Friday, July 4, 2014

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, September 4, 1863

The weather today is intensely hot. Those who are not sick spent the day in washing their clothing. Over half of the boys in our regiment are sick with the fever and ague, all because of the very poor water we had to drink while on the march, the weather being very hot and sultry.1
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1 The results accomplished by this expedition were meager indeed, while the suffering endured by the men engaged in it was very great Many died from the effects of the hardships to which they were subjected, and many never fully recovered from the diseases contracted while passing through that malarious region, and that during the hottest days of the summer. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 141

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