Diary of 5th Sergeant Osborn H. Oldroyd: June 1, 1863

We stayed in camp all day, much to the enjoyment of the boys. Sergeant Hoover and I got a horse and mule, and rode down to Chickasaw Bayou, where the supplies for our army around Vicksburg are received. I have complained a little of being over-marched, but the trotting of my mule to-day was the hardest exercise I have had for some time.

If our poor foes in Vicksburg could see our piles of provisions on the river landing, they might hunger for defeat. Around Vicksburg the country is quite hilly and broken, with narrow ridges, between which are deep ravines. These ridges are occupied by the opposing forces at irregular distances. At some points the lines of the Union and Confederate armies are but fifty yards apart.

SOURCE: Osborn Hamiline Oldroyd, A Soldier's Story of the Siege of Vicksburg, p. 40

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: February 9, 1862

AFTER THE BATTLE.

 A hard looking lot this morning, and no doubt feeling as hard as we looked. Tired, hungry, ragged, covered with mud, and sore from our flesh being torn and scratched with the tangle-brush and briars through which we forced ourselves yesterday. After a good ration of whiskey and a breakfast of fried bacon, with shot coffee, we began to limber up and feel a little more natural. We can now look over the field and see the results of yesterday's work. Our regiment lost six killed and 47 wounded, some of them probably fatally. Our whole loss was 42 killed and 209 wounded. The enemy's loss is not known, but is probably less than ours. Today the gunboats are after the Confederate flotilla and no doubt will give them a taste of what happened yesterday. It will probably be reported at headquarters in Richmond that their navy in these waters has become a thing of the past. Our march up from the battle-ground, yesterday afternoon, was rather an interesting one, if men nearly dying from exhaustion can be said to get interested. The trees for a mile in front of our line are marked and scarred by our shot, showing the terrible effectiveness of our rifles. The road was strewn with guns, knapsacks, equipments, blankets and everything that impeded their retreat or which they thought they had no further use for. Passing a little brown house by the wayside I noticed quite a crowd of surgeons and officers standing around. Crowding my way up to the little open window, I saw the pale, quivering form of a young man lying on a cot, with a slight covering over him, apparently in a dying condition. I inquired if any one knew who he was, and was told it was Capt. O. Jennings Wise, son of ex-Governor Wise. He had received a mortal wound and could not possibly survive many minutes. He was editor of one of the Richmond papers and captain of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, the crack company of that city. He was a brave young fellow, and his was the last company to leave the redoubt, and then only when he fell mortally wounded.

SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 37

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: February 10, 1862

THE PRISONERS.

The prisoners are a motley looking set, all clothed (I can hardly say uniformed) in a dirty looking homespun gray cloth. I should think every man's suit was cut from a design of his own. Some wore what was probably meant for a frock coat, others wore jackets or roundabouts; some of the coats were long skirted, others short; some tight fitting, others loose; and no two men were dressed alike. Their head covering was in unison with the rest of their rig; of all kinds, from stovepipe hats to coonskin caps; with everything for blankets, from old bedquilts, cotton bagging, strips of carpet to Buffalo robes. The Wise legion are a more soldierly looking set; they wear gray cloth caps of the same pattern, and long sheep’s gray overcoats with capes. Most of the officers are smart, good looking young men, wearing well-fitting gray, uniforms, not unlike those of our own officers.

It is not dress altogether that makes the man or the soldier. I find among these chaps some pretty good fellows. I came across one young man from Richmond; he was smart appearing and very loquacious. In some talk I had with him he said; “This has turned out not as I wished, but not different from what I expected when we saw the force you had. In fact we had no business staying here after seeing your strength. We have met the enemy and we are theirs. I accept the situation and am glad it is no worse. I am Secesh clear through, and after I am exchanged, shall be at you again. We are now enemies, but in peace friends, and when this little dispute is settled, if any of you fellows ever come to Richmond, hunt me up. If alive, you will be welcome as long as you choose to stay, and when you leave, if you don't say you have had as right smart a time as you ever had, call me a liar and I will call you gentlemen.” The fellow gave me his card and said his father owned a plantation just out of the city. I met one fellow, a long, lank, lean, long-haired, sullen, cadaverous looking chap, and asked him what he was doing here. “Well,” he said, “not much; but you 'uns was right smart to get through that swamp. We thought the devil couldn’t get through it.” “So you think what the devil can’t do, Yankees can’t, do you? You mustn't take the devil for your guage in estimating Yankees; if you do you will always get beat. We can give him points, and beat him every time.” He looked a little incredulous, but did not seem inclined to go into any argument about it.

These fellows threw away a good many pistols and knives which they carried, many of which our boys have found. The knives are large, coarse, ugly looking things, forged at some country blacksmith shop, by a bungling workman, out of old rasps, scythe-points and anything containing steel. I asked one fellow what they carried those knives for, what use they put them to? “Oh!” he said, “them's Yankee slayers.” “Yankee slayers? And have you slain many Yankees with them?” “Wal, no, but we thought they mought come handy in close action.” “And did you think you would ever get near enough to the Yankees to use them? “Wal, we didn't know but we mought.” “Well, sir, those knives are too heavy to carry, and you don't need to carry them, for long before you would ever get near enough to the Yankees to use them the places that now know you would know you no more forever.”

The boys are mixing in among the prisoners, talking over the fight, trading jack-knives, buttons and such small notions as the happen to have, and getting acquainted with each other. The weather is warm and pleasant, like May. The robins and other birds are singing as in summer. The robins seem like old friends and neighbors and I cannot help thinking that perhaps some of them had their nests last summer in the trees and bushes which grow in our own dooryards and gardens at home.

Our gunboats have wiped from the face of the earth that part of the Confederate navy which prowled around these waters. They chased them up the Pasquotunk river to Elizabeth City, where, after less than an hour's engagement, the enemy set their boats on fire and fled.

SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 37-9

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: February 12, 1862

SETTLING PROPERTY TITLES.

The Confederate officers have been paroled and sent to Elizabeth City, up the Pasquotunk river. The 25th had the distinguished honor of escorting them and carrying a part of their baggage to the wharf where they took the boat. I reckon it must have been rather pleasing to those officers to see Yankee soldiers taking their luggage for them, but this disgrace must have been a thoughtless mistake on the part of the colonel or whoever ordered it. Those officers had with then their colored servants, but after they were all captured, officers and servants were a good deal mixed as to who they belonged to. When the officers were about leaving, Gen. Burnside settled the question. He told the darkies they could decide for themselves; they could go with their masters or stop here, just as they liked. A few of them went with their masters, the rest staid back to take their chances with the Yankees.

SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 39

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: February 18, 1862

PAROLING THE PRISONERS.

