Moscow. Our boys
returned in the afternoon having been out to Collierville, eighteen miles
distant, burned a bridge, came upon a party of rebs, capturing three. Weather
cold and clear. Health improving.
SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd
Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, pp. 14-5
The story of
yesterday's fight is all bosh. There were no two hundred prisoners
taken—no fifteen killed—no fight—not a rebel seen! Munchausen must have been
the legitimate son of a camp, or rather, the camp must be the legitimate
progenitor of the whole race of Munchausen.
But it is surprising
how camp life enhances the capacities of some men. I left home in July a
dyspeptic. I came to Camp Griffin, in October, weighing one hundred and thirty-nine
pounds. I record here, as something worth my remembering, an extract of a
letter written to-day to a friend inquiring how camp life affected my health:
“ * * * I weigh now
one hundred and fifty pounds. I have almost recovered my appetite. With other
things in proportion, I now take three cups of coffee for breakfast, three cups
tea at dinner, two cups at tea, and eat five meals a day, or suffer from
hunger. My last meal is usually taken at 11 to 12 o'clock at night, and
consists of one or two chickens, or a can of oysters, with a pot of English
pickled cauliflower. With that I contrive to get through the night.
"Last night,
however, I was so unfortunate as to have no chickens. My can of oysters was
sour, and I had to put up with a single head of boiled cabbage, half a dozen
cold potatoes, and some cold boiled beef. I wonder what I shall do when we get
away from the neighborhood of Washington to where there is no market, no
oysters, no chickens, no cabbage, no cauliflower, 'no nothin'.' I shall be
compelled to settle back to dyspepsia, and have no appetite."
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. 59
Forenoon we was on
battallion drill after noon Co drill, no Dress perade about sunset just when
the 23 Mo Inft dismissed their dress perade one of their boys snapped his gun
at the croud not knowing it was loaded it went of killed one man dead
dangerously wounded one & one slightly Evening I attended preaching by one
of the 1st Iowa Cavalry to the paroled prisoners text to be spiritually minded
is life & peace
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 97
9 Oc Mr. R Murdock
& I started to the citty was at the gun boats & Arsenal seen one horse
get drouned, took our dinner at the Mt Vernon hotell, kept by Bolander Spent an
hour with Dr Elliott Editor of the Central advocate. Evening I spoke to the
paroled prisoners text now commandeth all men everywhere to repent Butler D
Bailey a stout young man of our company died, the first we have lost
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 98
8 Oc I went down
into the citty to the government undertaker & made arrangements &
arranged to have him burry Corporal Butler D Bailey at 2 Oc. I got the Col to
releave our Company from duty that all mite escorte the corps to the graveyard.
evening our Chaplain preached to the paroled prisoners. I exorted, text, thou
shalt not go with the multitude to do evil we had a good time it turned it into
a speaking meeting & there was great liberty
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 98
Forenoon we had a
fine battallion drill afternoon we ware in Co drill & dress perade evening
I spoke to the paroled prisners in their barracks text Son give me thy heart
Our Chaplain was present we had a good time.
SOURCE: Edgar R.
Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2,
October 1925, p. 98
Breakfasted on half
of a small biscuit and an onion. Prisoners arrive; a crowd gathered when a
cannon was fired over the camp.
SOURCE: John Worrell
Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville
and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, p. 94
Several shots fired
during the night, one from a cannon, the shot screaming overhead. Yesterday and
today's arrival of prisoners is about 1,200. White flags are put in the center
of the prison to designate ground on which crowds must not assemble. If they do
they will be fired upon. Accordingly men are constantly at the guns.
SOURCE: John Worrell
Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville
and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, pp. 94
Received orders to
move tomorrow. Our camp life at Smith's Plantation has been as pleasant as we
could wish. Our time was spent in batallion and company drills and dress
parades. Part of the time we were engaged in building bridges across the bayou
for troops to cross on which would shorten the distance materially between
Milliken's Bend and Grand Gulf, or Carthage, which is opposite. One of the
wonders of the day was our men bringing a small steamboat through the bayou
from the Mississippi with commissary stores and ammunition, something I believe
was never done before. This plantation is a large sugar and cotton plantation
and has several large sugar works and cotton gins on it. It is a valuable one,
worth before the war many hundreds of thousands of dollars, but as the darkies
have all left, there is no saying what it is worth today. I enjoy the morning
and evening walks, as the weather then is delightful. I saw quite a number of
acquaintances pass on their way to the front. Among them Batteries A and B,
Chicago Light Artillery. We have heard of the battles in the front and that our
armies have been victorious. One day quite a number of rebel prisoners passed
to the rear. Our orders are to move in as light marching order as possible. I
take nothing but what my saddlebags will hold, namely, a change of
underclothing and tooth brush and comb. Captain James, with two companies, C
and I, have been detailed some seven miles from the main camp to guard a bridge
over a bayou. I rode down to see them and found them contented and happy,
indulging in blackberries to their hearts' content. I enjoyed them myself. We
heard the guns at the attack on Grand Gulf, which was a strongly fortified
place, and which defied the gunboats. It was taken by troops crossing below and
forcing their works. Companies C and I returned to the regiment last night.
