of battle amid this fearful storm of iron. +Gaunther and Loomis get their batteries in position, and, after twenty +or thirty minutes' active work, silence the enemy and compel him to +withdraw. Then we have a lull until one or two o'clock, when Van Cleve's +division on the left is attacked. As the volume of musketry increases, +and the sound grows nearer, we understand that our troops are being +driven back, and brigade after brigade double quicks from the right and +center, across the open field, to render aid. Battery after battery goes +in the same direction on the run, the drivers lashing the horses to +their utmost speed. The thunder of the guns becomes more violent; the +volleys of musketry grow into one prolonged and unceasing roll. Now we +hear the yell which betokens encouraged hearts; but whose yell? Thank +God, it is ours! The conflict is working southward; the enemy has been +checked, repulsed, and is now in retreat. So ends another day. + +The hungry soldiers cut steaks from the slain horses, and, with the +scanty supplies which have come forward, gather around the fires to +prepare supper, and talk over the incidents of the day. The prospect +seems brighter. We have held the ground, and in this last encounter have +whipped the enemy. There is more cheerful conversation among the men. +They discuss the battle, the officers, and each other, and give us now +and then a snatch of song. Officers come over from adjoining brigades, +hoping to find a little whisky, but learn, with apparent resignation +and well-feigned composure, that the canteens have been long empty; that +even the private flasks, which officers carry with the photographs of +their sweethearts, in a side pocket next to their hearts, are destitute +of even the flavor of this article of prime necessity. My much-esteemed +colleague of the court-martial, Colonel Hobart, stumbles up in the thick +darkness to pay his respects. The sentinel, mistaking him for a private, +tells him, with an oath, that this is neither the time nor place for +stragglers, and orders him back to his regiment; and so the night wears +on, and fifty thousand men lay upon their guns again. + +3. Colonel Shanklin, with a strong detachment from my brigade, was +captured last night while on picket. Rifle pits are being dug, and I am +ordered to protect the workmen. The rebels hold a strip of woods in our +immediate front, and we get up a lively skirmish with them. Our men, +however, appear loth to advance far enough to afford the necessary +protection to the workers. Vexed at their unwillingness to venture out, +I ride forward and start over a line to which I desire the skirmishers +to advance, and discover, before I have gone twenty yards, that I have +done a foolish thing. A hundred muskets open on me from the woods; but +the eyes of my own brigade and of other troops are on me, and I can not +back out. I quicken the pace of my horse somewhat, and continue my +perilous course. The bullets whistle like bees about my head, but I ride +the whole length of the proposed skirmish line, and get back to the +brigade in safety. Colonel Humphrey, of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, comes +up to me, and with a tremor in his voice, which indicates much feeling, +says: "My God, Colonel, never do that again!" The caution is +unnecessary. I had already made up my mind never to do it again. We keep +up a vigorous skirmish with the enemy for hours, losing now and then a +man; but later in the day we are relieved from this duty, and retire to +a quieter place. + +About nightfall General Rousseau desires me to get two regiments in +readiness, and, as soon as it becomes quite dark, charge upon and clean +out the woods in our front. I select the Third Ohio and Eighty-eighth +Indiana for this duty, and at the appointed time we form line in the +open field in front of Gaunther's battery, and as we start, the battery +commences to shell the woods. As we get nearer the objective point, I +put the men on the double quick. The rebels, discovering our approach, +open a heavy fire, but in the darkness shoot too high. The blaze of +their guns reveals their exact position to us. We reach the rude log +breastworks behind which they are standing and grapple with them. +Colonel Humphrey receives a severe thrust from a bayonet; others are +wounded, and some killed. It is pitch dark under the trees. Some of +Gaunther's shells fall short, and alarm the men. Unable to find either +staff officer or orderly, I ride back and request him to elevate his +guns. Returning, I find my troops blazing away with great energy; but, +so far as I can discover, their fire is not returned. It is difficult, +however, in the noise, confusion, and darkness, to direct their +movements, and impossible to stop the firing. In the meantime a new +danger threatens. Spear's Tennesseeans have been sent to support us, +probably without any definite instructions. They are, most of them, raw +troops, and, becoming either excited or alarmed at the terrible racket +in the woods, deliver scattering shots in our rear. I ride back and urge +them either to cease firing or move to the left, go forward and look +after our flank. One regiment does move as directed; but the others are +immovable, and it is with great difficulty that I succeed in making them +understand that in firing they are more likely to injure friends than +foes. Fortunately, soon after this, the ammunition of the Third and +Eighty-eighth becoming exhausted, the firing in the woods ceases, and, +as the enemy has already abandoned the field, the affair ends. I try to +find General Rousseau to report results, but can not; and so, worn out +with fatigue and excitement, lie down for another night. + +4. Every thing quiet in our front. It is reported that the enemy has +disappeared. Investigation confirms the report, and the cavalry push +into Murfreesboro and beyond. + +During the forenoon the army crosses Stone River, and with music, +banners, and rejoicings, takes possession of the old camps of the enemy. +So the long and doubtful struggle ends. + +5. I ride over the battle-field. In one place a caisson and five horses +are lying, the latter killed in harness, and all fallen together. +Nationals and Confederates, young, middle-aged, and old, are scattered +over the woods and fields for miles. Poor Wright, of my old company, lay +at the barricade in the woods which we stormed on the night of the last +day. Many others lay about him. Further on we find men with their legs +shot off; one with brains scooped out with a cannon ball; another with +half a face gone; another with entrails protruding; young Winnegard, of +the Third, has one foot off and both legs pierced by grape at the +thighs; another boy lies with his hands clasped above his head, +indicating that his last words were a prayer. Many Confederate +sharpshooters lay behind stumps, rails, and logs, shot in the head. A +young boy, dressed in the Confederate uniform, lies with his face turned +to the sky, and looks as if he might be sleeping. Poor boy! what +thoughts of home, mother, death, and eternity, commingled in his brain +as the life-blood ebbed away! Many wounded horses are limping over the +field. One mule, I heard of, had a leg blown off on the first day's +battle; next morning it was on the spot where first wounded; at night it +was still standing there, not having moved an inch all day, patiently +suffering, it knew not why nor for what. How many poor men moaned +through the cold nights in the thick woods, where the first day's battle +occurred, calling in vain to man for help, and finally making their last +solemn petition to God! + +In the evening I met Rousseau, McCook, and Crittenden. They had been +imbibing freely. Rousseau insisted upon my turning back and going with +them to his quarters. Crittenden was the merriest of the party. On the +way he sang, in a voice far from melodious, a pastorial ditty with which +childhood is familiar: + + "Mary had a little lamb, + His fleece was white as snow, + And every-where that Mary went + The lamb was sure to go." + +Evidently the lion had left the chieftain's heart, and the lamb had +entered and taken possession. + +McCook complimented me by saying that my brigade fought well. He should +know, for he sat behind it at the commencement of the second assault of +the enemy in the cedars, on the first day; but very soon thereafter +disappeared. Just when he left, and why he did so, I do not know. + +At Rousseau's we found a large number of staff and line officers. The +demijohn was introduced, and all paid their respects to it. The +ludicrous incidents, of which there are more or less even in battles, of +the last five days, were referred to, and much merriment prevailed. + +6. The army is being reorganized, and we are busily engaged repairing +the damages sustained in the battle. + +Visited the hospitals, and, so far as possible, looked after the wounded +of my brigade. To-morrow the chaplains will endeavor to hunt them all +up, and report their whereabouts and condition. + +7. I was called upon late in the evening to make a report of the +operations of my brigade immediately, as General Rousseau intends to +leave for Louisville in the morning. It is impossible to collect the +information necessary in the short time allowed me. One of my regimental +commanders, Colonel Foreman, was killed; another, Colonel Humphrey, was +wounded, and is in hospital; another, Lieutenant-Colonel Shanklin, was +captured, and is absent; but I gathered up hastily what facts I could +obtain as to the casualties in the several regiments, and wrote my +report in the few minutes which remained for me to do so, and sent it +in. I have not had an opportunity to do justice either to my brigade or +myself. + +13. Move in the direction of Columbia, on a reconnoitering expedition. +My brigade stops at Salem, and the cavalry pushes on. + +14. Have been exposed to a drenching rain for thirty hours. The men are +cold, hungry, and mutinous. + +15. Ordered back to Murfreesboro, and march thither in a storm of snow +and sleet. It is decidedly the coldest day we have experienced since +last winter. + +I find two numbers of Harper's Weekly on my return. They abound in war +stories. The two heroes, of whom I read to-night, received saber cuts on +the face and head, obtained leave of absence, returned home, and married +forthwith. Saber cuts are very rare in the Army of the Cumberland, and +if young officers were compelled to defer entering into wedlock until +they got wounds of this kind, there would be precious few soldiers +married. Bullet wounds are common enough; but the hand-to-hand +encounters, knightly contests of swords, the cleaving of head-pieces and +shattering of spears, are not incidents of modern warfare. + +The long rain has completely saturated the ground. The floor of my tent +is muddy; but my bed will be dry, and as I have not had my clothes off +for three days, I look forward to a comfortable night's rest. + +The picture in Harper, of "Christmas Eve," will bring tears to the eyes +of many a poor fellow shivering over the camp-fire in this winter +season. The children in the crib, the stockings in which Santa Claus +deposits his treasures, recall the pleasantest night of the year. + +Speaking of Christmas reminds me of the mistletoe bough. Mistletoe +abounds here. Old, leafless trees are covered and green with it. It was +in blossom a week or two ago, if we may call its white wax-like berries +blossoms. They are known as Christmas blossoms. The vine takes root in +the bark--in any crack, hole, or crevice of the tree--and continues +green all winter. The berries grow in clusters. + +16. I have as guests Mr. and Mrs. Johnson House, my old neighbors. They +have come from their quiet home in Ohio to look over a battle-field, and +I take pleasure in showing them the points of interest. Mr. House, with +great frankness, tells me, in the presence of my staff, that he had been +afraid I was not qualified for the high position I hold, and that I was +getting along too fast; but he now feels satisfied that I am capable +and worthy, and would be well pleased to see me again promoted. I +introduced my friends to Lieutenant Van Pelt, of Loomis' battery, and +Mr. House asked: "Lieutenant, will these guns shoot with any kind of +decision?" "Precision," I suggested. "Yes," Van Pelt replied, "they will +throw a ball pretty close to the mark." + +17. Dr. Peck tells me that the wounded of the Third are doing well, and +all comfortably quartered. He is an excellent physician and surgeon, and +the boys are well pleased with him. + + + + +FEBRUARY, 1863. + + +3. This has been the coldest day of the season in this latitude. The +ground is frozen hard. I made the round of the picket line after dinner, +and was thoroughly chilled. Visited the hospital this evening. Young +Willets, of the Third, whom I thought getting along well before I left +for home, died two days before my return. Benedict is dead, and Glenn, +poor fellow, will go next. His leg is in a sling, and he is compelled to +lie in one position all the time. Mortification has set in, and he can +not last more than a day or two. Murfreesboro is one great hospital, +filled with Nationals and Confederates. + +4. At noon cannonading began on our left and front, and continued with +intervals until sunset. I have heard no explanation of the firing, but +think it probable our troops started up the Shelbyville road to +reconnoiter, discovered the enemy, and a small fight ensued. + +5. It is said the enemy came within six miles of Murfreesboro yesterday, +and attacked a forage train. + +The weather has been somewhat undecided, and far from agreeable. + +6. A lot of rebel papers, dated January 31st, have been brought in. +They contain many extracts clipped from the Northern Democratic press, +and the Southern soul is jubilant over the fact that a large party in +Ohio and Indiana denounce President Lincoln. The rebels infer from this +that the war must end soon, and the independence of the Southern States +be acknowledged. Our friends at home should not give aid and comfort to +the enemy. They may excite hopes which, in time, they will themselves be +compelled to help crush. + +7. Few of the men who started home when I did have returned. The General +is becoming excited on the subject of absentees. From General Thomas' +corps alone there are sixteen thousand men absent, sick, pretending to +be sick, or otherwise. Of my brigade there are sixteen hundred men +present for duty, and over thirteen hundred absent--nearly one-half +away. The condition of other brigades is similar. If a man once gets +away, either into hospital or on detached duty, it is almost impossible +to get him back again to his regiment. A false excuse, backed up by the +false statement of a family physician, has hitherto been accepted; but +hereafter, I am told, it will not be. Uncle Sam can not much longer +stand the drain upon his finances which these malingerers occasion, and +his reputation suffers also, for he can not do with fifty thousand men +what it requires one hundred thousand to accomplish. + +People may say Rosecrans had at the battle of Murfreesboro nearly one +hundred regiments. A regiment should contain a thousand men; in a +hundred regiments, therefore, there should have been one hundred +thousand men. With this force he should have swallowed Bragg; but they +must understand that the largest of these regiments did not contain over +five hundred men fit for duty, and very many not over three hundred. The +men in hospital, the skulkers at home, and the skedaddlers here, count +only on the muster and pay-rolls; our friends at home should remember, +therefore, that when they take a soldier by the hand who should be with +his regiment, and say to him, "Poor fellow, you have seen hard times +enough, stay a little longer, the army will not miss you," that some +other poor fellow, too brave and manly to shirk, shivers through the +long winter hours at his own post, and then through other long hours at +the post of the absentee, thus doing double duty; and they should bear +in mind, also, that in battle this same poor fellow has to fight for +two, and that battles are lost, the war prolonged, and the National arms +often disgraced, by reason of the absence of the men whom they encourage +to remain at home a day or two longer. If every Northern soldier able to +do duty would do it, Rosecrans could sweep to Mobile in ninety days; but +with this skeleton of an army, we rest in doubt and idleness. There is a +screw loose somewhere. + +10. Fortifications are being constructed. My men are working on them. + +Just now I heard the whistle of a locomotive, on the opposite side of +the river. This is the first intimation we have had of the completion +of the road to this point. The bridge will be finished in a day or two, +and then the trains will arrive and depart from Murfreesboro regularly. + +11. Called at Colonel Wilder's quarters, and while there met General J. +J. Reynolds. He made a brief allusion to the Stalnaker times. On my +return to camp, I stopped for a few minutes at Department head-quarters +to see Garfield. General Rosecrans came into the room; but, as I was +dressed in citizens' clothes, did not at first recognize me. Garfield +said: "General Rosecrans, Colonel Beatty." The General took me by the +hand, turned my face to the light, and said he did not have a fair view +of me before. "Well," he continued, "you are a general now, are you?" I +told him I was not sure yet, and he said: "Is it uncertainty or modesty +that makes you doubt?" "Uncertainty." "Well," he replied, "you and Sam +Beatty have both been recommended. I guess it will be all right." He +invited me to remain for supper, but I declined. + +16. To-day I rode over the battle-field, starting at the river and +following the enemy's line off to their left, then crossing over on to +the right of our line, and following it to the left. For miles through +the woods evidences of the terrible conflict meet one at every step. +Trees peppered with bullet and buckshot, and now and then one cut down +by cannon ball; unexploded shell, solid shot, dead horses, broken +caissons, haversacks, old shoes, hats, fragments of muskets, and unused +cartridges, are to be seen every-where. In an open space in the oak +woods is a long strip of fresh earth, in which forty-one sticks are +standing, with intervals between them of perhaps a foot. Here forty-one +poor fellows lie under the fresh earth, with nothing but the forty-one +little sticks above to mark the spot. Just beyond this are twenty-five +sticks, to indicate the last resting-place of twenty-five brave men; and +so we found these graves in the woods, meadows, corn-fields, +cotton-fields, every-where. We stumbled on one grave in a solitary spot +in the thick cedars, where the sunshine never penetrates. At the head of +the little mound of fresh earth a round stick was standing, and on the +top of this was an old felt hat; the hat still doing duty over the head, +if not on the head, of the dead soldier who lay there. The rain and sun +and growing vegetation of one summer will render it impossible to find +these graves. The grass will cover the fresh earth, the sticks will +either rot or become displaced, and then there will be nothing to +indicate that-- + + "Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid + Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; + Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, + Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre." + +17. The army is turning its attention to politics somewhat. Generals and +colonels are ventilating their opinions through the press. I think their +letters may have good effect upon the people at home, and prevent them +from discouraging the army and crippling the Administration. Surely the +effort now being put forth by a great party in the North to convince +the troops in the field that this is an unjust war, an abolition or +nigger war, must have a tendency to injure the army, and, if persisted +in, may finally ruin it. + +19. Work on the fortifications still continues. This is to be a depot of +supplies, and there are provisions enough already here to subsist the +army for a month. Now that the Cumberland is high, and the railroads in +running order, any amount of supplies may be brought through. + +Expeditions go out occasionally to different parts of the country, and +slight affairs occur, which are magnified into serious engagements; but +really nothing of any importance has transpired since we obtained +possession of Murfreesboro. A day or two ago we had an account of an +expedition into the enemy's country by the One Hundred and Twenty-third +Illinois, Colonel Monroe commanding. According to this veracious report, +the Colonel had a severe fight, killed a large number of the enemy, and +captured three hundred stand of arms; but the truth is, that he did not +take time to count the rebel dead, and the arms taken were one hundred +old muskets found in a house by the roadside. + +The expeditions sent out to capture John Morgan have all been failures. +His own knowledge of the country is thorough, and besides, he has in his +command men from every neighborhood, who know not only every road and +cow-path in the locality, but every man, woman, and child. The people +serve him also, by advising him of all our movements. They guide him to +our detachments when they are weak, and warn him away from them when +strong. Were the rebel army in Ohio, and as bitterly hated by the people +of that State as the Nationals are by those of Kentucky and Tennessee, +it would be an easy matter indeed to hang upon the skirts of that army, +pick up stragglers, burn bridges, attack wagon trains, and now and then +pounce down on an outlying picket and take it in. + +20. Colonel Lytle, my old brigade commander, called on me to-day. He +informed me that he had not been assigned yet. I inferred from this that +he thought it utterly impossible for one so distinguished as himself to +come down to a regiment. His own regiment, the Tenth Ohio, is here, and +nominally a part of my brigade, although it has not acted with it since +Rosecrans assumed command of the Army of the Cumberland. Under +Lieutenant-Colonel Burke, it is doing guard duty at Department +head-quarters. + + + + +MARCH, 1863. + + +1. There is talk of consolidation at Washington. This is a sensible +idea, and should be carried into effect at once. There are too many +officers and too few men. The regiments should be consolidated, and kept +full by conscription, if it can not be done otherwise. The best officers +should be retained, and the others sent home to stand their chances of +the draft. + +A major of the Fifteenth Kentucky sent in his resignation a few days +ago, assigning as a reason for so doing that the object of the war was +now the elevation of the negro. The concluding paragraph of his letter +was in these words: "The service can not possibly suffer by my +resignation." The document passed through my hands on its way to +Department head-quarters, and I indorsed it as follows: + +"Major H. F. Kalfus, Fifteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, being +'painfully and reluctantly convinced' that the party in power is +disposed to elevate the negro, desires to quit the service. I trust he +will be allowed to do so, and cheerfully certify to the correctness of +one statement which he makes herein, to-wit: The service can not +possibly suffer by his resignation." + +General Rosecrans has just sent me an order to arrest the Major, and +send him under guard to the Provost-Marshal General. The arrest will be +made in a few minutes, and may create some excitement among our Kentucky +friends. + +3. The fortifications are progressing. The men work four hours each day +in the trenches. The remainder of the time they spend pretty much as +they see fit. + +General Garfield is now chief of staff. It is the first instance in the +West of an officer of his rank being assigned to that position. It is an +important place, however, and one too often held not merely by officers +of inferior rank, but of decidedly inferior ability. General Buell had a +colonel as chief of staff, and, until the appointment of Garfield, +General Rosecrans had a lieutenant-colonel or major. + +To-night an ugly and most singular specimen of the negro called to +obtain employment. He was not over three feet and a half high, +hump-backed, crooked-legged, and quite forty years old. Poking his head +into my tent, and, taking off his hat, he said: "Is de Co'nel in?" +"Yes." "Hurd you wants a boy, sah. Man tole me Co'nel Eighty-eighth +Olehio wants a boy, sah." "What can you do? Can you cook?" "Yas, sah." +"Where did you learn to cook?" "On de plantation, sah." "What is your +master's name?" "Rucker, sah." "Is he a loyal man?" "No, sah, he not a +lawyer; his brudder, de cussen one, is de lawyer." "Is he secesh?" "O, +yas, sah; yas, he sesesh." "It is the Colonel of the Eighty-eighth +Indiana you should see;" and I directed him to the Colonel's tent. As he +turned to leave, he muttered, "Man tole me Eighty-eighth Olehio;" but he +went hobbling over to the Eighty-eighth, with fear, anxiety, and hope +struggling in his old face. + +4. Major Kalfus, Fifteenth Kentucky, arrested on Sunday, and since held +in close confinement, was dishonorably dismissed from the service to-day +for using treasonable language in tendering his resignation. He was +escorted outside the lines and turned loose. The Major is a cross-roads +politician, and will, I doubt not, be a lion among his half-loyal +neighbors when he returns home. + +5. Our picket on the Manchester pike was driven in to-day. The cavalry, +under General Stanley, went to the rescue, when a fight occurred. No +particulars. + +9. T. Buchanan Reid, the poet, entertained us at the court-house this +evening. The room had been trimmed up by the rebels for a ball. The +words, "Shiloh," "Fort Donelson," "Hartsville," "Santa Rosa," +"Pensacola," were surrounded with evergreens. The letter "B," painted on +the walls in a dozen places, was encompassed by wreaths of flowers, now +faded and yellow. My native modesty led me to conclude that the letter +so highly honored stood for Bragg, and not for the commander of the +Seventeenth Brigade, U. S. A. + +General Garfield introduced Mr. Reid by a short speech, not delivered in +his usual happy style. I was impressed with the idea all the time, that +he had too many buttons on his coat--he certainly had a great many +buttons--and the splendor of the double row possibly detracted somewhat +from the splendor of his remarks. + +Mr. Reid is a small man, and has not sufficient voice to make himself +heard distinctly in so large a hall. In a parlor his recitations would +be capital. He read from his own poem, "The Wagoner," a description of +the battle of Brandywine. It is possibly a very good representation of +that battle; but, if so, the battle of Brandywine was very unlike that +of Stone river. At Brandywine, it appears, the generals slashed around +among the enemy's infantry with drawn swords, doing most of the hard +fighting and most of the killing themselves. I did not discover anything +of that kind at Stone river. It is possible the style went out of +fashion before the rebellion began. It would, however, be very +satisfactory to the rank and file to see it restored. Mr. Reid said some +good things in his lecture, and was well applauded; but, in the main, he +was too ethereal, vapory, and fanciful for the most of us leather-heads. +When he puts a soldier-boy on the top of a high mountain to sing +patriotic songs, and bid defiance to King George because "Eagle is +King," we are impressed with the idea that that soldier could have been +put to better use; that, in fact, he is entirely out of the line of +duty. The position assigned him is unnatural, and the modern soldier-boy +will be apt to conclude that nobody but a simpleton would be likely to +wander about in solitary places, extemporizing in measured sentences; +besides it is hard work, as I know from experience. I tried my hand at +it the other day until my head ached, and this is the best I could do: + + O! Lord, when will this war end? + These days of marchings, nights of lonely guard? + This terrible expenditure of health and life? + Where is the glory? Where is the reward, + For sacrifice of comfort, quiet, peace? + For sacrifice of children, wife, and friends? + For sacrifice of firesides--genial homes? + What hour, what gift, will ever make amends + For broken health, for bruised flesh and bones, + For lives cut short by bullet, blade, disease? + Where balm to heal the widow's heart, or what + Shall soothe a mother's grief for woes like these? + Hold, murmurer, hold! Is country naught to thee? + Is freedom nothing? Naught an honored name? + What though the days be cold, or the nights dark, + The brave heart kindles for itself a flame + That warms and lightens up the world! + Home! What's home, if in craven shame + We seek its hearthstone? Bitterest of cold. + Better creep thither bruised, and torn, and lame, + Than seek it in health when justice needs our aid. + Where is the glory? Where is the reward? + Think of the generations that will come + To praise and bless the hero. Think of God, + Who in due time will call His soldiers home. + How comfort mother for the loss of son? + What balm to which her heaviest grief must yield? + Ah! the plain, simple, ever-glorious words: + "Your son died nobly on the battle-field!" + What balm to soothe a widow's aching heart? + The grand assurance that in the battle shock + Foremost her husband stood, defying all, + For freedom and truth, unyielding as the rock. + Then, courage, all, and when the strife is past, + And grief for lost ones takes a milder hue, + This thought shall crown the living and the dead: + "He lived, he died, to God and duty true." + +10. Rain has been descending most of the day, and just now is pouring +down with great violence. A happy party in the adjoining tent are +exercising their lungs on a negro melody, of which this is something +like the chorus: + + "De massa run, ha, ha! + De nigger stay, ho, ho! + It mus' be now de kingdom comin', + And de year of jubelo." + +I can not affirm that the music with which these gentlemen so abound, on +this rainy and dismal night, has that soothing effect on the human heart +ascribed to music in general; but, however little I may feel like +rejoicing now, I am quite sure I shall feel happier when the concert +ends. The singers have concluded the negro melody, and are breathing out +their souls in a sentimental piece. Now and then, when more than +ordinarily successful in the higher strains, they nearly equal the most +exalted efforts of the tom-cat; and then, again, in the execution of the +lower notes and more pathetic passages, we are brought nigh unto tears +by an inimitable imitation of the wailings of a very young and sick +kitten. + + "Do they miss me at home; do they miss me?" + +I venture to say they do, and with much gratification if, when there, +you favored them often with this infernal noise. + +14. The weather is remarkably fine to-day. I saw Mrs. and Major-General +McCook and Mrs. and Major-General Wood going out to the battle-field, on +horseback, this morning. Mrs. General Rosecrans arrived last night on a +special train. + +16. The roads are becoming good, and every body is on horseback. Many +officers have their wives here. On the way to Murfreesboro this morning, +I met two ladies with an escort going to the battle-field. Returning I +met General Rosecrans and wife. The General hallooed after me, "How d'ye +do?" to which I shouted back, at the top of my voice, the very original +reply, "Very well, thank you." From the number of ladies gathering in, +one might very reasonably conclude that no advance was contemplated +soon. Still all signs fail in war times, as they do in dry weather. As a +rule, perhaps, when a movement appears most improbable, we should be on +the lookout for orders to start. + +The army, under Rosecrans' administration, looks better than it ever did +before. He certainly enters into his work with his whole soul, and +unless some unlucky mishap knocks his feet from under him, he will soon +be recognized as the first general of the Union. I account for his +success thus far, in part at least, by the fact that he has been long +enough away from West Point, mixing with the people, to get a little +common sense rubbed into him. + +While writing the last word above, the string band of the Third struck +up at the door of my tent. Going out, I found all the commissioned +officers of that regiment standing in line. Adjutant Wilson nudged me, +and said they expected a speech. I asked if beer would not suit them +better. He thought not. I have not attempted to make a speech for two +years, and never made a successful attempt in my life; but I knocked the +ashes out of my pipe and began: + +"GENTLEMEN: I am informed that all the officers of the Third are here. I +am certainly very glad to see you, and extremely sorry that I am not +better prepared to receive and entertain you. The press informs us that +I have been very highly honored. If the report that I have been promoted +is true, I am indebted to your gallantry, and that of the brave men of +the Third, for the honor. You gave me my first position, and then were +kind enough to deem me worthy of a second; and if now I have obtained a +third, and higher one, it is because I have had the good fortune to +command good soldiers. The step upward in rank will simply increase my +debt of gratitude to you." + +The officers responded cordially, by assuring me that they rejoiced over +my promotion, and were anxious that I should continue in command of the +brigade to which the Third is attached. + +Charlie Davison can sing as many songs as Mickey Free, of "Charles +O'Malley," and sing them well. In Irish melodies he is