Diary of Lieutenant-Colonel John Beatty, September 27, 1861

To-night almost the entire valley is inundated. Many tents are waist high in water, and where others stood this morning the water is ten feet deep. Two men of the Sixth Ohio are reported drowned. The water got around them before they became aware of it, and in endeavoring to escape they were swept down the stream and lost. The river seems to stretch from the base of one mountain to the other, and the whole valley is one wild scene of excitement. Wherever a spot of dry ground can be found, huge log fires are burning, and men by the dozen are grouped around them, anxiously watching the water and discussing the situation. Tents have been hastily pitched on the hills, and camp fires, each with its group of men, are blazing in many places along the side of the mountain. The rain has fallen steadily all day.

SOURCE: John Beatty, The Citizen-soldier: Or, Memoirs of a Volunteer, pp. 70-1

Diary of Private Louis Leon: December 18, 1862

We marched through town and lay all night in an open field without tents.

It is certainly bitter cold. The only fires we could make were from the fence rails, as the woods were too far for us to get to.

SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 13

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Monday, April 20, 1863

This morning the soldiers are on their feet and moving around the blazing campfires, busily cooking their breakfast, and their cooking utensils are quite novel. A flat stone for a fryingpan, and a sharp stick for a fork (we use no knives.) After eating our breakfast, we commence building sheds with pine twigs, to shield ourselves from the sun's warm rays. The command does not move as was rumored last night. No demonstrations to-day, all quiet.

SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 149