SOURCE: Joseph
Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph
Stockton, p. 13
Started at four a.
m. Reached Raymond by ten o'clock. The churches
were full of the wounded rebels and our men, for there had been quite a fight
here, as well as at Port Gibson. We had cleaned the rebels out and our men were
in the best of spirits. While resting here, heard firing in the distance.
Started at quick time; men were drawn up in line of battle about five miles
from Raymond, across a road, but the enemy had gone around us. Orders came to
move forward in a hurry. Met some brigades resting on the road, but General
Wilson of Grant's staff hurried us forward across fields and arrived at
Champion's Hill just as the enemy fled. We were pushed forward to the front and
slept on the field of battle. Dead rebels and Union soldiers were lying all
around us. The enemy had fled across the Big Black River. Our victory had been
complete, captured over two thousand men, seventeen pieces of artillery and a
number of battle flags. Marched twenty-five miles today.
SOURCE: Joseph
Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph
Stockton, p. 14
Between daylight and
sunup about twelve hundred Federal cavalry surrounded Booneville, a. small
village station on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. There was one train of cars
there and about five or six hundred Confederates, including the sick and their
nurses, but there was no armed force there to defend the place. So the Federals
had quietly taken possession of the place, set fire to the depot and train of
cars, and had collected all the Confederates that were able to travel, and perhaps
a number that were not really able, and formed them in line ready to march off,
when about eighty of our battalion came upon the scene. Small as our squad was,
we made a daring charge and released the prisoners. How they (the prisoners)
did come yelling towards us! We then dropped back into the woods near by, and
after a little skirmishing, the Federals withdrew in time for us to save two
boxes of cars and also the engine. The train was loaded with arms and
ammunition. Our loss was one killed (Culwell), three wounded, and it was said
that the Federals carried off two prisoners, though the prisoners were not from
our battalion. The Federal loss was two killed, several wounded, and nine
prisoners. How those prisoners whom we released did appreciate being set at
liberty! And they did not forget it, but continued to express their gratitude
to our battalion when they happened to meet with any of us along through the
war. The release of five or six hundred prisoners, in the hands of twelve
hundred Federals, by not exceeding eighty Confederates, was no small feat.
The Confederate Army
was moving south along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, in the direction of
Booneville. So there was no little excitement in Confederate ranks on account
of the explosion of the bombshells in the burning cars, being taken for heavy
cannonading. However, they soon learned better, for it was not long before the
head of the column passed Booneville. Our sick had to get out, or be taken out,
of the depot to avoid being burned alive, so they were lying about on the
ground, some dead and others in a dying condition; so the scene was anything
but a pleasant one to look upon. Our battalion moved back to the same place we
camped the night before.
SOURCE: Richard R.
Hancock, Hancock's Diary: Or, A History of the Second Tennessee Confederate
Cavalry, p. 172-3
No definite news from Foot yet, the 19th he was still bombarding Island No 10 — people are now waiting again to hear from Genl Burnside — an immense force is moveing down the River. Norfolk & Richmond now. Stirring times these. Our arms are successful everywhere. The great “Anaconda” is closing its coils and wo[e] to those who do not escape in time. It is said that the traitor W L Yancy has been taken prisoner, he ought to be hung.
SOURCE: Horatio
Nelson Taft, The
Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. Volume 1, January 1,1861-April 11,
1862, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington D. C.
Started from
Middleburg at half-past nine A.M., and stopped in the road three hours while
eight or ten thousand cavalry passed us. Saw a lot of rebel prisoners in a
barn. Started about noon, and went back to the town, and went into battery
about a mile from it. Stopped an hour, then limbered up, and started up and
went back to camp at Aldie. Arrived at half-past four, and remained in camp
till June 26.
