Saturday, December 10, 2016

Diary of Brigadier-General William F. Bartlett: Thursday, August 25, 1864

Very warm to-night. We have had some success on the Weldon Railroad. They have stopped our wheat bread; nothing but this coarse corn bread for these sick men. It will kill them at a fearful rate; indeed, it is beginning to appear in the number of corpses that are carried by my tent to-day. Many will die to-night, the ward-master tells me. God have mercy on their souls, and console and sustain and protect theirs at home! I had a good dinner to-day, chicken broth. Madigan, whom I have won with the filthy lucre, secured it for me. He is one of the cooks here. My friend Jones of the garden brought his flour biscuits tonight. He's a trump.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 130-1

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