especially happy. +Hark! + + "Dear Erin, how sweetly thy green bosom rises, + An emerald set in the ring of the sea; + Each blade of thy meadows my faithful heart prizes, + Thou Queen of the West, the world's cush la machree. + + * * * * * + + Thy sons they are brave; but the battle once over, + In brotherly peace with their foes they agree, + And the roseate cheeks of thy daughters discover, + The soul-speaking blush that says cush la machree." + +17. Dined with General Wagner, and, in company with Wagner and General +Palmer, witnessed an artillery review. + +18. My brigade is still at work on the fortifications. They are, +however, nearly completed. + +Shelter tents were issued to our division to-day. We are still using the +larger tent; but it is evidently the intention to leave these behind +when we move. Last fall the shelter tents were used for a time by the +Pioneer Brigade. They are so small that a man can not stand up in them. +The boys were then very bitter in condemnation of them, and called them +dog tents and dog pens. Almost every one of these tents was marked in a +way to indicate the unfavorable opinion which the boys entertained of +them, and in riding through the company quarters of the Pioneer +Brigade, the eye would fall on inscriptions of this sort: + + PUPS FOR SALE--RAT TERRIERS--BULL PUPS + HERE--DOG-HOLE NO. 1--SONS OF BITCHES + WITHIN--DOGS--PURPS. + +General Rosecrans and staff, while riding by one day, were greeted with +a tremendous bow-wow. The boys were on their hands and knees, stretching +their heads out of the ends of the tents, barking furiously at the +passing cavalcade. The General laughed heartily, and promised them +better accommodations. + +The news from Vicksburg is somewhat encouraging, but certainly very +indefinite, and far from satisfactory. + +19. Reviews are the order of the hour. All the brigades of our division, +except mine, were reviewed by General Rosecrans this afternoon. It was a +fine display, but hard on the soldiers; they were kept so long standing. + +At Middletown, sixteen miles away, the rebels are four thousand strong, +and within a day or two they have ventured to Salem, five miles distant. + +20. Loomis, who has just returned from home, called this evening, and we +drank a bottle of wine over the promotion. He is in trouble about his +commission as colonel of artillery. Two months ago the Governor of +Michigan gave him the commission, and since that time he has been +wearing a colonel's uniform; but General Rosecrans has expressed doubts +about his right to assume the rank. Loomis is all right, doubtless, and +to-morrow, when the matter is talked over between the General and +himself, it will be settled satisfactorily. + +21. I have been running over Russell's diary, "North and South," and +must say the Yankee Nation, when looked at through Mr. Russell's +spectacles, does not appear enveloped in that star-spangled glory and +super-celestial blue with which it is wont to loom up before patriotic +eyes on Fourth of July occasions. He has treated us, however, fully as +well as we have treated him. We became angry because he told unpleasant +truths about us, and he became enraged because we abused him for it. He +thanks God that he is not an American; and should not we, in a spirit of +conciliation, meet him half way, and feel thankful that he is not? + +Flaming dispatches will appear in the Northern papers to-morrow +respecting the defeat of John Morgan, by a small brigade of our troops +under Colonel Hall. The report will say that forty of the enemy were +killed, one hundred and fifty wounded, and one hundred and twenty +captured; loss on our side inconsiderable. The reporters have probably +contributed largely to the brilliancy of this affair. It is always safe +to accept with distrust all reports which affirm that a few men, with +little loss, routed, slaughtered, or captured a large force. + +Peach and cherry trees are in full bloom. The grass is beginning to +creep out. Summer birds occasionally sing around us. In a few weeks +more the trees will be in full leaf again. + +23. General Negley, who went home some time ago, returned to-day, and, I +see, wears two stars. + +General Brannan arrived a day or two ago. He was on the train captured +by guerrillas, but was rescued a few minutes after. + +The boys have a rumor that Bragg is near, and has sent General Rosecrans +a very polite note requesting him to surrender Murfreesboro at once. If +the latter refuses to accept this most gentlemanly invitation to deliver +up all his forces, Bragg proposes to commence an assault upon our works +at twelve M., and show us no mercy. This, of course, is reliable. + +At sunset rain began to fall, and has continued to pour down steadily +ever since. The night is gloomy. Adjutant Wilson, in the next tent, is +endeavoring to lift himself from the slough of despond by humming a +ditty of true love; but the effort is evidently a failure. + +This morning I stood on the bank of the river and observed the +pontoniers as they threw their bridge of boats across the stream. Twice +each week they unload the pontoons from the wagons, run them into the +water, put the scantling from boat to boat, lay down the plank, and thus +make a good bridge on which men, horses, and wagons can cross. After +completing the bridge, they immediately begin to take it up, load the +lumber and pontoons on the wagons, and return to camp. They can bridge +any stream between this and the Tennessee in an hour, and can put a +bridge over that in probably three hours. + +General Rosecrans makes a fine display in his visits about the camps. He +is accompanied by his staff and a large and well-equipped escort, with +outriders in front and rear. The National flag is borne at the head of +the column. + +Rosecrans is of medium height and stout, not quite so tall as McCook, +and not nearly so heavy. McCook is young, and very fleshy. Rousseau is +by far the handsomest man in the army; tall and well-proportioned, but +possibly a little too bulky. R. S. Granger is a little man, with a +heavy, light sandy mustache. Wood is a small man, short and slim, with +dark complexion, and black whiskers. Crittenden, the major-general, is a +spare man, medium height, lank, common sort of face, well whiskered. +Major-General Stanley, the cavalryman, is of good size, gentlemanly in +bearing, light complexion, brown hair. McCook and Wood swear like +pirates, and affect the rough-and-ready style. Rousseau is given to +profanity somewhat, and blusters occasionally. Rosecrans indulges in an +oath now and then; but is a member of the Catholic Church in good +standing. Crittenden, I doubt not, swears like a trooper, and yet I have +never heard him do so. He is a good drinker; and the same can be said of +Rousseau. Rosecrans is an educated officer, who has rubbed much against +the world, and has experience. Rousseau is brave, but knows little of +military science. McCook is a chucklehead. Wood and Crittenden know how +to blow their own horns exceedingly well. Major-General Thomas is tall, +heavy, sedate; whiskers and head grayish. Puts on less style than any of +those named, and is a gentlemanly, modest, reliable soldier. Rosecrans +and McCook shave clean; Crittenden and Wood go the whole whisker; Thomas +shaves the upper lip. Rosecrans' nose is large, and curves down; +Rousseau's is large, and curves up; McCook has a weak nose, that would +do no credit to a baby. Rosecrans' laugh is not one of the free, open, +hearty kind; Rousseau has a good laugh, but shows poor teeth; McCook has +a grin, which excites the suspicion that he is either still very green +or deficient in the upper story. + +22. Colonels Wilder and Funkhauser called. We had just disposed of a +bottle of wine, when Colonel Harker made his appearance, and we entered +forthwith upon another. Colonel Wilder expects to accomplish a great +work with his mounted infantry. He is endeavoring to arm them with the +Henry rifle, a gun which, with a slight twist of the wrist, will throw +sixteen bullets in almost that many seconds. I have no doubt he will +render his command very efficient and useful, for he has wonderful +energy and nerve, and is, besides, sensible and practical. Colonel +Harker is greatly disappointed because he was not confirmed as +brigadier-general during the last session of Congress. He is certainly +young enough to afford to wait; but he seems to fear that, after +commanding a brigade for nine months, he may have to go back to a +regiment. He feels, too, that, being a New Jersey man, commanding Ohio +troops, neither State will take an interest in him, and render him that +assistance which, under other circumstances, either of them might do. +These gentlemen dined with me. Harker and Wilder expressed a high +opinion of General Buell. Wilder says Gilbert is a d--d scoundrel, and +responsible for the loss at Mumfordsville. Harker, however, defended +Gilbert, and is the only man I have ever heard speak favorably of him. + +The train coming from Nashville to-day was fired upon and four men +wounded. Yesterday there was a force of the enemy along the whole south +front of our picket line. + +From the cook's tent, in the rear, comes a devotional refrain: + + "I'm gui-en home, I'm gui-en home, + To d-i-e no mo'." + +24. We are still pursuing the even tenor of our way on the +fortifications. There are no indications of an advance. The army, +however, is well equipped, in good spirits, and prepared to move at an +hour's notice. Its confidence in Rosecrans is boundless, and whatever it +may be required to do, it will, I doubt not, do with a will. + +The conscript law, and that clause especially which provides for the +granting of a limited number of furloughs, gives great satisfaction to +the men. They not only feel that they will soon have help, but that if +their conduct be good, there will be a fair chance for them to see home +before the expiration of their term of enlistment. Hitherto they have +been something like prisoners without hope. + +26. Another little misfortune has occurred to our arms at Brentwood. The +Twenty-second Wisconsin, numbering four hundred men, was captured by +General Forrest. The rebels succeed admirably in gathering up and +consolidating our scattered troops. + +The Adjutant and others are having a concert in the next tent, and +certainly laugh more over their own performance than singers do +generally. They have just executed + + "The foin ould Irish gintleman," + +And are at this present writing shouting + + "Vive l' America, home of the free." + +I think it more than probable that as their enthusiasm increases, the +punch in their punch-bowl diminishes. + +27. A mule has just broken the stillness of the night by a most +discordant bray, and I am reminded that all horses are to be turned over +to the mounted infantry regiments, and mules used in the teams in their +stead. Mules are far better for the wagons than horses. They require +less food, are hardier, and stand up better under rough work and +irregular feeding. + +I catch the faintest possible sound of a violin. Some indomitable spirit +is enlivening the night, and trenching upon the Sabbath, by giving loose +rein to his genius. + +During the light baggage and rapid marches of the latter part of Buell's +administration, together with the mishaps at Perryville, the string band +of the Third was very considerably damaged; but the boys have recently +resuscitated and revived it to all the glory and usefulness of former +days. One of its sweetest singers, however, has either deserted or +retired to hospital or barracks, where the duties are less onerous and +life more safe. His greatest hit was a song known as "The Warble," in +which the following lines occurred: + + "Mein fadter, mein modter, mein sister, mein frau, + Und zwi glass of beer for meinself. + Dey called mein frau one blacksmit-schopt; + Und such dings I never did see in my life." + +When, at Shelbyville and Huntsville, this melody mingled with the +moonlight of summer evenings, people generally were deluded into the +supposition that an ethereal songster was on the wing, enrapturing them +with harmonies of other spheres. But sutlers, it is well known, are men +of little or no refinement, with ears for money rather than music. To +their unappreciative and perverted senses the warble seemed simply a +dolorous appeal for more whisky; and while delivering up their last +bottle to get rid of the warbler and his friends, in order that they +might get sleep themselves, they have been known to express the hope +that both song and singers might, without unnecessary delay, go to that +region which we are told is paved with good intentions. + +The voice of a colored person in the rear breaks in upon my +recollections of the warbler. The most interesting and ugliest negro now +in camp, is known as Simon Bolivar Buckner. He is an animal that has +been worth in his day eighteen hundred dollars, an estray from the +estate of General S. B. Buckner. He manages, by blacking boots and +baking leather pies, to make money. He deluded me into buying a second +pie from him one day, by assuring me, "on honah, sah, dat de las pie was +better'n de fus', case he hab strawberries in him." True, the pie had +"strawberries in him," but not enough to pay one for chewing the +whit-leather crust. + +30. Read Judge Holt's review of the proceedings and findings in the case +of Fitzjohn Porter. If the review presents the facts fairly, Porter +should have been not only dismissed, but hung. An officer who, with +thirteen thousand men, will remain idle when within sight of the dust +and in hearing of the shouts of the enemy and the noise of battle, +knowing that his friends are contending against superior numbers, and +having good reason to believe that they are likely to be overwhelmed, +deserves no mercy. + +It is dull. I have hardly enough to do to keep me awake. The members of +the staff each have their separate duties to perform, which keep them +more or less engaged. The quartermaster issues clothing to the troops; +the commissary of subsistence issues food; the inspector looks into the +condition of each regiment as to clothing, arms, and camp equipage; the +adjutant makes out the detail for guard and other duties, and transmits +orders received from the division commander to the regiments. All of +these officers have certain reports to make also, which consumes much of +their time. + + + + +APRIL, 1863. + + +1. Adjutant Wilson received a letter to-day, written in a hand that +bespoke the writer to be feminine. He looked at the name, but could not +recollect having heard it before. The writer assured him, however, that +she was an old friend, and said many tender and complimentary things of +him. He tried to think; called the roll of his lady friends, but the +advantage, as people say, which the writer had of him was entirely too +great. If he had ever heard the name, he found it impossible now to +recall it. Finally, as he was going to fold the letter and put it away, +he noticed one line at the top, written upside down. On reading it the +mystery was solved: "If this reaches you on the first day of April, a +reply to it is not expected." + +The colored gentlemen of the staff are in a great state of excitement. +One of the number has been illustrating the truth of that maxim which +affirms that a nigger will steal. The war of words is terrible. "Yer +d--d ole nigger thief," says one. "Hush! I'll break yer black jaw fer +yer," says another. They say very few harder things of each other than +"you dam nigger." One would think the pot in this instance would hardly +take to calling the kettle black, but it does. They use the word nigger +to express contempt, dislike, or defiance, as often and freely as the +whites. Finally, the parties to this controversy agree to leave the +matter to "de Co'nel." The accused was the first to thrust his head into +my tent, and ask permission to enter. "Dey is a gwine to tell yer as I +stole some money from ole Hason. I didn't done it, Co'nel; as sure as +I'm a livin' I didn't done it." "Yaas, yer did, you lyin' nigger!" broke +in old Hason. "Now, Co'nel, I want ter tell you the straight of it." I +listened patiently to the old man's statement and to the evidence +adduced, and as it was very clear that the accused was guilty, put him +under guard. + +The first day of April has been very pleasant, cool but clear. The night +is beautiful; the moon is at its full almost, and its light falls mellow +and soft on the scene around me. The redoubt is near, with its guns +standing sentinel at each corner, the long line of earthworks stretches +off to the right and left; the river gleams and sparkles as it flows +between its rugged banks of stone; the shadowy flags rise and fall +lazily; the sentinels walk to and fro on their beats with silvered +bayonets, and the dull glare of the camp-fires, and the snow-white +tents, are seen every-where. + +Somebody, possibly the Adjutant, whose thoughts may be still running on +the fair unknown, breaks forth: + + "O why did she flatter my boyish pride, + She is going to leave me now;" + +And then, with a vehemence which betokens desperation, + + "I'll hang my harp on a willow tree, + And off to the wars again." + +From which I infer it would be highly satisfactory to the young man to +be demolished at the enemy's earliest convenience. + +A large amount of stores are accumulated here. Forty thousand boxes of +hard bread are stacked in one pile at the depot, and greater quantities +of flour, pork, vinegar, and molasses, than I have ever seen before. + +3. An Indiana newspaper reached camp to-day containing an obituary +notice of a lieutenant of the Eighty-eighth Indiana. It gives quite a +lengthy biographical sketch of the deceased, and closes with a letter +which purports to have been written on the battle-field by one +Lieutenant John Thomas, in which Lieutenant Wildman, the subject of the +sketch, is said to have been shot near Murfreesboro, and that his last +words were: "Bury me where I have fallen, and do not allow my body to be +removed." The letter is exceedingly complimentary to the said lamented +young man, and affirms that "he was the hero of heroes, noted for his +reckless daring, and universally beloved." The singular feature about +this whole matter is that the letter was written by the lamented young +officer himself to his own uncle. The deceased justifies his action by +saying that he had expended two dollars for foolscap and one dollar for +postage stamps in writing to the d--d old fool, and never received a +reply, and he concluded finally he would write a letter which would +interest him. It appears by the paper referred to that the lieutenant +succeeded. The uncle and his family are in mourning for another martyr +gone--the hero of heroes and the universally beloved. + +Lieutenant DuBarry, topographical engineer, has just been promenading +the line of tents in his nightshirt, with a club, in search of some +scoundrel, supposed to be the Adjutant, who has stuffed his bed with +stove-wood and stones. Wilson, on seeing the ghostly apparition +approach, breaks into song: + + "Meet me by moonlight alone, + And there I will tell you a tale." + +Lieutenant Orr, commissary of subsistence, coming up at this time, +remarks to DuBarry that he "is surprised to see him take it so coolly," +whereupon the latter, notwithstanding the chilliness of the atmosphere, +and the extreme thinness of his dress, expresses himself with very +considerable warmth. Patterson, a clerk, and as likely to be the +offender as any one, now joins the party, and affirms, with great +earnestness, that "this practical joke business must end, or somebody +will get hurt." + +4. Saw Major-General McCook, wife, and staff riding out this morning. +General Rosecrans was out this afternoon, but I did not see him. At this +hour the signal corps is communicating from the dome of the court-house +with the forces at Triune, sixteen miles away, and with the troops at +Readyville and other points. In daylight this is done by flags, at night +by torches. + +5. There are many fine residences in Murfreesboro and vicinity; but the +trees and shrubbery, which contributed in a great degree to their beauty +and comfort, have been cut or trampled down and destroyed. Many frame +houses, and very good ones, too, have been torn down, and the lumber and +timber used in the construction of hospitals. + +There is a fearful stench in many places near here, arising from +decaying horses and mules, which have not been properly buried, or +probably not buried at all. The camps, as a rule, are well policed and +kept clean; but the country for miles around is strewn with dead +animals, and the warm weather is beginning to tell on them. + +6. It is said that the Third Regiment, with others, is to leave +to-morrow on an expedition which may keep it away for months. No +official notice of the matter has been given me, and I trust the report +may be unfounded. I should be sorry indeed to be separated from the +regiment. I have been with it now two years, and to lose it would be +like losing the greater number of my army friends and acquaintances. + +7. The incident of the day, to me at least, is the departure of the +Third. It left on the two P. M. train for Nashville. I do not think I +have been properly treated. They should at least have consulted me +before detaching my old regiment. I am informed that Colonel Streight, +who is in command of the expedition, was permitted to select the +regiments, and the matter has been conducted so secretly that, before I +had an intimation of what was contemplated, it was too late to take any +steps to keep the Third. I never expect to be in command of it again. It +will get into another current, and drift into other brigades, divisions, +and army corps. The idea of being mounted was very agreeable to both +officers and men; but a little experience in that branch of the service +will probably lead them to regret the choice they have made. My best +wishes go with them. + +All are looking with eager eyes toward Vicksburg. Its fall would send a +thrill of joy through the loyal heart of the country, especially if +accompanied by the capture of the Confederate troops now in possession. + +8. Six months ago this night, parching with thirst and pinched with +hunger, we were lying on Chaplin Hills, thinking over the terrible +battle of the afternoon, expecting its renewal in the morning, listening +to the shots on the picket line, and notified by an occasional bullet +that the enemy was occupying the thick woods just in our front, and very +near. A little over three months ago we were in the hurry, confusion, +anxiety, and suspense of an undecided battle, surrounded by the dead and +dying, with the enemy's long line of camp-fires before us. Since then we +have had a quiet time, each succeeding day seeming the dullest. + +Rode into town this afternoon; invested twenty-five cents in two red +apples; spoke to Captain Blair, of Reynolds' staff; exchanged nods with +W. D. B., of the Commercial; saw a saddle horse run away with its rider; +returned to camp; entertained Shanks, of the New York Herald, for ten +minutes; drank a glass of wine with Colonel Taylor, Fifteenth Kentucky, +and soon after dropped off to sleep. + +A brass band is now playing, away over on the Lebanon pike. The +pontoniers are singing a psalm, with a view, doubtless, to making the +oaths with which they intend to close the night appear more forcible. +The signal lights are waving to and fro from the dome of the +court-house. The hungry mules of the Pioneer Corps are making the night +hideous with howls. So, and amid such scenes, the tedious hours pass by. + +10. A soldier of the Fortieth Indiana, who, during the battle of Stone +river, abandoned his company and regiment, and remained away until the +fight ended, was shot this afternoon. Another will be shot on the 14th +instant for deserting last fall. A man in our division who was sentenced +to be shot, made his escape. + +It seems these cases were not affected by the new law, and the +President's proclamation to deserters. Hitherto deserters have been +seldom punished, and, as a rule, never as severely as the law allowed. + +My parchment arrived to-day, and I have written the necessary letter of +acceptance and taken the oath, and henceforth shall subscribe myself +yours, very respectfully, B. G., which, in my case, will probably stand +for big goose. + +General Rosecrans halted a moment before my quarters this evening, shook +hands with me very cordially, and introduced me to his brother, the +Bishop, as a young general. The General asked why I had not called. I +replied that I knew he must be busy, and did not care to intrude. +"True," said he, "I am busy, but have always time to say how d'ye do." +He promised me another regiment to replace the Third, and said my boys +looked fat enough to kick up their heels. The General's popularity with +the army is immense. On review, the other day, he saw a sergeant who had +no haversack; calling the attention of the boys to it he said: "This +sergeant is without a haversack; he depends on you for food; don't give +him a bite; let him starve." + +The General appears to be well pleased with his fortifications, and +asked me if I did not think it looked like remaining. I replied that the +works were strong, and a small force could hold them, and that I should +be well pleased if the enemy would attack us here, instead of compelling +us to go further south. "Yes," said he, "I wish they would." + +General Lytle is to be assigned to Stanley Matthews' brigade. The latter +was recently elected judge, and will resign and return to Cincinnati. + +The anti-Copperhead resolution business of the army must be pretty well +exhausted. All the resolutions and letters on this subject that may +appear hereafter may be accepted as bids for office. They have, +however, done a great deal of good, and I trust the public will not be +forced to swallow an overdose. I had a faint inclination, at one time, +to follow the example of my brother officers, and write a patriotic +letter, but concluded to reserve my fire, and have had reason to +congratulate myself since that I did so, for these letters have been as +plenty as blackberries, and many of them not half so good. + +A Republican has not much need to write. His patriotism is taken for +granted. He is understood to be willing to go the whole nigger, and, +like the ogre of the story books, to whom the most delicious morsel was +an old woman, lick his chops and ask for more. + +Wilder came in yesterday, with his mounted infantry, from a scout of +eight or ten days, bringing sixty or seventy prisoners and a large +number of horses. + +11. A railway train was destroyed by the rebels near Lavergne yesterday. +One hundred officers fell into the hands of the enemy, and probably one +hundred thousand dollars in money, on the way to soldiers' families, was +taken. This feat was accomplished right under the nose of our troops. + +To the uninitiated army life is very fascinating. The long marches, +nights of picket, and ordeal of battle are so festooned by the +imagination of the inexperienced with shoulder straps, glittering +blades, music, banners, and glory, as to be irresistible; but when we +sit down to the hard crackers and salt pork, with which the soldier is +wont to regale himself, we can not avoid recurring to the loaded tables +and delicious morsels of other days, and are likely at such times to +put hard crackers and glory on one side, the good things of home and +peace on the other and owing probably to the unsubstantial quality of +glory, and the adamantine quality of the crackers, arrive at conclusions +not at all favorable to army life. + +A fellow claiming to have been sent here by the Governor of Maine to +write songs for the army, and who wrote songs for quite a number of +regiments, was arrested some days ago on the charge of being a spy. Last +night he attempted to get away from the guard, and was shot. Drawings of +our fortifications were found in his boots. He was quite well known +throughout the army, and for a long time unsuspected. + +12. Called on General Rousseau. He referred to his trip to Washington, +and dwelt with great pleasure on the various efforts of the people along +the route to do him honor. At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they stood in the +cold an hour and a half awaiting his appearance. Our division, he +informs me, is understood to possess the chivalric and dashing qualities +which the people admire. With all due respect, I suggested that dash was +a good thing, doubtless, but steady, obstinate, well-directed fighting +was better, and, in the end, would always succeed. + +W. D. B., of the Commercial, Major McDowell, of Rousseau's staff, and +Lieutenant Porter, called this afternoon. My report of the operations of +my brigade at Stone river was referred to. Bickham thought it did not do +justice to my command, and I have no doubt it is a sorry affair, +compared with the elaborate reports of many others. The historian who +accepts these reports as reliable, and permits himself to be guided by +them through all the windings of a five-days' battle, with the +expectation of finally allotting to each one of forty brigades the +proper credit, will probably not be successful. My report was called for +late one evening, written hastily, without having before me the reports +of my regimental commanders, and is incomplete, unsatisfactory to me, +and unjust to my brigade. + +13. General Thomas called for a moment this evening, to congratulate me +on my promotion. + +The practical-joke business is occasionally resumed. Quartermaster Wells +was astonished to find that his stove would not draw, or, rather, that +the smoke, contrary to rule, insisted upon coming down instead of going +up. Examination led to the discovery that the pipe was stuffed with old +newspapers. Their removal heated the stove and his temper at the same +time, but produced a coolness elsewhere, which the practical joker +affected to think quite unaccountable. + +14. Colonel Dodge, commanding the Second Brigade of Johnson's division, +called this afternoon. The Colonel is a very industrious talker, chewer, +spitter, and drinker. He has been under some tremendous hot firing, I +can tell you! Well, if he don't know what heavy firing is, and the +d--dest hottest work, too, then there is no use for men to talk! The +truth is, however much other men may try to conceal it, his command +stood its ground at Shiloh, and never gave back an inch. No, sir! Every +other brigade faltered or fell back, damned if they didn't; but he +drove the enemy, got 'em started, other brigades took courage and joined +in the chase. At Stone river he drove the enemy again. Bullets came +thicker'n hail; but his men stood up. He was with 'em. Damned hot, you +better believe! Well, if he must say it himself, he knew what hard +fighting was. Why, sir, one of his men has five bullets in him; dam' me +if he hasn't five! Says he, Dick says he, how did they hit you so many +times? The first time I fired, says Dick, I killed an officer; yes, sir, +killed him dead; saw him fall, dam me, if he didn't, sir; and at the +same time, says Dick, I got a ball in my leg; rose up to fire again, and +got one in my other leg, and one in my thigh, and fell; got on my knees +to fire the third time, says Dick, and received two more. Well, you see, +the firing was hotter'n hell, and Colonel Dodge knows what hot firing +is, sir! + +15. Since the fight at Franklin, and the capture of the passenger train +at Lavergne, nothing of interest has occurred. There were only fifteen +or twenty officers on the captured train. A large amount of money, +however, fell into rebel hands. The postmaster of our division was on +the train, and the Confederates compelled him to accompany them ten +miles. He says they could have been traced very easily by the letters +which they opened and scattered along the road. + +16. Morgan, with a considerable force, has taken possession of Lebanon, +and troops are on the way thither to rout him. The tunnel near Gallatin +has been blown up, and in consequence trains on the Nashville and +Louisville Railroad are not running. + +17. Am member of a board whose duty it will be to inquire into the +competency, qualifications, and conduct of volunteer officers. The other +members are Colonels Scribner, Hambright, and Taylor. We called in a +body on General Rousseau, and found him reading "Les Miserables." He +apologized for his shabby appearance by saying that he had become +interested in a foolish novel. Colonel Scribner expressed great +admiration for the characters Jean Val Jean and Javort, when the General +confessed to a very decided anxiety to have Javort's neck twisted. This +is the feeling of the reader at first; but when he finds the old granite +man taking his own life as punishment for swerving once from what he +considered to be the line of duty, our admiration for him is scarcely +less than that we entertain for Jean Val Jean. + +18. The Columbus (Ohio) Journal, of late date, under the head of +"Arrivals," says: "General John Beatty has just married one of Ohio's +loveliest daughters, and is stopping at the Neil House. Good for the +General." This is a slander. I trust the paper of the next day made +proper correction, and laid the charge, where it belongs, to wit: on +General Samuel. If General Sam continues to demean himself in this +youthful manner, I shall have to beg him to change his name. My +reputation can not stand many more such blows. What must those who know +I have a wife and children think, when they see it announced that I +have married again, and am stopping at the Neil with "one of Ohio's +loveliest daughters?" What a horrible reflection upon the character of a +constant and faithful husband! (This last sentence is written for my +wife.) + +19. Colonel Taylor and I rode over to General Rousseau's