Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General George B. McClellan, August 5, 1862 – 12 m.

WASHINGTON, August 5, 1862 – 12 m.

You cannot regret the order of the withdrawal more than I did the necessity of giving it. It will not be rescinded, and you will be expected to execute it with all possible promptness. It is believed that it can be done now without serious danger. This may not be so, if there should be any delay. I will write you my views more fully by mail.

H. W. HALLECK,

Major-General, Commanding U. S. Army.

Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 1 (Serial No. 12), p. 82

Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General George B. McClellan, July 31, 1862 – 10 a.m.

WASHINGTON, July 31, 1862 – 10 a.m.

General Pope again telegraphs that the enemy is reported to be evacuating Richmond and falling back on Danville and Lynchburg.

H. W. HALLECK,

Major-General.

Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 1 (Serial No. 12), p. 77

Diary of Gideon Welles, Wednesday, September 3, 1862

Washington is full of exciting, vague, and absurd rumors. There is some cause for it. Our great army comes retreating to the banks of the Potomac, driven back to the intrenchments by Rebels.

The army has no head. Halleck is here in the Department, a military director, not a general, a man of some scholastic attainments, but without soldierly capacity. McClellan is an intelligent engineer and officer, but not a commander to head a great army in the field. To attack or advance with energy and power is not in him; to fight is not his forte. I sometimes fear his heart is not earnest in the cause, yet I do not entertain the thought that he is unfaithful. The study of military operations interests and amuses him. It flatters him to have on his staff French princes and men of wealth and position; he likes show, parade, and power. Wishes to outgeneral the Rebels, but not to kill and destroy them. In a conversation which I had with him in May last at Cumberland on the Pamunkey, he said he desired of all things to capture Charleston; he would demolish and annihilate the city. He detested, he said, both South Carolina and Massachusetts, and should rejoice to see both States extinguished. Both were and always had been ultra and mischievous, and he could not tell which he hated most. These were the remarks of the General-in-Chief at the head of our armies then in the field, and when as large a proportion of his troops were from Massachusetts as from any State in the Union, while as large a proportion of those opposed, who were fighting the Union, were from South Carolina as from any State. He was leading the men of Massachusetts against the men of South Carolina, yet he, the General, detests them alike.

I cannot relieve my mind from the belief that to him, in a great degree, and to his example, influence, and conduct are to be attributed some portion of our late reverses, more than to any other person on either side. His reluctance to move or have others move, his inactivity, his detention of Franklin, his omission to send forward supplies unless Pope would send a cavalry escort from the battle-field, and the tone of his conversation and dispatches, all show a moody state of feeling. The slight upon him and the generals associated with him, in the selection of Pope, was injudicious, impolitic, wrong perhaps, but is no justification for their withholding one tithe of strength in a great emergency, where the lives of their countrymen and the welfare of the country were in danger. The soldiers whom McClellan has commanded are doubtless attached to him. They have been trained to it, and he has kindly cared for them while under him. With partiality for him thay have imbibed his prejudices, and some of the officers have, I fear, a spirit more factious and personal than patriotic. I have thought they might have reason to complain, at the proper time and place, but not on the field of battle, that a young officer of no high reputation should be brought from a Western Department and placed over them. Stanton, in his hate of McC., has aggrieved other officers.

The introduction of Pope here, followed by Halleck, is an intrigue of Stanton's and Chase's to get rid of McClellan. A part of this intrigue has been the withdrawal of McClellan and the Army of the Potomac from before Richmond and turning it into the Army of Washington under Pope.

Chase, who made himself as busy in the management of the army as the Treasury, said to the President one day in my presence, when we were looking over the maps on the table in the War Department, that the whole movement upon Richmond by the York River was wrong, that we should accomplish nothing until the army was recalled and Washington was made the base of operations for an overland march. McClellan had all the troops with him, and the Capital was exposed to any sudden blow from the Rebels. "What would you do?" said the President. "Order McClellan to return and start right," replied Chase, putting his finger on the map, and pointing the course to be taken across the country. Pope, who was present, said, "If Halleck were here, you would have, Mr. President, a competent adviser who would put this matter right."

