Bird's Point, Mo., January 20, 1862.
It goes confounded good once more to stand on boards, and be
able to sit down without wet coming through a fellow's pants. If I write and
tell you where we've been, you won't read it, and if I don't write all about it
you'll scold, so of the two I'll choose the first and tell you all I know. We
got on the steamer “Aleck Scott” last Tuesday morning with five days' rations
and started down the river through very heavy floating ice. ’Twas a very cold
day and full three inches of snow lay on the ground. We landed at Fort
Jefferson and camped for the night. By some mismanagement our tents and
equipage failed to come and we had to cook the bacon we had in our haversacks
on sticks over the fire, for supper, and sleep out on the snow, without tents
to protect us from the wind. That was a sweet old night! Next day we shouldered
our knapsacks, blankets all wet by a rain from 2 to 5 in the morning, and awful
heavy, and tramped about ten miles in a southeast direction, through Blanville,
Ballard County; and camped on Mayville Creek. Again we lay on the snow and
frozen ground with feather beds of brush, and at 9 next morning started on the
road to Columbus. We went out to Little Meadows which is about eight or nine
miles from Columbus, and halted. Taylor's battery was with us and they now
unlimbered and planted their guns to cover all of the four or five roads which
lead from here to the river. McClernand's brigade of six or seven regiments,
and Cook's of two regiments, were in advance of us with 1,000 cavalry, and I
think that we acted here as a reserve, for them to fall back on if repulsed in
a fight. We waited here two hours and then formed again and returned to our
camp of the previous night. It had turned warm by this time and the slush was
six inches deep on our backward march. Slept in the mud that night and remained
in camp all next day, during which it rained every hour. Friday night it rained
in a small way all the time, and in the morning, (if you remember when you have
too many clothes in a tub of water how the water will "slosh" when
you press the clothes) you'll understand my “condish.” I had my blanket spread
on some stiff brush, and Mr. Aqua surrounded brush, and every time Wills
turned, brush would bend and water would slosh and blanket would leak and
upshot was, Wills was damb'd wet, but too spunky to get up until he'd had his
nap. Saturday we got out of “provish,” and at 1 p. m. we struck tents, and
thought we were off for home sure. But we only marched back a few miles and
camped at Elliott's Mills. Here, by orders from the colonel, we killed two hogs
for the company, and he took what cornmeal we wanted from the mill, and we
supped sumptuously. Here although the mud was deep we slept finely. There was a
cypress swamp near and the bark can be torn into the finest shavings. That was
just as good as we wanted. Sunday we started for the river and of all the
marches, that beats! We waded through at least eight streams from one to two
feet deep and five to ten yards wide. I had shoes, and after wading the first
stream, I cut all the front upper off to let the water out handier. I made it
gay and festive after that. Object of expedish, don't know, don't care, only
know that it did me good. I feel 100 per cent better than I did when I started.
Col. Pitt Kellogg has brought me my commission as 1st lieutenant in his
regiment, and I am adjutant in the 3d batallion, Major Rawalts. I go to Cape
Girardeau the last of this week.
SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an
Illinois Soldier, p. 56-7
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