this morning. +Returning, we were joined by Colonel Nicholas, Second Kentucky; Colonel +Hobart, Twenty-first Wisconsin, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham, First +Wisconsin, all of whom took dinner with me. We had a right pleasant +party, but rather boisterous, possibly, for the Sabbath day. + +There is at this moment a lively discussion in progress in the cook's +tent, between two African gentlemen, in regard to military affairs. Old +Hason says: "Oh, hush, darkey!" Buckner replies: "Yer done no what'r +talkin' about, nigger." "I'll bet yer a thousand dollars." "Hush! yer +ain't got five cents." "Gor way, yer don't no nuffin'." And so the +debate continues; but, like many others, leads simply to confusion and +bitterness. + +20. This evening an order came transferring my brigade to Negley's +division. It will be known hereafter as the Second Brigade, Second +Division, Fourteenth Army Corps. + +28. Late last Monday night an officer from Stokes' battery reported to +me for duty. I told him I had received no orders, and knew of no reason +why he should report to me, and that in all probability General Samuel +Beatty, of Van Cleve's division, was the person to whom he should +report. I regarded the matter as simply one of the many blunders which +were occurring because there were two men of the same name and rank +commanding brigades in this army; and so, soon after the officer left, I +went to bed. Before I had gotten fairly to sleep, some one knocked again +at my tent-door. While rising to strike a light the person entered, and +said that he had been ordered to report to me. Supposing it to be the +officer of the battery persisting in his mistake, I replied as before, +and then turned over and went to sleep. I thought no more of the matter +until 11:30 A. M. next day, when an order came which should have been +delivered twenty-four hours before, requiring me to get my brigade in +readiness, and with one regiment of Colonel Harker's command and the +Chicago Board of Trade Battery, move toward Nashville at two o'clock +Tuesday morning. Then, of course, I knew why the two officers had +reported to me on the night previous, and saw that there had been an +inexcusable delay in the transmission of the order to me. Giving the +necessary directions to the regimental commanders, and sending notice to +Harker and the battery, I proceeded with all dispatch direct to +Department head-quarters, whence the order had issued, to explain the +delay. When I entered General Rosecrans shook hands with me cordially, +and seemed pleased to see me; but I had no sooner announced my business, +and informed him that the order had been delivered to me not ten minutes +before, than he flew into a violent passion, and asked if a battery and +regiment had not reported to me the night before. I replied yes, and +was proceeding to give my reasons for supposing that the officers +reporting them were in error, when he shouted: "Why, in hell and +damnation, did you not mount your horse and come to head-quarters to +inquire what it meant?" I undertook again to tell him I had received no +order, and as my brigade had been detailed to work on fortifications I +was expecting none; that I had taken it for granted that it was another +of the many mistakes occurring constantly because there were two +officers of the same name and rank in the army, and had so told the +parties reporting; but he would not listen to me. His face was inflamed +with anger, his rage uncontrollable, his language most ungentlemanly, +abusive, and insulting. Garfield and many officers, commissioned and +non-commissioned, and possibly not a few civilians, were present to +witness my humiliation. For an instant I was tempted to strike him; but +my better sense checked me. I turned on my heel and left the room. Death +would have had few terrors for me just then. I had never felt such +bitter mortification before, and it seemed to me that I was utterly and +irreparably disgraced. However, I had a duty to perform, and while in +the execution of that I would have time to think. + +My brigade, one regiment of Colonel Harker's brigade, and the Chicago +Board of Trade Battery, were already on the road. We marched rapidly, +and that night (Tuesday) encamped in the woods north of Lavergne. Rain +fell most of the night; but the men had shelter tents, and I passed the +time comfortably in a wagon. The next morning at daylight we started +again, and a little after sunrise arrived at Scrougeville. Here my +orders directed me to halt and watch the movements of the enemy. The +rebel cavalry, in pretty strong force, had been in the vicinity during +the day and evening before; but on learning of our approach had galloped +away. We were exceedingly active, and scoured the country for miles +around, but did not succeed in getting sight of even one of these +dashing cavaliers. + +The sky cleared, the weather became delightful, and the five days spent +in the neighborhood of Scrougeville were very agreeable. It was a +pleasant change from the dull routine of camp duty, and my men were in +exuberant spirits, excessively merry and gay. While there, a +good-looking non-commissioned officer of the battery came up to me, and, +extending his hand, said: "How do you do, General?" I shook him by the +hand, but could not for the life of me recollect that I had ever seen +him before. Seeing that I failed to recognize him, he said: "My name is +Concklin. I knew you at Sandusky, and used to know your wife well." +Still I could not remember him. "You knew General Patterson?" he asked. +"Yes." "Mary Patterson?" "Yes; I shall never forget her." "Do you +recollect a stroll down to the bay shore one moonlight night?" Of course +I remembered it. This was John Concklin, Mary's cousin. I remembered +very well how he devoted himself to one I felt considerable interest in, +while his cousin Mary and I talked in a jocular way about the cost of +housekeeping, both agreeing that it would require but a very small sum +to set up such an establishment as our modest ambition demanded. I was +heartily glad to meet the young man. He looks very different from the +smooth-faced boy of ten years ago. I was slightly jealous of him then, +and I do not know but I might have reason to be now, for he is a fine, +manly fellow. + +At Scrougeville--how softly the name ripples on the ear!--we were +entertained magnificently. Above us was the azure canopy; around us a +dense forest of cedars, and in a shady nook, a sylvan retreat as it +were, a barrel of choice beer. The mocking-birds caroled from the +evergreen boughs. The plaintive melody of the dove came to us from over +the hills, and pies at a quarter each poured in upon us in profusion; +and such pies! When night threw over us her shadowy mantle, and the +crescent moon blessed us with her mellow light, the notes of the +whip-poor-will mingling with the bark of watch-dogs and the barbaric +melody of the Ethiopian, floated out on the genial air, and, as +stretched on the green sward, we smoked our pipes and drank our beer, +thoughts of fairy land possessed us, and we looked wonderingly around +and inquired, is Scrougeville a reality or a vision? I fear we shall +never see the like of Scrougeville again. + +On the morning of the 26th instant I received a telegram ordering our +immediate return, and we reached Murfreesboro at two o'clock P. M. same +day. + +I had not forgotten the terrible scolding received from the General just +before starting on this expedition; in fact, I am not likely ever to +forget it. It had now been a millstone on my heart for a week. I could +not stand it. What could I do? At first I thought I would send in my +resignation, but that I concluded would afford me no relief; on the +contrary, it would look as if I had been driven out of the army. My next +impulse was to ask to be relieved from duty in this department, and +assigned elsewhere; but on second thought this did not seem desirable. +It would appear as if I was running away from the displeasure of the +commanding general, and would affect me unfavorably wherever I might go. +I felt that if I was to blame at all in this matter, it was in a very +slight degree. The General's language was utterly inexcusable. He was a +man simply, and I concluded finally that I would not leave either the +army or the department under a cloud. I, therefore, sat down and wrote +the following letter: + + + "MURFREESBORO, _April 27, 1863_. + "MAJOR-GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS, + "_Commanding Department of the Cumberland_: + + "SIR--Your attack upon me, on the morning of the + 21st instant, has been the subject of thought + since. I have been absent on duty five days, and, + therefore, have not referred to it before. It is + the first time since I entered the army, two years + ago, as it is the first time in my life, that it + has been my misfortune to listen to abuse so + violent and unreasonable as that with which you + were pleased to favor me in the presence of the + aids, orderlies, officers, and visitors, at your + quarters. While I am unwilling to rest quietly + under the disgrace and ridicule which attaches to + the subject of such a tirade, I do not question + your right to censure when there has been + remissness in the discharge of duties; and to such + reasonable admonition I am ever ready to yield + respectful and earnest attention; but I know of no + rule, principle, or precedent, which confers upon + the General commanding this Department the right + to address language to an officer which, if used + by a private soldier to his company officer, or by + a company officer to a private soldier, would be + deemed disgraceful and lead to the punishment of + the one or the dismissal of the other. Insisting, + therefore, upon that right, which I conceive + belongs to the private in the ranks, as well at to + every subordinate officer in the army who has been + aggrieved, I demand from you an apology for the + insulting language addressed to me on the morning + of the 21st instant. + + "I am, sir, respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "JOHN BEATTY, Brig.-Gen'l." + +I sent this. Would it be regarded as an act of presumption and treated +with ridicule and contempt? I feared it might, and sat thinking +anxiously over the matter until my orderly returned, with the envelope +marked "W. S. R.," the army mode of acknowledging receipt of letter or +order. Fifteen minutes later this reply came: + + + "HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,} + "MURFREESBORO, _April, 1863_. } + + "MY DEAR GENERAL--I have just received the + inclosed note, marked "Private," but addressed to + me as commanding the Department of the Cumberland. + It compromises you in so many ways that I return + it to you. I am your friend, and regretted that + the circumstances of the case compelled me, as a + commanding officer, to express myself warmly about + a matter which might have cost us dearly, to one + for whom I felt so kindly. You will report to me + in person, without delay. + + W. S. ROSECRANS, Maj.-Gen'l. + "BRIG.-GEN'L JOHN BEATTY, Fortifications, Stone + river. + + "P. S.--It might be well to bring this inclosure + with you." + +The inclosure referred to was, of course, my letter to him. The answer +was not, by any means, an apology. On the contrary, it assumed that he +was justifiable in censuring me as he did, and yet it expressed good +feeling for me. It was probably written in haste, and without thought. +It was not satisfactory; but I was led by it to hope that I could reach +a point which would be. + +I obeyed the order to report promptly. He took me into his private +office, where we talked over the whole affair together. He expressed +regret that he had not known all the circumstances before, and said, in +conclusion: "I am your friend. Some men I like to scold, for I don't +like them; but I have always entertained the best of feeling for you." +Taking me, at the close of our interview, from his private office into +the public room, where General Garfield and others were, he turned and +asked if it was all right--if I was satisfied. I expressed my thanks, +shook hands with him, and left, feeling a thousand times more attached +to him, and more respect for him than I had ever felt before. He had the +power to crush me, for at this time he is almost omnipotent in this +department, and by a simple word he might have driven me from the army, +disgraced in the estimation of both soldiers and citizens. His +magnanimity and kindness, however, lifted a great load from my spirits, +and made me feel like a new man; and I am very sure that he felt better +and happier also, for no man does a generous act to one below him in +rank or station, without being recompensed therefor by a feeling of the +liveliest satisfaction. I may have been too sensitive, and may not, +probably did not, realize fully the necessity for prompt action, and the +weight of responsibility which rested upon the General. There are times +when there is no time for explanation; great exigencies, in the presence +of which lives, fortunes, friendships, and all matters of lesser +importance must give way; moments when men's thoughts are so +concentrated on a single object, and their whole being so wrought up, +that they can see nothing, know nothing, but the calamity they desire to +avert, or the victory they desire to achieve. Nashville had been +threatened. To have lost it, or allowed it to be gutted by the enemy, +would have been a great misfortune to the army, and brought down upon +Rosecrans not only the anathemas of the War Department, but would have +gone far to lose him the confidence of the whole people. He supposed the +enemy's movements had been checked, and was startled and thrown off his +balance by discovering that they were still unopposed. The error was +attributable in part possibly to me, in part to a series of blunders, +which had resulted from the fact that there were two persons in the army +of the same name and rank, but mainly to those who failed to transmit +the order in proper time. + +29. Our large tents have been taken away, and shelter tents substituted. +This evening, when the boys crawled into the latter, they gave +utterance, good-humoredly, to every variety of howl, bark, snap, whine, +and growl of which the dog is supposed to be capable. + +Colonel George Humphreys, Eighty-eighth Indiana, whom I supposed to be a +full-blooded Hoosier, tells me he is a Scotchman, and was born in +Ayrshire, in the same house in which Robert Burns had birth. His +grandfather, James Humphreys, was the neighbor and companion of the +poet. It was of him he wrote this epitaph, at an ale-house, in the way +of pleasantry: + + "Below these stanes lie Jamie's banes. + O! Death, in my opinion, + You ne'er took sic a blither'n bitch + Into thy dark dominion." + +30. This afternoon called on General Thomas; met General R. S. Granger; +paid my respects to General Negley, and stopped for a moment at General +Rousseau's. The latter was about to take a horseback ride with his +daughter, to whom I was introduced. + + + + +MAY, 1863. + + +1. The One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio is at Franklin. Colonel Wilcox +has resigned; Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell will succeed to the colonelcy. +I rode over the battle-field with the latter this afternoon. + +4. Two men from Breckenridge's command strayed into our lines to-day. + +7. Colonels Hobart, Taylor, Nicholas, and Captain Nevin spent the +afternoon with me. + +The intelligence from Hooker's army is contradictory and unintelligible. +We hope it was successful, and yet find little beside the headlines in +the telegraphic column to sustain that hope. The German regiments are +said to have behaved badly. This is, probably, an error. Germans, as a +rule, are reliable soldiers. This, I think, is Carl Schurz's first +battle; an unfortunate beginning for him. + +9. The arrest of Vallandingham, we learn from the newspapers, is +creating a great deal of excitement in the North. I am pleased to see +the authorities commencing at the root and not among the branches. + +I have just read Consul Anderson's appeal to the people of the United +States in favor of an extensive representation of American live stock, +machinery, and manufactures, at the coming fair in Hamburg. Friend James +made a long letter of it; and, I doubt not, drank a gallon of good Dutch +beer after each paragraph. + +11. The Confederate papers say Streight's command was surrendered to +four hundred and fifty rebels. I do not believe it. The Third Ohio +would have whipped that many of the enemy on any field and under any +circumstances. The expedition was a foolish one. Colonel Harker, who +knows Streight well, predicted the fate which has overtaken him. He +is brave, but deficient in judgment. The statement that his command +surrendered to an inferior force is, doubtless, false. Forrest had, +I venture to say, nearer four thousand and fifty than four hundred +and fifty. The rebels always have a great many men before a battle, +but not many after. They profess still to believe in the +one-rebel-to-three-Yankee theory, and make their statements to +correspond. The facts when ascertained will, I have no doubt, show that +the Union brigade was pursued by an overwhelming force, and being +exhausted by constant riding, repeated fights, want of food and sleep, +surrendered after ammunition had given out and all possibility of escape +gone. The enemy is strong in cavalry, and it is not at all probable that +he would have sent but four hundred and fifty men to look after a +brigade, which had boldly ventured hundreds of miles inside his lines. +In fact, General Forrest seldom, if ever, travels with so small a +command as he is said to have had on this occasion. + +13. An order has been issued prohibiting women from visiting the army. I +infer from this that a movement is contemplated. + +14. General Negley called to-day, and remained for half an hour. He is a +large, rosy-cheeked, handsome, affable man, and a good disciplinarian. + +I am going to have a horse-race in the morning with Major McDowell, of +Rousseau's staff. Stakes two bottles of wine. + +When we entered Murfreesboro, nearly a year ago, the boys brought in a +lame horse, which they had picked up on the road. The horse hobbled +along with difficulty, and for a long time was used to carry the +knapsacks and guns of soldiers who were either too unwell or too lazy to +transport these burdens themselves. The horse had belonged to a Texas +cavalryman, and had been abandoned when so lame as to be unfit for +service. Finally, when his shattered hoof got well, he was transferred +from the hospital department to the quartermaster's, where he became a +favorite. The quartermaster called my attention to the horse, and I had +him appraised and took him for my own use. Under the skillful and +attentive hands of my hostler he soon shook off his shaggy coat of ugly +brown, and put on one of velvety black. After a few days of trial I +discovered not only that he was an easy goer, but had the speed of the +wind. When at his fastest pace he is liable to overreach; it was thus +that his left fore hoof had been shattered. To prevent a recurrence of +the accident, I keep his hoof protected by leathers. I believe he is the +fastest horse in the Army of the Cumberland. + +15. Major McDowell did not put in an appearance until after I had +returned from my morning ride. He brought Colonel Loomis with him to +witness the grand affair; but as it was late, we finally concluded to +postpone the race until another morning. + +Some one has been kind enough to lay on my table a handsome bunch of red +pinks and yellow roses. + +My staff has been increased, the late addition being "U. S.," a large +and very lazy yellow dog. The two letters which give him his title are +branded on his shoulder. He sticks very close to me, for the reason, +possibly, that I do not kick him, and say "Get out," as most persons are +tempted to do when they look upon his most unprepossessing visage. He is +a solemn dog, and probably has had a rough row to hoe through life. At +times, when I speak an encouraging word, he brightens up, and makes an +effort to be playful; but cheerfulness is his forte no more than "fiten" +was A. Ward's, and he soon relapses into the deepest melancholy. + +16. Read Emil Schalk's article on Hooker. It is an easy matter for that +gentleman to sit in his library, plan a campaign, and win a battle. I +could do that myself; but when we undertake to make the campaign, fight +the battle, and win the victory, we find it very much more difficult. +Book farmers are wonderfully successful on paper, and show how fortunes +may be gathered in a single season, but when they come down to +practical farming, they discover quite often that frost, or rain, or +drouth, plays the mischief with their theories, and renders them +bankrupt. + +It can be demonstrated, doubtless, that a certain blow, delivered at a +certain place and time, against a certain force, will crush it; but does +it not require infinite skill and power to select the place and time +with certainty? A broken bridge, swollen stream, or even the most +trifling incident, which no man can foresee or overrule, may disarrange +and render futile the best-laid plans, and lead to defeat and disaster. +After a battle we can easily look back and see where mistakes have been +made; but it is more difficult, if not impossible, to look forward and +avoid them. War is a blind and uncertain game at best, and whoever plays +it successfully must not only hold good cards, but play them discreetly, +and under the most favorable circumstances. + +17. Starkweather informs me that he has been urged to return to +Wisconsin and become a candidate for governor, and for fear he might +accede to the wishes of the people in this regard, the present governor +was urging his promotion. He is still undecided whether to accept a +brigadier's commission or the nomination for this high civil office. +Wind. + +18. Two deserters came into our lines to-day. They were members of a +regiment in Cleburne's division, and left their command at Fosterville, +ten or fifteen miles out. They represent the Southern army in our front +as very strong, in good condition and fine spirits. The rebel successes +on the Rappahannock have inspired them with new life, and have, to some +extent, dispirited us. We do not, however, build largely on the Eastern +army. It is an excellent body of men, in good discipline, but for some +reason it has been unfortunate. When we hear, therefore, that the +Eastern army is going to fight, we make up our minds that it is going to +be defeated, and when the result is announced we feel sad enough, but +not disappointed. + +19. Generals Rosecrans, Negley, and Garfield, with the staffs of the two +former, appeared on the field where I was drilling the brigade. General +Rosecrans greeted me very cordially. I am satisfied that those who allow +themselves to be damned once without remonstrance are very likely to be +damned always. + +I am becoming quite an early riser; have seen the sun rise every morning +for two weeks. Saw the moon over my right shoulder. Lucky month ahead. +Am devoting a little more time than usual to my military books. + +Colonel Moody, Seventy-fourth Ohio, has resigned. + +20. This afternoon I received orders to be in readiness to move at a +moment's notice. + +21. The days now give us a specimen of the four seasons. At sunrise it +is pretty fair winter for this latitude. An hour after, good spring; at +noon, midsummer; at sunset, fall. Flies are too numerous to mention even +by the million. They come on drill at 8 A. M., and continue their +evolutions until sun-down. + +Wilson, Orr, and DuBarry are indisposed. My cast-iron constitution +holds good. As a rule, I take no medicine or medical advice. In a few +instances I have acceded to the wishes of my friends, and applied to the +doctors; but have been careful not to allow their prescriptions to get +further than my vest pocket. + +The colt has just whinnied in response to another horse. He is in fine +condition; coat as sleek and glossy as that of a bridegroom. Yesterday I +rode him on drill, and the little scamp got into a quarrel with another +horse, reared up, and made a plunge that came near unseating me. He +agrees with Wilson's horse very well, but seems to think it his duty to +exercise a sort of paternal care over him; and so on all occasions when +possible he takes the reins of Wilson's bridle between his teeth and +holds it tightly, as if determined that the speed of the Adjutant's +horse should be regulated by his own. My black is also in excellent +condition, and certainly very fast. My race has not yet come off. + +23. Received a box of catawba wine and pawpaw brandy from Colonel James +G. Jones, half of which I was requested to deliver to General Rosecrans, +and the other half keep to drink to the Colonel's health, which at +present is very poor. + +Colonel Gus Wood called this afternoon. He is one of those who were +captured on the railroad train near Lavergne, 10th of last April, and +has returned to camp via Tullahoma, Chattanooga, and Richmond. He says +the rebel troops are in good condition and good spirits; thinks there is +an immense force in our front, and that it would not be advisable to +advance. + +The enlisted men of the Third are at Annapolis, Maryland, and will soon +be at Camp Chase, Ohio. The officers are in Libby. + +The box of cigars presented to me by my old friend, W. H. Marvin, still +holds out. Whenever I am in a great straight for a smoke I try one; but +I have not yet succeeded in finding a good one. I affect to be very +liberal, and pass the box around freely; but all who have tried the +cigars once insist that they do not smoke. They will probably last to +the end of the war. + +26. The privates of the Eighty-eighth Indiana presented a +two-hundred-dollar sword to Colonel Humphreys, and the Colonel felt it +to be his duty to invest the price of the sword in beer for the boys. + +Lieutenant Orr was kind enough to give me a field glass. + +Hewitt's Kentucky battery has been assigned to me. Colonel Loomis has +assumed command of his battery again. His commission as colonel was +simply a complimentary one, conferred by the Governor of Michigan. He +should be recognized by the War Department as colonel. No man in the +army is better entitled to the position. His services at Perryville and +Stone river, to say nothing of those in West Virginia and North Alabama, +would be but poorly requited by promotion. + +Hewitt's battery has not been fortunate in the past. It was captured at +this place last summer, when General T. T. Crittenden was taken, and +lost quite a number of men, horses, and one gun, in the battle of Stone +river. + +28. At midnight orderlies went clattering around the camps with orders +for the troops to be supplied with five days' provisions, and in +readiness to march at a moment's notice. We expected to be sent away +this morning, but no orders have yet come to move. + +Mrs. Colonel B. F. Scribner sent me a very handsome bouquet with her +compliments. + +Mr. Furay accompanied Vallandingham outside the Federal lines, and +received from him a parting declaration, written in pencil and signed by +himself, wherein he claimed that he was a citizen of Ohio and of the +United States, brought there by force and against his will, and that he +delivered himself up as a prisoner of war. + +30. Captain Gilbert E. Winters, A. C. S., took tea with me. He is as +jovial as the most successful man in the world, and overruns with small +jokes and stories, many of which he claims were told him by President +Lincoln. From this we might infer that the President has very little to +do but entertain and amuse gentlemen, who apply to him for appointments, +with conversation so coarse that it would be discreditable to a stable +boy. + +31. Received a letter from daughter Nellie, a little school girl. She +"wishes the war was out." So do I. + + + + +JUNE, 1863. + + +1. By invitation, the mounted officers of our brigade accompanied +General Negley to witness the review of Rousseau's division. There were +quite a large number of spectators, including a few ladies. I was +introduced to General Wood for the first time, although I have known him +by sight, and known of him well, for months. Many officers of Wood's and +Negley's divisions were present. After the review, and while the troops +were leaving the field, Colonel Ducat, Inspector-General on General +Rosecrans' staff, and Colonel Harker, challenged me for a race. Soon +after, Major McDowell, of Rousseau's staff, joined the party; and, while +we were getting into position for the start, General Wagner, who has a +long-legged white horse, which, he insisted, could beat any thing on the +ground, took place in the line. McCook, Wood, Loomis, and many others, +stopped to witness the race. The horses were all pacers; it was, in +fact, a gathering of the best horses in the army, and each man felt +confident. I was absolutely sure my black would win, and the result +proved that I was correct. + +The only time during the race that I was honored with the company of my +competitors, was at the starting; then, I observed, they were all up; +but a half a minute later the black took the lead. The old fellow had +evidently been on the track before, and felt as much interest in the +contest as his owner. He knew what was expected of him, and as he went +flying over the ground astonished me, as he did every body else. Loomis, +who professes to know much about horses, said to me before the race took +place, "Your's is a good-looking horse, but he can't beat McDowell's." +Before leaving the field, however, he admitted that he had been +mistaken. My horse was quicker of foot than he supposed. + +2. Called on Colonel Scribner and wife, where I met also Colonel Griffin +and wife; had a long conversation about spiritualism, mesmerism, +clairvoyance, and subjects of that ilk. At night there was a fearful +thunder-storm. The rain descended in torrents, and the peals of thunder +were, I think, louder and more frequent than I ever heard before. + +Met Loomis; he had accompanied General Rosecrans and others to witness +the trial of a machine, invented by Wilder, for tearing up railroad +tracks and injuring the rails in such a manner as to render them +worthless. Hitherto the rebels, when they have torn up our railroads, +have placed the bars crosswise on a pile of ties, set fire to the +latter, and so heated and bent the rails; but by heating them again they +could be easily straightened and made good. Wilder's instrument twists +them so they can not be used again. + +The New York Herald, I observe, refers with great severity to General +Hascall's administration of affairs in Indiana; saying that "to place +such a brainless fool in a military command is not simply an error, it +is a crime." This is grossly unjust. Hascall is not only a gallant +soldier, but a man of education and excellent sense. He has been active, +and possibly severe, in his opposition to treasonable organizations and +notoriously disloyal men, whose influence was exerted to discourage +enlistments and retard the enforcement of the draft. Unfortunately, in +time of civil war, besides the great exigencies which arise to threaten +the commonwealth, innumerable lesser evils gather like flies about an +open wound, to annoy, irritate, and kill. Against these the law has made +no adequate provision. The military must, therefore, often interpose for +the public good, without waiting for legislative authority, or the slow +processes of the civil law, just as the fireman must proceed to batter +down the doors of a burning edifice, without stopping to obtain the +owner's permission to enter and subdue the flames. + +3. Our division was reviewed to-day. The spectators were numerous, +numbering among other distinguished personages Generals Rosecrans, +Thomas, Crittenden, Rousseau, Sheridan, and Wood. The weather was +favorable, and the review a success. In the evening, a large party +gathered at Negley's quarters, where lunch and punch were provided in +abundance. + +Generals Wood and Crittenden, of the Twenty-first Army Corps, claimed +that I did not beat Wagner fairly in the horse-race the other day. I +expressed a willingness to satisfy them that I could do so any day; and, +further, that my horse could out-go any thing in the Twenty-first Corps. +The upshot of the matter is that we have a race arranged for Friday +afternoon at four o'clock. + +The party was a merry one; gentlemen imbibed freely. General Rosecrans' +face was as red as a beet; he had, however, been talking with ladies, +and being a diffident man, was possibly blushing. Wood persisted that +the Twenty-first Corps could not be beaten in a horse-race, and that +Wagner's long-legged white was the most wonderful pacer he ever saw. +Negley seemed possessed with the idea that every body was trying to +escape, and that it was necessary for him to seize them by the arm and +haul them back to the table; he seemed also to be laboring under the +delusion that his guests would not drink unless he kept his eye on them, +and forced them to do so. Lieutenant-Colonel Ducat, an Irishman of the +Charles O'Malley school, insisted upon introducing me to the ladies, but +fortunately I was sober enough to decline the invitation. Harker, late +in the evening, thought he discovered a disposition on the part of +others to play off on him; he felt in duty bound to empty a full +tumbler, while they shirked by taking only half of one, which he +affirmed was unfair and inexcusable. General Thomas, after sitting at +his wine an hour, conversing the while with a lady, arose from the table +evidently very much refreshed, and proceeded to make himself exceedingly +agreeable. I never knew the old gentleman to be so affable, cordial, and +complimentary before. + +4. The guns have been reverberating in our front all day. I am told that +Sheridan's division advanced on the Shelbyville road. It is probable +that a part, if not the whole, of the firing is in his front. + +5. Read the Autobiography of Peter Cartright. It is written in the +language of the frontier, and presents a rough, strong, uneducated man, +full of vanity, courage, and religious zeal. He never reached the full +measure of dignity requisite to a minister of the Gospel. There are many +amusing incidents in the volume, and many tales of adventures with +sinners, in the cabin, on the road, and at camp meeting, in all of which +Cartright gets the better of the sons of Belial, and triumphs in the +Lord. + +8. