Major Henry Hitchcock, Monday Morning, October 31, 1864

HEADQUARTERS,

MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI

IN THE FIELD. ROME, GA. October 31 1864

(Monday morning)

I have this moment (10½ A.M.) arrived here at the General's Headquarters and finding him gone down town improve the minutes till he returns by sending a word to you. I am perfectly well, and in the best spirits—have had a very quick, pleasant and fortunate trip though with just enough "roughness" to make it spicy: met nor heard of any guerrillas on the road, save the evidences of where they had recently been along, and have had good luck and good company all the way. I was very sorry to write you so hurriedly from Nashville and Chattanooga, but it was something to do that: and you must take it for granted once for all . . . that when I write thus, and if I do not always write often, it is because one cannot always do as they would "in the field."

I met Fullerton,† as I mentioned, at Chattanooga, a fortunate encounter and very jolly for us both. His (4th) Corps arrived there that (Sunday) morning and was passing through westward while we were there, which was only for an hour. My note thence to you was written in the open air, sitting on my valise with a pile of other baggage, on a piece of paper lent me by a friend. By the way Margie's‡ nice portfolio is locked, and I don't find the key yet—but I'll get it opened soon. Tell M. that I found time to open my valise and make a formal presentation of the sword; tell her it was done in the presence of hundreds if not thousands of officers and soldiers (entre nous they were all minding their own business and the "presence" means a radius of a ½ mile) that I made an eloquent and inspiring speech, but omitted to mention the donor's name, and that the gallant Colonel was so overcome by his feelings that he made no reply at all but to say that (being in a hurry) he would postpone that to another occasion.

I do not yet know what my duties will be, nor will till I see the General, but find that they will not be those of Judge Advocate, for there are none such to do, now at least, on this staff. So much the better. Gen. Sherman asked for me, and if he can't find something for me to do I'm mistaken and it's none of my business anyhow.

Don't "you'uns" fret about Hood, not a bit. The story is that he has crossed the Tennessee, -for which if true we are understood to be very much obliged to him. Lt. Col. Kittoe,¹ (Med. Director on Gen. S's staff) just said to me that Hood's late movement north had been a faux pas, and of more good to us than him; and if I was a prophet I should tell you, probably, that within the next fortnight Hood will hear news from below that may make him wish he had staid there. However, once for all, for obvious reasons, I do not expect to deal in predictions. Letters sometimes miscarry, and predictions sometimes do harm where it was not intended.

I am glad to find that my "transportation"—one valise and one roll of bedding—is universally pronounced very moderate and entirely within bounds; also my French cot is greatly admired for convenience and compactness. I was indebted to it last night for a comfortable bed at Kingston in a room 10 ft. 5 in. x 9 ft. 3 in. (by measurement), which had bare walls and floor for furniture and which four of us were very lucky to get control of. More than that, seventeen of us, officers en route for Headquarters were thoroughly grateful to the Agent of the U. S. Sanitary Commission at Kingston for a most welcome supper, after all other chances had failed, served on tin plates and tin cups, and consisting of fat bacon, boiled beef (cold) in "chunks," dried apple sauce and baked beans, with what was understood to be coffee, and being brown and warm, was undoubtedly such. So a meeting was duly organized, and as Chairman of a "Committee on Resolution" I submitted one the original draft of which is inclosed and which was adopted nem. con.

After the rest left I wanted to pay the Agent something—he wouldn't touch it. I then insisted that I had a right to subscribe to the funds of the Sanitary Commission at Kingston as well as at New York, for the benefit of the soldiers, but he couldn't see that either, and refused positively anything whatever under any pretext. What must these men do for the soldiers when their kindness comes so welcome to officers.

. . . I cannot tell you how I rejoice to have entered the service. I understand perfectly well, did so before, and cannot do so more truly hereafter, what its realities are. I have no boyish impulse or nonsense about it, but the satisfaction of hoping to do a manly part and share the risks which these men take. It was a singular thing to be and travel with the men I was with, most of them, as it happened, younger than I, who have been in the service one, two and three years, and to whom the names of events and places which to us are only historic, are the mementoes of their own experience. I have been fortunate in meeting in almost every case, quiet, manly pleasant fellows who made no pretense, and had no brag about them. I have uniformly been received and treated with frank and pleasant courtesy, and though I felt like being very quiet with men who had seen and done what I have only read of, nothing in their manner or words claimed any merit. Of course this was right and all that; but it is creditable too.