The President, without consulting any one, went about this time on a hasty visit to West Point, where he had a brief interview with General Scott, and immediately returned. A few days thereafter General Halleck was detached from the Western Department and ordered to Washington, where he was placed in position as General-in-Chief, and McClellan and the Army of the Potomac, on Halleck's recommendation, first proposed by Chase, were recalled from in the vicinity of Richmond.

The defeat of Pope and placing McC. in command of the retreating and disorganized forces after the second disaster at Bull Run interrupted the intrigue which had been planned for the dismissal of McClellan, and was not only a triumph for him but a severe mortification and disappointment for both Stanton and Chase.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 106-9

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, June 29, 1862

HEADQUARTERS 54TH REGT. O. V. INF.,

CAMP NEAR MOSCOW, TENN., Sunday, June 29,1862.

My last letter to you was dated from Lagrange yesterday week, and written so hurriedly, for I was just on the eve of march, that I think it must have been unintelligible. We are so hurried from point to point, the mails so uncertain, and facilities and opportunity for writing so scant, that it really becomes a task, or rather I should say enterprise hard to succeed in, the getting of a letter from camp to one's friends. I wrote, if I recollect, that we had marched from Chewalla to Lagrange, that from thence my brigade had made a hurried descent upon Holly Springs, one of the principal cities of Mississippi, where we expected to meet the enemy in considerable force; that they fled at our approach; and that, returning from that point to Lagrange, we found marching orders for Memphis, for which march I was prepared when I wrote that letter. Our course lay through a country more fertile and more highly cultivated than any we had met, but the weather being hot and dry, and the road exceedingly dusty, our troops were made to suffer very much. We accomplished nineteen miles the first day, and were halted at a town called Lafayette. From thence we dispatched a train of fifty wagons to Memphis for provisions, our rations having given out. These returned in safety, but a train of cars, which was started laden with returning soldiers, was intercepted by a force of cavalry, thrown from the track, and Colonel . . . with a number of soldiers taken prisoner. This circumstance, together with intelligence that Breckenridge had concentrated a force at Holly Springs, determined a counter-march with a view of attacking him at that point, and therefore our troops were brought where we now are, some ten miles from Lagrange and twenty-five from Holly Springs, where we shall probably go to-morrow.

The weather is becoming very warm, many of my command are suffering from the effects of the heat and the privations and discomforts to which they are necessarily subjected. With the exception of camp dysentery and diarrhoea, whatever it may be called, my own health is pretty good. The bowel complaint is of a very singular nature, and not to be combated with the ordinary remedies. I have suffered from it ever since the battle of Shiloh, more or less at different times.

Major Fisher has been very sick, he is now convalescent. We shall have a summer campaign right here in the cotton states. A furlough or leave of absence is a thing utterly impossible, therefore I make up my mind to stick it out. I had hoped after the evacuation of Corinth that there were hopes of a close of the war, but these hopes have proved delusions. McClellan is slow, we are much disappointed in his movements. As a consequence, Beauregard and Breckenridge are rallying in the South. The people to a man and woman are decidedly and unanimously "Secesh." We have no friends here but the slaves. The war will be a ten years' war at the least. Ohio must lose fifty thousand men for her quota before it is closed, and the sooner the draft is made upon her, the better I shall be pleased. . . . The war is terrible in its effects here. Homes destroyed, families ruptured, parted, never to meet again; fields and farms desolated, country ravaged, people starving. God has cursed the land. When can their evils be stayed?