 The prisoners are all paroled, and were sent off today. Paroling the prisoners was rather interesting to the lookers on. They were required to affix their autographs to the parole, and it was curious to observe that a large majority of them wrote it the same way, simply making the letter X. Capt. Messenger, the provost marshal, was master of ceremonies. He is a very eccentric man, and many of the prisoners scarcely knew whether to be pleased or frightened at the curious questions he asked and remarks he made to them.

 SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 39

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: February 23, 1862

HISTORY.

The boys are amusing themselves making pipes from briar roots and fixing long stems of came to them. Some of them are carved very handsomely and show much artistic skill. Washington's birthday was celebrated by salutes from the forts and a holiday in the camp. There is some very interesting history connected with this island, but not having books to refer to, I can give but a very indifferent account of it. Sometime in the latter part of the 16th century, Sir Walter Raleigh, an English nobleman, sent out an American exploring expedition. They visited the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, discovering this island. After trading with the Indians, and learning what they could of the country, they returned to England. They gave such glowing accounts of the country and what they had seen that Raleigh, the next year, sent out a colony under one Lane. They occupied this island, but after about a year, during which time they suffered many hardships, returned to England. A year or two later, another expedition was sent out. They also settled here, but after a while the leader of it returned to England for supplies. After an absence of a year or two, he again returned here, but on landing, not a trace of it could be found, and it was never after heard from. A later historian, however, says the Indians who lived on the island claimed that some of their ancestors were white people and could talk out of a book.

SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 39-40

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: February 25, 1862

HUNTING FOR RELICS.

 This being a warm, sunny day, a small party of us thought we would take a stroll up to the head of the island, a mile or two, and perhaps we might find some traces or relics of Raleigh's expedition. Arriving at our destination, we discovered a large, weather-beaten two-storied house, built at some remote period, and surrounded by large live oak trees. We had not the slightest doubt but that this was the house built by Lane and his party. Seeing a man standing outside, whom we supposed was the gentlemanly proprietor of the ranche, we approached, and saluting him very respectfully, inquired if he was in receipt of any recent advices from Raleigh's expedition. He looked at us in utter astonishment and said he knew nothing about it and reckoned there had been “no sich expedition yere.” He said, “Burnside's expedition was yere,” and “reckoned that was about enough;” he couldn't see the use of any more coming. We bade the gentleman good day and left. In looking around for relics, Whipple picked up an old shoe heel. Here was a prize surely, a veritable relic of Raleigh's party. Whipple put it in his pocket, intending, as he said, to send it to the antiquarian society at Worcester, and indulging in the hope that for presenting such a priceless relic, they would at least vote him an honorary member of the society. Relics being scarce, we went up to the shore where we could look up the Albemarle. The wind was blowing gently down the sound, and the little rollers were breaking on the beach at our feet. It was pretty warm; the water looked clear and really refreshing. Some one proposed taking a dip. No sooner said than off came our clothes and in we plunged. Egad! such a scrambling and floundering to get out is seldom seen. It reminded me of a basket of lobsters turned into a tub of scalding water. The water was ice cold, and I thought I should certainly freeze before getting out. After getting on my clothes and getting warm, I certainly felt better for my bath. It was agreed by all hands that February was the wrong season of the year for out-door bathing. Whipple is despondent, his hopes are dashed. He came to me and informed me that he had carefully inspected the shoe heel, and found it put together with cut nails, which are a much more recent invention than Raleigh's expedition.

 SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 40

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 26, 1864

At Little River again, October 26, 1864.

Got back on the 25th, and have been laying quiet. Our foragers have been skirmishing a good deal with the enemies' scouts, but few casualties however.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 316

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 27, 1864

Cedar Bluff, Ala., October 27, 1864.

Waiting here for the 17th Army Corps to get across the Coosa. It is a beautiful little river, not as wide as the Illinois, but has a deeper channel. We are starting on the road to Talladega; don't even know whether we are starting on a campaign or not. Hood is reported across the Tennessee. We understand that Sherman has men enough to attend to him, and that Sherman intends to use us to Christianize this country. Many think we are now on the way to Montgomery or Selma. River here about 120 yards wide. About a thousand head of our cattle swam across, some of them swam over and back two or three times, and many of the thin ones drowned, for which we were grateful to the drovers as it saved us some very hard chewing.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 316

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 29, 1864

Camp in piney woods, five miles South of Cedar Bluffs, October 29, 1864.

Such a march over pine ridges and through swamps; Egyptian darkness would take a back seat in comparison with this night. It just happened to strike the men as funny, and they kept up a roar of cheering the whole distance.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 316

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 31, 1864

Near Cave Springs, Ga., 26 miles south of Rome,

October 31, 1864, I a. m.

We think we are going to Rome. Had an extremely disagreeable march yesterday of only 12 miles, over pine and scrub oak ridges. A swamp in every valley. Camped before dark for almost the first time of the trip. This is the 27th day since we broke camp at Eastpoint. Everybody is all right. Compliments to Colonel Wright, if he is at home, and tell him immense rumors are afloat of a Montgomery campaign. Had an immense supper of fresh pork and sweet potatoes.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 316-7

Judge Jacob McGavock Dickinson

JUDGE J. M. DICKINSON, General Solicitor and Counselor Illinois Central Railroad.

Jacob McGavock Dickinson was born in Columbus, Miss., January 30, 1851. His parents were Henry Dickinson, a descendant of Henry Dickinson who came from England to Virginia in 1654, and Anna McGavock, oldest daughter of Jacob McGavock and Louisa McGavock, daughter of Felix Grundy, residents of Nashville, Tenn. Henry Dickinson was an eminent lawyer of the Mississippi bar, a chancellor for many years, presidential elector, and one of the commissioners sent by his State to Delaware on the question of secessionn.

