Headquarters First Brigade,
Fifth Div., Seventeenth Army Corps,
Department Of Tennessee, Nov. 19, 1863.
Your wildest dreams
never shadowed forth the life I lead. I retain my business headquarters at “Kenilworth,”
a most sumptuous and elegant house; but for my private quarters I occupy “Auburn,”
a seat nearly adjacent, and the property of Dr. . . . the largest cotton
planter and, probably, the richest man in the South. You may imagine my ménage.
He is in New York; but I am rarely permitted to dine at home. There are
several families, at whose table a cover is always laid for me, and the stated
entertainments are of almost daily occurrence. I have never seen in New York or
elsewhere anything approaching the style of living of the wealthy here. . . . I wish you could see my apartments this
morning — perfect conservatories. My tables are covered with bouquets,
camellias, and violets, and geraniums in lavish profusion. The air here now is
soft and balmy, the weather like our Indian summer; not quite so cool. The
mercury, as I write, stands in the shade at seventy-eight degrees.
I wrote you that the
beautiful sword, sash, belt, etc., that had been presented to me, was sunk. It
was recovered, but very much spoiled. The agent would not receive it from the
express company at Vicksburg, and I have never seen it. The saddle and bridle
came safe enough and are very fine.
SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of
Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 343-4
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