Major Charles Wright Wills: February 26, 1865

Fullersville, S. C., Sunday, February 26, 1865.

Sixty hours of rain terminated at daylight this morning, but it has not hurt the sandy roads a particle. We made 11 miles in four and one quarter hours, and are now waiting for a bridge to be completed over this creek, “Lynch's.” We think now we are on the road to Wilmington. The map shows a good deal of railroad to be destroyed on the way, but I think we will get through by the 15th of March. Expect “you uns” are getting anxious about “we uns” again. This is, I think, a much longer thing than the Savannah campaign. Our 4th division took 103 prisoners here last night and our ad took 200 more to-day. They are State Line Troops and muchly demoralized. It is a fact about that murdering yesterday. Sherman is out in a big retaliation order to-day. Wilmington is reported ours. Thunder and lightning last evening. Hear that the rain has raised the creek until it is three-quarters of a mile wide, and we won't get across to-morrow. I think I'll put down our principal campaigns:

1st.	Dec., 1862, The Tallahatchie River Campaign	120 miles.
2nd.	April, 1863, The Panola, Miss., 9 day's march	180 miles.
3rd.	July, 1863, Jackson, Miss., Campaign	100 miles.
4th.	Oct. & Nov., '63, Memphis to Chattanooga, and in
5th.	Dec. to Maryville, Tenn., and back to Scottsboro, Ala.	800 miles.
6th.	Jan., '64, Wills Valley Campaign.	100 miles.
7th.	Feb. & March, '64, Dalton, Ga., Campaign	300 miles.
8th.	May until Sept., Atlanta Campaign.	400 miles.
9th.	Oct., 1864, Atlanta to Gadsden, Ala., and return	300 miles.
10th.	Nov. & Dec., Atlanta to Savannah.	300 miles.
	Jan., Feb. & March, '65, The Carolina Campaign.	400 miles.
Total		3,000 miles.

A captain and seven men who went foraging yesterday are still missing, supposed to be captured or killed. And 20 men of the 97th Indiana who went out this morning are reported all killed by a 46th Ohio man, who was wounded and left for dead by the Rebels. He says the 97th boys paid for themselves in dead Rebels before they were overpowered. Our corps has now 500 prisoners, three times as many as we have lost.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 353-4