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, Colonel Moore, reported to me +for duty, so that I have now four regiments and a battery. This Colonel +Moore is the same who was in command at Hartsville, and whose regiment +and brigade were captured by the ubiquitous John Morgan last winter. He +has but recently returned from the South, where, for a time, he was +confined in Libby prison. + +The rebels are still prowling about our lines, but making no great +demonstrations of power. + +9. Governor (?) Billy Williams;, of Indiana, dined with me to-day; he +resides in Warsaw, is a politician, a fair speaker, and an inveterate +story teller. + +Wilson has been appointed Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of +captain. + +13. Had brigade drill in a large clover field, just outside the picket +line. The men were in fine condition, well dressed, and well equipped. I +kept them on the jump for two hours. Generals Thomas and Negley were +present, and were well pleased. I doubt if any brigade in the army, can +execute a greater variety of movements than mine, or go through them in +better style. My voice is excellent, I can make myself heard distinctly +by a whole brigade, without becoming hoarse by hours of exertion. +Starkweather has the best voice in the army; he can be heard a mile +away. + +Our division and brigade flags have been changed from light to dark +blue. They look almost like a black no-quarter flag. + +We have one solitary rooster: he crows early in the morning, all day, +and through the night if it be moonlight. He mounted a stump near my +door this morning, stood between the tent and the sun, so that his +shadow fell on the canvas, and crowed for half an hour at the top of his +voice. I think the scamp knew I was lying abed longer than usual, and +was determined to make me get up. He is on the most intimate terms with +the soldiers, and struts about the camp with an air of as much +importance as if he wore shoulder-straps, and had been reared at West +Point. He enters the boys' tents, and inspects their quarters with all +the freedom and independence of a regularly detailed inspecting officer. +He is a fine type of the soldier, proud and vain, with a tremendous +opinion of his own fighting qualities. + +16. Had a grand corps drill. The line of troops, when stretched out, was +over a mile in length. The Corps was like a clumsy giant, and hours were +required to execute the simplest movement. When, for instance, we +changed front, my brigade marched nearly, if not quite, a mile to take +position in the new line. The waving of banners, the flashing of sabers +and bayonets, the clattering to and fro of muddle-headed aids-de-camp on +impatient steeds, the heavy rumble of artillery wagons, the blue coats +of the soldiers, the golden trappings of the field and staff, made a +grand scene for the disinterested spectator to look upon; but with the +thermometer ranging from eighty-five to one hundred, it was hard work +for the soldier who bore knapsack, haversack, and gun, and calculated to +produce an unusual amount of perspiration, and not a little profanity. +Major-General Thomas guided the immense mass of men, while the +operations of the divisions were superintended by their respective +commanders. I fear the brigade and regimental commanders profited little +by the drill, but I hope the major-generals learned something. The +latter, in their devotion to strategy, have evidently neglected tactics, +and failed to unravel the mysteries of the school of the battalion. + +In the morning, with my division commander, I called on General Thomas, +at his quarters, and had the honor to accept from his hands the most +abominable cigar it has ever been my misfortune to attempt to smoke. + +19. The army has been lying here now nearly six months. It has of late +been kept pretty busy. Sunday morning inspections, monthly inspections +of troops, frequent inspections of arms and ammunition, innumerable +drills, and constant picketing. + +Colonel Miller assumes command of a brigade in Johnson's division. Since +the troops were at Nashville he has been commanding what was known as +the Second Brigade of Negley's division; but the colonels of the brigade +objected to having an imported colonel placed over them, and so Miller +takes command of the brigade to which his regiment is attached. He is a +brave man and a good officer. Colonel Harker's brigade has been relieved +from duty at the fortifications, and is now encamped near us, on the +Liberty road. + +21. Mrs. Colonel Scribner and Mrs. Colonel Griffin stopped at my +tent-door for a moment this morning. They were on horseback, and each +had a child on the saddle. They were giving Mrs. Scribner's children a +little ride. + +Attended divine service in the camp of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, and +afterward called for a few minutes on Colonel Moore, of the One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois. On returning to my quarters I found Colonels Hobart +and Taylor awaiting me. They were about to visit Colonel T. P. Nicholas, +of the Second Kentucky Cavalry, and desired me to accompany them. We +dined with Colonel Nicholas, and, as is the custom, observed the +apostolic injunction of taking something for the stomach's sake. Toward +evening we visited the field hospital, and paid our respects to Surgeon +Finley and lady. Here, much against our wills, we were compelled to +empty a bottle of sherry. On the way to our own quarters Colonel Taylor +insisted upon our calling with him to see a friend, with whom we were +obliged to take a glass of ale. So that it was about dark when we three +sober gentlemen drew near to our respective quarters. We had become +immensely eloquent on the conduct of the war, and with great unanimity +concluded that if Grant were to take Vicksburg he would be entitled to +our profoundest admiration and respect. Hobart, as usual, spoke of his +State as if it were a separate and independent nation, whose sons, in +imitation of LaFayette, Kosciusko and DeKalb, were devoting their best +blood to the maintenance of free government in a foreign land; while +Taylor, incited thereto by this eulogy on Wisconsin, took up the cudgel +for Kentucky, and dwelt enthusiastically on the gallantry of her men and +the unrivaled beauty of her women. + +When I dismounted and turned my horse over to the servant, I caught a +glimpse of the signal lights on the dome of the court-house, and was +astonished to find just double the usual number, in the act of +performing a Dutch waltz. I concluded that the Signal Corps must be +drunk. Saddened by the reflection that those occupying high places, +whose duty it was to let their light shine before men, should be found +in this condition of hopeless inebriety, I heaved a sigh which might +have been mistaken by the uncharitable for a hic-cough, and lay down to +rest. + +23. My colt had a sore eye a day or two ago, but it is now getting well. +The boys pet him, and by pinching him have taught him to bite. I fear +they will spoil him. I have not ridden him much of late. He has a way of +walking on his hind legs, for which the saddles in use are not +calculated, and there is, consequently, a constant tendency, on the part +of the rider, to slip over his tail. + +Captain Wells sent a colored teamster, who had just come in, tired and +hungry, to his quarters for dinner. Simon Bolivar Buckner, who now has +charge of the commissary and culinary branch of the Captain's +establishment, was in the act of dining when the teamster entered the +tent and seated himself at the table. Buckner, astonished at this +unceremonious intrusion, exclaimed: "What you doin' har, sah?" "De Capin +tole me fer to come and get my dinnah." "Hell," shouted Buckner, "does +de Capin 'spose I'm guiane to eat wid a d--n common nigger? Git out'er +har, till I'm done got through." + +Buckner gets married every time we move camp. On last Sunday Captain +Wells found him dressed very elaborately, in white vest and clean linen, +and said to him: "What's in the wind, Buckner?" "Gwine to be married dis +ebening, sah." "What time?" "Five o'clock, sah." "Can't spare you, +Buckner. Expect friends here to dine at six, and want a good dinner +gotten up." "Berry well, sah; can pos'pone de wedin', sah. Dis'pintment +to lady, sah; but it'll be all right." + +24. The note of preparation for a general advance sounded late last +night. Reynolds moved at 4 A. M.; Rousseau at 7; our division will leave +at 10. A long line of cavalry is at this moment going out on the +Manchester pike. + + * * * * * + +Rain commenced falling soon after we left Murfreesboro, and continued +the remainder of the day. The roads were sloppy, and marching +disagreeable. Encamped at Big creek for the night; Rousseau and Reynolds +in advance. + +Before leaving Murfreesboro I handed John what I supposed to be a +package of tea, and told him to fill my canteen with cold tea. On the +road I took two or three drinks, and thought it tasted strongly of +tobacco; but I accounted for it on the supposition that I had been +smoking too much, and that the tobacco taste was in my mouth, and not in +the tea. After getting into camp I drank of it again, when it occurred +to me that John had neglected to cleanse the canteen before putting the +tea in, and go I began to scold him. "I did clean it, sah," retorted +John. "Well, this tea," I replied, "tastes very much like tobacco +juice." "It is terbacker juice, sah." "Why, how is that?" "You gib me +paper terbacker, an' tole me hab some tea made, sah, and I done jes as +you tole me, sah." "Why you are a fool, John; did you suppose I wanted +you to make me tea out of tobacco?" "Don know, sah; dat's what you tole +me, sah; done jes as you tole me, sah." + +25. Marched to Hoover's Gap. Heavy skirmishing in front during the day. +Reynolds lost fifteen killed, and quite a number wounded. A stubborn +fight was expected, and our division moved up to take part in it; but +the enemy fell back. Rain has been falling most of the day. A pain in my +side admonishes me that I should have worn heavier boots. + +26. Moved to Beech Grove. Cannonading in front during the whole day; but +we have now become so accustomed to the noise of the guns that it hardly +excites remark. The sky is still cloudy, and I fear we shall have more +rain to-night. The boys are busy gathering leaves and twigs to keep them +from the damp ground. General Negley's quarters are a few rods to my +left, and General Thomas' just below us, at the bottom of the hill. +Reynolds is four miles in advance. + +27. We left Beech Grove, or Jacob's Store, this morning, at five +o'clock, and conducted the wagon train of our division through to +Manchester. Rosecrans and Reynolds are here. The latter took possession +of the place two or three hours before my brigade reached it, and the +former came up three hours after we had gone into camp. We are now +twelve miles from Tullahoma. The guns are thundering off in the +direction of Wartrace. Hardee's corps was driven from Fairfield this +morning. My baggage has not come, and I am compelled to sleep on the +wet ground in a still wetter overcoat. + +28. My baggage arrived during the night, and this morning I changed my +clothes and expected to spend the Sabbath quietly; but about 10 A. M. I +was ordered to proceed to Hillsboro, a place eight miles from +Manchester, on the old stage road to Chattanooga. When we were moving +out I met Durbin Ward, who asked me where I was going. I told him. +"Why," said he, "I thought, from the rose in your button-hole, that you +were going to a wedding." "No," I replied; "but I hope we are going to +nothing more serious." + +29. My position is one of great danger, being so far from support and so +near the enemy. Last night my pickets on the Tullahoma road were driven +in, after a sharp fight, and my command was put in line of battle, and +so remained for an hour or more; but we were not again disturbed. No +fires were built, and the darkness was impenetrable. + +At noon I received orders to proceed to Bobo's Cross-roads, and reach +that point before nightfall. There were two ways of going there: the one +via Manchester was comparatively safe, although considerably out of the +direct line; the other was direct, but somewhat unsafe, because it would +take me near the enemy's front. The distance by this shorter route was +eleven miles. I chose the latter. It led through a sparsely settled, +open oak country. Two regiments of Wheeler's cavalry had been hovering +about Hillsboro during the day, evidently watching our movements. After +proceeding about three miles, a dash was made upon my skirmish line, +which resulted in the killing of a lieutenant, the capture of one man, +and the wounding of several others. I instantly formed line of battle, +and pushed forward as rapidly as the nature of the ground would admit; +but the enemy fell back. + +About five o'clock, as we drew near Bobo's, two cannon shots and quite a +brisk fire of musketry advised us that the rebels were either still in +possession of the Cross-roads or our friends were mistaking us for the +enemy. I formed line of battle, and ordered the few cavalrymen who +accompanied me to make a detour to the right and rear, and ascertain, if +possible, who were in our front. The videttes soon after reported the +enemy advancing, with a squadron of cavalry in the lead, and I put my +artillery in position to give them a raking fire when they should reach +a bend of the road. At this moment when life and death seemed to hang in +the balance, and when we supposed we were in the presence of a very +considerable, if not an overwhelming, force of the enemy, a half-grown +hog emerged from the woods, and ran across the road. Fifty men sprang +from the ranks and gave it chase, and before order was fully restored, +and the line readjusted, my cavalry returned with the information that +the troops in front were our own. + +The incidents of the last six days would fill a volume; but I have been +on horseback so much, and otherwise so thoroughly engaged, that I have +been, and am now, too weary to note them down, even if I had the +conveniences at hand for so doing. + + + + +JULY, 1863. + + +1. My brigade, with a battalion of cavalry attached, started from Bobo's +Cross-roads in the direction of Winchester. When one mile out we picked +up three deserters, who reported that the rebels had evacuated +Tullahoma, and were in full retreat. Half a mile further along I +overtook the enemy's rear guard, when a sharp fight occurred between the +cavalry, resulting, I think, in very little injury to either party. The +enemy fell back a mile or more, when he opened on us with artillery, and +a sharp artillery fight took place, which lasted for perhaps thirty +minutes. Several men on both sides were killed and wounded. The enemy +finally retired, and taking a second position awaited our arrival, and +opened on us again. I pushed forward in the thick woods, and drove him +from point to point for seven miles. Negley followed with the other +brigades of the division, ready to support me in case the enemy proved +too strong, but I did not need assistance. The force opposed to us +simply desired to retard pursuit; and whenever we pushed against it +vigorously fell back. + +2. This morning we discover that we bivouacked during the night within +half a mile of a large force of rebel cavalry and infantry. After +proceeding a little way, we found the enemy in position on the bluffs on +the opposite side of Elk river, with his artillery planted so as to +sweep the road leading to the bridge. Halting my infantry and cavalry +under the cover of the hill, I sent to the rear for an additional +battery, and, before the enemy seemed to be aware of what we were doing, +I got ten guns in position on the crest of the hill and commenced +firing. The enemy's cavalry and infantry, which up to this time had +lined the opposite hills, began to scatter in great confusion; but we +did not have it all our own way by any means. The rebels replied with +shot and shell very vigorously, and for half an hour the fight was very +interesting; at the end of that time, however, their batteries limbered +up and left on the double quick. In the meantime, I had sent a +detachment of infantry to occupy a stockade which the enemy had +constructed near the bridge, and from this position good work was done +by driving off his sharpshooters. We found the bridge partially burned, +and the river too much swollen for either the men or trains to ford it. +Rousseau and Brannan, I understand, succeeded in crossing at an upper +ford, and are in hot pursuit. + +3. Repaired the bridge, and crossed the river this morning; and are now +bivouacking on the ground over which the cavalry fought yesterday +afternoon--quite a number of the dead were discovered in the woods and +fields. We picked up, at Elk river, an order of Brigadier-General +Wharton, commanding the troops which have been serving as the rear +guard of the enemy's column. It reads as follows: + + "COLONEL HAMAR: Retire the artillery when you + think best. Hold the position as long as you can + with your sharpshooters; when forced back, write + to Crew to that effect. Anderson is on your right. + Report all movements to me on this road. + + "JNO. A. WHARTON, Brigadier-General. + "July 2d, 1863." + +I have been almost constantly in the saddle, and have hardly slept a +quiet three hours since we started on this expedition. My brigade has +picked up probably a hundred prisoners. + +4. At twelve o'clock, noon, my brigade was ordered to take the advance, +and make the top of the Cumberland before nightfall; proceeding four +miles, we reached the base of the mountain, and began the ascent. The +road was exceedingly rough, and the rebels had made it impassable, for +artillery, by rolling great rocks into it and felling trees across it. +The axmen were ordered up, and while they were clearing away the +obstructions I rode ahead with the cavalry to the summit, and some four +miles on the ridge beyond. In the meantime, General Negley ordered the +artillery and infantry to return to the foot of the mountain, where we +are now encamped. + +5. Since we left Murfreesboro (June 24) rain has been falling almost +constantly; to-day it has been coming down in torrents, and the low +grounds around us are overflowed. + +Rousseau's division is encamped near us on the left, Reynolds in the +rear. + +The other day, while sitting on the fence by the roadside smoking my +pipe, waiting for my troops to get in readiness to march, some one cried +out, "Here is a philosopher," and General Reynolds rode up and shook my +hand very cordially. + +My brigade has been so fortunate, thus far, as to win the confidence of +the commanding generals. It has, during the last week, served as a sort +of a cow-catcher for Negley's division. At Elk river General Thomas rode +up, while I was making my dispositions to attack the enemy, and approved +what I had done and was doing. + +We hear that the Army of the East has won a decisive victory in +Pennsylvania. This is grand! It will show the rebels that it will not do +to put their feet on free soil. Now if Grant succeeds in taking +Vicksburg, and Rosecrans drives Bragg beyond the Tennessee, the country +will have reason to rejoice with exceeding great joy. + +6. An old lady, whose home is on the side of the mountain, called on me +to-day and said she had not had a cup of coffee since the war commenced. +She was evidently very poor; and, although we had no coffee to spare, I +gave her enough to remind her again of the taste. + +Our soldiers have been making a clean sweep of the hogs, sheep, and +poultry on the route. For the rich rebels I have no sympathy, but the +poor we must pity. The war cuts off from them entirely the food which, +in the best of times, they acquire with great labor and difficulty. The +forage for the army horses and mules, and we have an immense number, +consists almost wholly of wheat in the sheaf--wheat that has been +selling for ten dollars per bushel in Confederate money. I have seen +hundreds of acres of wheat in the sheaf disappear in an hour. Rails have +been burned without stint, and numberless fields of growing corn left +unprotected. However much suffering this destruction of property may +entail on the people of this section, I am inclined to think the effect +will be good. It will bring them to a realizing sense of the loss +sustained when they threw aside the protecting shield of the old +Constitution, and the security which they enjoyed in the Union. + +The season's crop of wheat, corn, oats, and hogs would have been of the +utmost value to the Confederate army; when destroyed, there will be +nothing in middle Tennessee to tempt it back. + +7. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Tennesseeans have deserted from the +Southern army and are now wandering about in the mountains, endeavoring +to get to their homes. They are mostly conscripted men. My command has +gathered up hundreds, and the mountains and coves in this vicinity are +said to be full of them. + +It rains incessantly. We moved to Decherd and encamped on a ridge, but +are now knee-deep in mud and surrounded by water. + +This morning a hundred guns echoed among the mountain gorges over the +glad intelligence from the East and South: Meade has won a famous +victory, and Grant has taken Vicksburg. + +Stragglers and deserters from Bragg's army continue to come in. It is +doubtless unfortunate for the country that rain and bad roads prevented +our following up Bragg closely and forcing him to fight in the present +demoralized condition of his army. We would have been certain of a +decisive victory. + +9. Dined with General Negley. Colonels Stoughton and Surwell, brigade +commanders, were present. The dinner was excellent; soups, punch, wine, +blackberries were on the table; and, to men who for a fortnight had been +feeding on hard crackers and salt pork, seemed delicious. The General +got his face poisoned while riding through the woods on the 2d instant, +and he now looks like an old bruiser. + +McCook, whose corps lies near Winchester, called while we were at +Negley's; he looks, if possible, more like a blockhead than ever, and it +is astonishing to me that he should be permitted to retain command of a +corps for a single hour. He brought us cheering information, however. +The intelligence received from the East and South a few days ago has +been confirmed, and the success of our armies even greater than first +reports led us to believe. + +10. We have a cow at brigade head-quarters. Blackberries are very +abundant. The sky has cleared, but the Cumberland mountains are this +morning covered by a thin veil of mist. Supply trains arrived last +night. + +11. We hear nothing of the rebel army. Rosecrans, doubtless, knows its +whereabouts, but his subordinates do not. A few of the enemy may be +lingering in the vicinity of Stevenson and Bridgeport, but the main body +is, doubtless, beyond the Tennessee. The rebel sympathizers here +acknowledge that Bragg has been outgeneraled. Our cavalry started on the +9th instant for Huntsville, Athens, and Decatur, and I have no doubt +these places were re-occupied without opposition. + +The rebel cavalry is said to be utterly worn out, and for this reason +has performed a very insignificant part in recent operations. + +The fall of Vicksburg, defeat of Lee, and retreat of Bragg, will, +doubtless, render the adoption of an entirely new plan necessary. How +long it will take to perfect this, and get ready for a concerted +movement, I have no idea. + +12. Our soldiers, I am told, have been entering the houses of private +citizens, taking whatever they saw fit, and committing many outrages. I +trust, however, they have not been doing so badly as the people would +have us believe. The latter are all disposed to grumble; and if a hungry +soldier squints wistfully at a chicken, some one is ready to complain +that the fowls are in danger, and that they are the property of a lone +woman, a widow, with nothing under the sun to eat but chickens. In nine +cases out of ten the husbands of these lone women are in the Confederate +army; but still they are women, and should be treated well. + +14. The brigade baker has come up, and will have his oven in operation +this afternoon; so we shall have fresh bread again. + +General Rosecrans will allow no ladies to come to the front. This would +seem to be conclusive that no gentlemen will be permitted to go to the +rear. + +16. We have blackberries and milk for breakfast, dinner, and supper. +To-night we had hot gingerbread also. I have eaten too much, and feel +uncomfortable. + +Meade's victory has been growing small by degrees and beautifully less; +but the success of Grant has improved sufficiently on first reports to +make it all up. Our success in this department, although attended with +little loss of life, has been very gratifying. We have extended our +lines over the most productive region of Tennessee, and have possession +also of all North Alabama, a rich tract of country, the loss of which +must be sorely felt by the rebels. + +18. To-night I received a bundle of Northern papers, and among others +the Union (?) Register. While reading it I felt almost glad that I was +not at home, for certainly I should be very uncomfortable if compelled +to listen every day to such treasonable attacks upon the Administration, +sugar-coated though they be with hypocritical professions of devotion to +the Union, the Constitution, and the soldier. How supremely wicked these +men are, who, for their own personal advantage, or for party success, +use every possible means to bring the Administration into disrespect, +and withhold from it what, at this time, it so greatly needs, the hearty +support and co-operation of the people. The simple fact that abuse of +the party in power encourages the rebels, not only by evincing +disaffection and division in the North, but by leading them to believe, +also, that their conduct is justifiable, should, of itself, be +sufficient to deter honest and patriotic men from using such language as +may be found in the opposition press. The blood of many thousand +soldiers will rest upon the peace party, and certainly the blood of many +misguided people at the North must be charged to the same account. The +draft riots of New York and elsewhere these croakers and libelers are +alone responsible for. After the war has ended there will be abundant +time to discuss the manner in which it has been conducted. Certainly +quarreling over it now can only tend to the defeat and disgrace of our +arms. + +We hardly hear of politics in the army, and I certainly did not dream +before that there was so much bitterness of feeling among the people in +the North. Republicans, Democrats, and every body else think nearly +alike here. I know of none who sympathize with the so-called peace +party. It is universally damned, for there is no soldier so ignorant +that he does not know and feel that this party is prolonging the war by +stimulating his enemies. A child can see this. The rebel papers, which +every soldier occasionally obtains, prove it beyond a peradventure. + +20. Mrs. General Negley, it appears, has been allowed to visit her +husband. Mrs. General McCook is said to be coming. + +Received a public document, in which I find all the reports of the +battle of Stone river, and, I am sorry to say, my report is the poorest +and most unsatisfactory of the whole lot. The printer, as if for the +purpose of aggravating me beyond endurance, has, by an error of +punctuation, transformed what I considered a very considerable and +creditable action, into an inconsiderable skirmish. The report should +read: + + "On the second and third days my brigade was in + front, a portion of the time skirmishing. On the + night of January 3d, two regiments, led by myself, + drove the enemy from their breastworks in the edge + of the woods." + +This appears in the volume as follows: + + "On the second and third days my brigade was in + front a portion of the time. Skirmishing on the + night of January 3d, two regiments, led my myself, + drove the enemy from the breastworks in the edge + of the woods." + +Thus, by taking the last word of one sentence and making it the first +word of another, the intelligent compositor belittles a night fight for +which I thought my command deserved no inconsiderable credit. I regret +now that I did not take the time to make an elaborate report of the +operations of my brigade, describing all the terrible situations in +which it had been placed, and dwelling with special emphasis on the +courage and splendid fighting of the men. In contrast with my stupidly +modest report, is that of Brigadier-General Spears. He does not hesitate +to claim for his troops all the credit of the night engagement referred +to; and yet while my men stormed the barricade of logs, and cleaned out +the woods, his were lying on their faces fully two hundred yards in the +rear, and I should never have known that they were even that near the +enemy if his raw soldiers had not fired an occasional shot into us from +behind. If General Spears was with his men, he must have known that his +report of their action on that occasion was utterly untruthful. If, +however, as I apprehend, he was behind the rifle pits, six hundred yards +in the rear, he might, like thousands of others, who were distant +spectators of the scene, have honestly conceived that his troops were +doing the fighting. General Rousseau's report contradicts his +statements, and in a meager way accords the credit to my regiments. + +Officers are more selfish, dishonest, and grasping in their struggle for +notoriety than the miser for gold. They lay claim to every thing within +reach, whether it belongs to them or not. I know absolutely that many of +the reports in the volume before me are base exaggerations--romances, +founded upon the smallest conceivable amount of fact. They are simply +elaborate essays, which seek to show that the author was a little +braver, a little more skillful in the management of his men, and a +little worthier than anybody else. I know of one officer who has great +credit, in official reports and in the newspapers, for a battle in which +he did not participate at all. In fact, he did not reach the field until +after the enemy had not only been repulsed, but retired out of sight; +and yet he has not the manliness to correct the error, and give the +honor to whom it is due. + +21. The day has been a pleasant one. The night is delightful. The new +moon favors us with just sufficient light to reveal fully the great +oaks, the white tents, and the shadowy outline of the Cumberland +mountains. The pious few of the Eighty-eighth Indiana, assembled in a +booth constructed of branches, are breathing out their devotional +inspirations and aspirations, in an old hymn which carries us back to +the churches and homes of the civilized world, or, as the boys term it, +"God's country." + +Katydids from a hundred trees are vigorous and relentless in their +accusations against poor Katy. That was a pleasant conceit of Holmes, +"What did poor Katy do?" I never appreciated it fully until I came into +the country of the katydids. + +Two trains, laden with forage, commissary, and quartermaster stores, are +puffing away at the depot. + +General Rosecrans will move to Winchester, two miles from us, to-morrow. + +No one ever more desired to look again on his wife and babies than I; +but, alack and alas! I am bound with a chain which seems to tighten more +and more each day, and draw me further and further from where I desire +to be. But I trust the time will soon come when I shall be free again. + +Morgan's command has come to grief in Ohio. I trust he may be captured +himself. The papers say Basil Duke is a prisoner. If so, the spirit of +the great raider is in our hands, and it matters but little, perhaps, +what becomes of the carcass. + +A soldier of the Forty-second Indiana, who ran away from the battle of +Stone river, had his head shaved and was drummed out of camp to-day. +David Walker, Paul Long, and Charley Hiskett, of the Third Ohio, go with +him to Nashville, where he is to be confined in military prison until +the end of the war. + +Shaving the head and drumming out of camp is a fearful punishment. I +could not help pitying the poor fellow, as with carpet-sack in one hand +and hat in the other he marched crest-fallen through the camps, to the +music of the "Rogue's March." Death and oblivion would have been less +severe and infinitely more desirable. + +25. General Rosecrans, although generally supposed to be here, has been, +it is said, absent for some days. It is intimated that he has gone to +Washington. If it be true, he has flanked the newspaper men by a +wonderful burst of strategy. He must have gone through disguised as an +old woman--a very ugly old woman with a tremendous nose--otherwise these +newspaper pickets would have arrested and put him in the papers +forthwith. They are more vigilant than the rebels, and terribly intent +upon finding somebody to talk about, to laud to the skies, or abuse in +the most fearful manner, for they seldom do things by halves, unless it +be telling