J. M. Dickinson was married April 20, 1876, at Nashville, Tenn., to Martha Maxwell Overton, daughter of John and Harriet Maxwell Overton. They have three children, John Overton, Henry, and J. M. Dickinson, Jr. Judge Dickinson passed his early youth in Columbus, Miss., where near the end of the great war, at the age of fourteen, he volunteered and served under Gen. Ruggles in the operations about Columbus. He is a member of the Isham Harris Bivouac, C. S. A. at Columbus. At the close of the war he moved to Nashville, and remained there until November, 1899, when he went to Chicago. He attended the public schools of Nashville, the Montgomery Bell Academy there, and graduated at the University of Nashville under the chancellorship of Gen. E. Kirby Smith, taking the A.B. degree in 1871 and the degree of A.M. in 1872. In 1871-72 he was assistant professor of Latin in the University of Nashville. During that period he took a night course of physiology and demonstration of anatomy in the medical department. In the fall of 1872 he entered the Columbia Law School, New York, under the teaching of Theodore Dwight, and took both the junior and senior courses. In the summer of 1873 he traveled in Europe, and that October he matriculated in the University of Leipzig for the purpose of studying German and taking a course in Roman law and political economy. In 1874 he took a course of lectures on literature in the Sorbonne and in the Civil Law in L'ecole du Droit at Paris. In the fall of 1874 he was admitted to the bar at Nashville. He was in the years 1890-93 specially appointed by Governors Buchanan, Taylor, and Turney to serve upon the Supreme Bench, and when Chief Justice Horace H. Lurton resigned to accept a position on the Federal Bench, Governor Turney, on March 23, 1893, tendered to Judge Dickinson an appointment to a position on the Supreme Bench. Judge Dickinson, while never a candidate for office, always took an active part in politics. He was specially prominent during the bitter contest in Tennessee growing out of the State debt, and was in 1882 chairman of the State Credit wing of the Democratic party. Twice he was chairman of the Committee of Fifty of the Reform Association of Nashville, which in two bitter and prolonged contests completely overthrew the ring politicians and political bosses. Judge Dickinson, on December 14, 1889, before the Bankers' Association of Chicago, delivered an address upon the “Financial and General Condition of the South” which attracted wide attention from the press generally and was accepted by the press and leading men of the South as an acceptable exposition of the Southern situation. In 1896 he was selected to deliver at the Centennial Exposition at Nashville the address commemorative of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Admission of Tennessee into the Union. On February 6, 1895, he was commissioned Assistant Attorney-General of the United States, and served to the end of Mr. Cleveland's term, when he resigned. He was then made District Attorney for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company for Tennessee and Northern Alabama, and also engaged in general practice. He also became a professor in the Law School of Vanderbilt University, where he taught until his removal to Chicago. November 1, 1899, he succeeded Judge James Fentress as General Solicitor of the Illinois Central Railroad Company. On November 1, 1801, he succeeded Mr. B. F. Ayer as General Counsel of that company, the duties of both offices then being combined.

In April, 1903, he was selected by the President, in connection with Mr. David T. Watson, of Pittsburg, as Counsel, and Mr. Hannis Taylor, of Mobile, Ala., and Mr. Chandler P. Anderson, of New York City, as Associate Counsel, to represent the Government of the United States before the Alaska Boundary Commission in London in September, 1903.

SOURCE: Confederate Veteran, Volume 11, No. 8, August 1903, p. 372

Brevet Brigadier-General Gates Phillips Thruston

THRUSTON, GATES PHILLIPS, lawyer and author: b. Dayton, Ohio, June 11, 1835; now resides in Nashville, Tenn. In 1855 he was graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. He entered the Federal army at the outbreak of the War of Secession and served until 1865. After the war he practiced law in Nashville, where he became prominent. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is vice-president of the Tennessee Historical Society. Besides magazine articles on military and antiquarian topics, he has published Antiquities of Tennessee and Adjacent States (1890). General Thruston is an example of the Federal soldier who after the war made himself a respected position in the South.

SOURCE: Walter Lynwood Fleming, Editor, The South in the Building of the Nation, Volume 12: Biography, p. 457

Brigadier-General Thomas Benton Smith.

General Thomas Benton Smith, who was the youngest general in the Confederate army and enjoys the further distinction of being the only one now living, has reached the venerable age of eighty-five years. His birth occurred in Rutherford county, Tennessee, on the 24th of February, 1838, his parents being James M. and Martha (Page) Smith, the former a native of Dinwiddie county, Virginia. He comes of English ancestry in the paternal line and of Welsh descent on the maternal side, and his mother's people lived in North and South Carolina before coming to Tennessee. General Smith still has in his possession a silver piece that his maternal ancestors brought from Wales and which was given to him by his mother. His maternal grandparents, John and Martha Page, lived ten miles from Franklin and five miles from Triune. James M. Smith, the father of General Smith, was a carpenter of Mechanicsville, Rutherford county, this state, who made and sold gins, while his wife made cloth to provide wearing apparel for her children and the ten negro slaves owned by the family. Their home was a log house of two rooms and a side porch. James M. Smith was a soldier of the War of 1812, participating in the battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson. When the Civil war was inaugurated he and his wife owned one hundred and five acres of land and other property to the value of about ten thousand dollars.

In the acquirement of an education Thomas Benton Smith walked two miles to attend common school and later became a student in a military academy at Nashville, Tennessee, from which he was graduated. Andrew Johnson gave him a lieutenant's commission and he then went to West Point, New York, attending school for sixteen years altogether. The opening of the Civil war found him busily engaged in the cultivation of a farm of one hundred and five acres which he owned in the vicinity of Triune and he left the plow handles to enlist in the Zollicoffer Guards of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, being sworn in at Triune on the 17th of May, 1861. Both he and his brother, John M. Smith, joined the Confederate forces, leaving their mother and the negroes at home. Thomas B. Smith was sent with his company to Camp Zollicoffer and in January, 1862, took part in the battle of Fishing Creek, while subsequently he fought at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Baton Rouge, Franklin and Nashville. His horse was shot from under him at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and again at the battle of Atlanta. After he had surrendered he was struck on the head with a sword by a Yankee colonel named W. S. McMillen, the blow splitting the bone of his head and exposing his brain, and he was placed in the Tennessee state prison, which was being used as a hospital. Following his discharge at Fort Warren, Massachusetts, he was given transportation and came direct to Nashville. Vernon K, Stevenson, the first president of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, who was his close personal friend, offered him a position in recognition of the fact that General Smith had made his son, Vernon K. Stevenson, Jr., a member of his staff in 1864. General Smith engaged in railroad work first as a brakeman, then as freight conductor and later won promotion to the position of passenger conductor on the Nashville & Chattanooga, being identified with railroad interests altogether for ten years, during a part of which period he was in the service of the Nashville & Decatur. After leaving the railroad he became a candidate for congress in the counties of Williamson, Wilson and Rutherford and following the election of E. I. Gollady of Lebanon, Tennessee, returned home, where he remained until the death of his mother. He was then sent to the Central State Hospital of Nashville, where he has been a patient for about forty-seven years, or since 1876, when the institution was under Dr. Callender's administration. He has always been accorded the best and kindest treatment and has numerous friends whose regard he prizes. His closest kin are nephews and nieces. He enjoyed the personal friendship of many distinguished men of an earlier day, including Andrew Johnson, General Felix K. Zollicoffer, General John C. Brown, General William B. Bate, General Bragg, who handed him his commission as brigadier general, General W. J. Hardee, General Frank Cheatham, Colonel E. W. Cole, John W. Thomas and W. L. Danley. Lieutenant James L. Cooper of Nashville and Dr. D. B. Cliff, Sr., of Franklin, Tennessee, were members of his staff while he held the rank of brigadier general in 1864. He attends the annual reunion of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Veterans at Centennial Park, also goes to Mount Olivet once a year to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers and occasionally takes other trips to Nashville. He declares that he is as happy as anyone could be under the circumstances and he is spending the evening of life in quiet content.