There are beautiful forests and broad savannahs here; all fruits and cereals flourish; a land for milk and honey; if peace could come, plenty would follow. The insect life here is wonderful; such innumerable bugs and spiders, moths and winged and crawling things you never could imagine without seeing, while lizards and chameleons, of all sizes and colors, are constantly in pursuit of their game. It is no unusual thing for me to drive the lizards off my cot before I lie down at nights, and every night the spiders crawl over me by myriads. I have been bitten by spiders but once or twice, and with no serious effects, but I do suffer from lice, fleas, bedbugs, and wood-ticks.

My horses are all in tolerably good condition, though they miss their hay. There is no hay grown in this country — its place is supplied with blades of corn. Oats do not thrive here, either, and Northern horses feel the difference. Mine carry me very well notwithstanding, up to this time.

I like your strictures upon the newspapers, and am glad you understand them. Newspaper articles, unless they appear over the signatures of well-known and perfectly responsible parties, are regarded by the army, both off1cers and privates, worthless for information upon any current event, especially matters connected with the service. Mere puffs, they generally emanate from paid correspondents or scribblers, whose object is to write a man into notoriety, as they would publish a patent medicine or advertise a sale at auction.

You would all doubtless like to know more of me and my surroundings than I have it in my power to write. The faculty of description and vigor of memory may make many a fortune for the striving actor in scenes such as these transpiring about me. Every day is an incident, every night in reality a dream of romance. The moonlight, the forest, the bugle, the sentry, the alarm, the march, stealthy and catlike, stealing on the foe, or with loud alarm of drum and fife and flaunting of flag, dashing down to intimidate; the bivouac, the encampment, the gathering around the camp fires, the bottle, the pipe, the tale, the jest, all that you read of in novels, only a good deal more so, all these are my daily life. If one battle would suffice, but many and many a battle must be fought, rivers of blood must yet flow, before we can herald peace.

Well, dear children, Mamma will read this letter or a part of it to you, and while reading it, you must reflect that father is far down South on the line between Tennessee and Mississippi, in a large forest, on the banks of Wolf River, in a hot climate, where the cotton grows; that he is sitting under the shade of his tent, writing to you, surrounded by soldiers, and all the pomp and panoply of war, that he is battling or about going into battle to secure you the same rights and the same good government that was secured to him and his fathers by our Revolutionary forefathers, and you must pray for the success of his cause, and for his deliverance from the evil, and if he should fall in the battle, you must pray for the good of his soul, but always be tender and kind to your mother, your aunt, your teachers and friends.

God bless you all.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 217-20

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 17, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., April 17, 1863.

I regret to see you are in bad spirits and take so much to heart our apparent reverses. The affair at Charleston was pretty much as I expected, except I did think the ironclads would be able to pass Sumter and get at the town. I did not expect this would give us the place, or that they could reduce the batteries. They never have yet reduced any batteries of consequence, except those at Port Royal and Fort Donelson, but they have proved their capacity to run by them and stand being shot at, which I think they did in an eminent degree at Charleston. I see some of the papers are disposed to criticise and find fault with duPont, but I have just read a vigorous defense of him in the New York Tribune, so he is all right. You must not be so low-spirited. War is a game of ups and downs, and we must have our reverses mixed up with our successes. Look out for "Fighting Joe's" army, for the grand reaction in our favor. A big rain storm we had on the 14th has kept us quiet for awhile, but Joe says we are to do great things when we start.

The great lady in the camp is the Princess Slam Slam, who is quite a pretty young woman. The Prince Slam Slam has a regiment in Sigel's corps.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 366

General Robert E. Lee’s General Orders No. 2, February 14, 1865

HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES,

14th February, 1865.

General Orders, No. 2.

In entering upon the campaign about to open the General-in-Chief feels assured that the soldiers who have so long and so nobly borne the hardships and dangers of the war require no exhortation to respond to the calls of honor and duty.

With the liberty transmitted by their forefathers they have inherited the spirit to defend it.

The choice between war and abject submission is before them.

To such a proposal brave men with arms in their hands can have but one answer. They cannot barter manhood for peace nor the right of self-government for life or property.

