The name of our camp
is properly Elk Water, not Elk Fork. The little stream which comes down to the
river, from which the camp derives its name, is called Elk Water, because
tradition affirms that in early days the elk frequented the little valley
through which it runs.
The fog has been
going up from the mountains, and the rain coming down in the valley. The river
roars a little louder than usual, and its water is a little less clear.
The party sent in
pursuit of the bushwhacker has returned. Found no one.
Two men were seen
this evening, armed with rifles, prowling among the bushes near the place where
the affair of last night occurred. They were fired upon, but escaped.
An accident, which
particularly interests my old company, occurred a few minutes ago. John
Heskett, Jeff Long, and four or five other men, were detailed from Company I
for picket duty. Heskett and Long are intimate friends, and were playing
together, the one with a knife and the other with a pocket pistol. The pistol was
discharged accidentally, and the ball struck Heskett in the neck, inflicting a
serious wound, but whether fatal or not the surgeon can not yet tell. The
affair has cast a shadow over the company. Young Heskett bears himself bravely.
Long is inconsolable, and begs the boys to shoot him.
SOURCE: John
Beatty, The Citizen-soldier: Or, Memoirs of a Volunteer, p. 57-8
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