(Since this biographical sketch was written, General Smith has passed to his reward. In honor of his distinguished character and services his body was placed in state in the hall of the house of representatives in the capitol of Tennessee, where the funeral services were held under the auspices of the United Confederate Veterans.)

SOURCE: Tennessee: The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Volume 2, p. 144-7

Brigadier-General James Edward Raines

Brigadier-General James Edward Rains, one of the many civilians who rose to high military command during the great war between the States, was born in Nashville, Tenn., in April, 1833. He was graduated at Yale in 1854, and then studied law. He became city attorney at Nashville in 1858, and attorney-general for his judicial district in 1860. In politics he was a Whig, and was for some time editor of the Daily Republican Banner. When the summons to war came, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private, but was elected colonel of the Eleventh Tennessee infantry and commissioned May 10, 1861. The greater part of his service was in east Tennessee. During the winter of 1861-62 he commanded the garrison at Cumberland Gap. This position he held as long as it was possible to do so, repulsing several attempts of the enemy upon his lines. It was not until the 18th of June, 1862, that the Federals turned his position and rendered it untenable. Had this occurred earlier, east Tennessee would have been completely lost to the Confederates in 1862. But the forces which Kirby Smith was now gathering about Knoxville, in addition to those in the neighborhood of Cumberland Gap, made the Union occupation of that post almost a barren victory. When, in August, Smith advanced into Kentucky, he left Gen. Carter L. Stevenson with a strong division to operate against the Union general, Morgan, who was holding the gap with about 9,000 men. Colonel Rains commanded a brigade in Stevenson's division, and so efficient was his work that his name frequently appeared in both the Confederate and Union reports. Kirby Smith's success in Kentucky, and the steady pressure brought to bear upon Morgan by the Confederates, at last forced the Union commander to abandon Cumberland Gap and retreat through eastern Kentucky to the Ohio river. The efficient service rendered by Colonel Rains in all these movements was rewarded by a brigadier-general's commission, November 4, 1862. When Bragg was concentrating his army at Murfreesboro (November, 1862), after the return from the Kentucky campaign, the brigade of General Rains, composed of Stovall's and J. T. Smith's Georgia battalions, R. B. Vance's North Carolina regiment and the Eleventh Tennessee under Colonel Gordon, was ordered to that point and assigned to the division of General McCown, serving in Hardee's corps. In the brilliant charges made by this corps in the battle of December 31, 1862, by which the whole Federal right was routed and tent back upon the center, with immense loss in killed, wounded, prisoners and guns, McCown's division bore an illustrious part. But, as in all great battles is to be expected, the division lost many brave men and gallant officers. Among the killed was Brigadier-General Rains, who fell shot through the heart as he was advancing with His men against a Federal battery. He left to his family, to his native State and to the South the precious legacy of a noble name.

SOURCE: James D. Porter, Confederate Military History, Volume VIII. Tennessee, p. 329-31

Brigadier-General James Edward Raines

JAMES EDWARD Rains, [Class of 1854,] son of John Rains, was born in Wilson Co., Tenn., April 10, 1833, and entered college Sophomore year, a resident of Nashville, Tenn.

After teaching for a short time, he studied law and entered on the practice of his profession in Nashville.

In the Confederate army he held the rank of Colonel, and subsequently of Brigadier General, and fell, shot through the heart, at Murfreesboro', Dec. 31, 1862.

He married Miss Yeatman, a step-daughter of John Bell, formerly U. S. Senator from Tennessee.

SOURCE: Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College Deceased from July, 1859, to July 1870, p. 140-1

9th Missouri Cavalry

Organized originally as Bowen's Cavalry Battalion, which was designated 9th Cavalry October, 1862, by consolidation with other Companies. Attached to District of Rolla, Dept. of Missouri, to December, 1862. Operations in Boone County November 1-10. Expedition from Rolla to Ozark Mountains and skirmish November 30-December 6 (Co. "H"). Discontinued by consolidation with 10th Missouri Cavalry December 4, 1862. Companies "G" and "H" attached to 3rd Missouri Cavalry December 11, 1862.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1309

9th Missouri State Militia Cavalry

Organized at large in Missouri February 12, 1862, to September 20, 1863. Attached to District of Rolla, Dept. of Missouri, to February, 1863. District of North Missouri, Dept. of Missouri, to July, 1865.

SERVICE.—Regiment concentrated at Columbia, Mo., May 15, 1862. Ordered to Jefferson City, Mo. Assigned to duty in District of Rolla, Mo., till April, 1863. Action near Memphis, Mo., July 11, 1862. Brown Springs July 27. Moore's Mills, near Fulton, July 28-29. Kirksville August 6 (Detachment). Pursuit of Poindexter and skirmishes at Grand River, Lee's Ford, Chariton River, Walnut Creek, Compton's Ferry, Switzler's Mills and Yellow Creek August 8-15. Near Stockton August 8 and 11 (Detachments). Muscle Shoals August 13. Moved to Jefferson City and duty there and at Glasgow and Fayette till December. Near Cambridge September 26 (Co. "E). In Scotland and Boone Counties September 30 (Detachment). Near Columbia October 2 (Cos. "B" and "C"). Sim's Cove, Cedar Creek, October 5 (Cos. "F" and "G"). Fayette October 7 (Detachment). Near New Franklin October 7 (Detachment). Ordered to Rolla, Mo., December 12, and duty there till April, 1863. Ordered to North Missouri and duty on Hannibal & St, Jo Railroad from St. Joseph to Hannibal and on North Missouri Railroad from Macon to St, Charles protecting roads and operating against guerrillas till March, 1864. Rocheport, Mo., June 1, 1863 (Cos. "A" and "B"). Black Fork Hills July 4 (Detachment). Switzler's Mills July 12 (Detachment). Macon February 12, 1864. Chariton County April 11 (Detachment). Operations against Anderson's, Quantrell's, Todd's, Stevens' and other bands of guerrillas in North Missouri till April, 1865. Near Fayette July 1, 1864 (Detachment). Platte City July 3. Clay County July 4. Near Camden Point July 22. Union Mills July 22. Near Fayette August 3. Huntsville August 7 (Detachment). Operations against Price September-October. Fayette September 24 (Detachment). Near Centralia September 28, Princess Shoals, Osage River, Cole County, October 5-6. Booneville October 9. Glasgow October 15. Little Blue October 21. Independence October 22. Near Glasgow January 10, 1865 (Cos. "G" and "H"). Near Columbia February 12 (Co. "F"). Near Sturgeon February 27. Skirmish in the Perche Hills May 5. Duty in North Missouri till July, Mustered out July 13, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 29 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 76 Enlisted men by disease. Total 108.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1309

Charles A. Dana to Edwin M. Stanton, July 7, 1864—8 a.m.

