Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Eliza Walter Smith, December 25, 1863

Headquarters First Brigade,
Fourth Div., Seventeenth Army Corps.
Department Of The Tennessee,
“Camp Kilby” in The FIeld, Christmas, 1863.
My Dear Mother:

You will understand that I am not at Vicksburg; but at a point between the Yazoo and Black Rivers — a wilderness utterly desolate. My district and camps extend over a wide expanse of country. I am complimented by a large command, and have had accession of five regiments of cavalry and a battery of artillery, an increase of some four thousand men to report to me — quite an army by itself. You may be sure I have enough to do. I average my forty miles a day on horseback, and keep my three good horses thoroughly exercised. We, of course, do not know from day to day what our movements may be; always waiting orders. But in all probability, I shall stay here or hereabouts all winter, varying with an occasional expedition and such brushes as I may be able to coax out of the enemy, the main body of whom is about sixty miles to my front, and who keep me amused by scouting parties. Meanwhile, the Senate may take it into their wise heads to reject my confirmation when the President sends my name in, and I may find myself relieved.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 346

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