But justice to them requires a sterner admonition to those who have abandoned their comrades in the hour of peril.

A last opportunity is afforded them to wipe out the disgrace and escape the punishment of their crimes.

By authority of the President of the Confederate States a pardon is announced to such deserters and men improperly absent as shall return to the commands to which they belong within the shortest possible time, not exceeding twenty days from the publication of this order, at the headquarters of the department in which they may be.

Those who may be prevented by interruption of communication may report within the time specified to the nearest enrolling officer or other officer on duty, to be forwarded as soon as practicable, and upon presenting a certificate from such officer showing compliance with the requirement will receive the pardon hereby offered.

Those who have deserted to the service of the enemy, or who have deserted after having been once pardoned for the same offense, and those who shall desert or absent themselves without authority after the publication of this order, are excluded from its benefits. Nor does the offer of pardon extend to other offenses than desertion and absence without permission.

By the same authority it is also declared that no general amnesty will again be granted, and those who refuse to accept the pardon now offered, or who shall hereafter desert or absent themselves without leave, shall suffer such punishment as the courts may impose, and no application for clemency will be entertained.

Taking new resolution from the fate which our enemies intend for us, let every man devote all his energies to the common defense.

Our resources, wisely and vigorously employed, are ample, and with a brave army, sustained by a determined and united people, success with God's assistance cannot be doubtful.

The advantage of the enemy will have but little value if we do not permit them to impair our resolution. Let us then oppose constancy to adversity, fortitude to suffering, and courage to danger, with the firm assurance that He who gave freedom to our fathers will bless the efforts of their children to preserve it.

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 353-4

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, June 11, 1863

The Thirty-fifth Iowa received marching orders. A report is that General Burnside with eight thousand troops went on an expedition up the Yazoo river today. Cannonading has been heard on all sides all day. News came that General Banks has Port Hudson surrounded and is now besieging the place.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 121

12th Regiment Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Camp Jackson, Columbus, Ohio, April and May, 1861. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, May 6, and duty there till June 28. Reorganized for three years June 28, 1861. Three months' men mustered out July 25, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1501

12th Regiment Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 28, 1861. Left State for the Kanawha Valley, W. Va., July 6. Attached to Cox's Kanawha Brigade, W. Va., to September, 1861. Bonham's Brigade, Dist. of the Kanawha, W. Va., to October, 1861. 1st Brigade, District of the Kanawha, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division West Virginia, Dept. of the Mountains, to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division, 9th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1862. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division, District of West Virginia, Dept. of the Ohio, to March, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 8th Army Corps, Middle Department, to June, 1863. 2nd Brigade, Scammon's Division, Dept. of West Virginia, to December, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of West Virginia, to April. 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry, Division West Virginia, to July, 1864.

SERVICE. – Action at Scary Creek, W. Va., July 17, 1861. Battle of Carnifex Ferry September 10. Operations in the Kanawha Valley, W. Va., and New River Region September to November. Gauley River September 12. Wilderness Ferry September 14. Hough's. Ferry September 16. Advance to Sewell Mountain September 24. Sewell Mountain September 25. At Hawk's Nest October 10 to November 1. Movement on Cotton Mountain and pursuit of Floyd November 1-18. Laurel Creek November 12 (Co. "H"). Duty at Charleston till April, 1862. Advance on Princeton April 22-May 1. Narrows of New River May 4. Operations on Flat Top Mountain May 20 to August 14. Scout in Wayne County July 24-26 (Detachment). Moved to Washington August 14-24. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 24-September 2. Action at Bull Run Bridge August 27. Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Battle of South Mountain, Md., September 14. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. March to Clear Springs October 8, thence to Hancock and to the Kanawha Valley, W. Va., October 14-November 17. Moved to Fayette Court House December 4, and duty there till May, 1864. Action at Blake's Farm May 9, 1863. Repulse of McCausland's attack on Fayetteville May 17-20, 1863. Fayette Court House May 19. Pursuit of Morgan's forces and patrol on the Ohio River July 17-26. Expedition from Charlestown to Lewisburg November 3-13. Action at Meadow Bluff December 4, 1863. Scammon's demonstration from the Kanawha Valley December 8-25, 1863. Action at Big Sewell Mountain and Meadow Bluff December 11. Lewisburg and Greenbrier River December 12. Near Meadow Bluff December 14. Crook's Raid on Virginia & Tennessee Railroad May 2-19. Princeton May 6 (Cos. "B," "D"). Battle of Cloyd's Mountain May 9. New River Bridge May 10. Hunter's Raid to Lynchburg May 26-July 1. Diamond Hill June 17. Lynchburg June 17-18. Retreat to Charleston June 19-July 1. Ordered to Columbus, Ohio, July 2. Veterans and Recruits transferred to 23rd Ohio Infantry. Mustered out July 11, 1864, expiration of term.

