Diary of Captain Joseph Stockton, February 19, 1863

Left camp on the 16th on a scout to hunt up Blythe's forces. Orders came upon us suddenly to prepare two days rations and go in light marching order. Men strapped a rubber and one common blanket across their shoulders and were soon ready, all glad of the change as camp life had become very monotonous. Our force consisted of some 500 cavalry, 800 infantry (our regiment and part of the 11th) and two pieces of artillery. It had been raining for some time and the roads were horrible. Marched about twenty-one miles the first day. The rebels had burned all the bridges and we had to cut down trees to cross over the streams. Rained the first day. About 6 o'clock in the evening we went into camp, without any tents. Sleep was almost impossible. Reached Blythe's camp on the morning of the 17th, but the bird had flown. Company A were thrown out as skirmishers and moving forward in that way came upon Blythe's camp. They had been forced to retreat so fast that they had left all their camp utensils and provisions covered up with leaves and hid under branches of trees cut down. We destroyed everything we could find and commenced our march homeward, Co. A as rear guard. We kept skirmishing with the Rebs who would come just near enough to get a shot at us. Raining hard all the time. Marching terrible through a swamp when it was so dark you could not distinguish the men in front, we waded through water for an hour; when we came to Horn Lake river it was so swollen and deep from the rain that we could not ford it and as all the bridges have been burned down we cut down two large trees which fell across the stream and by the light of a single lamp crossed on these. We went into camp about four miles from the river but sleep was impossible owing to the rain. I sat on a log most of the night and tumbled off once in the mud from being asleep. I was a tough looking picture. Next morning we reached camp and all glad to get back. It was on this march that an incident occurred which was very amusing. We had halted and stacked arms at noon near a farm house where the men went for chickens, geese, pigs and everything eatable they could get, when all at once a lot of the men came rushing out of the yard yelling what was thought to be "Rebs." Men rushed for their arms-officers mounted, when it was discovered instead of Rebs it was bees. A lot of men in search of provisions had come upon a number of bee-hives and in trying to get the honey upset the hives and the whole swarm of bees set upon them. They were routed and fled, the bees attacked the horses and men so vigorously that we had to move the regiment.

SOURCE: Joseph Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Stockton, p. 8

Diary of Private Bartlett Yancey Malone: May 16, 1862

we marched

SOURCE: Bartlett Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 20

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, July 17, 1863

At 2 o'clock on the morning of the 17th an order came for the pickets to fall back noiselessly to the trenches, which we did very quietly. On arriving here we found the main body of the enemy had slipped off during the night. By a rapid march we reached Brandon, on the Southern Railroad, having made fourteen miles before the heat of the day. The retreat was admirably managed throughout, and it was not until late in the day that the enemy learned that the bird had flown. At this place, the progress of the brigade was delayed some time to allow another body of troops, coming by a different road, to get in advance, and it was late in the evening before we reached a camping-place, three miles east of Brandon. On this march we suffered greatly from hunger, in consequence of not finding our wagon-train in time to save the rations from being spoilt. Corn-fields suffered that night.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 280

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, July 18, 1863

We marched seven miles this morning, and, while resting several hours, cleaned out a corn-field near by. Started again, and again halted to allow half of the army to pass. Soon after starting again, a heavy rain fell and continued for several hours. The road, from the continual tramping of those in advance, got in a terrible condition, and it was 9 o'clock at night before the brigade made camp, having to pass the entire army. As a consequence, fully two-thirds of the men fell by the way-side. The mud, darkness and fatigue had been too much for them, and many of them slept in the mud where they gave out. A sole roasting-ear diet was not equal to the task of the hardest march we had ever had.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 280

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, July 20, 1863

Made three miles yesterday, and are now encamped in a thick forest with an abundance of good spring water at hand. We are washing clothing and fixing up generally, but ready to begin the march at any moment. We draw flour every day, with bacon occasionally, and roasting-ears are to be had for the gathering.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 281

Diary of Corporal John W. Dennett, January 21, 1863

Started at half-past seven, marched about two miles, went into camp in the woods, stopped two days and two nights. The roads were so muddy the army could not march. We were virtually "stuck in the mud."