the truth. They have a marvelous distaste for facts, and use +no more of them than are absolutely necessary to string their guesses +and imaginings upon. + +My colt has just whinnied. He is gay as a lark, and puts Davy, the +hostler, through many evolutions unknown to the cavalry service. The +other day Davy had him out for exercise, and when he came rearing and +charging back, I said: "How does he behave to-day, Davy?" "Mighty +rambunctious, sah; he's gettin' bad, sah." + +Major James Connelly, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois, called. His +regiment is mounted and in Wilder's brigade. It participated in the +engagement at Hoover's Gap. When my brigade was at Hillsboro, Connelly's +regiment accompanied Wilder to this place (Decherd). The veracious +correspondent reported that Wilder, on that expedition, had destroyed +the bridge here and done great injury to the railroad, permanently +interrupting communication between Bridgeport and Tullahoma; but, in +fact, the bridge was not destroyed, and trains on the railroad were only +delayed two hours. The expedition succeeded, however, in picking up a +few stragglers and horses. + +26. General Stanley has returned from Huntsville, bringing with him +about one thousand North Alabama negroes. This is a blow at the enemy in +the right place. Deprived of slave labor, the whites will be compelled +to send home, or leave at home, white men enough to cultivate the land +and keep their families from starving. + +27. Adjutant Wilson visited Rousseau's division at Cowan, and reports +the return of Starkweather from Wisconsin, with the stars. This +gentleman has been mourning over the ingratitude of Republics ever since +the battle of Perryville; but henceforth he will, doubtless, feel +better. + +A court-martial has been called for the trial of Colonel A. B. Moore, +One Hundred and Fourth Illinois. Some ill-feeling in his regiment has +led one of his officers to prefer charges against him. + +28. General Thomas is an officer of the regular army; the field is his +home; the tent his house, and war his business. He regards rather +coolly, therefore, the applications of volunteer officers for leaves of +absence. Why should they not be as contented as himself? He does not +seem to consider that they suddenly dropped business, every thing, in +fact, to hasten to the field. But, then, on second thought, I incline to +the opinion that the old man is right. Half the army would be at home if +leaves and furloughs could be had for the asking. + +29. Lieutenant Orr received notice yesterday of his appointment as +captain in the subsistence department, and last night opened a barrel of +beer and stood treat. I did not join the party until about ten o'clock, +and then Captain Hewitt, of the battery, the story-teller of the +brigade, was in full blast, and the applause was uproarious. He was +telling of a militia captain of Fentress county, Tennessee, who called +out his company upon the supposition that we were again at war with +Great Britain; that Washington had been captured by the invaders, and +the arch-iv-es destroyed. A bystander questioned the correctness of the +Captain's information, when he became very angry, and, producing a +newspaper, said: "D--n you, sir, do you think _I_ can't read, sir?" The +man thus interrogated looked over the paper, saw that it announced the +occupation of Washington by the British, but called the attention of the +excited militiaman to the fact that the date was 1812. "So it is," said +the old captain; "I did not notice the date. But, d--n me, sir, the +paper just come. Go on with the drill, boys." This story was told to +illustrate the fact that the people of many counties in Tennessee were +behind the times. + +It would take too much time to refer, even briefly, to all the stories +related, and I will allude simply to a LONDON GHOST STORY, which Captain +Halpin, an Irishman, of the Fifteenth Kentucky, undertook to tell. The +gallant Captain was in the last stages of inebriety, and laid the scene +of his London ghost story in Ireland. Steadying himself in his seat with +both hands, and with a tongue rather too thick to articulate clearly, he +introduced us to his ancestors for twenty generations back. It was a +famous old Irish family, and among the collateral branches were the +O'Tooles, O'Rourkes, and O'Flahertys. They had in them the blood of the +Irish kings, and accomplished marvelous feats in the wars of those +times. And so we staggered with the Captain from Dublin to Belfast, and +thence made sorties into all the provinces on chase of the London ghost, +until finally our leader wound up with a yawn and went to sleep. The +party, disappointed at this sudden and unsatisfactory termination of the +London ghost story, took a mug of beer all around, and then one +gentleman, drunker probably than the others, or possibly unwilling, +after all the time spent, to allow the ghost to escape, punched the +Captain in the ribs and shouted: "Captain--Captain Halpin, you said it +was a London ghost story; maybe you'll find the ghost in London, for +I'll be d--d if it's in Ireland!" The Captain was too far gone to profit +by the suggestion. + +30. This evening General Rosecrans, on his way to Winchester, stopped +for a few minutes at the station. He shook hands with me, and asked how +I liked the water at the foot of the mountains, and about the health of +my troops. I told him the water was good, and that the boys were +encamped on high ground and healthy. "Yes," he replied, "and we'll take +higher ground in a few days." + +On the march to Tullahoma I had my brigade stretched along a ridge to +guard against an attack from the direction of Wartrace. General +Rosecrans passed through my lines, and was making some inquiries, when I +stepped out: "Hello," said he, "here is the young General himself. +You've got a good ridge. Who lives in that house? Find a place for +Negley on your right or left. Send me a map of this ridge. How do ye +do?" + +31. Met General Turchin for the first time since he was before our +court-martial at Huntsville. He appeared to be considerably cast down in +spirit. He had just been relieved from his cavalry command, and was on +his way to General Reynolds to take command of a brigade of infantry. +General Crook, hitherto in command of a brigade, succeeds Turchin as +commander of a division. In short, Crook and Turchin just exchange +places. The former is a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and +is an Ohio man, who has not, I think, greatly distinguished himself thus +far. He has been in Western Virginia most of the time, and came to +Murfreesboro after the battle of Stone river. + +General R. B. Mitchell is, with his command, in camp a little over a +mile from us. He is in good spirits, and dwells with emphasis on the +length and arduousness of the marches made by his troops since he left +Murfreesboro. The labor devolving upon him as the commander of a +division of cavalry is tremendous; and yet I was rejoiced to find his +physical system had stood the strain well. The wear and tear upon his +intellect, however, must have been very great. + + + + +AUGUST, 1863. + + +2. Rode with Colonel Taylor to Cowan; dined with Colonel Hobart, and +spent the day very agreeably. Returning we called on Colonel Scribner, +remained an hour, and reached Decherd after nightfall. My request for +leave of absence was lying on the table approved and recommended by +Negley and Thomas, but indorsed not granted by Rosecrans. + +General Rousseau has left, and probably will not return. The best of +feeling has not existed between him and the commanding general for some +time past. Rousseau has had a good division, but probably thought he +should have a corps. This, however, is not the cause of the breach. It +has grown out of small matters--things too trifling to talk over, think +of, or explain, and yet important enough to create a coldness, if not an +open rupture. Rosecrans is marvelously popular with the men. + +3. The papers state that General R. B. Mitchell has gone home on sick +leave. Poor fellow! he must have been taken suddenly, for when I saw +him, a day or two ago, he was the picture of health. It is wonderful to +me how a fellow as fat as Bob can come the sick dodge so successfully. +He can get sick at a moment's notice. + +4. Called on General Thomas; then rode over to Winchester. Saw Garfield +at department head-quarters. He said he regretted very much being +compelled to refuse my application for a leave. Told him I expected to +command this department soon, and when I got him and a few others, +including Rosecrans and Thomas, under my thumb, they would obtain no +favors. I should insist not only upon their remaining in camp, but upon +their wives remaining out. + +In company with Colonel Mihalotzy I called on Colonel Burke, Tenth Ohio, +and drank a couple of bottles of wine with him and his spiritual +adviser, Father O'Higgin. Had a very agreeable time. The Colonel pressed +us to remain for dinner; but we pleaded an engagement, and afterward +obtained a very poor meal at the hotel for one dollar each. + +The Board for the examination of applicants for commissions in colored +regiments, of which I have the honor to be Chairman, met, organized, and +adjourned to convene at nine o'clock to-morrow. Colonel Parkhurst, Ninth +Michigan, and Colonel Stanley, Eighteenth Ohio, are members. + +I am anxious to go home; but it is not possible for me to get away. +Almost every officer in the army desires to go, and every conceivable +excuse and argument are urged. This man is sick; another's house has +burned, and he desires to provide for his family; another has lawsuits +coming off involving large sums, and his presence during the trial is +necessary to save him from great loss; still another has deeds to make +out, and an immense property interest to look after. + +6. This is the day appointed by the President for thanksgiving and +prayer. The shops in Winchester are closed. + +Colonel Parkhurst has obtained a leave, and will go home on Monday. + +7. Captain Wilson and Lieutenant Ellsworth arose rather late this +morning, and found a beer barrel protruding from the door of their tent, +properly set up on benches, with a flaming placard over it: + + "NEW GROCERY!! + WILSON & ELLSWORTH. + Fresh Beer, 3c. a Glass. + Give us a call." + +Later in the day a grand presentation ceremony took place. All the +members of the staff and hangers-on about head-quarters were gathered +under the oaks; Lieutenant Calkins, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, was +sent for, and, when he appeared, Lieutenant Ellsworth proceeded to read +to him the following letter: + + + "OTTOWA, ILLINOIS, _July_ 20, 1863. + + "LIEUTENANT W. W. CALKINS--_Sir_: Your old friends + of Ottowa, as a slight testimonial of their + respect for you, and admiration for those + chivalrous instincts which, when the banner of + beauty and glory was assailed by traitorous + legions, induced you to spring unhesitatingly to + its defense, have the honor to present you a + beautiful field-glass. Trusting that, by its + assistance, you will be able to see through your + enemies, and ultimately find your way to the arms + of your admiring fellow-citizens, we have the + honor to subscribe ourselves, + + "Your most obedient servants, + PETER BROWN, + JOHN SMITH, + THOMAS JONES, and others." + +The box containing the gift was carefully opened, and the necks and +upper parts of two whisky bottles, fastened together by a piece of wood, +taken out and delivered in due form to the Lieutenant. He seemed greatly +surprised, and for a few minutes addressed the donors in a very emphatic +and uncomplimentary way; but finding this only added to the merriment of +the party, he finally cooled down, and, lifting the field-glass to his +eyes, leveled it upon the staff, and remarked that they appeared to be +thirsty. This, of course, was hailed as undeniable evidence that the +glass was perfect, and Lieutenant Calkins was heartily congratulated on +his good luck, and on the proof which the testimonial afforded of the +high estimation in which he was held by the people of his native town. +Many of his brother officers, in their friendly ardor, shook him warmly +by the hand. + +8. Hewitt's battery has been transferred to the Corps of Engineers and +Mechanics, and Bridges' battery, six guns, assigned to me. I gain two +guns and many men by the exchange. + +Our Board grinds away eight or nine hours a day, and turns out about the +usual proportion of wheat and chaff. The time was when we thought it +would be impossible to obtain good officers for colored regiments. Now +we feel assured that they will have as good, if not better, officers +than the white regiments. From sergeants applying for commissions we are +able to select splendid men; strong, healthy, well informed, and of +considerable military experience. In fact, we occasionally find a +non-commissioned officer who is better qualified to command a regiment +than nine-tenths of the colonels. I certainly know colonels who could +not obtain a recommendation from this Board for a second lieutenancy. + +Saw General Garfield yesterday; he was in bed sick. I have no fears of +his immediate dissolution; in fact, I think he could avail himself of a +twenty-day leave. I know if I were no worse than he appears to be, I +would, with the permission of the general commanding, undertake to ride +the whole distance home on horseback, and swim the rivers. In a little +over a week I think my wife would see me, and the black horse, followed +by the pepper-and-salt colt, charging up to the front door in such style +as would remind her of the days of chivalry and the knights of the olden +time. I should cry out in thunder tones, "Ho! within! Unbar the door!" +The colt would kick up his heels with joy at sight of the grass in the +yard, while the black would champ his bit with impatience to get into a +comfortable stall once more. Altogether the sight would be worth +seeing; but it will not be seen. + +The Board holds its sessions in the office of an honorable Mr. Turney, +who left on our approach for a more congenial clime, and left suddenly. +His letters and papers are lying around us in great confusion and +profusion. Among these we have discovered a document bearing the +signatures of Jeff. Davis, John Mason, Pierre Soule, and others, +pledging themselves to resist, by any and every means, the admission of +California, unless it came in with certain boundaries which they +prescribed. The document was gotten up in Washington, and Colonel +Parkhurst says it is the original contract. + +Dined with Colonel D. H. Gilmer, Thirty-eighth Illinois. Dinner +splendid; corn, cabbage, beans; peach, apple, and blackberry pie; with +buttermilk and sweetmilk. It was a grand dinner, served on a snow-white +table-cloth. Where the Colonel obtained all these delicacies I can not +imagine. He is an out-and-out Abolitionist, and possibly the negroes had +favored him somewhat. + +Colonel Gilmer is delighted to find the country coming around to his +ideas. He believes the Lord, who superintends the affairs of nations, +will give us peace in good time, and _that time_ will be when the +institution of slavery has been rooted up and destroyed. He is a +Kentuckian by birth, and says he has kinfolks every-where. He is the +only man he knows of who can find a cousin in every town he goes to. + +9. Dined with Colonel Taylor. Colonels Hobart, Nicholas, and Major +Craddock were present. After dinner we adjourned to my quarters, where +we spent the afternoon. Hobart dilated upon his adventures at New +Orleans and elsewhere, under Abou Ben Butler. He says Butler is a great +man, but a d--d scoundrel. I have heard Hobart say something like this +at least a thousand times, and am pleased to know that his testimony on +this point is always clear, decisive, and uncontradictory. + +My visitors are gone. The cars are bunting against each other at the +depot. The katydids are piping away on the old, old story. The trees +look like great shadows, and unlike the substantial oaks they really +are. The camps are dark and quiet. This is all I can say of the night +without. + +In a little booth made of cedar boughs is a table, on which sputters a +solitary tallow candle, in a stick not remarkable for polish. This light +illuminates the booth, and reveals to the observer--if there be one, +which is very unlikely, for those who usually observe have in all +probability retired--a wash basin, a newspaper, a penknife, which +originally had two blades, but at present has but one, and that one very +dull, a gentleman of say thirty, possibly thirty-five, two steel pens, +rusty with age, an inkstand, and one miller, which miller has repeatedly +dashed his head against the wick of the candle and discovered that the +operation led to unsatisfactory results. Wearied, disappointed, and +disheartened, the miller now sits quietly on the table, mourning, +doubtless, over the unpleasant lesson which experience has taught him. +His head is now wiser; but, alas! his wings are shorter than they were, +and of what use is his head without wings? He feels very like the man +who made a dash for fame, and fell wounded and bleeding on the field, or +the child who, for the first time, discovers that all is not gold that +glitters. The gentleman referred to--and I trust it may be no stretch of +the verities to call him a gentleman--leans over the table writing. He +has an abundant crop of dark hair on his head, under his chin, and on +his upper lip. He is not just now troubled with a superabundance of +flesh, or, in other words, no one would suspect him of being fat. On the +contrary, he might remind one of the lean kine, or the prodigal son who +had been feeding on husks. He is wide awake at this late hour of the +night, from which I conclude he has slept more or less during the day. +No one, to look at this gentleman, would take him to be a remarkable +man; in fact, his most intimate friends could not find it in their +hearts to bring such an accusation against him. His face is browned by +exposure, and his blue eyes look quite dark, or would do so if there +were sufficient light to see them. When he straightens up--and he +generally straightens when up at all--he is five feet eleven, or +thereabouts. His appetite is good, and his education is of that superior +kind which enables him, without apparent effort, to misspell +three-fourths of the words in the English language; in fact, at this +present moment he is holding an imaginary discussion with his wife, who +has written him that the underclothing for gentlemen's feet should be +spelled _s-o-c-k-s_, and not "s-o-x". He begs leave to differ with her, +which he would probably not dare to do were she not hundreds of miles +away; and he argues the matter in this way: S-o-x, o-x, f-o-x--the +termination sounds alike in all. Now how absurd it would be to insist +that ox should be spelled o-c-k-s, or fox f-o-c-k-s. The commonest kind +of sense teaches one that the old lady is in error, and "sox" clearly +correct. Much learning hath evidently made her mad. Having satisfied +himself about this matter, he takes a photograph from an inside pocket; +it is that of his wife. He makes another dive, and brings out one of his +children; then he lights a laurel-wood pipe, and, as the white smoke +curls about his head and vanishes, his thoughts skip off five hundred +miles or less, to a community of sensible, industrious, quiet folks, and +when he finally awakes from the reverie and looks about him upon the +beggarly surroundings--he does not swear, for he bethinks him in time +that swearing would do no good. + +10. Colonel Hobart, Twenty-first Wisconsin, and Colonel Hays, Tenth +Kentucky, have been added to the Board--the former at my request. + +11. To-day I dined with a Wisconsin friend of Colonel Hobart's; had a +good dinner, Scotch ale and champagne, and a very agreeable time. +Colonel Hegg, the dispenser of hospitalities, is a Norwegian by birth, a +Republican, a gentleman who has held important public positions in +Wisconsin, and who stands well with the people. In the course of the +table talk I learned something of the history of my friend Hobart. He +is an old wheel-horse of the Democratic party of his State; was a +candidate for governor a few years ago, and held joint debates with +Randall and Carl Schurz. He is the father of the Homestead Law, which +has been adopted by so many States, and was for many years the leader of +the House of Representatives of Wisconsin. All this I gathered from +Colonel Hegg, for Hobart seldom, if ever, talks about himself. I imagine +that even the most polished orator would obtain but little, if any, +advantage over Hobart in a discussion before the people. He has the +imagination, the information, and the oratorical fury in discussion +which are likely to captivate the masses. He was at one time opposed to +arming the negroes; but now that he is satisfied they will fight, he is +in favor of using them. + +To-night Colonels Hays and Hobart held quite an interesting debate on +the policy of arming colored men, and emancipating those belonging to +rebels. Hays, who, by the way, is an honest man and a gallant soldier, +presented the Kentucky view of the matter, and his arguments, evidently +very weak, were thoroughly demolished by Hobart. I think Colonel Hays +felt, as the controversy progressed, that his position was untenable, +and that his hostility to the President's proclamation sprang from the +prejudice in which he had been educated, rather than from reason and +justice. + +12. Old Tom, known in camp as the veracious nigger, because of a +"turkle" story which he tells, is just coming along as I wait a moment +for the breakfast bell. The "turkle," which Tom caught in some creek in +Alabama, had two hundred and fifty eggs in "him." "Yas, sah, two hunder +an' fifty." + +Tom has peculiar notions about certain matters, and they are not, by any +means, complimentary to the white man. He says: "It jus' 'pears to me +dat Adam was a black man, sah, an' de Lord he scar him till he got +white, cos he was a sinner, sah." + +"Tom, you scoundrel, how dare you slander the white man in that way?" + +"'Pears to me dat way; hab to tell de truf, sah; dat's my min'. Men was +'riginally black; but de Lord he scare Adam till he got white; dat's de +reasonable supposition, sah. Do a man's har git black when he scared, +sah? No, sah, it gits white. Did you ebber know a man ter get black when +he's scard, sah? No, sah, he gits white." + +"That does seem to be a knock-down argument, Tom." + +"Yas, sah, I've argied with mor'n a hunder white men, sah, an' they +can't never git aroun dat pint. When yer strip dis subjec ob prejdice, +an' fetch to bar on it de light o' reason, sah, yer can 'rive at but one +'clusion, sah. De Lord he rode into de garden in chariot of fire, sah, +robed wid de lightnin', sah, thunder bolt in his han', an' he cried +ADAM, in de voice of a airthquake, sah, an' de 'fec on Adam was +powerful, sah. Dat's my min', sah." And so Tom goes on his way, +confident that the first man was black, and that another white man has +been vanquished in argument. + +13. The weather continues oppressively hot. The names of candidates for +admission to the corps _d'Afrique_ continue to pour in. The number has +swelled to eight hundred. We begin our labors at nine, adjourn a few +minutes for lunch, and then continue our work until nearly six. + +16. We move at ten o'clock A. M. Had a heavy rain yesterday and a +fearful wind. The morning, however, is clear, and atmosphere delightful. + +Our Board has examined one hundred and twenty men. Perhaps forty have +been recommended for commissions. + +The present movement will, doubtless, be a very interesting one. A few +days will take us to the Tennessee, and thereafter we shall operate on +new ground. Georgia will be within a few miles of us, the long-suffering +and long-coveted East Tennessee on our left, Central Alabama to our +front and right. A great struggle will undoubtedly soon take place, for +it is not possible that the rebels will give us a foothold south of the +Tennessee until compelled to do it. + +21. We are encamped on the banks of Crow creek, three miles northerly +from Stevenson. The table on which I write is under the great beech +trees. Colonel Hobart is sitting near studying Casey. The light of the +new moon is entirely excluded by foliage. On the right and left the +valley is bounded by ranges of mountains eight hundred or a thousand +feet high. Crow creek is within a few feet of me; in fact, the sand +under my feet was deposited by its waters. The army extends along the +Tennessee, from opposite Chattanooga to Bellefonte. Before us, and just +beyond the river, rises a green-mountain wall, whose summit, apparently +as uniform as a garden hedge, seems to mingle with the clouds. Beyond +this are the legions of the enemy, whose signal lights we see nightly. + +22. Our Board has resumed its sessions at the Alabama House, Stevenson. +The weather is intensely hot. Father Stanley stripped off his coat and +groaned. Hobart's face was red as the rising sun, and the anxious +candidates for commissions did not certainly resemble cucumbers for +coolness. + +Hobart rides a very poor horse--poor in flesh, I mean; but he entertains +the most exalted opinion of the beast. This morning, as we rode from +camp, I thought I would please him by referring to his horse in a +complimentary way. Said I: "Colonel, your horse holds his own mighty +well." His face brightened, and I continued: "He hasn't lost a bone +since I have known him." This nettled him, and he began to badger me +about an unsuccessful attempt which I made some time ago to get him to +taste a green persimmon. Hobart has a good education, is fluent in +conversation, and in discussion gets the better of me without +difficulty. All I can do, therefore, is to watch my opportunity to give +him an occasional thrust as best I can. Father Stanley is slow, +destitute of either education or wit, and examines applicants like a +demagogue fishes for votes. + +Brigadier-General Jeff. C. Davis and Colonel Hegg called to-day. Davis +is, I think, not quite so tall as I am, but a shade heavier. Met +Captain Gaunther. He has been relieved from duty here, and ordered to +Washington. He is an excellent officer, and deserves a higher position +than he holds at present. I thought, from the very affectionate manner +with which he clung to my hand and squeezed it, that possibly, in taking +leave of his friends, he had burdened himself with that "oat" which is +said to be one too many. Hobart says that Scribner calls him Hobart up +to two glasses, and further on in his cups ycleps him Hogan. + +Wood had a bout with the enemy at Chattanooga yesterday; he on the north +side and they on the south side of the river. Johnson is said to have +reinforced Bragg, and the enemy is supposed to be strong in our front. +Rosecrans was at Bridgeport yesterday looking over the ground, when a +sharpshooter blazed away at him, and put a bullet in a tree near which +the General and his son were standing. + +24. Deserters are coming in almost every day. They report that secret +societies exist in the rebel army whose object is the promotion of +desertion. Eleven men from one company arrived yesterday. Not many days +ago a Confederate officer swam the river and gave himself up. For some +time past the pickets of the two armies have not been firing at each +other; but yesterday the rebels gave notice that they should commence +again, as the "Yanks were becoming too d--n thick." + +26. To-day we were examining a German who desired to be recommended for +a field officer. "How do you form an oblique square, sir?" "Black +square? Black square?" exclaimed the Dutchman; "I dush not know vot you +means by de black square." + +As I write the moon shines down upon me through an opening in the +branches of the beech forest in which we are encamped, and the objects +about me, half seen and half hidden, in some way suggest the +half-remembered and half-forgotten incidents of childhood. + +How often, when a boy, have I dreamed of scenes similar to those through +which I have passed in the last two years! Knightly warriors, great +armies on the march and in camp, the skirmish, the tumult and thunder of +battle, were then things of the imagination; but now they have become +familiar items of daily life. Then a single tap of the drum or note of +the bugle awakened thoughts of the old times of chivalry, and regrets +that the days of glory had passed away. Now we have martial strains +almost every hour, and are reminded only of the various duties of our +every-day life. + +As we went to Stevenson this morning, Hobart caught a glimpse of a +colored man coming toward us. It suggested to him a hobby which he rides +now every day, and he commenced his oration by saying, in his +declamatory way: "The negro is the coming man." "Yes," I interrupted, +"so I see, and he appears to have his hat full of peaches;" and so the +coming man had. + +28. Rode to the river with Hobart and Stanley. The rebel pickets were +lying about in plain view on the other side. Just before our arrival +quite a number of them had been bathing. The outposts of the two armies +appear still to be on friendly terms. "Yesterday," a soldier said to me, +"one of our boys crossed the river, talked with the rebs for some time, +and returned." + +29. The band is playing "Yankee Doodle," and the boys break into an +occasional cheer by way of indorsement. There is something defiant in +the air of "Doodle" as he blows away on the soil of the cavaliers, which +strikes a noisy chord in the breast of Uncle Sam's nephews, and the +demonstrations which follow are equivalent to "Let 'er rip," "Go in old +boy." + +Colonel Hobart's emphatic expression is "egad." He told me to-day of a +favorite horse at home, which would follow him from place to place as he +worked in the garden, keeping his nose as near to him as possible. His +wife remarked to him one day: "Egad, husband, if you loved me as well as +you do that horse, I should be perfectly happy." + +"Are you quite sure Mrs. Hobart said 'egad,' Colonel?" + +"Well, no, I wouldn't like to swear to that." + +This afternoon Colonels Stanley, Hobart, and I rode down to the +Tennessee to look at the pontoon bridge which has been thrown across the +river. On the way we met Generals Rosecrans, McCook, Negley, and +Garfield. The former checked up, shook hands, and said: "How d'ye do?" +Garfield gave us a grip which suggested "vote right, vote early." +Negley smiled affably, and the cavalcade moved on. We crossed the +Tennessee on the bridge of boats, and rode a few miles into the country +beyond. Not a gun was fired as the bridge was being laid. Davis' +division is on the south side of the river. + +The Tennessee at this place is beautiful. The bridge looks like a ribbon +stretched across it. The island below, the heavily-wooded banks, the +bluffs and mountain, present a scene which would delight the soul of the +artist. A hundred boys were frollicking in the water near the pontoons, +tumbling into the stream in all sorts of ways, kicking up their heels, +ducking and splashing each other, and having a glorious time generally. + +30. (Sunday.) The brigade moved into Stevenson. + +31. It crossed the Tennessee. + +In one of the classes for examination to-day was a sergeant, fifty years +old at least, but still sprightly and active; not very well posted in +the infantry tactics now in use, but of more than ordinary intelligence. +The class had not impressed the Board favorably. This Sergeant we +thought rather too old, and the others entirely too ignorant. When the +class was told to retire, this old Sergeant, who, by the way, belongs to +a Michigan regiment, came up to me and asked: "Was John Beatty, of +Sandusky, a relative of yours?" "He was my grandfather." "Yes, you +resemble your mother. You are the son of James Beatty. I have carried +you in my arms many a time. My mother saved your life more than once. +Thirty years ago your father and mine were neighbors. I recollect the +cabin where you were born as well as if I had seen it but yesterday." "I +am heartily glad to see you, my old friend," said I, taking his hand. +"You must stay with me to-night, and we will talk over the old times +together." + +When the Sergeant retired, Hobart, with a twinkle in his eye, said he +did not think much of that fellow; his early associations had evidently +been bad; he was entirely too old, anyway. What the army needed, above +all things, were young, vigorous, dashing officers; but he supposed, +notwithstanding all this, that we should have to do something for the +Sergeant. He had rendered important service to the country by carrying +the honored President of our Board in his arms, and but for the timely +doses of catnip tea, administered by the Sergeant's mother, the gallant +knight of the black horse and pepper-and-salt colt would have been +unknown. "What do you say, gentlemen, to a second lieutenancy for +General Beatty's friend?" + +"I shall vote for it," replied Stanley. + +"Recommend him for a first lieutenancy," I suggested; and they did. + +In the evening I had a long and very pleasant conversation with the +Sergeant. He had fought under Bradley in the Patriot war at Point au +Pelee; served five years in the regular army during the Florida war, +and two years in the Mexican war. His name is Daniel Rodabaugh. He has +been in the United States service as a soldier for nine years, and +richly deserves the position for which we recommended him. + + + + +SEPTEMBER, 1863. + + +1. Closed up the business of the Board, and at seven o'clock in the +evening (Tuesday) left Stevenson to rejoin the brigade. On the way to +the river I passed Colonel Stanley's brigade of our division. The air +was thick with dust. It was quite dark when I crossed the bridge. The +brigade had started on the