Nothing of interest doing here. The news is not encouraging. Grant has burned Jackson and evacuated the place, falling back toward Vicksburg. It is also reported that a portion of his army has gone to New Orleans, destined for Mobile. Bragg is at Chattanooga, and the Federal army all over Middle Tennessee and North Alabama. Lee is falling back slowly from Pennsylvania.
SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 281
Our camp yesterday was enlivened by the joyful news that we had orders to take the cars for some unknown destination, and it is generally believed that Gregg's Brigade is to join Bragg's army, a petition having been sent up some time since with this request, if any are allowed to go; in it it was urged that most of this brigade were Tennesseeans, who had not seen their families since the day of their enlistment, in 1861. With a day's ration cooked, and another of crackers and bacon in haversacks, we were on the cars ready to start at 5 The entire night was consumed in going to Meridian, a distance of sixty-one miles. While waiting this morning, a train load of paroled Vicksburg prisoners, under the influence of whisky, made a charge upon a lot of sugar lying near the depot, and guarded by a detail of the Fourteenth Mississippi. In the melee a guard fired a blank cartridge at the crowd, when a lieutenant shot him in the head with a pistol, making a severe, but not dangerous, wound. The guards then left their posts, and the sugar was given up to pillage. Our brigade is now at Enterprise, from which place it can reach any needed point very quickly.
SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 281-2
Haines Bluff, Miss. Once
more on land, and glad are we of the change. We arrived at the mouth of the
Yazoo at ten o'clock yesterday morning, six miles from Vicksburg, and, turning
upstream, came to anchor at this place, fifteen miles from its mouth, at 12 m.
We had a perilous
voyage down the river. It would seem, on looking back on the dangers through
which we were safely carried, that a power higher than man's had been exerted
in our behalf. To say nothing of the guerillas, three times were we in imminent
danger of being "blown up." Once nothing but a miracle—men called it
luck—saved us from capsizing; once we were driven on shore by a hurricane on
the only spot, so said our pilot, where we could by any possibility have
escaped being wrecked.
Part of our
division, two days in advance of us, has reported at Vicksburg. Two divisions
of the Ninth Corps are here, the other—the Third—is at Suffolk, Virginia. The
place we now occupy was lately in possession of the Rebels. It is strong by
nature, and has been made still stronger by man, but those terrible little
gunboats made it too hot for secession, and they left in haste, leaving part of
their baggage, a few horses and cattle, and even poultry, which our boys found
skulking in the bushes. Of course, they arrested the cowardly creatures and
brought them into camp.
The inhabitants have
all left, driving their stock with them, and burning what furniture they could
not carry.
The face of the
country is rough and broken, quite as much so as Maryland and Virginia. Spite
of Jeff. Davis' prohibition, I find much cotton planted in this part of
Mississippi, but it will not come to much unless Uncle Sam soon gives it in
charge of his colored children, who literally throng our camp. I wish I could
describe the beauty and grandeur of these forests, but to be appreciated they
must be seen. That which gives them their greatest charm is the long, wavy,
gray moss which hangs suspended from every limb, from the smallest sapling to
the mighty, towering oak. Wild plums and blackberries, large and luscious,
abound and are now in season. Figs will soon be ripe. Among other things, good
and bad, fleas and woodticks are in evidence.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 52-3
The sky is overcast
with clouds, a cool breeze comes from the west, which makes the temperature
delightful. I have been out berrying, and have succeeded admirably. On my way
in I found some short pieces of board, of which I have made a comfortable seat,
with a desk in front, on which I am now writing. I feel quite like an
aristocrat. In my ramble across the field I discovered a flowering vine, the
most bewitchingly beautiful thing I ever saw. I searched in vain for seed
sufficiently matured to germinate. I wish I could describe its matchless
beauty, but words are feeble.
We are still lying
here waiting for Johnson, of course, to come to us, although no one seems to
know where Johnson is—whether on the Yazoo, the Big Black or the little one. I
suspect it is not definitely known whether his "large army" is a myth
or a reality. But, doubtless, these hidden, secret, mysterious "strategic
movements" and original plans will, some time, be made apparent, and then
I, at least, will make one desperate attempt to appreciate and admire the
wisdom and energy which could see, plan and execute with such unerring
certainty and success. But Vicksburg, the center of gravity at present, is
really a very stubborn fact. I do not understand it, cannot comprehend it, but
I believe Grant will investigate it to the satisfaction of all loyal people.
