Diary of Private Jenkin Lloyd Jones: Friday, September 12, 1862

Rienzi.  Spent the morning as usual in suspense of leaving, but finally the orders came to send all the baggage train to Clear Creek, a distance of ten miles to the west, and that we were to be stationed as an out-post. Detailed to go a-foraging, brought in two loads of corn from the south. The 1st Section were ordered out to the front. Had the first rain storm in the evening, and ere the morning I had a regular old shake of the ague.

SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, p. 5

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Friday, June 13, 1862

This morning about three o'clock we move. It is more comfortable marching to-day; we march briskly until we come up with the Second Brigade and our baggage train, when we stop to eat our breakfast. We do not stop long; we soon move on through the heat and dust, and in the evening go into camp at our former camping ground, near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 80

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: January 17, 1862

Affairs look billious this morning. Still raining, the camp fires burning dimly. The soldiers wet and chilled. All day a party are at work moving the baggage train across the creek. Everything looks dreary; nothing cheering, nothing comfortable. No rest for the soldier to-night.

SOURCES: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 22

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 9, 1864

May 9, 1864.

Yesterday we traveled southeast, crossing six or seven ridges, one or two of which were quite high. Taylor's was the highest. To-day we have made only about eight miles all the way through a pass in Rocky Face ridge, which is a high mountain. There are four divisions ahead of us. A regiment of Kentucky cavalry (Rebel) slipped in between ours and the division ahead of us, trying to capture a train. The 9th Illinois Infantry had the advance of our division and killed 30 Rebels and took four prisoners, losing only one man killed and their lieutenant colonel slightly wounded. Pretty good. Dodge has got the railroad and broken it, so we hear. The fight seems to be a stand-off until to-morrow. We are in line of battle for the first time on the trip, and the ordnance train is ahead of the baggage. Just saw an officer from the front (your letter of the 3d of April received this minute); he says Dodge is within a mile of Resaca, and driving the enemy, and will have the town by dark. Has not cut the railroad yet. This officer saw a train arrive from Dalton, with some 2,500 Rebel troops aboard. McPherson and Logan are both on the field. Some Rebel prisoners taken to-day say they intend making this a Chickamauga to us. Have a nice camp. There is some little forage here, but it is nothing for the number of troops we have.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 237

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Luman Harris Tenney: October 26, 1863

Got out desk and Co. property to work. Trains reloaded and sent to the rear. Fear of an attack. Proposed to the boys the order for re-enlistment. Read some in “B. House.” Boys got some good apples and apple butter. Cloudy and quite cold. Contradictory news from the Army of the Potomac. Election news.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 95

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Luman Harris Tenney: October 30, 1863

Train and sutler came up. Got Co. property. Mail came. Letter from home, expected more. Had inspection and charged boys with ordnance and ordnance stores. Quite a time. Appointed L. H. Thomas Corporal. Busy on muster rolls and Quarterly Returns. Hugh is busy enough. Wrote a letter home. Ordered to march at daylight. Rain poured during night. Uneasy night.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 95

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Luman Harris Tenney: August 17, 1863

Reveille at daylight. Division moved to Crab Orchard at 8 A. M. I was left in charge of men behind with baggage. Stopped with A. B. Good time. R. M. Haskell's Division of Infantry came in, also three Batteries of Artillery, 19th Shield's, 2nd Ill. and 1st R. I. Went over and saw Ed. Byerley. He came over. Saw Capt. Shields and Mark Crais. Wrote to Fannie and sent home letter.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 83-4

Diary of Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Wednesday, September 10, 1862

We camped near Seneca Bridge, about twenty-five to thirty miles from Washington. The order cutting down baggage trains leaves us eight waggons; — one for headquarters, i. e. field and staff; one for hospital; two for stores; four for company cooking utensils and the like. The band trouble breaks out again. We enjoy these short marches among great bodies of moving troops very much. Tonight the sutler sold brandy peaches making about ten or a dozen of our men drunk. I thereupon made a guard-house of the sutler's tent and kept all the drunken men in it all night! A sorry time for the sutler! Got orders to move at the word any time after 10 o'clock. I simply did nothing!