Regiment lost during service 3 Officers and 93 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 77 Enlisted men by disease. Total 175.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1501

George E. Daniels, Sergeant, Co. I, 11th Iowa Infantry

Shiloh National Cemetery

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Mrs. Eliza Walter Smith & Helen Smith, June 21, 1862

HEADQUARTERS 54TH REGT. O. V. INF.,

LAGRANGE, TENNESSEE, June 21, 1862.

DEAR MOTHER AND HELEN:

We are now encamped at Lagrange, a most beautiful town in Tennessee, surrounded by lovely scenery, the country slightly undulating, watered by Wolf River, a clear, cold, and swift-running stream. This was the famous hunting-ground of the Chickasaw Indians, and here what was called the lost district, the disputed ground between Mississippi and Tennessee, to battle for which the militia was called out years ago. The place is celebrated for its college and female seminaries, and the very great beauty of its suburban residences. Its railroad facilities, its pure water, and healthy atmosphere have made it in past times a favorite resort for wealthy citizens from Memphis, Mobile, and further South, and luxury and refinement have characterized its inhabitants. Our troops were received here with chilling reserve. The stores were closed, the hotels refused accommodations to officers, and ladies, who had been unable to escape by flight to the plantations or elsewhere, shut themselves up. The men had pretty much all managed to get away. As the few, however, who were left came in contact with the rank and file, and began to discover that we were not the Goths and Vandals they had been led to believe, and also that the great lever, gold, was ready to be plied and piled, they wonderfully changed countenances, began to brighten, and the larders, poorly supplied, however, were opened. . . .