All the reliable information I can get at present is brought on the wings of
the wind. This is not Grant's official report, but the report of his artillery.
Last night his cannons' sullen roar reverberated from cliff to cliff and shook
the hills. There are all sorts of rumors which it is folly to repeat, for they
are replaced by new ones every hour. I believe I will record the latest, so
here goes:
Last night Pemberton
conceived the brilliant idea of turning loose four or five hundred horses and
mules, creating a stampede among them, and, when Grant's lines open to let them
through, as certainly would be done, if he suspected nothing, why, out they
would rush, artillery, infantry and all, before the lines could close again,
and thus escape. But Grant was wide awake, fell back a mile or two to give
himself room to work, opened his lines for the horses to pass through and the
Rebels to pass in, then closed on them and had them trapped.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 53-5
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
General ORDERS No.
4.}
I. No persons except
those in the employ of the United States Government, and loyal citizens, or
those who have taken the oath of allegiance, will hereafter be permitted to
pass the picket-lines at any post within this district.
II. No goods or
merchandise of any kind will hereafter be allowed to pass outside the lines,
except the necessary supplies for planters working lands leased from the United
States, and limited quantities to citizens who have taken the oath of
allegiance. No citizen will be allowed to take out supplies for any persons
except himself and his immediate family, and in no case will more than thirty
days' supplies be taken out.
III. The
provost-marshal at every post will keep an accurate record of every pass
granted, and of all permits approved by himself, or the post commander. Books
for this purpose will be supplied by the quartermaster's department and the
records will be kept open for the inspection of any officer of the Government,
at all hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. A record will be kept by the officers of
the picket-line of all passes and permits presented, which record will be
compared with that of the provost-marshal, and any discrepancy will at once be
reported.
IV. All trade stores
within the district at points not garrisoned by at least one regiment of troops
will at once be discontinued. No goods or merchandise will be landed at any
point on the river within the limits of the district which is not garrisoned by
troops, except necessary supplies for planters working land leased from the
Government, in which case the goods may be landed under cover of a gun-boat at
the nearest practicable point to the plantation.
V. All boats ladened
with merchandise detected in landing in violation of this order will be seized
and brought to this post.
VI. All persons
charged with the duties of imposing upon citizens, or of seizing property for
the Government, will keep an account of all such transactions, specifying the
persons from whom the money or property was received and the disposition made
of it. This account will be kept open for the inspection of any officer of the
Government, or of any citizen who has been taxed, or from whom property has
been taken.
VII. No Government
wagon, transport, or vessel of any kind will be used in bringing cotton or
other stores to market, except in cases where such stores have been seized for
the Government.
VIII. All clerks and
citizen employes in every department whose services are not absolutely
necessary will at once be discharged.
IX. No rations will
be issued, nor property of any kind transferred to citizens to reimburse them
for losses sustained by the operations of the war. The persons to whom damages
are to be paid, and the amounts due, are questions which no military officer is
authorized to adjust.
X. It is the duty of
every person in the employ of the Government and of every loyal citizen to aid
in the correction of all evils. Any practice on the part of either civil or
military officers or citizens which tends to aid the enemy or defraud or injure
the Government should be promptly reported, and sustained by such proof as will
enable the commanding general to correct the evil, and bring the guilty parties
to punishment.
By command of Maj.
Gen. H. W. Slocum:
SOURCE: 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. 78), p. 30-1
GENERAL ORDERS No.
6.}
I. The United States
Government having adopted the policy of leasing abandoned plantations and
giving employment to freedmen, it is the duty of the military authorities to
give protection as far as possible to the lessee and laborer. This protection
can only be given by holding responsible the districts in which the bands of
guerrillas, who are constantly committing depredations upon them, are organized
and encouraged.
II. It is therefore
ordered that hereafter in every instance where a Government lessee is robbed of
his property, the commanding officer of the nearest military post shall send a
sufficient force to the locality, with instructions to seize from disloyal
citizens property sufficient to fully indemnify the lessee, which property will
be sold at public auction and the proceeds paid to the injured person. If the
crops of the lessee are destroyed, or in any manner injured, crops of the same
kind will be seized from disloyal citizens and harvested for the benefit of the
injured party. If any lessee is killed by guerrillas, an assessment of $10,000
will at once be levied upon the disloyal people residing within thirty miles of
the place where the offense was committed. Property of any kind will be seized
and sold for this purpose. The amount so assessed will be appropriated for the
benefit of the family of the lessee. Full reports of all seizures and sales of
property under this order will in all cases be forwarded direct to these
headquarters.
