Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Friday, October 30, 1863

This morning a portion of the Regiment is placed on picket duty. It is now raining. The winds blow coldly. The day is waning. A dismal night is approaching. Amid the falling elements, chilly and drear, the Seventh boys now standing, but all seem in fine spirits. “Their hearts beat high,” “And they heed not the wild wind's wailing cry.” About midnight some of Colonel Spencer's First Alabama Union regiment arrive at our lines—a sergeant and four privates, who are got cut off from their command during Spencer's late fight with the rebel General Furgeson, and have ever since been brushing it. It is now

“Past the midnight hour, and we long to hear
The step to the Soldier's heart most dear-
A sound that banishes all his grief,
The welcome tread of the next relief.

Ah! here they come, and now we can keep
Our next four hours in the land of sleep,
And dream of home and the loved ones there,
Who never may know a soldier's care."

SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 201-2