SOURCE: John Lord Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 271-2

Diary of Corporal John W. Dennett, January 23, 1863

Began to go back to old camp. Could not advance on account of the mud. Mud was the greatest general this time.

SOURCE: John Lord Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 272

Diary of Corporal John W. Dennett, January 24, 1863

Started at six A.M., and arrived in camp at Potomac Creek at eleven o'clock. Time occupied in once more fixing up our old quarters, that being the second time we had returned to them. We were paid off for four months.

SOURCE: John Lord Parker, Henry Wilson's Regiment: History of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry, the Second Company Sharpshooters and the Third Light Battery, in the War of the Rebellion, p. 272

Diary of Private Seth J. Wells: November 8, 1862

We struck our tents and started for Grand Junction about 10 o'clock. The boys are in fine health and spirits. We marched about nine miles and camped by a clear spring.

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. 12

Diary of Private Seth J. Wells: Sunday, November 9, 1862

We marched about fifteen miles today and arrived at La Grange, three miles west of Grand Junction. It is dry and very dusty. Sometimes the dust was so thick we could not see the ground. That and the smoke and heat from the burning fences was almost intolerable. We passed miles and miles of burnt and burning fences, fired by troops in advance. Large and fine farms and plantations were laid waste. We met fully forty teams of four and six mules each, loaded with wenches and young woolly heads, and all their personal effects, and in fact all they could smuggle from their masters. Ask them where they are going and they will tell you, "You folks sent's to Bolivar, don't know where wes goin' from thar." I blistered my feet badly on the march. We hear that Hollow Springs is evacuated. We have very stringent orders in regard to stealing. Everything has to be paid for by the division when it cannot be traced to the company, regiment or brigade of the persons committing the theft. I hope they will be enforced.

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. 12

Diary of Musician David Lane, June 23, 1863

Once more we are on the wing. Yesterday morning we were ordered to be ready to march when called on. Of course, the men do not expect to stay anywhere, but it always comes a little tough to leave a pleasant camp just as they get comfortably settled. But military orders are inexorable, and, in spite of regrets, we "struck tents, slung knapsacks," and started on our winding way among the hills. This part of the country is made up of ranges of high hills separated by ravines down which the water has cut channels from ten to twenty feet deep. We marched about three miles on the road leading to Vicksburg and halted on the top of a high hill just large enough to hold our regiment. It was plowed last spring and planted to cotton. Colonel Luce looked indignant, the company officers grumbled, the men swore. General Welch regretted, but Major General Parks ordered the left to rest here, and it rested. But Colonel Luce could still do something. Ordering us in line, he said: "Men, you need not pitch your tents in line in this open field; go where you can make yourselves most comfortable, only be on hand when the bugle sounds." Three cheers and a tiger for Colonel Luce. then a wild break for trees, brush; anything to shelter us from the fierce rays of a Southern sun. We are now nine miles from Vicksburg by the road, six miles in a direct line. We can distinctly hear musketry at that place, which has been kept up almost incessantly the last three days. At intervals the cannonading is terrific. Our Orderly Sergeant rode over there yesterday, to see his brother. He says Grant's rifle pits are not more than twenty-five rods from the Rebels, and woe to the man on either side who exposes himself to the marksmanship of the other. As near as I can learn, matters remain about as they were three weeks ago. Unless General Grant succeeds in mining some of their works, thus affecting an entrance, he will be compelled to starve them out.

We would think, in Michigan, such land as this utterly unfit for cultivation. But the highest hills are cultivated and planted with corn or cotton. Corn, even on the highest hills, I have never seen excelled in growth of stalk. One would naturally suppose that in this hilly country water of good quality would abound. Such is not the fact. Soon as we broke ranks I started out in quest of water. I followed a ravine about half a mile, then crossed over to another, but found none. Blackberries being plentiful, I filled my cap and returned to camp. Some of the boys had been more successful, and after resting a few minutes I took another direction, for water we must have. This time I followed a ridge about half a mile, then began to descend—down, down, I went, seemingly into the very bowels of the earth, and when I reached the bottom found a stagnant pool of warm, muddy water. Making a virtue of necessity, I filled my canteen, returned to camp, made some coffee, ate my berries, with a very little hardtack, and went to bed to dream of "limpid streams and babbling brooks."

This morning my comrade and I arose with the early dawn and started out in search of berries, which we found in great abundance.