Ill. In deciding
upon the class of persons who are to be assessed, it should not be forgotten
that the oath of allegiance is not an infallible test of loyalty. If a citizen
has relatives and friends among these, if he harbors or protects them, or if
having the means of doing so he fails to inform the lessee of their approach,
he must be held accountable. Men must be judged by their acts and not by the
oaths they have taken.
By command of Maj.
Gen H. W. Slocum:
SOURCE: 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. 78), p. 31-2
GENERAL ORDERS No. 7.}
Lebanon, Ky., June 6th, 1863.
I did not go to
Jamestown, as I intended. I called on the Provost Marshal for a pass and learned
the program had been changed, and the Seventeenth was then on its way back to
Lebanon. I found the company about nine o'clock in the evening, a half mile
from Columbia, tired and worn by a march of twenty six miles. The boys had
stretched themselves on the ground, too tired to erect their tents, but when
they learned of our arrival, they flocked around us to learn the latest news
from home. And such warm greetings I seldom ever witnessed. The Colonel said we
were all right on time; he did not expect us to start from home until Monday.
Here I learned the
Ninth Corps had received orders to report immediately at Louisville. We started
early next morning and marched twenty miles. After supper we threw ourselves
upon the ground and forgot our pains and aches in "balmy sleep."
At two o'clock we
were aroused by "the shrill bugle's cry," and were told we were to be
in Lebanon at 12 m. eighteen miles. We turned out, cooked and ate our
breakfasts, and at four o'clock were on the move. The Quartermaster soon overtook
us with teams that he had "pressed" to carry our knapsacks for us.
With many thanks to Colonel Luce—it was he that ordered the wagons to follow us—we
started on our way with light hearts and lighter feet. But eighteen miles in
half a day is no easy task, even in light marching order, and soon the men,
worn out by repeated forced marches, began to tire, and many were ready to
declare they could go no further, when we were met by a wagon train, sent from
Lebanon to bring in those not able to walk. The train was soon filled to its
utmost capacity. Not being one of the unfortunates, I "hoofed it" the
entire distance.
The all-absorbing
question with us is, where are we going? The Louisville Journal says we are
"going to take a new lesson in geography." Of course, then, we leave
the state. Our officers are about equally divided between Washington and
Vicksburg. But which? If we are to take a new lesson we will not go east. Then
it must be Vicksburg. Our men say it makes but little difference to them, if
only we go where work is to be done.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 44-5
We are still in the
harbor at Memphis awaiting orders. Eight hundred and fifty wounded men were
brought to this place yesterday from Vicksburg. Grant is still hammering away
at that seemingly impregnable fortress. The weather is extremely hot, which
renders our situation, huddled together as we are, very uncomfortable.
Yesterday we steamed up the river about a mile to a fine grove, and all went on
shore while the crew gave the old boat a thorough cleaning. This morning our
surgeon ordered us all on shore as a "sanitary measure." We marched
off by companies, each company going where it chose, but to different points.
We went to Court House Square and disbanded. It was like being transferred from
a gloomy prison to "smiling fields and shady groves.” The square contains
about five acres; is enclosed by an iron fence; is thickly set with trees of
different varieties the brave old oak, with its spreading branches and
delicious shade; the gorgeous magnolia, the tree of paradise; the orange and
lemon, with an almost endless variety of evergreens. Near the center of the
square is a bust of General Jackson, cut in marble.
On one side of the
pedestal is inscribed those memorable words of that grand old patriot: "The
Federal Union; it Must Be Preserved." I noticed the word
"Federal" was partly obliterated, and inquired the cause. A citizen
told me it was done by a Rebel Colonel at the beginning of the war; that his
men, still cherishing some regard for the hero of New Orleans, took him outside
the city and shot him. At four o'clock we were marched on board our prison
ship.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 48-9
Orders have come at
last. "Forward to Vicksburg!" is the cry. We are steaming down the
grand old river once again, ready to face danger in any form, either by Rebel
bullets or the more deadly miasma of the Southern swamps, for "Liberty and
Union." The way from Memphis down is not entirely safe for transports.
Guerillas have a trick of concealing themselves along the banks and firing on
them as they pass. We have a strong guard, with loaded guns, ready to return
their greeting should they salute us. As we do not travel nights, it will take
us at least two days to make the trip.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 50