Camp near Rich or Ridgefield [Ridgeville], about forty miles from Baltimore, about thirty from Washington, about seventeen from Frederick. Marched today from ten to fourteen miles. Occasionally showery — no heavy rain; dust laid, air cooled. Marched past the Fifth, Seventh, Twenty-ninth, and Sixty-sixth Ohio regiments. They have from eighty to two hundred men each — sickness, wounds, prisoners, etc., etc., the rest. This looks more like closing the war from sheer exhaustion than anything I have seen. Only four commissioned officers in the Seventh. A lieutenant in command of one regiment; an adjutant commands another! Saw General Crawford today, he was very cordial.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 349-50

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: April 13, 1864

We found Bank's whole army here having been badly defeated at Pleasant Hill, forty miles above on the nineth and tenth instant and had retreated back to this place with his whole army. The story of the battle so far as I could learn from those who participated in it, was as follows: The objective point was Shrievesport on this river about sixty miles above. General Curtis from Arkansas and General Banks from New Orleans were both marching upon it intending to form a junction there. But Banks did not take the wiley rebel General Green into the account. With a strong force of Texas troops he stepped between the approaching armies first attacking Curtis and driving him back towards Arkansas and then turning upon Banks. South of Shrievsport is a dense forest through which the road passes. In this forest Green placed his troops disposing them in the form of the letter A with the apex towards the city where he planted a battery in the road. The Union cavalry was in the advance followed by the baggage train. As soon as the head of the column reached the battery they opened fire. The wings closed upon the baggage train, shot the mules and drivers, piling up the wagons in terrible confusion making the road utterly impassable, while the forest was so dense a rabbit could hardly crawl through; the enemy had it pretty much all his own way. The long baggage train was all captured with its valuable stores besides most of the cavalry was either killed or captured. The remaining few that escaped fell back on the infantry support which was a day's march in the rear. Of course the enemy pursued them until they met the infantry and then it was their turn to retreat; which they did without stopping to fight long. The infantry pursued them about eight miles, but it was a useless chase as their commissary stores were all gone and they were compelled to retreat. They fell back to Grand Ecore and threw up entrenchments and this is where we found them.

SOURCE: Abstracted from George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 95-7

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, May 4, 1865

We started at 8 a. m., marched four miles, and then lay over until 6 p. m., when we moved on four miles farther, passing the Third Division, and went into bivouac within a mile of the Roanoke river. The Fifteenth Corps is in advance of us and their rear crossed the river this evening. Our trains are all crossing the river tonight. Weather still pleasant.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 273

Diary of Luman Harris Tenney: April 29, 1862

Baggage train and remainder of companies came in. Letter from Lucy Randall and several papers — rich treat. Wrote to Will Hudson.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 13

The Indications at Washington

The Washington Correspondent of the New York Commercial, one of the most observing and intelligent at the capital, sees in the inspection of the wagon trains and ambulances of the army of the Potomac, “a sure indication of a movement that means business.  There are nine hundred wagons, about two thirds of them drawn by six and the remainder by four horses or mules, seventy five four horse ambulances, one hundred one horse ambulances, the baggage train of Gen. McClellan and staff, the ammunition wagons of the ordnance corps and several portable blacksmiths forges for horse showing.  Every ten wagons form a train, under the direction of a mounted wagon master, and these trains are brigaded under chief wagon masters.  The teamsters are not mustered in, but are subject to martial law, and are under such discipline that they will not again hasten to the front, or join in a stampede to the rear, as they did at Bull Run.  The telegraph corps, the balloon corps, the copyists for recording and writing duplicate copies of orders, the pontooniers, the sappers and miners, the express rider – in short, every necessary appendage to the fighting me of the grand army, is in readiness to march at the word.  Meanwhile, neither leaves of absence nor furloughs are granted except by reason of sickness, upon medical certificates, or ‘in urgent and exceptional cases.’  The order promulgating this states that “the exigencies of the service demand that every officer and soldier of this army able to do duty, should be at his post.”

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, February 1, 1862, p. 1