I have even more reason than I knew of to be glad of an appointment on Sherman's Staff, among others, it implies facilities in the way of sending and getting letters and packages which I might not have elsewhere.

At Nashville I was lucky to be just in time to come down with one of the General's special messengers, bringing down his mail and sundry boxes, etc., for his staff-a good fellow, quick, ready and smart, as well as knowing his place. I have made a friend of him and shall need his services.

As I wrote before, address all letters and everything for me to "Headquarters of The Military Division of the Mississippi, Nashville, Tenn." They will be all attended to there. And remember that when an army and its Headquarters are moving, it is no easy matter always either to send things from or to the same, even for the General himself. The Headquarters which are here today may be somewhere else tomorrow (will be somewhere else very soon)—and even our special messenger had to telegraph ahead from Chattanooga Sunday morning to Rome, to learn by a dispatch which met us at Kingston, whether we should come here or go on direct to Atlanta to find these same "Headquarters." So you must not think it strange if you hear from me irregularly, and what troubles me is that I can hear from you only at intervals. But well you know that while I am here hoping to serve my country it is you who are to me the visible embodiment of what hallows that name.

It is plain enough and sad enough to see that this region is and has been the seat of war. I wish I had time to describe to you the scenes I have already looked on,—I do not mean, of course, any of the active scenes of war, but its visible results. Houses in towns and by the roadside of which only charred timbers and ruins are left; buildings converted into fortifications by embankments, and their brick walls pierced for musketry; and all along the railroad from Greysville, Ga., to near Kingston the half burnt ties, and bent and twisted rails lying by the newly built track, as well as the new watertanks and new timber, etc., in bridges, telling of the destruction which only two or three weeks ago Hood vainly thought would "coop up" Sherman and result in all sorts of terrible things. But somehow it didn't work. I do not wonder at the intense and universal admiration his soldiers feel for "Uncle Billy."

I find another thing everywhere, that so far as I can learn by inquiry, and from conversation both with and between others, one in ten would be a large estimate of the McClellan men in the army. This is true even of the New Jersey regiments, of which there are three or four in this army.

I must close this to be sure of sending it back by today's messenger. I will write whenever I can, and how I hope and long to hear from you and all of the dear ones at home. Give them my dear love, and kind words to friends who may inquire for me. Pray for me that I may do my duty to God and man; trust in God, and believe me ever and always in truest devotion

Your

H.

_______________

* It was Maj. Hitchcock's habit to write on letter paper bearing this printed heading, here reproduced once for all.

† Bvt. Brig. Gen. Joseph S. Fullerton, Chief of Staff, Fourth Army Corps.

‡Mrs. Hitchcock's younger sister, Margaret Collier, afterwards Mrs. Ethan Allen Hitchcock.

¹ Edward D. Kittoe.

SOURCE: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Marching With Sherman, Passages from the Letters and Campaign Diaries of Henry Hitchcock, Major and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers, November 1864—May 1865, pp. 15-19

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant John S. Morgan, Thursday, March 16, 1865

Pleasant day although cool morning, drill A. M. at 2. P. M. orders to move tomorrow with 3 days cooked rations. Go over to Commissary for box of sea biscuit & see the supply train loading, popped the last of the pop corn from home. Mail comes to the Regt at 9. P. M. was up late getting ready.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, Thirty-Third Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, Vol. XIII, No. 8, Third Series, Des Moines, April 1923, p. 578

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant John S. Morgan, Friday, March 31, 1865

Rested tolerably last night, At 8. A M. The batteries open on the Forts & keep up a vigorous shelling for 3 hours. P. M. the felled timber front of the forts where our skirmish line is gets on fire. Rebs open on them with shell & small arms. Could not see how the skirmishers could stand the heat & firing but they did it nobly, firing became so heavy at 6. P. M. the men were ordered to arms Co G. was ordered to the forward rifle pits to reinforce Co. B as a support to the skirmishers, Capt Ledyard was on duty as Brig off of the day, which left me in comd of the co. I took them down on the double quick although almost too week to stand. The bullets whistled thick arond but no one was struck. At 11. P. M. the heavy firing ceased & I recd orders to keep my co in the pits all night. I hear of several men being killed but none from our Regt, hear a report that on our right Smith with some of the heavy Parrots disables one of the Enemy's gunboat & drives another off 2 miles, one battery of heavy guns on our left is silenced by the fire save the main Fort. It is rumored that Thomas has made connection with Steele. The Gunboats advance slowly taking out the torpedos, advanced about 100. yds and that Genl Maury commands at Mobile & Genl Gibson at Spanish Fort. We rec mail today one from cous John who is with Thomas & says under date of 10th Feb that the comd was preparing for an expedition against Mobile.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, Thirty-Third Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, Vol. XIII, No. 8, Third Series, Des Moines, April 1923, p. 582

Diary of Private Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Saturday, December 13, 1862

Near Oxford. All quiet. Foraging party started out at 6 A. M. Gone all day. They report a poor country, with much more loyalty apparently than could be expected. Citizens refuse to take Confederate scrip as heretofore, many exhibiting a white flag on their dwellings upon which was inscribed "Union". Received letters from John from Jefferson, Wis.

SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, pp. 18-9

Diary of Private Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Monday, December 15, 1862

Near Oxford. It rained nearly all day, making it very muddy, hard for our horses. No mail for two days.

SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, p. 19

Diary of Musician David Lane, October 2, 1863

Knoxville, Tenn.  We are shut out from all intercourse with the rest of the world. Even Dame Rumor has retired behind the scenes, exhausted, doubtless, by the herculean efforts she has put forth the last few days. By the last and only mail we have had since we came here, we received a bundle of Detroit Tribunes, dated September 15th. Since then the silence of isolation has enveloped us. There is a tiny sheet published daily at Knoxville. It is silent on all except local subjects, and nearly so on them. I notice, in yesterday's edition, a convention has been held by the people of this county to nominate delegates to a state convention, to be held at Nashville, for the purpose of nominating a state ticket. The delegates pledge themselves to support no candidate who is not truly loyal. Thus, while politicians and demagogues are wrangling over "reconstruction and territorial admission," the people are solving the most difficult problem by the most simple process.

SOURCE: David Lane, A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 101

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, February 28, 1863

For the last two days we have had no drill out of doors, and very little guard. It has rained steadily. The "Dudley Buck" arrived yesterday with a large mail, and a lot of boxes have also made their appearance. We were mustered for two months' pay this forenoon, and in the afternoon, between the showers, began one of a series of base-ball games between men of the 23d and ours; but the rain postponed it to the dim future. We find our barracks just the thing this weather, much better than tents, and thank our stars and the United States Government for them.

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. 40

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, March 5, 1863

It has cleared up and is quite cold. We sent off a large mail this morning. Last night we came very near having our barracks destroyed. The funnel of one of the stoves dropped against the roof, igniting the boards, and as we had all turned in, it burned through the roof before it was discovered by a sentry. After burning a hole five feet square we mastered it, and turned in again.

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. 41

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, March 14, 1863

We were expecting a gay time to-day, it being the first anniversary of the capture of New Berne. It was reported that besides a review we were to have various salutes and plenty of beer. We were awakened about five o'clock by a salute, and, although we growled at the early hour, started out to see the fun. We soon found the saluting was done with shotted guns. Belger and Morrison were posted on the river bank, firing as fast as they could. The old "Hunchback," using her 100-pounder, and a little farther down stream, the "Delaware" pegging away at the woods beyond the little fort where the 92d N.Y. Regiment was stationed, they firing also and the river alive with shot and shell from the rebels. We were immediately ordered out in "light marching order," and it looked as if our breakfast as well as our beer would get stale.

Rumors were plenty. About ten o'clock it was reported that we were going across the river to relieve the troops there, but stayed quietly where we were, hearing everything and seeing very little. By four P.M. everything was quiet, and the company returned to barracks. A mail was distributed, and the boys are busy answering letters, for the boat leaves in the morning.

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, pp. 41-2

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 1, 1863

I received a letter from my daughter with information that my son Amandus is much better, the fever broke & he is in a fair way to recover, letter dated the 20th Dec 1862. I have a verry severe cold & my lungs are verry sore, but I am on duty as Officer of the Guard. at 9¼ Oc morning our Reg 36th Iowa was ordered of the boats & formed in line by companyes & ware marched to our Campning grounds on the bank of the river at the lower end of the town of Hellena Arkansas. Our camp is between the Levvy & the river there is some 10 or 12 Reg of Cavelry & infantry in & about the place, the bottom is perhaps ¼ of a mile wide with numerous ponds of standing watter & some of them covered with a green scum, the bluff is verry broken, high point of timberland at the foot of the bluff & opposite to us is the residence of the Rebble Genl Hindman

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 102

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 5, 1863

We was out this morning by request of our Col & had a tryal at target shooting with him the commissioned officers of us, pistol shooting. Capt Hale made the best shooting. forenoon we had company drill & at 4 Oc we ware on dress perade. night I continued my letter to my children. I recd a verry interesting letter from Ellis Burch of Ia.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 8, 1863

We drilled a short time after our scirmish drill & was on dress perade I received a letter from Emma with the good noose that Amandus is better

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of Private Lewis C. Paxson, Sunday, February 8, 1863

I wrote off six copies of the work of board of survey. Kunze, of Company H of Eighth Minnesota, was frozen very badly. Was placed in the hospital. He was riding facing the wind, escorting the mail. A letter received from Red Lake warning us to beware of Sioux. William Beatty, (Lock's Mills) buried.