CITY POINT, VA., July 7, 1864—8 a.m.          

(Received 6 p.m.)

A change in the commander of the Army of the Potomac now seems probable. Grant has great confidence in Meade, and is much attached to him personally, but the almost universal dislike of Meade which prevails among officers of every rank who come in contact with him, and the difficulty of doing business with him felt by every one except Grant himself, so greatly impair his capacities for usefulness and render success under his command so doubtful that Grant seems to be coming to the conviction that he must be relieved. The facts in the matter have come very slowly to my knowledge, and it was not until yesterday that I became certain of some of the most important. I have long known Meade to be a man of the worst possible temper, especially toward his subordinates. I do not think he has a friend in the whole army. No man, no matter what his business or his service, approaches him without being insulted in one way or another, and his own staff officers do not dare to speak to him, unless first spoken to, for fear of either sneers or curses. The latter, however, I have never heard him indulge in very violently, but he is said to apply them often without occasion and without reason. At the same time—as far as I am able to ascertain—his generals have lost their confidence in him as a commander. His order for the last series of assaults upon Petersburg, in which he lost 10,000 men without gaining any decisive advantage, was to the effect that he had found it impracticable to secure the co-operation of corps commanders, and therefore each one was to attack on his own account and do the best he could by himself. Consequently each gained some advantage of position, but each exhausted his own strength in so doing, while for the want of a general purpose and a general commander to direct and concentrate the whole, it all amounted to nothing but heavy loss to ourselves. Of course there are matters about which I cannot make inquiries, but what I have above reported is the general sense of what seems to be the opinion of fair-minded and zealous officers. For instance, I know that General Wright has said to a confidential friend that all of Meade's attacks have been made without brains and without generalship. The subject came to pretty full discussion at Grant's headquarters last night on occasion of a correspondence between Meade and Wilson. The Richmond Examiner charges Wilson with stealing not only negroes and horses, but silver plate and clothing on his raid, and Meade, taking the statement of the Examiner for truth, reads Wilson a lecture and calls on him for explanations. Wilson deities the charges of robbing women and churches, and hopes Meade will not be ready to condemn his command because its operations have excited the ire of the public enemy. This started the conversation in which Grant expressed himself quite frankly as to the general trouble with Meade and his fear that it would become necessary to relieve him. In such event he said it would be necessary to put Hancock in command.

C. A. DANA.

Hon. E. M. STANTON.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 40, Part 1 (Serial No. 80), p. 35-6

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, August 1, 1864

CITY POINT, VA., August 1, 1864.

The loss in the disaster of Saturday last foots up about 3,500, of whom 450 men were killed and 2,000 wounded. It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war. Such opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have. The enemy with a line of works five miles long had been reduced by our previous movements to the north side of James River to a force of only three divisions. This line was undermined and blown up, carrying a battery and most of a regiment with it. The enemy were taken completely by surprise and did not recover from it for more than an hour. The crater and several hundred yards of the enemy's line to the right and left of it and a short detached line in front of the crater were occupied by our troops without opposition. Immediately in front of this and not 150 yards off, with clear ground intervening, was the crest of the ridge leading into town, and which, if carried, the enemy would have made no resistance, but would have continued a flight already commenced. It was three hours from the time our troops first occupied their works before the enemy took possession of this crest. I am constrained to believe that had instructions been promptly obeyed that Petersburg would have been carried with all the artillery and a large number of prisoners without a loss of 300 men. It was in getting back to our lines that the loss was sustained. The enemy attempted to charge and retake the line captured from them and were repulsed with heavy loss by our artillery; their loss in killed must be greater than ours, whilst our loss in wounded and captured is four times that of the enemy.

U.S. GRANT,            

Lieutenant-General.

Major-General HALLECK,

Washington, D. C.

_______________

See Addenda.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 40, Part 1 (Serial No. 80), p. 17-8

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, August 2, 1864 — 9:30 p.m.

CITY POINT, August 2, 1864—9.30 p.m.

Major-General HALLECK,

Chief of Staff:

I have the honor to request that the President may direct a court of inquiry, to assemble without delay at such place as the presiding officer may appoint, to examine into and report upon the facts and circumstances attending the unsuccessful assault on the enemy's position in front of Petersburg on the morning of July 30, 1864, and also to report whether, in their judgment, any officer or officers are censurable* for the failure of the troops to carry into successful execution the orders issued for the occasion, and I would suggest the following detail: Maj. Gen. W. S. Hancock, Brig. Gen. R. B. Ayres, Brig. Gen. N. A. Miles, Volunteer service; Col. E. Schriver, inspector-general and recorder.

U. S. GRANT,                       

Lieutenant-General.

_______________

* As received by Halleck this word is answerable.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 40, Part 1 (Serial No. 80), p. 18

Captain Charles Francis Adams, Jr., to Charles Francis Adams Sr., August 5, 1864

H.Q. Cav’y Escort, A. of P.               

Before Petersburg, August 5, 1864

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

PHYSICALLY, since I last wrote, I'm glad to say I have picked up amazingly. I have at last shaken off my jaundice and have recovered a white man's looks, my appetite is amazing and I am building up. In fact I have weathered my danger and do not look for any further trouble. Ward Frothingham too has been sent home. His regiment was smashed all to pieces in the assault the other day. The Colonel, Gould, had a thigh shattered, the Lieutenant Colonel killed, and so on. As for Ward, it was the hardest kind of work helping him, for he could n't help himself. Finally however he was sent down to City Point and there gave Dalton my note, and Dalton had him shipped to New York before he could make up his mind as to whether he wanted to go there or not. So he's safe and at home.

Here since I last wrote, too, Burnside has exploded his mine and we have again just failed to take Petersburg. The papers, I see, are full of that mishap and every one is blaming every one, just as though it did any good to cry and quarrel over spilled milk. I did not see the mine exploded, though most of my officers did and they describe it as a most beautiful and striking spectacle — an immense column of debris, mixed with smoke and flame, shooting up in the form of a wheat sheaf some hundred and fifty feet, and then instantly followed by the roar of artillery. At first, and until ten o'clock, rumors came in very favorably — we had carried this and that and were advancing. At about ten I rode out to see what was going on. The fight then was pretty much over. I rode up to the parallels and dismounted and went towards the front. The heat was intense and they were bringing in the wounded, mostly blacks, in great numbers. Very little firing was going on, though occasionally shot went zipping by. Very speedily I began to be suspicious of our success. Our soldiers didn't look or act to my mind like men who had won a victory. There was none of that elation and excitement among the wounded, none of that communicative spirit among the uninjured which always marks a success. I was very soon satisfied of this and so, after walking myself into a tremendous heat and seeing nothing but a train of wounded men, I concluded that I didn't like the sound of bullets and so came home.

