Washington, D. C, January 25, 1865.
You will doubtless be surprised at the heading of this note.
On the 17th inst. I received from the Secretary of War a telegram ordering me
to repair without delay to the Adjutant-General of the United States. The same
day General Thomas ordered a steamboat to transport me to Paducah, from thence
I came hither almost on the wings of the wind, staying neither for fog, flood,
nor mountain pass, though I was befogged near Louisville, and snowed up one
night in the Alleghenies. Still, considering the distance, I made marvellously
good time, and arrived here last night. I discover that I have been summoned to
appear before the Committee on the Conduct of the War (of Congress), probably
to testify in reference to the Red River expedition.
I shall know to-morrow. My stay here will be only temporary,
and I shall probably from here be ordered back to Eastport or wherever my
command is. You may think it strange that I could not stop for at least a day,
but I dared not. I had been pretty well up to the time I was ordered here, but
that very day my old complaint came back upon me with great violence and lasted
every day of my journey, and I feared to make a halt lest I should be detained
as I was before. To-day I am a good deal better. I have not heard one word from
home since the letters that reached me at Nashville.
SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of
Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 379
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