SOURCE: Lewis C. Paxson, Diary of Lewis C. Paxson: Stockton, N.J., 1862-1865, p. 12

Diary of 5th Sergeant Lawrence Van Alstyne, January 1, 1863

The Arago did call for our mail and the body of Lieutenant Sterling was put on board to go to his family in Poughkeepsie. We gave the old ship three cheers, and then some one sang out three cheers for the lice you gave us. John Van Hoovenburg died last night. We made a box for him out of such boards as we could find. Though we did our best, his bare feet showed through the cracks. But that made no difference to poor Johnnie. The chaplain was with him to the end, says he was happy and ready to go. This is how we spend our New Year's day. We wish each other a happy New Year though just as if we were home and had a good prospect of one. After the funeral Walter Loucks and I went up the river quite a distance, so far it seemed as if our legs would not carry us back. Negro huts are scattered along. I suppose white people cannot live here and so the darkeys have it all. Some cultivate patches of ground and in one garden we saw peas in bloom. We bought a loaf of bread and a bottle of molasses of an old woman, and though the bread was not what it might have been, it tasted good. There are some orange trees, but no oranges. The darkies say they will blossom in about a month. A man in Company E, a sort of poet, who was always writing songs for the boys to sing, was cutting wood to-day and the axe flew off the handle and cut the whole four fingers from the right hand. There were no witnesses and some there are who say he did it so as to get a discharge. The doctor has dressed the hand and he is going about in great pain just now.

SOURCE:  Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 78

Diary of 5th Sergeant Lawrence Van Alstyne, January 3, 1863

Two more men died last night, but not from Company B. We sent off another mail to-day. I wish we might get some letters. We ought to have a lot of them when they do come.

SOURCE:  Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 79

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant John S. Morgan, Thursday, March 9, 1865

A. M. Go to Commissary at Ft. Morgan to buy provision for Mess. get to ride most of way to & from. Ship load of troops at the pier near the Ft. papers from New Orleans of the 6th nothing new. Gen Field order no. 1. from Genl Canby Capt Prince detailed to take charge of Pioneer Corps. Some Regts rec large mail, Henry Shull arrives. Reports Dan Wiser dead Raining from 2. P. M. Evening stormy

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, Thirty-Third Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, Vol. XIII, No. 8, Third Series, Des Moines, April 1923, p. 577

Diary of Private Seth J. Wells, January 30, 1863

I was detailed on fatigue this morning. The detail from our regiment worked on the big break in the levee. We did a good day's work, and slightly checked the current. The Mississippi continues to rise. Uncle Ben, Scott and Patterson returned from their three days' scout. They had been up the river after beef and had secured fifty head. Mail came in last night, Frank received a letter from Rosalie, dated Jan. 4. Just to think, they have had no snow yet in the north. Generals U. S. Grant and Ross have arrived.

SOURCE: Seth James Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells, Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 35

Diary of Private Jenkin Lloyd Jones: Thursday, November 20, 1862

Moscow. Mail arrived to-day. Received two letters; weather rather cold. Went foraging in the morning; returned with fresh pork, beans, corn and fodder in plenty.

SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, p. 13

Diary of Private Jenkin Lloyd Jones: Sunday, November 23, 1862

Moscow. Laid in tent all day. Mail arrived in the afternoon. Received two very welcome letters from home and Thomas L.

SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, p. 14

Diary of Dr. Alfred L. Castleman, December 18, 1861

I am disappointed to-night, and feel sadly. I had almost no letters from home lately. None yesterday, to-day none. To-morrow I hope I shall hear from home, and get news of the returning health of my family, and then feel better. It is very hard to be shut up here, hundreds of miles from those we love most dearly, and during their sickness, can have no hope of getting to see them. I suppose the "necessities of war" demands the sacrifice, and we must submit.

SOURCE: Alfred L. Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B. McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day January, 1863, p. 65