My suspicions proved correct. As you know we had been repulsed. How was it? In the papers you'll see all kinds of stories and all descriptions of reasons, but here all seem to have settled down to certain results on which all agree, and certain others on which all quarrel. It is agreed that the thing was a perfect success, except that it did not succeed; and the only reason it did not succeed was that our troops behaved shamefully. They advanced to the crater made by the explosion and rushed into it for cover and nothing could get them out of it. These points being agreed on then begins the bickering. All who dislike black troops shoulder the blame onto them — not that I can find with any show of cause. They seem to have behaved just as well and as badly as the rest and to have suffered more severely. This Division, too, never had really been under fire before, and it was a rough breaking in for green troops of any color. The 9th Corps .and Burnside came in for a good share of hard sayings, and, in fact, all round is heard moaning and wrath, and a scape-goat is wanted.

Meanwhile, as I see it, one person alone has any right to complain and that person is Grant. I should think his heart would break. He had out-generaled Lee so, he so thoroughly deserved success, and then to fail because his soldiers wouldn't fight? It was too bad. All the movements I mentioned in my last turned out to be mere feints and as such completely successful. Deceived by Grant's movement towards Malvern Hill, Lee had massed all his troops in that vicinity, so that when the mine exploded, the rebels had but three Divisions in front of the whole Army of the Potomac. Grant ordered a rapid countermarch of his cavalry from Malvern Hill to the extreme left, to outflank and attack the enemy at daylight, simultaneously with the assault in front. The cavalry did not reach here until the assault had failed. The march was difficult, but it was possible and it was not accomplished. Whose fault was this? Then came the assault, which was no assault, and once more Lee, completely outgeneraled, surprised and nearly lost, was saved by the bad behavior of our troops as in June, and on the same ground and under the same circumstances, he was almost miraculously saved by the stubborn bravery of his own. I find but one satisfaction in the whole thing. Here now, as before in June, whether he got it or no, Grant deserved success, and, where this is the case, in spite of fortune, he must ultimately win it. Twice Lee has been saved in spite of himself. Let him look to it, for men are not always lucky.

If you are curious to know where I myself place the blame, I must freely say on Burnside, and add, that in my own opinion I don't know anything about it. For the whole thing, Burnside's motions and activities deserve great credit. While others were lying idle, he was actively stirring round to see what he could do. The mine was his idea and his work, and he carried it through; no one but himself had any faith in it. So far all was to his credit. Then came the assault. Grant did his part of the work and deceived Lee. Burnside organized his storming column and, apparently, he couldn't have organized it worse. They say the leading brigade was chosen by lot. If so, what greater blunder could have been committed? At any rate a white brigade was put in to lead which could not have been depended on to follow. This being so, the result was what might have been expected. In such a case everything depended on the storming party; for, if they would lead, the column would follow. Volunteers might have been called for, a picked regiment might have been designated; but, no, Burnside sent in a motley crowd of white and black, heavy artillery and dismounted cavalry, and they wouldn't come up to the scratch. So endeth the second lesson before Petersburg.

As to the future, expect no light from me. I do not expect that anything will be done here for six weeks to come. Grant must hold his own, defend Washington and see what Sherman can accomplish, before he really attempts anything heavy here. The news from Sherman is so good, and Hood seems so completely to be playing our game that I think the rebel strength in that region bids fair to be used up. Lee can hold us in check, but, unless we blunder egregiously, he cannot replenish his ranks, and by autumn Grant can resume operations with deadly effect from this base. This I fear is the best view which can be taken of the present attitude of affairs. We have been so unfortunate here and our military lights about Washington — Hunter, Wallace, Halleck, Sigel and the rest — have made such a mess of our affairs in their region, that I don't see but what the army here must, for the present, be reduced to one purely of observation. . . .

As to my new regiment, I see myself gazetted but have as yet received no commission or official announcement. Meanwhile I am maturing my plans for the regiment and shall develop them in a somewhat stately paper distinguished by unusual ability even for me and addressed to Governor Andrew, the which I shall tackle as soon as I have disposed of you. For the rest, I wait here and kill time. There is nothing more for me to do here. This squadron is as contented, as well disciplined and in as good order as I know how to put it, and accordingly I must move or stand still. . . .

SOURCE: Charles Francis Adams, A Cycle of Adams Letters, 1861-1865, Volume 2, p. 170-5

Abraham Lincoln to Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, July 10, 1864 — 2:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON, July 10, 1864 — 2.30 p.m.

Lieutenant-General GRANT:

Your dispatch to General Halleck referring to what I may think in the present emergency is shown me. General Halleck says we have absolutely no force here fit to go to the field. He thinks that with the 100-days' men and invalids we have here we can defend Washington, and scarcely Baltimore. Besides these there are about 8,000, not very reliable, under Howe, at Harper's Ferry, with Hunter approaching that point very slowly, with what number I suppose you know better than I. Wallace, with some odds and ends and part of what came up with Ricketts, was so badly beaten yesterday at Monocacy that what is left can attempt no more than to defend Baltimore. What we shall get in from Pennsylvania and New York will scarcely be worth counting, I fear. Now, what I think is that you should provide to retain your hold where you are, certainly, and bring the rest with you personally, and make a vigorous effort to destroy the enemy's force in this vicinity. I think there is really a fair chance to do this if the movement is prompt. This is what I think, upon your suggestion, and is not an order.

A. LINCOLN,                       

President of the United Slates.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 37, Part 2 (Serial No. 71), p. 155

Lieutenant-Colonel Robert E. Lee, 1856

[Fort Brown, Texas, 1856]

In this enlightened age there are few, I believe, but will acknowledge that slavery, as an institution, is a moral and political evil in any country. I think it, however, a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, and while my feelings are strongly interested in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are stronger for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially and physically. . . . While we see the course of the final abolition of slavery is onward and we give it the aid of our prayers and all justifiable means in our power, we must leave the progress as well as the result in His hands who sees the end, ... and with whom a thousand years are but as a single day.

SOURCE: Randolph Harrison McKim, The Soul of Lee, p. 20

United States Military Installations Named For Confederate General

Military Installation	Named For
Fort A. P. Hill	Ambrose Powell Hill
Camp Beauregard	P.G.T. Beauregard
Fort Benning	Henry L. Benning
Fort Bragg	Braxton Bragg
Fort Gordon	John Brown Gordon
Fort Hood	John Bell Hood
Fort Lee	Robert E. Lee
Fort Pickett	George Pickett
Fort Polk	Leonidas Polk
Fort Rucker	Edmund Rucker

Captain Braxton Bragg to Elisa Ellis Bragg, December 19, 1849

Little Rock, Ark., 19th Dec., '49.

