Diary of Private Seth J. Wells, January 23, 1863

We started at sunrise as on the preceding morning. The wind blew quite strong, making it difficult for some of the smaller boats to keep up. When we were within a few miles of the Yazoo, the flagship "Platte Valley" halted and gave us the signal to close up. We closed up in regular order and about 3 o'clock came in sight of a fleet of eighty transports and gunboats at the mouth of the Yazoo. We halted about one mile above them, and twelve miles from Vicksburg by water, or eighty by the short cut on the Louisiana side. The troops here tell us our boys are working on the Farragut's canal and are to have it finished in a few days. We slept in the boat last night, Abe and I in our old place. The country for over a hundred miles above here is quite thickly settled by wealthy planters. On some of the plantations the Negro quarters form quite a town. The trees on the shore are covered with a long vine-like growth called Spanish moss. It is light green in color, and gives an appearance of being dead and covered with icycles.

SOURCE: Seth James Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells, Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 31