Diary of Private John C. West, Sunday, May 10, 1863

On the cars between Meridian and Selma tried to get transportation at Jackson to Augusta, but the quartermaster declined to give it to me; took it to Atlanta and will try to get it to Augusta from there. Left Jackson at 6 o'clock yesterday evening; Greggs' Brigade had just come in from Port Hudson; met several regiments at Meridian going to Vicksburg and to the fortifications between Vicksburg and Jackson; reached Meridian at 3:30 a. m. and floundered about the depot until 5 o'clock and got a pretty good breakfast for a dollar and a half, and started at 6 o'clock for Selma; reached the landing at 11 o'clock; had a tedious time changing baggage and then only went four miles up the river to Demopolis and went through another tedious lugging of baggage from one point to another, and finally sat in the cars for an hour and a half bored and hungry; got off at last and went rattling through beautiful fields of corn nearly all the way to Selma; took the steamer Cherokee from Montgomery and am now on my way up the river, and, Oh! what would I not give to have Mary and the children with me now, for the route is comparatively easy from here to Columbia.

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, p. 36-7

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 27, 1864

Cedar Bluff, Ala., October 27, 1864.

Waiting here for the 17th Army Corps to get across the Coosa. It is a beautiful little river, not as wide as the Illinois, but has a deeper channel. We are starting on the road to Talladega; don't even know whether we are starting on a campaign or not. Hood is reported across the Tennessee. We understand that Sherman has men enough to attend to him, and that Sherman intends to use us to Christianize this country. Many think we are now on the way to Montgomery or Selma. River here about 120 yards wide. About a thousand head of our cattle swam across, some of them swam over and back two or three times, and many of the thin ones drowned, for which we were grateful to the drovers as it saved us some very hard chewing.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 316

Diary of 1st Lieutenant John S. Morgan: Wednesday, May 3, 1865

Kept close to quarters all day except a short visit to the commissary for some candles. At 11 A. M. the Gunboat Octorara returns bringing 4 or 5 men of our Regt. who had been up to Selma. Boat brings no news. Mr. Rush gives a dinner to which Genl Benton & a no of other officers were invited. At 12, M. a flag of truce carried by 2 Luets & 4 Privates goes out, destination not made known. After supper attended prayer meeting in camp. About tettoo time heard loud cheers in the 27th hearing that a boat had arrived Lt. Laughridge & self go to the landing to get the news. No boat, but hear that Col Patterson said “The news is glorious the war is over it is entirely played out.” This was the cause of the cheering, how the news got here I dont know. Rumors of the day — a deserter reports Forest 75 miles from here with 2500 men determined to fight us. — The Reb fleet & between 2 & 3 thousand men lie at St Stephns 25 miles above waiting to hear from Genl Taylor. — All Regts with less than 9 months to serve ordered to New Orleans to he sent up the river preparatory to muster out.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923, p. 598

Major-General William T. Sherman to Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, November 2, 1864

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

In the Field, Rome, Ga., November 2, 1864.

Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT,

City Point, Va.:

Your dispatch is received.* If I could hope to overhaul Hood I would turn against him with my whole force. Then he retreats to the southwest, drawing him as a decoy from Georgia, which is his chief object. If he ventures north of the Tennessee I may turn in that direction and endeavor to get between him and his line of retreat, but thus far he has not gone above the Tennessee. Thomas will have a force strong enough to prevent his reaching any country in which we have an interest, and he has orders if Hood turns to follow me to push for Selma. No single army can catch him, and I am convinced the best results will result from defeating Jeff. Davis' cherished plan of making me leave Georgia by maneuvering. Thus far I have confined my efforts to thwart his plans, and reduced my baggage so that I can pick up and start in any direction, but I would regard a pursuit of Hood as useless; still if he attempts to invade Middle Tennessee I will hold Decatur and be prepared to move in that direction, but unless I let go Atlanta my force will not be equal to his.

W. T. SHERMAN,

 Major-General, Commanding.

­­­_______________

* Of November 1, p. 576

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 39, Part 2 (Serial No. 79), p. 594-5; John Bell Hood, Advance and Retreat, p. 265-6