My dear, dear wife:

I can hardly express to you the happiness I feel at being again on dry land and able to address you. And yet it will appear strange that I can be happy when away from my Elisa, my wife. Well, my dear wife, I am not as happy as I should be with you, but so much more so than I should have been had you been with me that I can almost rejoice. Of all the disagreeable and insupportable trips I have ever had, this has been the worst. And to say the truth, dearest, my greatest consolation was that you were away. Had you been along I should unquestionably have turned back, for I would have sacrificed all but my honor before you should have encountered what you could not have avoided in reaching this place. I wrote to you from Napoleon on the 13th. The next day about 4 in the afternoon I got off in a miserable little apology of a boat, with a wheel behind, dirty and ill looking in every respect. But a hope that I should be speedily through and enabled to return to my wife encouraged me, for her sake and to get back to her I could stand it. Vain hope! At the end of 24 hours we came in sight of the boat which had left Napoleon two days before us. She was hard aground on a sand bank without a hope of getting off. In taking his passengers, mail, etc., etc., we succeeded in getting into exactly the same scrape. Now I almost raved. I should be delayed and be too late to allow the court to proceed to business, and every day I delayed them, I should be abstracting from my wife. When and how we were to get away were questions no one could answer. There we lay in perfect despair: 24, 48 hours—when the next boat appears, a smaller, more miserable and dirty craft than our own. There was no alternative, go I must, for every day I lose is taken from my wife. Two days on this filthy pen enabled me to reach here today, the 19th, about 2 o'clock. I find that the members of the court are not arrived, and I may have time to prepare for them. A boat is expected down the river tonight or tomorrow, and they will probably reach here on her.

I can give you no definite answer, my dearest wife, of when I may get off. Or yet I know not what is to be done. My first thought is for you. My labors will commence tomorrow. Whatever they may be, know one thing, your husband will labor day and night to accomplish the task, and nothing but dire necessity shall keep him from you, my own sweet wife.

I have just been called on by Bishop Freeman, of this state. He is a resident of this state, being its Bishop, but I did not know he lived in this place. He was also a preceptor of my elder brothers, as well as Bishop Otey, who succeeded him at the same academy. He did not know me, as when he left my native village I was very small, but he was very cordial in his salutation and inquiries for my parents and my brothers and sisters. I feel much relieved in mind after a long and social interchange of sentiment with a sensible and good man, for a rational conversation I had not had since I left you. I shall see him and Mrs. Freeman often as they are next door to me.

Being now where my own exertions can avail me, I shall be much more happy, for I know that every hour brings me that much nearer to my wife, and what in this world can make a man so happy, especially when he possesses such a wife.

I write in great haste, Elisa, and have no time even to correct blunders. My health is very good. Preserve your own, dearest love, for which daily prayers are offered by your husband.

BRAXTON BRAGG.

SOURCE: Don Carlos Seitz, Braxton Bragg, General of the Confederacy, p. 11-13

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, June 28, 1864

We have bad news from Sherman to-day. Neither Seward, Chase, nor Stanton was at the Cabinet-meeting. The President, like myself, slightly indisposed.

Mrs. General Hunter was at our house this evening and has tidings of a favorable character from her husband, who is in the western part of Virginia. Has done great mischief to the Rebels, and got off safely and well. This small bit of good news is a relief, as we are getting nothing good from the great armies.

Gold has gone up to 240. Paper, which our financiers make the money standard, is settling down out of sight. This is the result of the gold bill and similar measures, yet Chase learns no wisdom. We are hurrying onward into a financial abyss. There is no vigorous mind in Congress to check the current, and the prospect is dark for the country under the present financial management. It cannot be sustained.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 61

Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, June 29, 1864

Nothing from the army. We hear that the pirate Alabama is at Cherbourg. Is she to remain there to be repaired? Seward tells me he knows one of the French armed vessels recently sold is for Sweden, and he has little doubt both are; that the French government is not deceitful in this matter.

Congress is getting restive and discontented with the financial management. The papers speak of the appointment of Field, Assistant Secretary, to be Assistant Treasurer at New York, in the place of Cisco. I doubt if any one but Chase would think of him for the place, and Chase, as usual, does not know the reason. But Field has talents, and Chase takes him from association. Morgan prefers Hillhouse, and Seward wants Blatchford.

The closing hours of Congress are crowded, as usual, but I believe matters are about as square as usual. Our naval bills have mostly been disposed of.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 62

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, June 30, 1864

All were surprised to-day with the resignation of Secretary Chase and the nomination of Governor David Tod as his successor. I knew nothing of it till the fact was told me by Senator Doolittle, who came to see and advise with me, supposing I knew something of the circumstances. But I was wholly ignorant. Chase had not thought proper to consult me as to his resignation, nor had the President as to his action upon it, or the selection. My first impression was that he had consulted Seward and perhaps Blair. I learn, however, he advised with none of his Cabinet, but acted from his own impulses. I have doubts of Tod's ability for this position, though he has good common sense and was trained in the right school, being a hard-money man. Not having seen the President since this movement took place, I do not comprehend his policy. It can hardly be his intention to reverse the action of Chase entirely without consulting those who are associated with him in the Government. And yet the selection of Tod indicates that, if there be any system in the movement. The President has given but little attention to finance and the currency, but yet he can hardly be ignorant of the fact that Chase and Tod are opposites. The selection of Tod is a move in the right direction if he has made the subject a sufficient study to wield the vast machine. On this point I have my doubts. His nomination will disturb the “Bubbles,” — the paper-money men, — and the question was not acted upon but referred to the Finance Committee, who have been with the Senate. I have no doubt their astonishment at the obtrusion of a hard-money man upon them was made manifest.

Blair and Bates both called at my house this evening and gave me to understand they were as much taken by surprise as myself. Mr. Bates says he knows nothing of T. Blair expresses more apprehensions even than myself, who have my doubts.

The retirement of Chase, so far as I hear opinions expressed, — and they are generally freely given, — appears to give relief rather than otherwise, which surprises me. I had thought it might create a shock for a brief period, though I did not fear that it would be lasting. I look upon it as a blessing. The country could not go on a great while longer under his management, which has been one of expedients and of no fixed principles, or profound and correct financial knowledge.

It is given out that a disagreement between himself and the President in relation to the appointment of Assistant Treasurer at New York was the cause of his leaving. I think likely that was the occasion of his tendering his resignation, and I have little doubt he was greatly surprised that it was accepted. He may not admit this, but it is none the less true, I apprehend. Yet there were some circumstances to favor his going, — there is a financial gulf ahead.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 62-3

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, Sunday, June 12, 1864

Lexington, Rockbridge County, June 12 (Sunday), 1864.

Dearest: — I just hear that a mail goes tomorrow. We captured this town after an artillery and sharpshooter fight of three hours, yesterday P. M. My brigade had the advance for two days and all the casualties, or nearly all, fell to me. [A] first lieutenant of [the] Fifth Virginia killed and one private; three privates of [the] Thirty-sixth killed and ten to fifteen wounded. [The] Twenty-third had no loss. Very noisy affair, but not dangerous.

