Louisville, Ky.
Again in Louisville—eleven hundred miles nearer home than one week ago and yet
how far. Still, it is joy to feel I am comparatively near. We reached Cairo on
the evening of the seventh, took on fresh supplies, and left next day at noon
for Cincinnati, which place we expect to reach some time tomorrow. We are now—3
p. m. taking on coal, and will start in a few minutes.
The Ohio is very
low-in places not more than three feet deep. We have brought up against sand
bars and been forced to back off perhaps fifty times since leaving Cairo. From
this place to Cincinnati, I am told, there are no obstructions. The most
difficult part of our way was from New Albany to Louisville. We were six hours
in making three miles last night. It was nothing but "Back 'er and try
again" for about a mile, and then we had a canal with three locks to pass
through.
We have had no
deaths since the seventh, and our sick and wounded boys are doing nicely. These
fresh northern breezes are more exhilerating than wine, and the hope that they
may be sent to their homes to recruit their health is more healing than
medicine.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, pp. 75-6
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