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. 276
Left Richmond
yesterday about 6:30 o'clock a. m. Found a number of the Texas Brigade and a
few of my regiment on the cars and soon became acquainted with them. The trip
was monotonous, as usual, until we reached Gordonsville, where the crowd was so
great that twenty of us had to stand on the platform. General J. E. B. Stuart
was aboard and appeared to be very fond of ladies and flowers. He is of medium
size, well formed, fair complexion, blue eyes, whiskers and mustache of
sun-burnt reddish color, usually accompanying fair skin. I had quite a pleasant
time on the platform watching the attempts of the proscribed to get a seat in
the cars and their repulse by the provost guard. The cars were for the
accommodation of ladies and commissioned officers. I never knew soldiers of any
grade to be put in the same category with women before. I happened, however, to
meet Tom Lipscomb, my old college classmate, who is now a major, who managed to
get me in under his wing. We had a long talk about Columbia and old college
days. He informed me that Lamar Stark, my wife's brother, was a prisoner
confined in the old capitol in Washington city. We reached Mitchell's Station
at 4 o'clock p. m.; walked five miles, a hot walk, to camp on the Rapidan,
near Raccoon Ford. My regiment, the Fourth Texas, has a delightful camping
place in a grove of large chestnut trees, on a hillside. We have no tents and
the ground is hard and rocky, but we are all satisfied, and one day's
observation has led me to believe that no army on earth can whip these men.
They may be cut to pieces and killed, but routed and whipped, never! I called
on Colonel B. F. Carter this morning and had quite a pleasant interview. He is
a calm, determined man, and one of the finest officers in the division. To-day
was the regular time for inspection and review. One barefooted and ragged hero
came to Colonel Carter's Tent with the inquiry, "Colonel, do you want the
barefooted men to turn out today?" to which the Colonel replied
negatively, with a smile. I went out to the review which took place in an open
field about 600 yards from camp. There were some ladies on horseback on the
field. Their presence was cheering and grateful. They were all dressed in
black, as were more than two-thirds
of the women in the Confederacy. On returning to camp I called on Major Bass,
of the First Texas, and gave him $25.00, which I had received for him from
Lieutenant Ochiltree, at Shreveport, Louisiana, to be handed to Bass if I did
not need it.
I received two
haversacks to-day, miserably weak and slazy, made of thin cotton cloth. I have
only taken a change of underwear, towel, soap and Bible and Milton's Paradise
Lost. I have sent all the rest to Richmond with my carpet sack, to be left
at Mrs. Mary E. Fisher's, on Franklin street, half way between Sixth and
Seventh.
I wrote a letter to
mother and one to wife to-day and read the 104th Psalm. I opened to it by chance,
and it contained just what I felt.
SOURCE: John Camden
West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a
Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, pp. 52-4
We cannot as yet
procure the full particulars regarding the battle of "Seven Pines"
fought yesterday and to-day. As well as I can learn the plan was this: the
Yankees had crossed a large force on the south-side of the Chickahominy, and on
the night of the 30th of May, we had a most terrific storm. Our Commander,
General Jos. E. Johnston, concluding that the bridges were all washed away, and
the river past fording, concluded to attack the Yankees on the south-side and
crush them out before they could be reinforced. On account of the tardiness of
General Huger the plan was not fully successful, though we surprised the enemy,
capturing a large number of prisoners with several pieces of artillery. Our
camp was on the main road leading to Seven Pines, but 'twas difficult to handle
artillery and we received no orders to move. What a heart-rending scene it is
to witness the wounded brought in from a terrible battle field. The people of
Richmond turned out en masse to render aid to our wounded
soldiers. Many a wounded soldier-boy from the sunny South will never cease to
remember the fair form of the "city belle" as she soothed his aching
brow or bound up his wounded limb. Too often do we hear our Southern allies
cursing the people of Richmond as a set of speculators thriving on our misfortunes,
but now many of them have been convinced that "in the hour of pain and
anguish," Richmond can and will do all within her power
to aid those who are seeking to uphold our cause.
'Tis undoubtedly
true that Richmond has changed greatly since the war began, for it has, I am sorry
to say, become the headquarters of all of the "fancy men" of the
South—gentlemen of the Hebrew persuasion have made it their rendezvous to sell
blockade goods, and countless numbers of Yankee spies, though outwardly
swearing allegiance to our government, hold strong foothold in our city.
Gambling hells, furnished with tinseled splendor are at every corner, to catch
the unwary, and relieve them of their superabundant "Confederates."
Still there is
enough of the old metal left, purified and refined, to make Richmond to me the
sweetest, dearest spot on earth. General Johnston being wounded, General Robert
E. Lee now commands our army.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or What I Saw of It, pp. 116-7
Our battery moved
back last night about one mile and camped on Hogan's farm. This morning when we
awoke we found a party of eight hundred Yankee prisoners at Hogan's house.