Our brigade had been here but a day when we were ordered to Holly Springs, distant some twenty-five miles south. We made there a forced march, going, returning, destroying a bridge and trestlework of a railroad within three days. We had a slight skirmish at a place nine miles beyond Holly Springs, in which we lost four wounded and killed eight of the enemy. Their infantry occupied the city, but fled at our approach. I was appointed Provost of the city, and my regimental flag floated from the Court-House. The history of that flag in this regard is somewhat remarkable — in a future letter I will give it to you. Holly Springs, as you know, is one of the principal cities of Mississippi, surrounded by magnificent plantations, in the midst of the cotton-growing region. The people are very rich, or rather have been, and are the true representatives of the South. Our reception there was somewhat different from what it had been here. All the prominent gentlemen of the town called upon me in my official capacity, and many of them tendered me the hospitalities of their houses, which in one or two instances I accepted. They had lost a great deal by the burning of cotton. Many of the wealthiest men had been ruined. They did not seem to sympathize with their own army that was devastating the land. The plantations along the march were very beautiful, the houses are built with a great deal of taste, the spacious lawns and parks and cultivated grounds kept trim and neat. This is the season for cultivating cotton, and hosts of slaves were in the fields, stopping work and running to the fences to see us pass, and to chaff with the men. They understand just as well what is going on as their masters. They seem fat and happy enough, but are pretty ragged. Suffering will be rife, however, through whatever regions these armies pass, and the South will groan at the desolation of its land. Bitterly, bitterly, will they rue the grievous sins they have committed, but never again will they be forced into union. The United States no longer exist, between the North and the South is a great gulf fixed, and the hearts of the people will never bridge it. We may conquer, but never subdue. Their lands are beautiful, their climate lovely, fruits and flowers, and magnificent forest trees. The holly and the pine, the live oak, the mimosa, the bay, the magnolia, are grand, and the mocking bird and thrush make them vocal. The people are strong in intellect, but enervated in body. The women are pretty, but pale. After all, perhaps Providence is working out some great design through the agency of this bloody war. It is a strange fact that our Northern men stand the effects of the climate better than those to the manner born. Perhaps a new infusion of better blood will regenerate. . . . I have this moment, even as I write, received an order to hold my troops in readiness to march towards Memphis at two o'clock this day. It is now twelve M. So you see there is but little time for private griefs or private joys. This is one great drawback to comfort in the army, you never know what will happen to you the next moment, and no sooner do you begin to rejoice that your “lines are cast in pleasant places,” than you are ordered off, you know not where. I keep Stephen worried out of his wits. . . . I entered the army the 9th day of last September, nearly ten months have past. In all that time I have never been absent from my post one single day or night.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 215-7

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 14, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, April 14, 1863.

Yesterday I received a letter asking me to appoint a day to receive the sword, etc. I referred it to General Hooker, who replied that it was entirely out of the question, my being absent at this time, and recommending the postponement of the presentation, which I accordingly wrote to the committee. I am just as well satisfied, for I looked with great horror at the prospect of being made a lion, and having to roar for the benefit of outsiders. I trust now they will come quietly down here, make the presentation, and let me send the sword back to you, for it is too precious to carry in the field.

I have been busy all day making preparations for the march.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 366

General Robert E. Lee's General Orders No. 1

HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE ARMY,

February 9, 1865.

General Orders, No. 1.

In obedience to General Order No. 3, Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, 6th February, 1865, I assume command of the military forces of the Confederate States.

Deeply impressed with the difficulties and responsibilities of the position, and humbly invoking the guidance of Almighty God, I rely for success upon the courage and fortitude of the Army, sustained by the patriotism and firmness of the people, confident that their united efforts, under the blessing of Heaven, will secure peace and independence.

The headquarters of the Army, to which all special reports and communications will be addressed, will be for the present with the Army of Northern Virginia. The stated and regular returns and reports of each army and department will be forwarded, as heretofore, to the office of the Adjutant and Inspector-General.

R. E. Lee,

General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 353

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, June 10, 1863

The cool morning was followed by a rain all day ending at dark in a heavy windstorm. Companies E and D of the Eleventh Iowa worked all last night in cutting a road through the canebrakes to the rebels' breastworks. Skirmishing has been going on all day.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 121

Abraham Lincoln to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, July 14, 1862

WAR DEPARTMENT,

July 14, 1862.

Major-General HALLECK,  Corinth, Miss.:

I am very anxious – almost impatient – to have you here. Have due regard to what you leave behind. When can you reach here?

A. LINCOLN.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 3 (Serial No. 14), p. 321

11th Ohio Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, April 18-26, 1861. Duty at Camp Dennison, Ohio, till June 20. Reorganized for three years' service June 20, 1861. Three months' men mustered out July 20, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1500

11th Regiment Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 20, 1861. Ordered to the Kanawha Valley, W. Va., July 7, 1861. Attached to Cox's Kanawha Brigade, West Virginia, to September, 1861. Benham's Brigade, District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to October, 1861. 1st Brisade, District of the Kanawha, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division West Virginia, Dept. of the Mountains, to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division, 9th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1862. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division, District of West Virginia, Dept. of the Ohio, to February, 1863. Crook's Brigade, Baird's Division, Army of Kentucky, Dept. of the Cumberland, to June, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to June, 1865.