march hours before, but I thought best to +push on and overtake it. After getting on the wrong road and riding +considerably out of my way, I finally found the right one, and about ten +o'clock overtook the rear of the column. The two armies will face each +other before the end of the week. General Lytle's brigade is bivouacking +near me. I have a bad cold, but otherwise am in good health. + +3. We moved from Moore's Spring, on the Tennessee, in the morning, and +after laboring all day advanced less than one mile and a quarter. We +were ascending Sand mountain; many of our wagons did not reach the +summit. + +4. With two regiments I descended into Lookout valley and bivouacked at +Brown's Springs about dark. Our transportation, owing to the darkness +and extreme badness of the roads, remained on the top of the mountain. +I have no blankets, and nothing to eat except one ear of corn which one +of the colored boys roasted for me. Wrapped in my overcoat, about nine +o'clock, I lay down on the ground to sleep; but a terrible toothache +took hold of me, and I was compelled to get up and find such relief as I +could in walking up and down the road. The moon shone brightly, and many +camp-fires glimmered in the valley and along the side of the mountain. +It was three o'clock in the morning before gentle sleep made me +oblivious to aching teeth and head, and all the other aches which had +possession of me. + +5. A few deserters come in to us, but they bring little information of +the enemy. We are now in Georgia, twenty miles from Chattanooga by the +direct road, which, like all roads here, is very crooked, and difficult +to travel. The enemy is, doubtless, in force very near, but he makes no +demonstrations and retires his pickets without firing a gun. The +developments of the next week or two will be matters for the historian. + +Sheridan's division is just coming into the valley; what other troops +are to cross the mountain by this road I do not know. As I write, heavy +guns are heard off in the direction of Chattanooga. The roads are +extremely dusty. This morning I consigned to the flames all letters +which have come to me during the last two months. + +I have just returned from a ride up the valley to the site of the +proposed iron works of Georgia. Work on the railroad, on the mountain +roads, and on the furnaces, was suspended on our approach. The negroes +and white laborers were run off to get them beyond our reach. The hills +in the vicinity of the proposed works are undoubtedly full of iron; the +ore crops out so plainly that it is visible to all passers. Here the +Confederacy proposed to supply its railroads with iron rail, an article +at present very nearly exhausted in the South. Had the Georgians +possessed common business sense and common energy, extensive furnaces +would have been in operation in this valley years ago; and now, instead +of a few poorly cultivated corn-fields, with here and there a cabin, the +valley and hillsides would be overflowing with population and wealth. + +We returned from the site of the iron works by way of Trenton, the seat +of justice of Dade county. Reynolds and Sheridan are encamped near +Trenton. I feel better since my ride. + +6. (Sunday.) Marched to Johnson's Crook, and bivouacked, at nightfall, +at McKay's Spring, on the north side of Lookout mountain; here my +advance regiment, the Forty-second Indiana, had a slight skirmish with +the enemy, in which one man was wounded. + +7. We gained the summit of Lookout mountain, and the enemy retired to +the gaps on the south side. + +8. Started at four o'clock in the morning and pushed for Cooper's Gap. +Surprised a cavalry picket at the foot of the mountain, in McLemore's +Cove, Chattanooga valley. In this little affair we captured five +sabers, one revolver, one carbine, one prisoner, and seriously wounded +one man. + +While standing on a peak of Lookout, we saw far off to the east long +lines of dust trending slowly to the south, and inferred from this that +Bragg had abandoned Chattanooga, and was either retiring before us or +making preparations to check the center and right of our line. + +9. Marched up the valley to Stephen's Gap and rejoined the division. + +10. Our division marched across McLemore's Cove to Pigeon mountain, +found Dug Gap obstructed, and the enemy in force on the right, left, and +front. The skirmishers of the advance brigade, Colonel Surwell's, were +engaged somewhat, and during the night information poured in upon us, +from all quarters, that the enemy, in strength, was making dispositions +to surround and cut us off before reinforcements could arrive. + +11. Two brigades of Baird's division joined us about 10 A. M. Five +thousand of the enemy's cavalry were reported to be moving to our left +and rear; soon after, his infantry appeared on our right and left, and, +a little later, in our front. From the summit of Pigeon mountain, the +rebels could observe all our movements, and form a good estimate of our +entire force. Our immense train, swelled now by the transportation of +Baird's division to near four hundred wagons, compelled us to select +such positions as would enable us to protect the train, and not such as +were most favorable for making an offensive or defensive fight. + +It was now impossible for Brannan and Reynolds to reach us in time to +render assistance. General Negley concluded, therefore, to fall back, +and ordered me to move to Bailey's Cross-roads, and await the passage of +the wagon train to the rear. The enemy attacked soon after, but were +held in check until the transportation had time to return to Stephens' +Gap. + +12. We expected an attack this morning, but, reinforcements arriving, +the enemy retired. This afternoon Brannan made a reconnoissance, but the +result I have not ascertained; there was, however, no fighting. + +I am writing this in the woods, where we are bivouacking for the night. +For nearly two weeks, now, I have not had my clothes off; and for +perhaps not more than two nights of the time have I had my boots and +spurs off. I have arisen at three o'clock in the morning and not lain +down until ten or eleven at night. My appetite is good and health +excellent. Last night my horse fell down with me, and on me, but strange +to say only injured himself. + +We find great numbers of men in these mountains who profess to be loyal. +Our army is divided--Crittenden on the left, our corps (Thomas) in the +center, and McCook far to the right. The greatest danger we need +apprehend is that the enemy may concentrate rapidly and fight our widely +separated corps in detail. Our transportation, necessarily large in any +case, but unnecessarily large in this, impedes us very much. The roads +up and down the mountains are extremely bad; our progress has therefore +been slow, and the march hither a tedious one. The brigade lies in the +open field before me in battle line. The boys have had no time to rest +during the day, and have done much night work, but they hold up well. A +katydid has been very friendly with me to-night, and is now sitting on +the paper as if to read what I have written. + +17. Marched from Bailey's Cross-roads to Owensford on the Chickamauga. + +18. Ordered to relieve General Hazen, who held position on the road to +Crawfish Springs; but as he had received no orders, and as mine were but +verbal, he declined to move, and I therefore continued my march and +bivouacked at the springs. + +About midnight I was ordered to proceed to a ford of the Chickamauga and +relieve a brigade of Palmer's division, commanded by Colonel Grose. The +night was dark and the road crooked. About two in the morning I reached +the place; and as Colonel Grose's pickets were being relieved and mine +substituted, occasional shots along the line indicated that the enemy +was in our immediate front. + + +CHICKAMAUGA. + +19. At an early hour in the morning the enemy's pickets made their +appearance on the east side of the Chickamauga and engaged my +skirmishers. Some hours later he opened on us with two batteries, and a +sharp artillery fight ensued. During this engagement, the Fifteenth +Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, occupied an advanced position in the woods on +the low ground, and the shots of the artillery passed immediately over +it. I rode down to this regiment to see that the men were not disturbed +by the furious cannonading, and to obtain at the same time a better view +of the enemy. While thus absent, Captain Bridges, concluding that the +Confederate guns were too heavy for him, limbered up and fell back. +Hastening to the hill, I sent Captain Wilson with an order to Bridges to +return; and, being reinforced soon after by three pieces of Shultz's +First Ohio Battery, we opened again on the advancing columns of the +enemy, when they fell back precipitately, evidently concluding that the +lull in our firing and withdrawal of our artillery were simply devices +to draw them on. + +In this affair eight men of the infantry were wounded; and Captain +Bridges had two men killed, nine wounded, and lost twelve horses. + +About five o'clock in the afternoon I was directed to withdraw my picket +line--which had been greatly extended in order to connect with troops on +the left--as silently and carefully as possible, and return to Crawfish +Springs. Arriving at the springs, the boys were allowed time to fill +their canteens with water, when we pushed forward on the Chattanooga +road to a ridge near Osbern's, where we bivouacked for the night. + +There had been heavy fighting on our left during the whole afternoon; +and while the boys were preparing supper, a very considerable engagement +was occurring not far distant to the east and south of us. Elsewhere an +occasional volley of musketry, and boom of artillery, with scattered +firing along an extended line indicated that the two grand armies were +concentrating for battle, and that the morrow would give us hot and +dangerous work. + +20. (Sunday.) At an early hour in the morning I was directed to move +northward on the Chattanooga road and report to General Thomas. He +ordered me to go to the extreme left of our line, form perpendicularly +to the rear of Baird's division, connecting with his left. I disposed of +my brigade as directed. Baird's line appeared to run parallel with the +road, and mine running to the rear crossed the road. On this road and +near it I posted my artillery, and advanced my skirmishers to the edge +of the open field in front of the left and center of my line. The +position was a good one, and my brigade and the one on Baird's left +could have co-operated and assisted each other in maintaining it. +Fifteen minutes after this line was formed, Captain Gaw, of General +Thomas' staff, brought me a verbal order to advance my line to a ridge +or low hill (McDaniel's house), fully one-fourth of a mile distant. I +represented to him that in advancing I would necessarily leave a long +interval between my right and Baird's left, and also that I was already +in the position which General Thomas himself told me to occupy. He +replied that the order to move forward was imperative, and that I +was to be supported by Negley with the other two brigades of his +division. I could object no further, although the movement seemed +exceedingly unwise, and, therefore, pushed forward my men as rapidly +as possible to the point indicated. The Eighty-eighth Indiana (Colonel +Humphreys), on the left, moved into position without difficulty. The +Forty-second Indiana (Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre), on its right, met +with considerable opposition in advancing through the woods, but +finally reached the ridge. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois +(Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman), and Fifteenth Kentucky (Colonel Taylor), +on the right, became engaged almost immediately and advanced slowly. The +enemy in strong force pressed them heavily in front and on the right +flank. + +At this time I sent an aid to request General Baird or General King to +throw a force in the interval between my right and their left, and +dispatched Captain Wilson to the rear to hasten forward General Negley +to my support. My regiment on the right was confronted by so large a +force that it was compelled to fall back, which it did in good order, +contesting the ground stoutly. About this time a column of the enemy, +_en masse_, on the double quick, pressed into the interval between the +One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and Forty-second Indiana, and turned +with the evident intention of capturing the latter, which was then +busily engaged with the rebels in its front; but Captain Bridges opened +on it with grape and canister, when it broke and fell back in disorder +to the shelter of the woods. The Forty-second Indiana, but a moment +before almost surrounded, was thus enabled to fight its way to the left +and unite with the Eighty-eighth. Soon after this the enemy made another +and more furious assault upon the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and +Fifteenth Kentucky, and, driving them back, advanced to within fifty +yards of my battery, and poured into it a heavy fire, killing Lieutenant +Bishop, and killing or wounding all the men and horses belonging to his +section, which consequently fell into rebel hands. Captain Bridges and +his officers, by the exercise of great courage and coolness, succeeded +in saving the remainder of the battery. It was in this encounter that +Captain LeFevre, of my staff, was killed, and Lieutenant Calkins, also +of the staff, was wounded. + +The enemy having now gained the woods south of the open field and west +of the road, I opposed his further progress as well as I could with the +Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois; but as he had +two full brigades, the struggle on our part seemed a hopeless one. +Fortunately, at this juncture, I discovered a battery on the road in our +rear (I think it was Captain Goodspeed's), and at my request the Captain +ordered it to change front and open fire. This additional opposition +served for a time to entirely check the enemy. + +The Eighty-eighth and Forty-second Indiana, compelled, as their officers +claim, to make a detour to the left and rear, in order to escape capture +or utter annihilation, found General Negley, and were ordered to remain +with him, and finally to retire with him in the direction of Rossville. +This, however, I did not ascertain until ten hours later in the day. + +Firing having now ceased in my front, and being the only mounted officer +or mounted man present, I left the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois temporarily in charge of Colonel Taylor, and hurried +back to see General Thomas or Negley, and urge the necessity for more +troops to enable me to re-establish the line. On the way, and before +proceeding far, I met the Second Brigade of our division, Colonel +Stanley, advancing to my support. Had it reached me an hour earlier, I +feel assured that I would have been able to maintain the position which +I had just been compelled to abandon. I directed Colonel Stanley to form +a line of battle at once, at right angles with the road and on its left, +facing north. Returning to Colonel Taylor, I ordered him to fall back +with the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and +form in rear of the left of Stanley's line, as a support to it. Soon +after we had got our lines adjusted, the enemy pressed back the +skirmishers of the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth +Illinois, who had not been retired with the regiments, and, following +them up, drove in also the skirmish line of Stanley's brigade, whereupon +the Eleventh Michigan (Colonel Stoughton), and the Eighteenth Ohio +(Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor), gave him a well-directed volley, which +brought him to a halt. Our whole line then opened at short range, and he +wavered. I gave the order to advance, then to charge, and the brigade +rushed forward with a yell, drove the enemy fully one-fourth of a mile, +strewing the ground with his dead and wounded, and capturing many +prisoners. Among the latter was General Adams, the commander of a +Louisiana brigade. + +Finding now that Colonel Taylor had not followed the movement with his +regiment and the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and seeing the +necessity for some support for a single line so extended, I hastened to +the rear, and, being unable to find Taylor where I had left him, I +induced four regiments, of I know not what command, which I found idle +in the woods, to move forward and form a second line. + +At this time Captain Wilson, whom I had sent to General Negley some time +before the Second Brigade reached me, to inform him of my position and +need of assistance, returned, and brought from him a verbal order to +retire to the hill in the rear and join him. Convinced that the +withdrawal of the troops at this time from the position occupied might +endanger the whole left wing of the army, I thought best to defer the +execution of this order until I could see General Negley and explain to +him the necessity of maintaining and reinforcing it with the other +brigade of our division. But before Captain Wilson could find either +Colonel Taylor, who had in charge the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred +and Fourth Illinois, or General Negley, the enemy made a fierce attack +on Stanley's brigade and forced it back. The unknown brigade which I had +posted in the rear to support it retired with unseemly haste, and +without firing a shot. + +At this juncture frightened soldiers and occasional shots were coming +from the right and rear of our line, indicating that the right wing of +the army had either been thrown back or changed position. Stanley's +brigade, considerably scattered and shattered by the last furious +assault of the enemy, was gathered up by its officers and retired to the +ridge on the right and to the rear of the original line of battle. +Wilson and I made diligent efforts to find Taylor, but were unable to do +so. I was greatly provoked at his retirement without consulting me, and +at a time, too, when his presence was so greatly needed to support +Stanley. But later in the day I ascertained from him that he had been +ordered by Major Lowrie, General Negley's chief of staff, to join Negley +and retire with him to Rossville. He also had much to say about saving +many pieces of artillery; but it occurred to me that his presence on the +field was of much more importance than a few pieces of trumpery +artillery off the field. Why, at any rate, did he not notify me of the +order which he had received from the division commander? The charge of +Stanley's brigade had not occupied to exceed thirty minutes, and as soon +as it was ended I had returned to find him gone. The Colonel, however, +did, doubtless, what he conceived to be his duty, and for the best. His +courage had been tested on too many occasions to allow me to think that +anything but an error of judgment, or possibly the belief that under any +circumstances he was bound to obey the order of the major-general +commanding the division, could have induced him to abandon me. + +Supposing my regiments and General Negley to be still on the field, I +again dispatched Captain Wilson in search of them, and in the meantime +stationed myself near a fragment of the Second Brigade of our division, +and gave such general directions to the troops about me as under the +circumstances I felt warranted in doing. I found abundant opportunity to +make myself useful. Gathering up scattered detachments of a dozen +different commands, I filled up an unoccupied space on the ridge between +Harker, of Wood's division, on the left, and Brannan, on the right, and +this point we held obstinately until sunset. Colonel Stoughton, Eleventh +Michigan; Lieutenant-Colonel Rappin, Nineteenth Illinois; +Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor, Eighteenth Ohio; Colonel Hunter, +Eighty-second Indiana; Colonel Hays and Lieutenant-Colonel Wharton, +Tenth Kentucky; Captain Stinchcomb, Seventeenth Ohio; and Captain +Kendrick, Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania, were there, each having a few men +of their respective commands; and they and their men fought and +struggled and clung to that ridge with an obstinate, persistent, +desperate courage, unsurpassed, I believe, on any field. I robbed the +dead of cartridges and distributed them to the men; and once when, after +a desperate struggle, our troops were driven from the crest, and the +enemy's flag waved above it, the men were rallied, and I rode up the +hill with them, waving my hat, and shouting like a madman. Thus we +charged, and the enemy only saved his colors by throwing them down the +hill. However much we may say of those who held command, justice compels +the acknowledgment that no officer exhibited more courage on that +occasion than the humblest private in the ranks. + +About four o'clock we saw away off to our rear the banners and +glittering guns of a division coming toward us, and we became agitated +by doubt and hope. Are they friends or foes? The thunder, as of a +thousand anvils, still goes on in our front. Men fall around us like +leaves in autumn. Thomas, Garfield, Wood, and others are in consultation +below the hill just in rear of Harker. The approaching troops are said +to be ours, and we feel a throb of exultation. Before they arrive we +ascertain that the division is Steedman's; and finally, as they come up, +I recognize my old friend, Colonel Mitchell, of the One Hundred and +Thirteenth. They go into action on our right, and as they press forward +the roar of the musketry redoubles; the battle seems to be working off +in that direction. There is now a comparative lull in our front, and I +ride over to the right, and become involved in a regiment which has been +thrown out of line and into confusion by another regiment that retreated +through it in disorder. I assist Colonel Mitchell in rallying it, and it +goes into the fight again. Returning to my old place, I find that +disorganized bodies of men are coming rapidly from the left, in +regiments, companies, squads, and singly. I meet General Wood, and ask +if I shall not halt and reorganize them. He tells me to do so; but I +find the task impossible. They do not recognize me as their commander, +and most of them will not obey my orders. Some few, indeed, I manage to +hold together; but the great mass drift by me to the woods in the rear. +The dead are lying every-where; the wounded are continually passing to +the rear; the thunder of the guns and roll of musketry are unceasing and +unabated until nightfall. Then the fury of the battle gradually dies +away, and finally we have a silence, broken only by a cheer here and +there along the enemy's line. + +Wilson and I are together near the ridge, where we have been all the +afternoon. We have heard nothing of Negley nor of my regiments. We take +it for granted, however, that they are somewhere on the field. As the +night darkens we discover a line of fires off to our left and rear, +toward McDaniels' house. That is the place where Negley should have been +in the morning, and we conclude he must be there now. + +We have been badly used during the day; but it does not occur to us that +our army has been whipped. We start together to find Negley. We have had +nothing to eat since early morning, and so, passing a corn-field, we +stop for a moment to fill our pockets with corn; then, proceeding on our +way, we pass through an unused field, grown up with brush, and here meet +a man coming toward us on horseback. I said to him, "Are those our +troops?" pointing in the direction of the line of fires. He answered, +"Yes; our troops are on the road and just beyond it." Pretty soon we +emerged from the brushy woods and entered an open field; just before us +was a long line of fires, and soldiers busily engaged preparing supper. +We had approached to within two hundred feet of them, and could hear the +soldiers talk and laugh, as soldiers will, over the incidents of the +day, when we discerned that we were riding straight into the enemy's +line. Instantly wheeling our horses, we drove the spurs into them and +lay down on their backs. We had been discovered, and a dozen or more +shots were sent after us; but we escaped unharmed. The man we met in the +unused field had mistaken us for Confederate officers. Two or three +shots were fired at us as we approached our own line, but the darkness +saved us. + +Near eight o'clock in the evening I ascertained, from General Wood, that +the army had been ordered to fall back to Rossville, and I started at +once to inform Colonel Stoughton and others on the ridge; but I found +that they had been apprised of the movement, and were then on the road +to the rear. + +The march to Rossville was a melancholy one. All along the road, for +miles, wounded men were lying. They had crawled or hobbled slowly away +from the fury of the battle, become exhausted, and lay down by the +roadside to die. Some were calling the names and numbers of their +regiments, but many had become too weak to do this; by midnight the +column had passed by. What must have been their agony, mental and +physical, as they lay in the dreary woods, sensible that there was no +one to comfort or to care for them, and that in a few hours more their +career on earth would be ended. + +At a little brook, which crossed the road, Wilson and I stopped to +water our horses. The remains of a fire, which some soldiers had +kindled, were raked together, and laying a couple of ears of corn on the +coals for our own use, we gave the remainder of what we had in our +pockets to the poor beasts; they, also, had fasted since early morning. + +How many terrible scenes of the day's battle recur to us as we ride on +in the darkness. We see again the soldier whose bowels were protruding, +and hear him cry, "Jesus, have mercy on my soul!" What multitudes of +thought were then crowding into the narrow half hour which he had yet to +live--what regrets, what hopes, what fears! The sky was darkening, earth +fading; wealth, power, fame, the prizes most esteemed of men, were as +nothing. His only hope lay in the Saviour of whom his mother had taught +him. I doubt not his earnest, agonizing prayer was heard. Nay, to doubt +would be to question the mercy of God! + +A Confederate boy, who should have been at home with his mother, and +whose leg had been fearfully torn by a minnie ball, hailed me as I was +galloping by early in the day. He was bleeding to death, and crying +bitterly. I gave him my handkerchief, and shouted back to him, as I +hurried on, "Bind up the leg tight!" + +The adjutant of the rebel General Adams called to me as I passed him. He +wanted help, but I could not help him--could not even help our own poor +boys who lay bleeding near him. + +Sammy Snyder lay on the field wounded; as I handed him my canteen he +said, "General, I did my duty." "I know that, Sammy; I never doubted +that you would do your duty." The most painful recollection to one who +has gone through a battle, is that of the friends lying wounded and +dying and who needed help so much when you were utterly powerless to aid +them. + +Between ten and eleven o'clock, at night, I reached Rossville, and found +one of my regiments, the Forty-second Indiana, on picket one mile south +of that place, and the other regiments encamped near the town. My men +were surprised and rejoiced to see me. It had been currently reported +that I was killed. One fellow claimed to know the exact spot on my body +where the ball hit me; while another, not willing to be outdone, had +given a minute description of the locality where I fell. General Negley +rendered me good service by giving me something to eat and drink, for I +was hungry as a wolf. + +At this hour of the night (eleven to twelve o'clock) the army is simply +a mob. There appears to be neither organization nor discipline. The +various commands are mixed up in what seems to be inextricable +confusion. Were a division of the enemy to pounce down upon us between +this and morning, I fear the Army of the Cumberland would be blotted +out. + +21. Early this morning the army was again got into order. Officers and +soldiers found their regiments, regiments their brigades, and brigades +their divisions. My brigade was posted on a high ridge, east of +Rossville and near it. About ten o'clock A. M. it was attacked by a +brigade of mounted infantry, a part of Forrest's command, under Colonel +Dibble. After a sharp fight of half an hour, in which the Fifteenth +Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, and the Forty-second Indiana, +Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre, were principally engaged, the enemy was +repulsed, and retired leaving his dead and a portion of his wounded on +the field. Of his dead, one officer and eight men were left within a few +rods of our line. One little boy, so badly wounded they could not carry +him off, said, with tears and sobs, "They have run off and left me in +the woods to die." I directed the boys to carry him into our lines and +care for him. + +At midnight, the Fifteenth Kentucky was deployed on the skirmish line; +the other regiments of the brigade withdrawn, and started on the way to +Chattanooga. A little later the Fifteenth Kentucky quietly retired and +proceeded to the same place. + +22. We are at Chattanooga. + +With the exception of a cold, great exhaustion, and extreme hoarseness, +occasioned by much hallooing, I am in good condition. The rebels have +followed us and are taking position in our front. + +24. At midnight the enemy attempted to drive in our pickets, and an +engagement ensued, which lasted an hour or more, and was quite brisk. + +26. This morning another furious assault was made on our picket line; +but, after a short time, the rebels retired and permitted us to remain +quiet for the remainder of the day. + +Their pickets are plainly seen from our lines, and their signal flags +are discernable on Mission ridge. Occasionally we see their columns +moving. Our army is busily engaged fortifying. + +27. (Sunday.) Had a good night's rest, and am feeling very well. The day +is a quiet one. + + + + +OCTOBER, 1863. + + +1. Have been trying to persuade myself that I am unwell enough to ask +for a leave, but it will not work. The moment after I come to the +conclusion that I am really sick, and can not stand it longer, I begin +to feel better. The very thought of getting home, and seeing wife and +children, cures me at once. + +3. The two armies are lying face to face. The Federal and Confederate +sentinels walk their beats in sight of each other. The quarters of the +rebel generals may be seen from our camps with the naked eye. The tents +of their troops dot the hillsides. To-night we see their signal lights +off to the right on the summit of Lookout mountain, and off to the left +on the knobs of Mission ridge. Their long lines of camp fires almost +encompass us. But the camp fires of the Army of the Cumberland are +burning also. Bruised and torn by a two days' unequal contest, its flags +are still up, and its men still unwhipped. It has taken its position +here, and here, by God's help, it will remain. + +Colonel Hobart was captured at Chickamauga, and a fear is entertained +that he may have been wounded. + +4. This is a pleasant October morning, rather windy and cool, but not at +all uncomfortable. The bands are mingling with the autumn breezes such +martial airs as are common in camps, with now and then a sentimental +strain, which awakens recollections of other days, when we were +younger--thought more of sweethearts than of war, when, in fact, we did +not think of war at all except as something of the past. + +Sitting at my tent door, with a field glass, I can see away off to the +right, on the highest peak of Lookout mountain, a man waving a red flag +to and fro. He is a rebel officer, signaling to the Confederate generals +what he observes of importance in the valley. From his position he can +look down into our camp, see every rifle pit, and almost count the +pieces of artillery in our fortifications. + +Captain Johnson, of General Negley's staff, has just been in, and tells +me the pickets of the two armies are growing quite intimate, sitting +about on logs together, talking over the great battle, and exchanging +views as to the results of a future engagement. + +General Negley called a few minutes ago and invited me to dine with him +at five o'clock. The General looks demoralized, and, I think, regrets +somewhat the part he took, or rather the part he failed to take, in the +battle of Chickamauga. Remarks are made in reference to his conduct on +that occasion which are other than complimentary. The General doubtless +did what he thought was best, and probably had orders which will justify +his action. After a battle there is always more or less bad feeling, +regiments, brigades, and corps claiming that other regiments, brigades, +and corps failed to do their whole duty, and should therefore be held +responsible for this or that misfortune. + +There was a rumor, for some days before the battle of Chickamauga, that +Burnside was on the way to join us, and we shouted Burnside to the boys, +on the day of the battle, until we became hoarse. Did the line stagger +and show a disposition to retire: "Stand up, boys, reinforcements are +coming; Burnside is near." Once, when Palmer's division was falling back +through a corn-field, our line was hotly pressed. Pointing to Palmer's +columns, which were coming from the left toward the right, the officers +shouted, "Give it to 'em, boys, Burnside is here," and the boys went in +with renewed confidence. But, alas, at nightfall Burnside had played +out, and the hearts of our brave fellows went down with the sun. +Burnside is now regarded as a myth, a