Amongst them were several surgeons, and they actually refused to attend to
their own wounded, but insisted, as surgeons were non-combatants, that they
should be sent to Richmond and immediately returned to the North.
A great number of
wounded Yankees have been brought in by our men, and are receiving all proper
attention. We moved forward to Gaines's house, where we remained all day, but
near us there was no more fighting.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or What I Saw of It, p. 122
New prisoners report favorable progress by our armies. Yesterday there
was a powerful rain lasting ten hours. In this part the soil is red and hard,
surface flat, and water stood from two to four inches deep. We stood up all
night to keep out of it. Those too feeble to do this, were drenched and
drowned. It was with great physical and mental effort that I was able to endure
the strain as I have been feeble several days.
Four crazy men have been wandering through camp several days. I noticed
one today without any clothing, having been naked for two weeks. He lay within
four rods of the south gate, arms extended, exposed to the sun, in full view of
everybody. His whole body was blistered, his countenance frightfully distorted,
giving utterance to unintelligible sounds, frothy matter oozing from his mouth
and nostrils, his eyes appearing blind. Another prisoner shot through the hips
last night by a guard. One lay near the brook delirious, burning with fever;
another near him was unable to speak; one-half buried in the swamp, covered by
a mass of maggots and flies. Those who brought him out said his eyes, ears,
nose and mouth were filled. Near the sink, in almost every passage, lay
half-rotting skeletons, evincing all the signs of deprivation and symptoms of
pestilence, and yet alive. All of this and I have not been out of my usual
course. Neither do I mention those who have a slight covering
to turn the sun. There are hundreds who would require the best treatment to be
saved, and perhaps could not be saved. In this absence of medical treatment we
resort to simple means to cure ourselves. A very limited supply of red root and
white gum bark can be found, on our new lot, and pine bark, which are used to
check the almost universal complaints, diarrhoea, dysentery and urinary
troubles. I observed several men today had buried their limbs to the knees, as
a remedy for scurvy. But the truth is there is no remedy for this condition under
the circumstances. Never could we imagine anything so horrible! We might write
volumes, and fail to describe the horrible reality. Our people would disbelieve
it, and "pooh" as if it were a fabulous tale. Tonight some have a
season of prayer near us. One or two most excellent prayers were offered,
prayers that would grace pulpits, bearing an earnestness of the soul's
devotion. It seemed so much like home, like steadfast faith and adoration, a
reflex of the all-reaching Providence, that we felt it good to be there; that
hearts are still alive, the finer sympathies not entirely stifled. How much
better to see men in such communion, seeking consolation from heaven, than to
see them worse than brutes, or fighting demons! No rations today.
SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a
War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864,
p. 83
Prisoners arrive, 300, taken at James Island, S. C., the 3rd, belonging
to the 52nd Pennsylvania, also a squad from Virginia. Fierce lightning and
thunder in the middle of the day, the sun shining brightly, and scarce a cloud
in the sky. A Rebel paper admits the country open to Grant, and Lee in a
strait. "All we want is to be left alone," said Jeff Davis at his
inaugural. His wants will grow, like "bull pen" lice.
SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a
War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864,
p. 85
Reached camp
yesterday at noon. My recruits arrived to-day.
The enemy was here
in my absence in strength and majesty, and repeated, with a slight variation,
the grand exploit of the King of France, by
"Marching up the hill with twenty thousand men,
And straightway marching down again."
There was lively
skirmishing for a few days, and hot work expected; but, for reasons unknown to
us, the enemy retired precipitately.
On Sunday morning
last fifty men of the Sixth Ohio, when on picket, were surprised and captured.
My friend, Lieutenant Merrill, fell into the hands of the enemy, and is now
probably on his way to Castle Pinckney. Further than this our rebellious
friends did us no damage. Our men, at this point, killed Colonel Washington,
wounded a few others, and further than this inflicted but little injury upon
the enemy. The country people near whom the rebels encamped say they got to
fighting among themselves. The North Carolinians were determined to go home,
and regiments from other States claimed that their term of service had expired,
and wanted to leave. I am glad they did, and trust they may go home, hang up
their guns, and go to work like sensible people, for then I could do the same.
Went on a scout out
to Eaglesville. Met a Yankee scout just this side of E. We charged them and run
them one and a half miles, capturing six and wounding several.
SOURCE: Ephraim
Shelby Dodd, Diary of Ephraim Shelby Dodd: Member of Company D Terry's
Texas Rangers, p. 11