A strange stillness pervades our hitherto noisy and tumultous camp. The men are scattered in every direction, lounging listlessly in the shade, not caring even to play cards, so oppressive is the heat. I am sitting in the shade of a mulberry tree, Collier lying on the ground near by; we alternately write or lounge as the mood takes us. Most assuredly I never felt the heat in Michigan as I feel it here. Yet men can work in this climate, and northern men, too. The Eighth and Twentieth have been throwing up fortifications for several days.

SOURCE: David Lane, A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 56-8

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 16, 1862

Another hard night; one of a few very cold and disagreeable ones. We left the ranks early for rails, and after carrying them two or three miles, found, on arriving at camp, there were plenty on hand and not accounted for. We got our supper and tried to sleep, but it was almost impossible. We would have suffered severely had it not been for our woollen blankets; as it was, when we woke up this morning, many of us found the water in our canteens frozen, said canteens having been used as pillows during the night.

WHITEHALL.

After starting at seven o'clock, we kept halting continually until nine. We had travelled not more than four or five miles when we heard heavy firing in our immediate front. Our brigade being a head, our regiment was sent in about the first. We left the main road, taking the one over the hill on the left, and were immediately under fire. Here we came upon two men of "A" who had been killed by a shot or shell. We dropped our knapsacks and filed along a line of fence, coming to a halt in front of the Neuse, with the rebels on the opposite shore.

We fired several volleys by company, then the order came, "At will," which was easier. We had an old rail-fence in front, and beyond that a few barrels of pitch or turpentine, then a slope, and the water, and the rebels beyond. We received a good share of their bullets, and hoped ours did better execution, as we were fortunate in not losing a man. There were several narrow escapes, however. The flag was immediately behind our company, and a part of the time the flag of the 9th New Jersey was unfurled behind us also, which might have drawn an extra amount of fire; but we did not suffer any loss, while some of the companies lost several. "A," four killed and seven wounded; "B," one wounded; "C," three killed; "K," one killed; "D," two wounded; "F," one wounded; "G," two wounded; "H," two wounded. We were on the rebels' right. We stayed there about an hour and a half and then were ordered back, and started directly across the field in line of fire for cover, where we could see other regiments flat on the ground. All the protection we had there, was by hugging mother earth and folding our arms back of our heads, the bullets whistling close to us in a neighborly fashion. Here we waited, and those who had hard-tack munched it; but we kept up a thinking all the while whether the muscles of our arms would stop a bullet from going through our heads. Soon Belger's battery took our old place and opened on the rebels, who treated them pretty severely for a time, as we could see good R. I. material dropping constantly. The battery boys came for the water we had in our canteens, with which to cool their guns, the firing having been quite brisk. After two hours of very steady work, the rebels concluded to give up the fight. As they had destroyed the bridge yesterday, we could not chase them, so fell in and started again for Goldsboro, and about eight o'clock camped in a field at the junction of two roads.

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. 26-7

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 18, 1862

We started for home about five this morning, expecting to make easy marches, but have been disappointed so far, as we have tramped just about the same gait as when going up, making about twenty miles to-day and camping in the same field we did the night out of Kinston, about five miles from Whitehall.

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. 28-9

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 19, 1862

We were up and at it at the usual time this morning, on the home tramp, which kept up the spirits of many. About ten o'clock we came in sight of our first day's fighting ground. We found that several of the graves of our men had been opened by the rebels. After repairing them we kept on, taking the Neuse Road, which we steered clear of in coming up on account of the heavy entrenchments and barricades the rebels had placed on it. Every little while we had to leave the road and take to the woods to get by their obstructions, which continued for four or five miles from Kinston; some of them were very formidable.

About three o'clock we marched into a large field on the left of the road to receive rations, which we understood had been brought to us on the cars from New Berne, and it was about time; our larder was getting low. We received a little bread, but not enough to satisfy both stomach and haversack, so we filled the former and stowed away the crumbs that were left in the latter. The report is that the bread and beef were left at New Berne, and soap and candles shipped to us,—an explanation which did not soothe our feelings entirely.

We marched about five miles farther and then camped for the night.