fictitious warrior, who is said to +be coming to the rescue of men sorely pressed, but who never comes. When +an improbable story is told to the boys, now, they express their +unbelief by the simple word "Burnside," sometimes adding, "O yes, we +know him." + +5. The enemy opened on us, at 11 A. M., from batteries located on the +point of Lookout mountain, and continued to favor us with cast-iron in +the shape of shell and solid shot until sunset. He did little damage, +however, three men only were wounded, and these but slightly. A shell +entered the door of a dog tent, near which two soldiers of the +Eighteenth Ohio were standing, and buried itself in the ground, when +one of the soldiers turned very coolly to the other and said, "There, +you d--d fool, you see what you get by leaving your door open." + +6. The enemy unusually silent. + +7. Visited the picket line this afternoon. A rebel line officer came to +within a few rods of our picket station, to exchange papers, and stood +and chatted for some time with the Federal officer. There appears to be +a perfect understanding that neither party shall fire unless an advance +is made in force. + + + + +NOVEMBER, 1863. + + +11. My new brigade consists of the following regiments: + +One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio Infantry, Colonel John G. Mitchell. + +One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Infantry, Colonel H. B. Banning. + +One Hundred and Eighth Ohio Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Piepho. + +Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry, Major Shane. + +Third Ohio Infantry, Captain Leroy S. Bell. + +Seventy-eighth Illinois Infantry, Colonel Van Vleck. + +Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry, Colonel Van Tassell. + +There has been much suffering among the men. They have for weeks been +reduced to quarter rations, and at times so eager for food that the +commissary store-rooms would be thronged, and the few crumbs which fell +from broken boxes of hard-bread carefully gathered up and eaten. Men +have followed the forage wagons and picked up the grains of corn which +fell from them, and in some instances they have picked up the grains of +corn from the mud where mules have been fed. The suffering among the +animals has been intense. Hundreds of mules and horses have died of +starvation. Now, however, that we have possession of the river, the men +are fully supplied, but the poor horses and mules are still suffering. A +day or two more will, I trust, enable us to provide well for them also. +Two steamboats are plying between this and Chattanooga, and one immense +wagon train is also busy. Supplies are coming forward with a reasonable +degree of rapidity. The men appear to be in good health and excellent +spirits. + +12. We are encamped on Stringer's ridge, on the north side of the +Tennessee, immediately opposite Chattanooga. This morning Colonel +Mitchell and I rode to the picket line of the brigade. The line runs +along the river, opposite and to the north of the point of Lookout +mountain. At the time, a heavy fog rising from the water veiled somewhat +the gigantic proportions of Lookout point, or the nose of Lookout, as it +is sometimes designated. While standing on the bank, at the water's +edge, peering through the mist, to get a better view of two Confederate +soldiers, on the opposite shore, a heavy sound broke from the summit of +Lookout mountain, and a shell went whizzing over into Hooker's camps. +Pretty soon a battery opened on what is called Moccasin point, on the +north side of the river, and replied to Lookout. Later in the day +Moccasin and Lookout got into an angry discussion which lasted two +hours. These two batteries have a special spite at each other, and +almost every day thunder away in the most terrible manner. Lookout +throws his missiles too high and Moccasin too low, so that usually the +only loss sustained by either is in ammunition. Moccasin, however, makes +the biggest noise. The sound of his guns goes crashing and echoing along +the sides of Lookout in a way that must be particularly gratifying to +Moccasin's soul. I fear, however, that both these gigantic gentlemen are +deaf as adders, or they would not so delight in kicking up such a +hellebaloo. + +This afternoon I rode over to Chattanooga. Called at the quarters of my +division commander, General Jeff. C. Davis, but found him absent; +stopped at Department Head-quarters and saw General Reynolds, chief of +staff; caught sight of Generals Hooker, Howard, and Gordon Granger. Soon +General Thomas entered the room and shook hands with me. On my way back +to camp I called on General Rousseau; had a long and pleasant +conversation with him. He goes to Nashville to-morrow to assume command +of the District of Tennessee. He does not like the way in which he has +been treated; thinks there is a disposition on the part of those in +authority to shelve him, and that his assignment to Nashville is for the +purpose of letting him down easily. Palmer, who has been assigned to the +command of the Fourteenth Corps, is Rousseau's junior in rank, and this +grinds him. He referred very kindly to the old Third Division, and said +it won him his stars. I told him I was exceedingly anxious to get home; +that it seemed almost impossible for me to remain longer. He said that +I must continue until they made me a major-general. I replied that I +neither expected nor desired promotion. + +At the river I met Father Stanley, of the Eighteenth Ohio. He presides +over the swing ferry, in which he takes especial delight. A long rope, +fastened to a stake in the middle of the river, is attached to the boat, +and the current is made to swing it from one shore to the other. + +14. My fleet-footed black horse is dead. Did the new moon, which I saw +so squarely over my left shoulder when riding him over Waldron's ridge, +augur this? + +The rebel journals are expressing great dissatisfaction at Bragg's +failure to take Chattanooga, and insist upon his doing so without +further delay. On the other hand, the authorities at Washington are +probably urging Grant to move, fearing if he does not that Burnside will +be overwhelmed. Thus both generals must do something soon in order to +satisfy their respective masters. There will be a battle or a foot-race +within a week or two. + +15. Have read Whitelaw Reid's statement of the causes of Rosecrans' +removal. He is, I presume, in the main correct. Investigation will show +that the army could have gotten into Chattanooga without a battle on the +Chickamauga. There would have been a battle here, doubtless, and defeat +would have resulted probably in our destruction; yet it seems reasonable +to suppose that, if able to hold Chattanooga after defeat, we would have +been able to do so before. + + +MISSION RIDGE. + +20. Orders have been issued, and to-morrow a great battle will be +fought. May God be with our army and favor us with a substantial +victory! My brigade will move at daylight. It is now getting ready. + +Order to move countermanded at midnight. + +22. The day is delightful. Lookout and Moccasin are furious. The +Eleventh Corps (Howard's) is now crossing the pontoon bridge, just below +and before us, to take position for to-morrow's engagement. Sherman is +also moving up the river on the north side, with a view to getting at +the enemy's right flank. My brigade will be under arms at daylight, and +ready to move. Our division will operate with Sherman on the left. +Hitherto I have gone into battle almost without knowing it; now we are +about to bring on a terrible conflict, and have abundant time for +reflection. I can not affirm that the prospect has a tendency to elevate +one's spirits. There are men, doubtless, who enjoy having their legs +sawed off, their heads trepanned, and their ribs reset, but I am not one +of them. I am disposed to think of home and family--of the great +suffering which results from engagements between immense armies. +Somebody--Wellington, I guess--said there was nothing worse than a great +victory except a great defeat. + +Rode with Colonel Mitchell four miles up the river to General Davis' +quarters; met there General Morgan, commanding First Brigade of our +division; Colonel Dan McCook, commanding Third Brigade, and Mr. Dana, +Assistant Secretary of War. + +23. It is now half-past five o'clock in the morning. The moon has gone +down, and it is that darkest hour which is said to precede the dawn. My +troops have been up since three o'clock busily engaged making +preparation for the day's work. Judging from the almost continuous +whistling of the cars off beyond Mission Ridge, the rebels have an +intimation of the attack to be made, and are busy either bringing +reinforcements or preparing to evacuate. + +Noon. There has been a hitch in affairs, and I am still in my tent at +the old place. + +About 2 P. M. a division or more was sent out to reconnoiter the enemy's +front. The movement resulted in a sharp fight, which lasted until after +sunset. Both artillery and infantry were engaged. As night grew on we +could see the flash of the enemy's guns all along the crest of Mission +Ridge, and then hear the report, and the prolonged reverberations as the +sound went crashing among ridges, hills, and mountains. Rumor says that +our troops captured five hundred prisoners. + +24. Moved to Caldwell's, four miles up the river. A pontoon bridge was +thrown across the stream; but there were many troops in advance of us, +and my brigade did not reach the south side until after one o'clock. Our +division was held in reserve; so we stacked arms and lay upon the grass +midway between the river and the foot of Mission Ridge, and listened to +the preliminary music of the guns as the National line was being +adjusted for to-morrow's battle. + +25. During the day, as we listened to the roar of the conflict, I +thought I detected in the management what I had never discovered before +on the battle-field, a little common sense. Dash is handsome, genius +glorious; but modest, old-fashioned, practical, every-day sense is the +trump, after all, and the only thing one can securely rely upon for +permanent success in any line, either civil or military. This element +evidently dominated in this battle. The struggle along Mission Ridge +seemed more like a series of independent battles than one grand +conflict. There were few times during the day when the engagement +appeared to be heavy and continuous along the whole line. There +certainly was not an extended and unceasing roll, as at Chickamauga and +Stone river, but rather a succession of heavy blows. Now it would +thunder furiously on the extreme right; then the left would take up the +sledge, and finally the center would begin to pound; and so the National +giant appeared to skip from point to point along the ridge, striking +rapid and thundering blows here and there, as if seeking the weak place +in his antagonist's armor. The enemy, thoroughly bewildered, finally +became most fearful of Sherman, who was raising a perfect pandemonium on +his flank, and so strengthened his right at the expense of other +portions of his line, when Thomas struck him in the center, and he +abandoned the field. The loss must be comparatively small, but the +victory is all the more glorious for this very reason. + +26. At one o'clock in the morning we crossed the Chickamauga in pursuit +of the retreating enemy. The First Brigade of our division having the +lead, I had nothing to do but follow it. At Chickamauga depot we came in +sight of the rebels, and formed line of battle to attack; but they +retired, leaving the warehouses containing their supplies in flames. At +3 P. M. my brigade was ordered to head the column, and we drove the +enemy's rear guard before us without meeting with any serious opposition +until nightfall, when, on arriving at Mrs. Sheppard's spring branch, +near Graysville, a brigade of Confederate troops, with a battery, under +command of Brigadier-General Manny, opened on us with considerable +violence. A sharp encounter ensued of about an hour's duration, +resulting in the defeat of the enemy and the wounding of the rebel +general. My brigade behaved well, did most of the fighting, and, owing +to the darkness, probably, sustained but little loss. When General Davis +came up I asked permission to make a detour through the woods to the +right, for the purpose of overtaking and cutting off the enemy's train; +but he thought it not advisable to attempt it. + + + + +DECEMBER, 1863. + + +I will not undertake to give a detailed account of our march to +Knoxville, for the relief of Burnside, and the return to Chattanooga. We +were gone three weeks, and during that time had no change of clothing, +and were compelled to obtain our food from the corn-cribs, hen-roosts, +sheep-pens, and smoke-houses on the way. The incidents of this trip, +through the valleys of East Tennessee, where the waters of the Hiawasse, +and the Chetowa, and the Ocoee, and the Estonola ripple through +corn-fields and meadows, and beneath shadows of evergreen ridges, will +be laid aside for a more convenient season. I append simply a letter of +General Sherman: + + + "HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,} + "CHATTANOOGA, _December 18, 1863_. } + + "GENERAL JEFF. C. DAVIS, _Chattanooga_. + + "DEAR GENERAL--In our recent short but most useful + campaign it was my good fortune to have attached + to me the corps of General Howard, and the + division commanded by yourself. I now desire to + thank you personally and officially for the + handsome manner in which you and your command have + borne themselves throughout. You led in the + pursuit of Bragg's army on the route designated + for my command, and I admired the skill with which + you handled the division at Chickamauga, and more + especially in the short and sharp encounter, at + nightfall, near Graysville. + + "When General Grant called on us, unexpectedly and + without due preparation, to march to Knoxville for + the relief of General Burnside, you and your + officers devoted yourselves to the work like + soldiers and patriots, marching through cold and + mud without a murmur, trusting to accidents for + shelter and subsistence. + + "During the whole march, whenever I encountered + your command, I found all the officers at their + proper places and the men in admirable order. This + is the true test, and I pronounce your division + one of the best ordered in the service. I wish you + all honor and success in your career, and shall + deem myself most fortunate if the incidents of war + bring us together again. + + "Be kind enough to say to General Morgan, General + Beatty, and Colonel McCook, your brigade + commanders, that I have publicly and privately + commended their brigades, and that I stand + prepared, at all times, to assist them in whatever + way lies in my power. + + "I again thank you personally, and beg to + subscribe myself, Your sincere friend, + + "W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General." + +Colonel Van Vleck, Seventy-eight Illinois, was kind enough in his report +to say: + +"In behalf of the entire regiment I tender to the general commanding the +brigade, my sincere thanks for his uniform kindness, and for his +solicitude for the men during all their hardships and suffering, as well +as for his undaunted courage, self-possession, and military skill in +time of danger." + +26. Moved to McAffee's Springs, six miles from Chattanooga, and two +miles from the battle-field of Chickamauga. My quarters are in the State +of Tennessee, those of my troops in Georgia. The line between the states +is about forty yards from where I sit. On our way hither, we saw many +things to remind us of the Confederate army--villages of log huts, +chimneys, old clothing, and miles of rifle pits. + +27. Just a moment ago I asked Wilson the day of the week, and he +astonished me by saying it was Sunday. It is the first time I ever +passed a Sabbath, from daylight to dark, without knowing it. + +Wilson lies on his cot to-night a disappointed man. His application for +a leave was disapproved. + +I am quartered in a log hut; a blanket over the doorway excludes the +damp air and the cold blasts. The immense chinks, or rather lack of +immense chinks, in various parts of the edifice, leave abundance of room +for the admission of light. There are no windows, but this is fortunate, +for if there were, they, like the door, would need covering, and +blankets are scarce. The fire-place, however, is grand, and would be +creditable to a castle. + +The forest in which we are encamped, was, in former times, a rendezvous +for the blacklegs, thieves, murderers, and outlaws, generally of two +States, Tennessee and Georgia. An old inhabitant informs me he has seen +hundreds of these persecuted and proscribed gentry encamped about this +spring. When an officer of Tennessee came with a writ to arrest them, +they would step a few yards into the State of Georgia and laugh at him. +So, when Georgia sought to lay its official clutches on an offending +Georgian, the latter would walk over into Tennessee and argue the case +across the line. It was a very convenient spot for law-breakers. To +reach across this imaginary line, and draw a man from Tennessee, would +be kidnapping, an insult to a sovereign State, and in a States'-rights +country such a procedure could not be tolerated. Requisitions from the +governors of Tennessee and Georgia might, of course, be procured, but +this would take time, and in this time the offender could walk leisurely +into Alabama or North Carolina, neither of which States is very far +away. In fact, the presence of large numbers of these desperados, in +this locality, at all seasons of the year, has prevented its settlement +by good men, and, in consequence, there are thousands of acres on which +there has scarcely been a field cleared, or even a tree cut. + +The somber forest, with its peculiar history, suggests to our minds the +green woods of old England, where Robin Hood and his merry men were wont +to pass their idle time; or the Black Forest of Germany, where thieves +and highwaymen found concealment in days of old. + +What a country for the romancer! Here is the dense wilderness, the +Tennessee and Chickamauga, the precipitous Lookout with his foot-hills, +spurs, coves, and water-falls. Here are cosy little valleys from which +the world, with its noise, bustle, confusions, and cares, is excluded. +Here have congregated the bloody villains and sneaking thieves; the +plumed knights, dashing horsemen, and stubborn infantry. Here are the +two great battle-fields of Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. Here neighbors +have divided, and families separated to fight on questions of National +policy. Here, in short, every thing is supplied to the poet but the +invention to construct the plot of his tale, and the genius to breathe +life into the characters. + +It may be possible, however, that the country is yet too young, and its +incidents too new, to make it a fertile field for the novelist. The +imagination works best amid scenes half known and half forgotten. When +time shall have thrown its shadows over the events of the last century, +and the real and unreal become so intermingled in the minds of men as to +become indistinguishable, imaginary Robin Hoods will find hiding places +in the caves; innocent men, in deadly peril, will seek safety in the +mountain fastnesses until the danger be past; conspirators will meet in +the shadowy recesses to concoct their hellish plots, over which truth, +courage, and honesty will finally triumph. Here the blue and the gray +will meet to fight, and to be reconciled; and there will not be wanting +the Helen McGregors and Die Vernons to give color and interest to the +scene. + +27. Our horses are on quarter feed. + +Some benevolent gentleman should suggest a sanitary fair for the benefit +of the disabled horses and mules of the Federal army. There is no +suffering so intense as theirs. They are driven, with whip and spur, on +half and quarter food, until they drop from exhaustion, and then +abandoned to die in the mud-hole where they fall. At Parker's Gap, on +our return from Tennessee, I saw a poor white horse that had been rolled +down the hill to get it out of the road. It had lodged against a fallen +tree, feet uppermost; to get up the hill was impossible, and to roll +down certain destruction. So the poor brute lay there, looking pitiful +enough, his big frame trembling with fright, his great eyes looking +anxiously, imploringly for help. A man can give vent to his sufferings, +he can ask for assistance, he can find some relief either in crying, +praying, or cursing; but for the poor exhausted and abandoned beast +there is no help, no relief, no hope. + +To-day we picked up, on the battle-field of Chickamauga, the skull of a +man who had been shot in the head. It was smooth, white, and glossy. A +little over three months ago this skull was full of life, hope, and +ambition. He who carried it into battle had, doubtless, mother, sisters, +friends, whose happiness was, to some extent, dependent upon him. They +mourn for him now, unless, possibly, they hope still to hear that he is +safe and well. Vain hope. Sun, rain, and crows have united in the work +of stripping the flesh from his bones, and while the greater part of +these lay whitening where they fell, the skull has been rolling about +the field the sport and plaything of the winds. This is war, and amid +such scenes we are supposed to think of the amount of our salary, and of +what the newspapers may say of us. + +28. One of my orderlies approached me on my weak side to-day, by +presenting me four cigars. Cigars are now rarely seen in camp. Sutlers +have not been permitted to come further south than Bridgeport; and had +it not been for the trip into East Tennessee the brigade would have been +utterly destitute of tobacco. + +While bivouacking on the Hiawasse, a citizen named Trotter, came into +camp. He was an old man, and professed to be loyal. I interrogated him +on the tobacco question. He replied, "The crap has been mitey poor fur a +year or two. I don't use terbacker myself, but my wife used to chaw it; +but the frost has been a nippen of it fur a year or two, and it is so +poor she has quit chawen ontirely." + +When returning from Knoxville, we passed a farm house which stood near +the roadside. Three young women were standing at the gate, and appeared +to be in excellent spirits. Captain Wager inquired if they had heard +from Knoxville. "O yes," they answered, "General Longstreet has captured +Knoxville and all of General Burnside's men." "Indeed," said the +Captain; "what about Chattanooga?" "Well, we heard that Bragg had moved +back to Dalton." "You have not heard, then, that Bragg was whipped; +lost sixty pieces of artillery and many thousand men?" "O no!" "You +have not heard that Longstreet was defeated at Knoxville, and compelled +to fall back with heavy loss?" "No, no; we don't believe a word of it. A +man, who came from Knoxville and knows all about it, says that you uns +are retreating now as fast as you can. You can't whip our fellers." +"Well, ladies," said the Captain, "I am glad to see you feeling so well +under adverse circumstances. Good-by." + +The girls were evidently determined that the Yank should not deceive +them. + +At another place quite a number of women and children were standing by +the roadside. As the column approached, said one of the women to a +soldier: "Is these uns Yankees?" "Yes, madam," replied the boy, "regular +blue-bellied Yankees." "We never seed any you uns before." "Well, keep a +sharp lookout and you'll see they all have horns on." + +One day, while I was at Davis' quarters, near Columbus, a preacher came +in and said he wanted to sell all the property he could to the army and +get greenbacks, as he desired to move to Illinois, where his +brother-in-law resided, and his Confederate notes would not be worth a +dime there. "How is that, Parson," said Davis, affecting to +misunderstand him; "not worth a damn there?" "No, sir, no, sir; not +worth a dime, sir. You misunderstood me, sir. I said not worth a dime +there." "I beg your pardon, Parson," responded Davis; "I thought you +said not worth a damn there, and was surprised to hear you say so." + +While we were encamped on the banks of the Hiawasse, a Union man, near +seventy years old, was murdered by guerrillas. Not long before, a young +lady, the daughter of a Methodist minister, was robbed and murdered near +the same place. Murders and robberies are as common occurrences in that +portion of Tennessee as marriages in Ohio, and excite about as little +attention. Horse stealing is not considered an offense. + +29. Nothing of interest has transpired to-day. Bugles, drums, drills, +parades--the old story over and over again; the usual number of +corn-cakes eaten, of pipes smoked, of papers respectfully forwarded, of +how-do-ye-do's to colonels, captains, lieutenants, and soldiers. You put +on your hat and take a short walk. It does you no good. Returning you +lie down on the cot, and undertake to sleep; but you have already slept +too much, and you get up and smoke again, look over an old paper, yawn, +throw the paper down, and conclude it is confoundedly dull. Jack brings +in dinner. You see somebody passing; it is Captain Clayson, the +Judge-Advocate, and you cry out: "Hold on, Captain; come in and have a +bite of dinner." He concludes to do so. Being a judge-advocate he talks +law, and impresses you with the idea that every other judge-advocate has +in some respects been faulty; but he has taken pains to master his +duties perfectly, and makes no mistakes. Pretty soon Major Shane drops +in, and you ask him to dine; but he has just been to dinner, and thanks +you. Observing Captain Clayson, he asks how the business of the +court-martial progresses, and says: "By the way, Captain, the sentence +in that quartermaster's case was disapproved because the record was +defective." The Captain blushes. He made up the record, and it strikes +him the Major's remark is very untimely. + +It is dull! + +30. Took a ten-mile ride this afternoon. Two miles from camp I met +Lieutenant Platt, one of my aids. He had asked permission in the morning +to go into the country to secure a lady for a dance, which is to take +place a night or two hence. I asked: "Where have you been, Lieutenant?" +"At Mrs. Calisspe's, the house on the left, yonder." I did not, of +course, ask if he had been successful in his mission; but as I +approached the little frame in which Mrs. Calisspe resided, I thought I +would drop in and see what sort of a woman had drawn the Lieutenant so +far from camp. Knocking at the door, a feminine voice said "Come in," +and I entered. There were three females. The elder I took to be Mrs. +Calisspe. A handsome, neatly-dressed young lady I concluded was the one +the Lieutenant sought. A heavy and rather dull woman, who stood leaning +against the wall, I set down as a dependent or servant in the family. +"Beg pardon, madam, is this the direct road to Shallow Ford?" "Yes, sir, +the straight road. Won't you take a seat?" "Thank you, no. Good +evening." Trotting along over the road which Mrs. Calisspe said was +straight, but which, in fact, was exceedingly crooked, we came finally +to the camp of the Thirteenth Michigan, a regiment which General Thomas +supposes to be engaged in cutting saw-logs, when, in truth, its +principal business is strolling about the country stealing chickens. It +is, however, known as the saw-log regiment. + +On our return from Shallow Ford, as we approached Mrs. Calisspe's, we +saw her handsome daughter on the porch inspecting a side-saddle, and +concluded from this that the gallant Lieutenant's application had been +successful, and that she proposed to accompany him to the ball on +horseback. As we galloped by the house, a little flaxen-haired, chubby +boy, who had climbed the fence, extended his head over the top rail and +jabbered at us at the top of his voice; but the handsome young lady did +not favor us with even a glance. + +31. It is late. Hours ago the bugles notified the boys that it was time +to retire to their dens. I have been reading Thackeray's "Lovell, the +Widower," and as I sat alone in the silence of the middle night, the +scenes depicted grew distinct and life-like; the characters encompassed +me about real living men and women; the drawing-rooms, dining-halls, +parlors, opened out before me; the streets, walks, drives, were all +visible, and I became a spectator instead of a reader. Suddenly a low, +unearthly wail broke the stillness, and my hair stiffened somewhat at +the roots, as the fancy struck me that I heard the voice of the defunct +Mrs. Lovell. A moment's reflection, however, dispelled this +disagreeable thought. Looking toward the corner of the cabin whence the +ghostly sound emanated, I discovered a strange cat. My long-legged boots +followed each other in quick succession toward the unhappy kitten, and I +yelled "scat" in a very vindictive way. + + + + +JANUARY 1, 1864. + + +Standing on a peak of Mission Ridge to-day, we had spread out before us +one of the grandest prospects which ever delighted the eye of man. +Northward Waldron's Ridge and Lookout mountain rose massive and +precipitous, and seemed the boundary wall of the world. Below them was +the Tennessee, like a ribbon of silver; Chattanooga, with its thousands +of white tents and miles of fortifications. Southward was the +Chickamauga, and beyond a succession of ridges, rising higher and +higher, until the eye rested upon the blue tops of the great mountains +of North Carolina. The fact that a hundred and fifty thousand men, with +all the appliances of war, have struggled for the possession of these +mountains, rivers, and ridges, gives a solemn interest to the scene, and +renders it one of the most interesting, as it is one of the grandest, in +the world. + +When history shall have recorded the thrilling tragedies enacted here; +when poets shall have illuminated every hill-top and mountain peak with +the glow of their imagination; when the novelist shall have given it a +population from his fertile brain, what place can be more attractive to +the traveler? + +Looking on this panorama of mountains, ridges, rivers, and valleys, one +has a juster conception of the power of God. Reflecting upon the deeds +that have been done here, he obtains a truer knowledge of the character +of man, and the incontestable evidences of his nobility. + + * * * * * + +Standing here to-day, I take off my hat to the reader, if by possibility +there be one who has had the patience to follow me thus far, and as I +bid him good-by, wish him "A Happy New Year." + + + + +CAPTURE, IMPRISONMENT, + +AND + +ESCAPE, + +BY + +GENERAL HARRISON C. HOBART, + +OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. + + + + +EXPLANATORY. + + +Among the Union officers who escaped from Libby Prison at Richmond, on +the night of the 9th of February, 1864, was my esteemed friend, General +Harrison C. Hobart, then Colonel of the Twenty-first Wisconsin Volunteer +Infantry. His name is mentioned quite frequently in the preceding pages. +Ten years after the war closed, he spent a few days at my house, and +while there was requested to tell the story of his capture, +imprisonment, and escape. My children gathered about him, and listened +to his narrative with an intensity of interest which I am very sure they +never exhibited when receiving words of admonition and advice from their +father. + +While my manuscript was in the hands of the publishers, it occurred to +me that General Hobart's story would be as interesting to others as it +had been to my own family, and so I wrote, urging him to furnish it to +me for publication. He finally consented to do so, and I have the +pleasure now of presenting it to the reader. It bears upon its face the +evidence of its entire truthfulness, and yet is as interesting as a +romance. + +JOHN BEATTY. + + + + +GENERAL HOBART'S NARRATIVE. + + +The battles of Chickamauga were fought on the 19th and 20th of +September, 1863. The Twenty-first Wisconsin, which I then commanded, +formed a part of Thomas' memorable line, and fought through the battles +of Saturday and Sunday. At the close of the second day, Thomas' Corps +still maintained its position, and presented an unbroken front to the +enemy, but the right of our army having fallen back, the tide of battle +was turning against us. + +To avoid a flank movement, our brigade was ordered to leave the +breastworks, which they had held against the severest fire of the enemy +during the day, and fall back to a second position. Here only a portion +of the men, with three regimental standards, were rallied. A rebel +battery was instantly placed in position on our right, and rebel cavalry +swept between us and the retreating army. + +Being the ranking officer among those who rallied, I directed the men to +cut their way through to our retreating line. I was on the left of this +movement to the rear, and, to avoid the approach of horsemen, rapidly +passed to the left through a dense cluster of small pines, and +instantly found myself in the immediate front of a rebel line of +infantry. I halted, being dismounted, and an officer advanced and +offered his hand, saying that he was glad to see me, and proposed to +introduce me to his commander, General Cleburne. I replied, that I was +not particularly pleased to see him, but, under the circumstances, +should not decline his invitation. + +I met the General, who was mounted and being cheered by his men, and +surrendered to him my sword. He inquired where I had been fighting. I +said, "Right there," pointing to the line of Thomas' Corps. He replied, +"This line has given us our chief trouble, sir; your soldiers have +fought like brave men; come with me and I will see that no one insults +or interferes with you." + +It was now after sun-down, and the last guns of the