SERVICE.--Action at Hawk's Nest, W. Va., August 20, 1861. Near Piggott's Mills, Big Run, August 25. Operations in the Kanawha Valley and New River Reglen October 19-November 16. Gauley Bridge November 10. Blake's Farm, Cotton Mountain, November 10-11. Moved to Point Pleasant December 11, and duty there till April 16, 1862. Operations in the Kanawha Valley April to August. Moved to Washington, D.C., August 18-24. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 25-September 2. Bull Run Bridge August 27. Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Frederick City, Md., September 12. Battle of South Mountain September 14. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. Moved to Hagerstown, Md., October 8, thence to Clarksburg and Summerville, W. Va., and duty at Summerville till January 24, 1863. Expedition to Cold Knob Mountain November 24-30, 1862. Lewis Mill on Sinking Creek November 26. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., January 24, 1863, thence to Carthage February 22, and duty there till June. Near Carthage March 8 (2 Cos.). Scout to Rome March 24-25. Reconnoissance to McMinnville April 13. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Hoover's Gap June 24-26. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Catlett's Gap, Pigeon Mountain, September 15-18. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-21. Rossville Gap September 21. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-November 23. Reopening Tennessee River October 26-29. Brown's Ferry October 27. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Demonstration on Dalton, Ga., February 22-27, 1864. Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25. Veterans absent on furlough March and April. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May to September. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Detached for duty as garrison at Resaca May 16 to June 10. Non-Veterans relieved for muster out June 10 and ordered to Cincinnati, Ohio. Mustered out June 21, 1864. Veterans and Recruits organizod as a Battalion and attached to 92nd Ohio Infantry till January, 1865, participating in operations about Marietta, Ga., and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2, 1864. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Smyrna Camp Ground July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5-7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Fayetteville, N. C., March 11. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14, Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review May 24. Mustered out June 11, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 50 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 98 Enlisted men by disease. Total 152.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1500-1

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, June 10, 1862

HEADQUARTERS 54TH REGT. O. V. INF.,

CAMP CHEWALLA, MISS., June 10, 1862.

MY DEAR WIFE:

We have marched some fifteen miles beyond Corinth, and in a few moments shall proceed on our march to Grand Junction, some twenty miles from here and on the route to Memphis. I remained in occupation of Corinth three days, and was succeeded by General Halleck, who now occupies the quarters I left. The papers have scandalously falsified, as they usually do, the movements of Sherman's Division. A man in John Groesbeck's regiment claims the rather barren honor of flying the first flag over Corinth, when the fact is that mine, which was the first by two hours and forty minutes to enter the town, had been floating for that length of time. The town was under guard by my troops, and Major Fisher was acting as Provost Marshal (a post from which he was only the day before yesterday relieved) at the time the troops who claimed the credit entered. So much for newspapers, which are a tissue of falsehood and misrepresentations. These things I know you care nothing about, and indeed I would hardly take the trouble to explain except to avoid the absurdity which would attach to my former letters, if you believe the newspapers.

The weather is becoming pretty warm, though the nights continue cool, indeed I may say cold, for two or three blankets are comfortable, and there are no mosquitoes. We do not suffer so much from the wood ticks and jiggers as farther back. I am told that our march will lie through a high and tolerably fertile country, a matter to be much desired. Since our occupancy of Tennessee, all supplies have been scarce, the country people very poor and bereft of everything in the way of eatables. I hardly know what keeps them from starvation. . . . We think the back of the rebellion is broken in the Southwest, but we keep up a constant vigilance, for the foe is insidious. Beauregard's army must have been a good deal demoralized before the evacuation of Corinth, if we may believe the accounts of deserters and prisoners.