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. 29

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 20, 1862

After some trouble we managed to get to bed last night about eleven o'clock; but for a long time after that the mules kept us awake; perhaps they were hungry also. The weather was clear and not cold, so we got a little rest. At six o'clock this morning we were ordered on, after a very light breakfast, excepting for a few who may have foraged. There were a few chickens and a little applejack about our mess. To-day has been the hardest of any day of the tramp, and there has been more straggling. The company organization was in the line, but thinned out terribly. We had no noon-rest; but at two o'clock we filed from the road to a field, came to the front, and received a good scolding. Our regiment looked as if it had been through two Bull Runs; only about 150 left, and the rest not "accounted for." In fact there were very few left of those who should do the accounting. The colonel stormed a little, but that did not bring up the men; so, as he was probably as hungry, if not as tired, as we were, he let us go to eating, which was a decided farce. Our haversacks were as flat as our stomachs. We found a few grains of coffee and tobacco-crumbs in the bottom of our bags, and succeeded in digging a few sweet potatoes, which we ate raw. We were told they were very fullsome. We waited here two hours or so for the stragglers, who finally came along. They had been having a fine time, plenty of room to walk, and two hours more to do it in than we had; and, more than that, they were in the majority, so nothing could be done but "Right shoulder shift" and put the best foot forward. About sundown we saw, in crossing a bridge, a wagon-load of hard-tack bottom side up in the creek. Some of the boys sampled the bread, but it was not fit to eat. Shortly after a signboard indicated fourteen miles to New Berne. That was encouraging! The walking was fearful, the roads full of water, in some places waist deep, and covered with a skimming of ice. At last we met a wagon loaded with bread, and after much talk with the driver we got what we wanted. Next we met a man who said it was only twelve miles to New Berne. They either have long miles or else some one made a mistake; we seemingly had been walking two hours or more from the fourteenth mile post, and now it was twelve miles. We came to the conclusion not to ask any more questions, but "go it blind.”

We at last reached the picket-post, seven miles out, and halted to rest and allow the artillery to go through. Here Col. Lee told us we were at liberty to stay out and come into camp Sunday; but most of "E" thought of the letters and the supper we would probably get, and concluded to stand by the flag. After a rest we started again, and at last began to close up and halt often, so we knew we were coming to some place or other.

The writer has no very distinct idea of those last seven miles, excepting that he was trying to walk, smoke, and go to sleep at the same time, and could only succeed in swearing rather faintly, and in a stupid sort of manner, at everything and every one. It was dark and foggy, but finally we saw what appeared to be the headlight of a locomotive a long way off. Then the fort loomed up, and we were passing under an arch or bridge, and in a few minutes we reached "E's" barrack, and our troubles were all forgotten. Now we were wide awake; gave three hearty cheers for every one; had all the baked beans and coffee we could stagger under; and then the captain's "Attention for letters" brought us to our feet. Some had as many as a dozen. They had to be read at once, and, notwithstanding our fatigue and the lateness of the hour, read they were.

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. 29-30

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 8, 1862

Left Camp Cooper, and arrived the sameday at Wartrace, remaining in the above mentioned camp twenty-six days, without moving. Encamped for the night in Wartrace, guarding commissary or station all night ; making a march of 8 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 9, 1862

Left Wartrace and arrived at Duck river the same day as guard for rail road bridges and fortifications there, and encamped for the night at Duck river bridge camp, making a march of 5 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 14, 1862

Left Camp Duck river and arrived the same day at Tullahoma and encamped for the night, making a march of 9 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17

Diary of Private Adam S. Johnston, July 25, 1862

Left Tullahoma and marched to Manchester fair grounds, Coffee county, Tenn., and encamped for the night, making a march of 11 miles.

SOURCE: Adam S. Johnston, The Soldier Boy's Diary Book, p. 17-8

Diary of Captain Joseph Stockton, January 2, 1863

Encanmped at Lafayette last night and in the morning started back with the supply train. The march was as hard a one as I ever took. I have never seen the men so played out and such general straggling—but few companies came to a halt with a quarter of their men. Quimby gave us a tough one and the "compliments" paid him by the men would scarcely please his ears. I was out on picket with my company and did not get relieved until the whole force had started and then had to rejoin the regiment. I reached it about dusk.

SOURCE: Joseph Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Stockton, p. 7