Headquarters First Brigade,
Fourth Div., Seventeenth Army Corps.
Department Of The Tennessee,
“Camp Kilby” in The FIeld, Christmas, 1863.
My Dear Mother:
You will understand
that I am not at Vicksburg; but at a point between the Yazoo and Black Rivers —
a wilderness utterly desolate. My district and camps extend over a wide expanse
of country. I am complimented by a large command, and have had accession of
five regiments of cavalry and a battery of artillery, an increase of some four
thousand men to report to me — quite an army by itself. You may be sure I have
enough to do. I average my forty miles a day on horseback, and keep my three
good horses thoroughly exercised. We, of course, do not know from day to day
what our movements may be; always waiting orders. But in all probability, I
shall stay here or hereabouts all winter, varying with an occasional expedition
and such brushes as I may be able to coax out of the enemy, the main body of
whom is about sixty miles to my front, and who keep me amused by scouting
parties. Meanwhile, the Senate may take it into their wise heads to reject my
confirmation when the President sends my name in, and I may find myself
relieved.
SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of
Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 346
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