terrible battle of +Chickamauga were dying away along the hillsides of Mission Ridge. A +large number of prisoners of war were soon gathered, and marched to the +enemy's rear across the Chickamauga. Here we witnessed the fearful +results of the battle. The ground strewed with the dead and wounded, the +shattered fragments of transportation, and a general demoralization +among the forces, told the fearful price which the enemy had paid for +their victory. More than fifteen hundred soldiers, prisoners of war, +camped by a large spring to pass the remainder of a cold night; some +without blankets or overcoats, and all without provisions. + +The next day we were marched about thirty miles to Tunnel Hill, where +we received our first rations from the enemy. On this march, the only +food we obtained was from a field of green sorghum. Here we were placed +in box cars and taken to Atlanta. On arriving at this place, we were +first marched to an open field outside of the city, near a fountain of +water, and surrounded by a guard. Kind-hearted people came out of the +city, bringing bread with them, which they threw to us across the guard +line. Immediately a second line was established, distant several rods +outside of the first, to prevent them from giving us food. + +From this place we were marched to the old slave-pen, and every man, as +he entered the narrow gate, was compelled to give up his overcoat and +blanket. I remonstrated with the officers for stripping the soldiers of +their necessary clothing, as an act in violation of civilized warfare +and inhuman. The men who were executing this infamous duty, did not deny +these charges, but excused themselves on the ground that they were +simply obeying an order of General Bragg from the front. That night I +saw seventeen hundred Union soldiers lie down upon the ground, without +an overcoat or blanket to protect them from the cold earth, or shield +them from the heavy Southern dew. + +The next morning we were ordered to take the cars, and proceed on our +way to Richmond. These men arose from the ground, cold and wet with dew, +and under my command organized and formed in column by companies, and +marched to the depot through one of the main streets of Atlanta, singing +in full chorus the Star Spangled Banner. Crowds gathered around us as +we entered the cars. A guard with muskets accompanied the train. + +I will here relate an incident which occurred on our way. We overtook a +train of open cars, filled with Confederate wounded from the +battle-field. The two trains stopped for some time alongside and in +close proximity. It was a spectacle to see the men of the two armies +intently observe each other. On the one side was the calm, pale face of +the wounded; on the other, the earnest, deep sympathy of the captive. No +unkind look or word passed between them. Of the seventeen hundred +prisoners, there was not one who would not have given his coat, or +reached for his last cent, to help his wounded brother. + +On the last day of September, after traveling more than eight hundred +miles from the battle-field of Chickamauga, we arrived at Richmond, and +the officers of the Cumberland Army, to the number of about two hundred +and fifty, were marched to Libby Prison. + +This building has a front of about one hundred and forty feet, with a +depth of about one hundred and five. There are nine rooms, each one +hundred and two feet long, by forty-five wide. The height of ceilings +from the floor is about seven feet. The building is also divided into +three apartments by brick walls, and there is a basement below. + +On entering the prison, we were severally searched, and every thing of +value taken from us. Some of us saved our money by putting it into the +seams of our garments before we arrived at Richmond. The officers of +the Army of the Cumberland were assigned to the middle rooms of the +second and third stories. The lower middle room was used as a general +kitchen, and the basement immediately below was fitted up with cells for +the confinement and punishment of offenders. These rooms received the +_sobriquet_ of Chickamauga. + +The whole number of officers of the army and navy in prison at this time +was about eleven hundred--all having access to each other, except those +in the hospital. There were no beds or chairs, and all slept on the +floor. I shared a horse blanket with Surgeon Dixon, of Wisconsin, which +was the only bedding we had for some time. Our bread was made of +unbolted corn, and was cold and clammy. We were sometimes furnished with +fresh beef, corn beef, and sometimes with rice and vegetable soup. The +men formed themselves into messes, and each took his turn in preparing +such food as we could get. + +At one time, no meat was furnished for about nine days, and the reason +given was, that their soldiers at the front required all they could +obtain. During this period, we received nothing but corn bread. Kind +friends sent us boxes of provisions from the North, which were opened +and examined by the Confederates, and if nothing objectionable was +found, and it pleased them, the party to whom a box was sent was +directed to come down and get it. Many of these were never delivered. +Every generous soul shared the contents of his box with his more +unfortunate companions. Had it not been for this provision, our life in +Libby would have been intolerable. + +There was no glass in the windows, and for some time no fire in the +rooms. An application for window glass, made during the severest cold +weather, was answered by the assurance that the Confederates had none to +furnish. The worst affliction, however, was the vermin, which invaded +every department. + +Each officer was permitted to write home the amount of three lines per +week; but even these brief messages were not always allowed to leave +Richmond. + +A variety of schemes were adopted to improve or kill time. We played +chess, cards, opened a theater, organized a band of minstrels, delivered +lectures, established schools for teaching dancing, singing, the French +language, and military tactics, read books, published a manuscript +newspaper, held debates, and by these means rendered life tolerable, +though by no means agreeable. + +An incident occurred, after we had been in prison some time, which made +a deep impression upon every one. Some of our men had been confined in a +block not far from Libby, called the Pemberton Building. An order had +been issued to remove them to North Carolina. When they left, their line +of march was along the street in our front, and when they passed under +our windows, we threw out drawers, shirts, stockings, etc., which they +gathered up; and when they raised their pale and emaciated faces to +greet their old commanders, there were but few dry eyes in Libby. Many +of them were making their last march. + +Our sick were removed to the room set apart, on the ground floor, for a +hospital; and, when one died, he was put in a box of rough boards, +placed in an open wagon, and rapidly driven away over the stony streets. +There were no flowers from loving hands, and no mourning pageant, but a +thousand hearts in Libby followed the gallant dead to his place of rest. + +We were seldom visited by any person. The only call I received was from +General Breckenridge, of Kentucky; I had known him before the war. +During our interview, I referred to the resources of the North and +South, and asked him upon what ground he hoped the Confederacy could +succeed. His only reply was, that, "five millions of people, determined +to be free, could not be conquered." + +There being no exchange of prisoners at this time, projects of escape +were discussed from the beginning. One scheme was, for a few persons at +a time to put on the dress of a citizen, and attempt to pass the guard +as visitors. A few actually recovered their liberty in this manner. +Another plan was, to dig a tunnel to the city sewer, which was +understood to pass under the street in front of the prison, and escape +through that to the river. This project might have succeeded had not the +water interfered. The final and successful plan was as follows: + +On the ground floor of the building, on a level with the street, was a +kitchen containing a fire-place, at a stove connected with which the +prisoners inhabiting the rooms above did their cooking. Beneath this +floor was a basement, one of the rooms which was used as a store-room. +This store-room was under the hospital and next to the street, and +though not directly under the kitchen, was so located that it was +possible to reach it by digging downward and rearward through the +masonry work of the chimney. From this basement room it was proposed to +construct a tunnel under the street to a point beneath a shed, connected +with a brick block upon the opposite side, and from this place to pass +into the street in the guise of citizens. A knowledge of this plan was +confided to about twenty-five, and nothing was known of the proceedings +by the others until two or three days before the escape. A table knife, +chisel, and spittoon were secured for working tools, when operations +commenced. Sufficient of the masonry was removed from the fire-place to +admit the passage of a man through a diagonal cut to the store-room +below; and an excavation was then made through the foundation wall +toward the street, and the construction of the tunnel proceeded night by +night. But two persons could work at the same time. One would enter the +hole with his tools and a small tallow candle, dragging the spittoon +after him attached to a string. The other would fan air into the passage +with his hat, and with another string would draw out the novel dirt car +when loaded, concealing its contents beneath the straw and rubbish of +the cellar. Each morning before daylight the working party returned to +their rooms, after carefully closing the mouth of the tunnel, and +skillfully replacing the bricks in the chimney. + +An error occurred during the prosecution of this work that nearly proved +fatal to the enterprise. After a sufficient distance was supposed to +have been made, an excavation was commenced to reach the top of the +ground. The person working, carefully felt his way upward, when suddenly +a small amount of the top earth fell in, and through this he could +plainly see two sentinels apparently looking at him. One said to the +other, "I have been hearing a strange noise in the ground there!" After +listening a short time, the other replied that it was "nothing but +rats." The working party had not been seen. After consultation, this +opening was carefully filled with dirt and shored up. The work was then +recommenced, and after digging about fifteen feet further the objective +point under the shed was successfully reached. + +This tunnel required about thirty days of patient, tedious and dangerous +labor. It was eight feet below the street, between sixty and seventy +feet in length, and barely large enough for a full-grown person to crawl +through, by pulling and pushing himself along with his hands and feet. +Among the officers entitled to merit in the execution of this work, Col. +T. E. Rose, of Pennsylvania, deserves particular mention. + +When all was complete, the company was organized into two parties; the +first under the charge of Major McDonald, of Ohio, and the second was +placed under my direction. The parties having provided themselves with +citizens' clothing, which had at different times been sent to the +prison by friends in the North, and having filled their pockets with +bread and dried meat from their boxes, commenced to escape about seven +P. M., on the 9th of February, 1864; Major McDonald's party leaving +first. In order to distract the attention of the guard, a dancing party +with music was extemporized in the same room. As each one had to pass +out in the immediate presence of these Confederate soldiers, when he +stepped into the street from the outside of the line, and as the guard +were under orders to fire upon a prisoner escaping, without even calling +upon him to halt, the first men who descended to the tunnel wore that +quiet gloom so often seen in the army before going into battle. It was a +living drama; dancing in one part of the room, dark shadows disappearing +through the chimney in another part, and the same shadows re-appearing +upon the opposite walk, and the sentinel at his post, with a voice that +rang out upon the evening air, announcing: "Eight o'clock, Post No. +One," and "All is well!" and at the same time a Yankee soldier was +passing in his front, and a line of Yankee soldiers were crawling under +his feet. The passage was so small that the process of departure was +necessarily slow; a few inches of progress only being made at each +effort, and to facilitate locomotion outside garments were taken off and +pushed forward. + +By this time the proceedings had become known to the whole prison, and +as the first men emerged upon the street, and quietly walked away, seen +by hundreds of their fellows, who crowded the windows, a wild +excitement and enthusiasm were created, and they rushed down to the +chimney, clamoring for the privilege of going out. It was the intention +of the parties, organized by those who constructed the tunnel, that no +others should leave until the next night, as it might materially +diminish their own chances of escape. But the thought of liberty and +pure air, and the death damp of the dark loathsome prison would not +allow them to listen to any denial. Major McDonald and myself then held +a parley, and it was arranged that the rope upon which we descended into +the basement, after the last of the two parties had passed out, should +be pulled up for the space of one hour; then it should be free to all in +prison.[A] + +Having joined my fortunes with Col. T. S. West, of Wisconsin, we were +among the last of the second party who crawled through. About nine +o'clock in the evening we emerged from the tunnel, and cautiously +crossing an open yard to an arched driveway, we stepped out upon the +street and slowly walked away, apparently engaged in an earnest +conversation. As soon as we were out of range of the sentinels' guns, we +concluded it would be the safest course to turn and pass up through one +of the main streets of Richmond, as they would not suspect that +prisoners escaping would take that direction. My face being very pale, +and my beard long, clinging to the arm of Colonel W., I assumed the part +of a decrepit old man, who seemed to be in exceeding ill health, and +badly affected with a consumptive cough. + +In this manner we passed beneath the glaring gaslights, and through the +crowded street, without creating a suspicion as to our real character. +We met the police, squads of soldiers, and many others, who gave me a +sympathizing look, and stepped aside on account of my apparent +infirmities. Approaching the suburbs of the town, we retreated into a +ravine, which enabled us to leave the city without passing out upon one +of the streets. While in prison I copied McClellan's war map of +Virginia, which aided us materially in this escape. Our objective points +were to cross the Chickahominy above New Bridge, then cross the +Yorkville Railroad, then strike and follow down the Miamisburg pike. + +After resting and breathing pure air, the first time for more than four +months, we resumed our journey, agreeing not to speak above a whisper, +avoiding all houses and roads, and determining our course by the North +Star. In crossing roads, we traveled backwards, that the footsteps might +mislead our pursuers. + +We soon came in sight of the main fortifications around Richmond, and +instantly dropping upon the ground we lay for a long time, listening and +watching for the presence of sentinels upon that part of the line. Being +satisfied that there were none in our immediate front, in the most +silent and cautious manner, we crossed over the fortification and +pursued our way through a tangled forest. Coming to a piece of low +ground, tired and exhausted, we lay down to rest. Our attention was +soon attracted by the presence of a series of excavations; and on a +close examination we found we were resting upon the battle-field of Fair +Oaks, and among the trenches in which the Confederates had buried our +dead; and, although it was the midnight hour, a strange feeling of +safety stole over me, and I felt as if we were among our friends. It was +the step and voice of the living that we dreaded. + +At early dawn (Wednesday) we crossed a brook, and went upon a hillside +of low, thick pines to conceal ourselves, and rest during the day. The +Valley of the Chickahominy lay before us. While in this concealment, we +saw a blood-hound scenting our steps down to the place where we jumped +over the brook; it then went back and returned two or three times, but +finally left without attempting to cross the little stream. Late in the +evening, we went to the river and worked till after midnight to make or +find a crossing. The water was deep and cold, and, failing to accomplish +our purpose, we turned back to a haystack, and, covering ourselves with +hay, rested until the first light of morning (Thursday). + +Going back to the river, we followed down its course until we found a +tree which had fallen nearly across the stream. Discovering a long pole, +we found that it would just touch the opposite shore from the limbs of +this tree. Hitching ourselves carefully along this pole, we reached the +left bank of the Chickahominy River. + +We now felt as if escape was possible; but, hearing a noise like the +approach of troops, for we were satisfied that the enemy's cavalry must +be in full pursuit, we fled into a neighboring forest. As we approached +the center of a thicket, my eye suddenly caught the glimpse of a man +watching us from behind the root of a fallen tree. I concluded that we +had fallen into an ambush; but our momentary apprehension was joyfully +relieved by the discovery that this new-made acquaintance was Colonel W. +B. McCreary, of Michigan, and with him Major Terrence Clark, of +Illinois, who had gone through the tunnel with the first party that went +out, and were now passing the day in this secluded place. The Colonel +was one of my intimate friends, and when he recognized me he jumped to +his feet and threw his arms around me in an ecstasy of delight. + +By this time the whole population had been informed of the escape, and +the country was alive with pursuers. We could distinctly hear the +reveille of the rebel troops, and the hum of their camps. Thus +reinforced, we agreed to travel in company. It was arranged that one of +the four should precede, searching out the way in the darkness, and +giving due notice of danger. + +At dark we left our hiding place, and cautiously proceeded on our way. +Late at night we crossed the railroad running from Richmond to White +House, our second objective point. Here Colonel West saw a sentinel +sitting close by the railroad, asleep, with his gun resting against his +shoulder. Just before daybreak we went into a pine woods, after +traveling a distance of more than twenty miles, and, weary and tired, +we lay down to rest. + +The morning (Friday) broke clear and beautiful, but with its bright +light came the bugle notes of the enemy's cavalry, who were in the pines +close by us. We instantly arose and fled away at the top of our speed, +expecting every moment to hear the crack of the rifle, or the sharp +command to halt. We struck a road and about faced to cross it, the only +time that we looked back. We pursued our rapid step until we came to a +dense chaparral, and into this we threaded our way until we reached an +almost impenetrable jungle. Crawling into the center, we threw ourselves +upon the ground completely exhausted. A bird flew into the branches +above us as we lay upon our backs, and the words burst from my lips: +"Dear little bird! Oh, that I had your wings!" + +As soon as friendly darkness again returned, we moved forward, weary, +hungry, and footsore, still governed in our course by the North Star. +During all this toilsome way, but few words passed between us, and these +generally in low whispers. So untiring was the search, and so thoroughly +alarmed and watchful were the population, that we felt that our safety +depended upon a bare chance. Again making our way from wood to wood, and +avoiding farm houses as best we might, till the light of another morning +(Saturday), we retired to cover in the shade of a thick forest. + +Saturday night the journey was resumed as usual. It was my turn to act +the part of picket and pilot. While rapidly leading the way through a +forest of low pines, I suddenly found myself in the presence of a +cavalry reserve. The men were warming themselves by a blazing fire, and +their horses were tied to trees around them. I was surprised and +alarmed; but recovering my self-possession, I remained motionless, and +soon perceived that my presence was unobserved. Carefully putting one +foot behind the other I retreated out of sight, and rapidly returned to +my party. Knowing that there were videttes sitting somewhere at the +front in the dark, we concluded to go back about two miles to a +plantation, and call at one of the outermost negro houses for +information. We returned, and I volunteered to make the call while the +others remained concealed at a distance. + +I approached the door and rapped, and a woman's voice from within asked, +"who was there?" I replied, that "I was a traveler and had lost my way, +and wished to obtain some information about the road." She directed me +to go to another house, but I declined to do so, and after some further +conversation the door was opened, and I was surprised to find a large, +good-looking negro standing by her side, who had been listening to the +interview. He invited me to come in, and as soon as the door was closed, +he said: "I know who you are; you're one of dem 'scaped officers from +Richmond." Looking him full in the face, I placed my hand firmly upon +his shoulder, and said: "I am, and I know you are my friend." His eyes +sparkled as he repeated: "Yes, sir; yes, sir; but you musn't stay here; +a reg'ment of cavalry is right thar'," pointing to a place near by, +"and they pass this road all times of the night." The woman gave me a +piece of corn-bread and a cup of milk, and the man accompanying me, I +left the house, and soon finding my companions, our guide took us to a +secluded spot in a canebrake, and there explained the situation of the +picket in front. It was posted on a narrow neck of land between two +impassable swamps, and over this neck ran the main road to Williamsburg. +The negro proved to be a sharp, shrewd fellow, and we engaged him to +pilot us round this picket. After impressing us in his strongest +language with the danger both to him and to us of making the least +noise, he conducted us through a long canebrake path, then through +several fields, then directly over the road, crossing between the +cavalry reserve and their videttes, who were sitting upon their horses +but a few rods in front, and then took us around to the pike about a +mile beyond this last post of the rebels. After obtaining important +information from him concerning the way to the front, and giving him a +substantial reward, we cordially took his hand in parting. If good deeds +are recorded in Heaven, this slave appeared in the record that night. + +The line of the pike was then rapidly followed as far as Diascum river, +which was reached just at light Sunday morning. To cross this river +without assistance from some quarter was found impossible. We tried to +wade through it, but failed in this attempt. We were seen by some of the +neighboring population, which largely increased our danger and +trepidation; for we had been informed by our guide that the enemy's +scouts came to this point every morning. After awhile we succeeded in +reaching an island in the river, but could get no farther, finding deep +water beyond. We endeavored to construct a raft but failed. The water +being extremely cold, and we being very wet and weary, we did not dare +attempt to swim the stream; and expecting every moment to see the +enemy's cavalry, our hearts sank within us. At this juncture a rebel +soldier was seen coming up the river in a row-boat with a gun. +Requesting my companions to lie down in the grass, I concealed myself in +the bushes close to the water to get a good view of the man. Finding his +countenance to indicate youth and benevolence, I accosted him as he +approached. + +"Good morning; I have been waiting for you; they told me up at those +houses that I could get across the stream, but I find the bridge is +gone, and I am very wet and cold; if you will take me over, I will pay +you for your trouble." + +The boat was turned into the shore, and as I stepped into it I knew that +boat was mine. Keeping my eye upon his gun, I said to him, "there are +three more of us," and they immediately stepped into the boat. "Where do +you all come from?" said the boatman, seeming to hesitate and consider. +We represented ourselves as farmers from different localities on the +Chickahominy. "The officers don't like to have me carry men over this +river," he said, evidently suspecting who we were. I replied, "that is +right; you should not carry soldiers or suspected characters." Then +placing my eyes upon him, I said, "pass your boat over!" it sped to the +other shore. We gave him one or two greenbacks, and he rapidly returned. +We knew we were discovered, and that the enemy's cavalry would very soon +be in hot pursuit, therefore we determined, after consultation, to go +into the first hiding place, and as near as possible to the river. The +wisdom of this course was soon demonstrated. The cavalry crossed the +stream, dashed by us, and thoroughly searched the country to the front, +not dreaming but we had gone forward. We did not leave our seclusion +until about midnight, and then felt our way with extreme care. The +proximity to Williamsburg was evident from the destruction every where +apparent in our path. There were no buildings, no inhabitants, and no +sound save our own weary footsteps; desolation reigned supreme. Stacks +of chimneys stood along our way like sentinels over the dead land. + +For five days and six nights, hunted and almost exhausted, with the +stars for our guide, we had picked our way through surrounding perils +toward the camp-fires of our friends. We knew we were near the outposts +of the Union troops, and began to feel as if our trials were nearly +over. But we were now in danger of being shot as rebels by scouting +parties of our own army. To avoid the appearance of being spies, we took +the open road, alternately traveling and concealing ourselves, that we +might reconnoiter the way. About two o'clock in the morning, coming near +the shade of a dark forest that overhung the road, we were startled, +and brought to a stand, by the sharp and sudden command, "Halt!" Looking +in the direction whence it proceeded, we discovered the dark forms of a +dozen cavalrymen drawn up in line across the road. A voice came out of +the darkness, asking, "who are you?" We replied, "we are four +travelers!" The same voice said, "if you are travelers, come up here!" +Moving forward the cavalry surrounded us, and carefully looking at their +coats, I concluded they were gray, and was nerving myself for a +recapture. It was a supreme moment to the soul. One of my companions +asked, "are you Union soldiers?" In broad Pennsylvania language the +answer came, "well we are!" In a moment their uniforms changed to +glorious blue, and taking off our hats we gave one long exultant shout. +It was like passing from death unto life. Our hearts filled with +gratitude to Him whose sheltering arm had protected us in all that +dangerous way. Turning toward Richmond, I prayed in my heart that I +might have strength to return to my command. + +I was afterwards in Sherman's advance to Atlanta; the March to the Sea +and through the Carolinas; entered Richmond with the Western army; and +had the supreme satisfaction of marching my brigade by Libby Prison. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[A] NOTE.--One hundred and nine prisoners escaped through this +tunnel that night, of whom fifty-seven reached our lines. + + + + +INDEX. + + + PAGE. + + March from Buckhannon West Virginia to Rich Mountain 18 + + Battle of Rich Mountain 24 + + Beverly and Huttonville 26 + + Incidents at Cheat Mountain Pass 28 + + Camp at Elk Water 43 + + The flag of truce 46 + + Capture of De Lagniel 52 + + The flood 61 + + The advance and retreat of Lee 67 + + Ride to a log cabin in the mountains 68 + + Moonlight and music 69 + + The Hoosiers stir up the enemy 72 + + The expedition to Big Springs 75 + + The accomplished colored gentleman 78 + + At Louisville Kentucky 84 + + March to Bacon Creek 86 + + Incidents of the camp 87 + + Trouble in the regiment 91 + + A little unpleasantness with the Colonel 97 + + A case of disappointed love 99 + + The advance to Green River 103 + + The march to Nashville 109 + + A Southern lady wants protection 112 + + John Morgan on the rampage 114 + + Incidents at Nashville 116 + + March to Murfreesboro 118 + + The dash into North Alabama 124 + + General O. M. Mitchell 127 + + Rumors of the battle at Shiloh 131 + + Affair at Bridgeport 135 + + The rendezvous of the Bushwhackers 138 + + The negro preacher 141 + + Provost Marshal of Huntsville 142 + + Pudin' an' Tame 146 + + Grape-vines from Richmond 151 + + Garfield and Ammen 156 + + Two Pious men meet at Pittsburgh Landing 162 + + Uncle Jacob tells a few stories 163 + + De coon am a great fiter 167 + + General Ammen as a teacher 168 + + The murder of General Robert McCook 169 + + The race for the Ohio River 175 + + The battle of Perryville, Kentucky 176 + + Pursuit of Bragg 182 + + The Army of the Cumberland 185 + + Incidents on the way to Nashville 186 + + Colonel H. C. Hobart 192 + + The advance on Murfreesboro 198 + + The battle of Stone River 201 + + A ride over the battle-field 210 + + The absentees 217 + + T. Buchanan Reid, the poet 225 + + The Chiefs 235 + + An interesting letter 244 + + The Third starts on the Streight raid 246 + + A good fighter 252 + + General Rosecrans angry 255 + + The Confederate account of Streight's surrender 267 + + The lame horse 268 + + Negley's party 277 + + Go out to dinner 283 + + Simon Bolivar Buckner (colored) 284 + + Advance on Tullahoma 285 + + The retreat of the enemy 290 + + The Peace party 297 + + Fact vs. Fiction 299 + + Board for the examination of applicants for + commissions in colored regiments 312 + + The advance to the Tennessee 319 + + Cross the Tennessee 327 + + Battle of Chickamauga 332 + + Fight at Rossville 346 + + Incidents at Chattanooga 348 + + Battle of Mission Ridge 356 + + March to Knoxville 359 + + General Sherman's letter 360 + + Camp at McAffee's Spring 362 + + Good-by 372 + + General H. C. Hobart's Narrative 379 + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 31, "genman" changed to "gentleman" (innocent old gentleman) + +Page 42, "melancholly" changed to "melancholy" (a melancholy strain) + +Page 49, "rumbbling" changed to "rumbling" (with a rumbling) + +Page 62, "neccesary" changed to "necessary" (give the necessary) + +Page 76, "befiting" changed to "befitting" (melody befitting so) + +Page 133, "imporant" changed to "important" (equally important results) + +Page 133, "to to" changed to "to" (us to Mrs. Rather) + +Page 154, "fo" changed to "for" (our care for) + +Page 154, "th" changed to "the" (we make the) + +Page 154, "establshed" changed to "established" (when once established) + +Page 170, "occurences" changed to "occurrences" (occurrences could +suggest) + +Page 179, word "a" added to text (form a line) + +Page 183, "jeolousies" changed to "jealousies" (petty jealousies +existing) + +Page 274, "Vallandigham" changed to "Vallandingham" (accompanied +Vallandingham outside) + +Page 278, "Shirked" changed to "shirked" (they shirked by) + +Page 286, "Hardie's" changed to "Hardee's" (Hardee's corps was) + +Page 304, "to to" change to "to" (Wilder to this) + +Page 323, "cavliers" changed to "cavaliers" (of the cavaliers) + +Page 323, "sure sure" changed to "sure" (quite sure Mrs.) + +Page 325, "lieutenantcy" changed to "lieutenancy" (to a second +lieutenancy) + +Page 329, "popuulation" changed to "population" (overflowing with +population) + +Page 337, word "a" added to text (form a line) + +Page 380, "Chicamauga" changed to "Chickamauga" (battle of Chickamauga) + +Page 386, extraneous word "in" was removed from the text in the phrase: +"one of the rooms which was used as a store-room". The original read: +"one of the rooms in which was used as a store-room" + +Page 398, "of" changed to "off" (taking off our) + +Page 400, "Bushwackers" changed to "Bushwhackers" (rendevous of the +Bushwhackers) + +Page 401, "Alaabma" changed to "Alabama" (into North Alabama) + +Page 401, "Good-bye" changed to "Good-by" to match text. + +Three instances each of secesh/sesesh were retained. + +One instance each of the following words was retained: + + barefooted/bare-footed + whitleather/whit-leather + Jerroloman/Jerroloaman + +Page 234, the section reads "an assault upon our works at twelve M." in +the original. It is unclear whether A. M. or P. M. was intended and so +this was retained. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Citizen-Soldier, by John Beatty + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITIZEN-SOLDIER *** + +***** This file should be named 20460.txt or 20460.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/6/20460/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/20460.zip b/20460.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..513b68c --- /dev/null +++ b/20460.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e03caa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #20460 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20460) |