We started early this morning with General Crocker in
command and marched fifteen miles without stopping to get a drink. But several
of the men became overheated, for it was a dreadfully hot day and the roads were
dusty. We reached Corinth at 1 p. m., and going out a mile south of town,
stacked arms and remained there the rest of the day. We were nearly famished
when we reached Corinth. Our road was on a pine ridge, hot and dusty, with a
mile to water on either side, and it was utterly impossible for one to fall out
of rank, get water, catch up and get back to his place in line. It was one of
the hardest marches I have ever been on.1 On passing through the
town, by the college grounds, the young lady students worked hard at drawing
water from the well and giving it to the men to quench their thirst. We
bivouacked in a large cotton field, as our teams had not yet arrived with our
tents. It commenced to rain about sundown and we lay on the ground without any
protection.
__________
1 The fast march and doing without water so long
was all uncalled for, as after we got to Corinth we did nothing but lie around.
— A. O. D.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 68
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