Last night about
supper-time, ten of Company E under command of Acting-Corpl. Emerson, were sent
to Gen. Wessels as headquarters guard, and after a severe night's duty in
keeping the general's horses all right and his staff from straggling, were
suddenly marched at "double quick" back to camp, to find the regiment
packing and getting ready to start. We bade good-by to the old barrack after a
hearty supper, and with flags furled and no music wended our way down town and
aboard the steamer "Escort." Company E was stationed forward, and as
it was dark we could see nothing, but found the soft places and turned in. We
will miss Russell and his mule this trip, as he is on duty in New Berne and
cannot leave. As we passed across Craven Street we saw him with his father, and
bade them good-by, telling him to look out for what boxes might come. Not a
very safe man, with his reputation as a forager, to leave our boxes
with; but it is the best we can do.
SOURCE: John Jasper
Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass.
Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 42