This is a fine town. Stonewall Jackson's grave and the Military Institute are here. Many fine people. Secesh are not at all bitter and many are Union.

I am more pleased than ever with General Crook and my brigade, etc., but some things done here are not right. General Hunter will be as odious as Butler or Pope to the Rebels and not gain our good opinion either. You will hear of it in Rebel papers, I suspect.

Weather fine and all our movements are successful. The Rebels have been much crippled already by our doings. We are probably moving towards Lynchburg. If so you will have heard of our fortunes from other sources before this reaches you.

I got a pretty little cadet musket here which I will try to send the boys. Dear boys, love to them and the tenderest affection for you. — Good-bye.

[R. B. Hayes.]

Mrs. Hayes.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 474

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Tuesday, June 14, 1864

[We] marched [from Lexington] to Buchanan. A hot, dusty march, twenty-four miles. Bathed in James River. The next day [we pushed on] to "Fancy Farm," Bedford County, near Liberty, sixteen miles. Fine views of Peaks of Otter.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 474

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Thursday, June 16, 1864

To Liberty and beyond on railroad towards Lynchburg. Worked on the railroad, tearing up and burning, etc. [We heard] various rumors, generally good.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 474-5

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Friday, June 17, 1864

Colonel White's brigade cleaned out Rebels handsomely to [within] three miles of Lynchburg. The next day [the] Rebels [inside the] works [were] re-inforced. [There was] skirmishing and fighting but no general attack. [At] 8:30 P. M., we back out via Liberty Road, [Hunter's attempt to capture Lynchburg having proved a failure].

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Sunday, June 19, 1864

En route to Liberty, sleepy, tired; hot, and dusty. All goes well however so far. Twenty-six miles.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Monday, June 20, 1864

Still on, night and day! Sleepy and tired. Enemy following attacked our cavalry at Liberty yesterday evening with some loss to us. Today at Buford Gap we got ready for battle, but Rebels not ready.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Tuesday, June 21, 1864

On to four miles beyond Salem. Rebels attack often, but their feeble skirmishes do no hurt to Crook. They however get nine guns of Hunter!

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Wednesday, June 22, 1864

Fifteen miles to Newcastle. We (First Brigade) guarded the wagon train; poor business.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Thursday, June 23, 1864

(From) Newcastle to Sweet Springs — a beautiful watering-place — twenty-two miles, over two high ranges of the Alleghenies. [Thence, by] night march, seventeen miles to White Sulphur, (arriving) at 2:30 P. M.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Friday, June 24, 1864

Night marches bad unless there is good moonlight.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Saturday, June 25, 1864

From White Sulphur [we marched] to Meadow Bluff, twenty-four miles, (reaching there) long after midnight, starved and sleepy. The hardest (march) of the war.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Sunday, June 26, 1864

(Starting) at sunrise, many without sleeping a wink, we march to Tyrees, twenty miles, [at the] foot of Mount Sewell.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Monday, June 27, 1864

At 4 A. M., (we) march and meet a train of provisions at or near Mountain Cove. A jolly feeding time. Camp at old Camp Ewing.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Tuesday, June 28, 1864

March to Loup Creek, fourteen miles; and yesterday to Piatt, twenty-two miles.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 475

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Thursday, June 30, 1864

[Camp Piatt, West Virginia,]— This [has been] the hardest month of the war; hot and dusty long marches; hungry, sleepy night marches; many skirmishes; two battles. Men worn out and broken down.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 474

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: January 18, 1864

A flag of truce boat came up, but no one on board was authorized to negotiate for an exchange of prisoners but Gen. Butler, outlawed. It returns without anything being effected. Congress has passed a bill for the reduction of the currency, in secret session. We know not yet what are its main features. The Senate bill increasing the compensation of civil officers has not yet been acted on in the House, and many families are suffering for food.

Anne writes us that Lieut. Minor has returned from his Canada expedition, which failed, in consequence of the gratuitous action of Lord Lyons, the British Minister at Washington, who has been secured in the interest of the Federal Government, it is said, by bribes. Lieut. M. brought his family a dozen cups and saucers, dresses, shoes, etc., almost unattainable here.

The President receives company every Tuesday evening.

Among the letters referred by the Commissary-General to the Secretary of War to-day for instructions, was one from our honest commissary in North Carolina, stating that there were several million pounds of bacon and pork in Chowan and one or two other counties, liable to the incursions of the enemy, which the people were anxious to sell the government, but were afraid to bring out themselves, lest the enemy should ravage their farms, etc., and suggesting that a military force be sent thither with wagons. The Commissary-General stated none of these facts in his indorsement; but I did, so that the Secretary must be cognizant of the nature of the paper.

The enemy made a brief raid in Westmoreland and Richmond counties a few days ago, and destroyed 60,000 pounds of meat in one of the Commissary-General's depots! A gentleman writing from that section, says it is a pity the President's heart is not in his head; for then he would not ruin the country by retaining his friend, Col. Northrop, the Commissary-General, in office.

It appears that Gen. Meade has changed the Federal policy in the Northern Neck, by securing our people within his lines from molestation; and even by allowing them to buy food, clothing, etc. from Northern traders, on a pledge of strict neutrality. The object is to prevent the people from conveying intelligence to Moseby, who has harassed his flanks and exposed detachments very much. It is a more dangerous policy for us than the old habit of scourging the non-combatants that fall in their power.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 130-1

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: January 19, 1864

A furious storm of wind and rain occurred last night, and it is rapidly turning cold to-day.

The prisoners here have had no meat during the last four days, and fears are felt that they will break out of confinement.

Yesterday Senator Orr waited upon the President, to induce him to remove Col. Northrop, the obnoxious Commissary-General. The President, it is said, told him that Col. N. was one of the greatest geniuses in the South, and that, if he had the physical capacity he would put him at the head of an army.

A letter from Mrs. Polk, widow of President Polk, dated at Nashville, expresses regret that a portion of her cotton in Mississippi was burnt by the military authorities (according to law), and demanding remuneration. She also asks permission to have the remainder sent to Memphis, now held by the enemy. The Secretary will not refuse.

I bought a pretty good pair of second-hand shoes at auction today for $17.50; but they were too large. I will have them sold again, without fear of loss.

A majority of the Judiciary Committee, to whom the subject was referred, have reported a bill in the Senate vacating the offices of all the members of the cabinet at the expiration of every two years, or of every Congress. This is a blow at Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Memminger, etc., and, as the President conceives, at himself. It will not pass, probably; but it looks like war between the Senate and the Executive. Some of the Secretaries may resign on the 18th of February, when this Congress expires. Nous verrons.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 131-2