HEADQUARTERS 54TH REGT.
O. V. I.,
CAMP NEAR MOSCOW, July
10, 1862.
. . . I wrote you a long letter from this point about the
first inst., which I entrusted to a division train going to Memphis. This train
was attacked by the enemy's cavalry and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which they
had twenty-eight killed. We lost eighteen, and what the fate of my letter is I
do not know. If the “Secesh” get it I trust they will find its perusal
interesting. We have been marching and countermarching until our troops are
well-nigh done out. Water is hard to be got in this country at this season of
the year, and we suffer very much from thirst and the heat of the sun. Although
fatigued, my health continues good, but my duties are very arduous. You can
have no conception of the suffering attendant upon a march of a whole division
with three or four batteries of artillery, over these roads. There has been no
rain for a long time; as the train proceeds the dust rises and the whole
heavens for miles in extent are obscured, the light of the sun dimmed, while
the atmosphere becomes so thick that one can scarcely breathe. We commence our
march at about four o'clock, halt about ten, or at four o'clock in the evening,
going to camp about ten. Camp for me is simply to dismount at the tree under
which I propose to lie. There I lie down and go to sleep.
I have this moment received orders to march and must close
here. . . .
SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of
Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 220-1
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