I suppose our destination is Memphis. They may make a stand against us on the way. We are looking anxiously for action from McClellan. Our army is the great centre, his the left, and the forces in Arkansas the right wing, and we ought to move forward together. We shall be victorious, we shall conquer, but we shall never subjugate this people. My opinions in this behalf, so often expressed, and more than a year ago, have never changed. They are a people very little understood at the North; their bitter hostility to the North will never change, certainly not with this generation; they have learned to fear us and to hate.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 214-5

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 12, 1863

FALMOUTH, VA., April 12, 1863.

I feel very sad when I think of young Dehon and Hamilton Kuhn, both so full of life and promising so much; to be cut off in the way they were, is truly mournful, and I feel sometimes as if I was individually responsible, and in some measure the cause of the misfortune of their friends.

I have had another hard day's work. No sooner had the President left, than a Major General Follarde, of the Swiss army, comes down here, with orders to Hooker to show him every attention, and as he does not speak English, and I have some pretensions to speaking French, Hooker turned him over to me, and I have, to-day, been taking him all through my camps and showing him my command. He seems like all foreign officers of rank, intelligent and educated. He expressed himself delighted and wonder-struck with all he saw, and says our troops will compare favorably with the best troops in Europe, and he has seen them all. If he goes back to Philadelphia, I will give him a letter to you, for I think he will interest you.

I note what you say of General Hooker. I think he will outlive that scandal, for it most certainly is a scandal. Whatever may have been his habits in former times, since I have been associated with him in the army I can bear testimony of the utter falsehood of the charge of drunkenness.

I spoke to the President when here about Franklin, and endeavored to convince him that the whole affair turned on a misapprehension, Burnside thinking he was saying and ordering one thing and Franklin understanding another. I know that Franklin did not, nor did any of those around him, believe or understand that Burnside intended our attack for the main attack, which Burnside now avers was always his intention.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 365-6

General Robert E. Lee to James A. Seddon, February 8, 1865

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

February 8, 1865.

HON. JAS. A. SEDDON,

Sec. of War, Richmond, Va.

SIR: All the disposable force of the right wing of the army has been operating against the enemy beyond Hatcher's Run since Sunday. Yesterday, the most inclement day of the winter, they had to be retained in line of battle, having been in the same condition the two previous days and nights. I regret to be obliged to state that under these circumstances, heightened by assaults and fire of the enemy, some of the men had been without meat for three days, and all were suffering from reduced rations and scant clothing, exposed to battle, cold, hail, and sleet. I have directed Colonel Cole, chief commissary, who reports that he has not a pound of meat at his disposal, to visit Richmond and see if nothing can be done. If some change is not made and the Commissary Department reorganized, I apprehend dire results. The physical strength of the men, if their courage survives, must fail under this treatment. Our cavalry has to be dispersed for want of forage. Fitz Lee's and Lomax's divisions are scattered because supplies cannot be transported where their services are required. I had to bring Wm. H. F. Lee's division forty miles Sunday night to get him in position. Taking these facts in connection with the paucity of our numbers, you must not be surprised if calamity befalls us. According to reports of prisoners, we were opposed on Hatcher's Run by the Second and Fifth Corps, part of the Ninth, one division of the Sixth, Gregg's division (Third Brigade of cavalry). It was also reported that the Twenty-third Corps (Schofield's) reached City Point on the 5th, and that it was present. But this is not confirmed by other reports. At last accounts it was stated to be on the Potomac, delayed by ice. A scout near Alexandria reports it is to march on Gordonsville, General Baker on Kinston. I think it more probable it will join Grant here.

With great respect, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

Respectfully sent to the President for perusal. Please return it.

JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE,

Secretary of War.

[Indorsement.]

This is too sad to be patiently considered, and cannot have occurred without criminal neglect or gross incapacity. Let supplies be had by purchase or borrowing or other possible mode. J. D.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 352

Diary of Salmon P. Chase: Tuesday, July 22d, 1862

This morning, I called on the President with a letter received some time since from Col. Key, in which he stated that he had reason to believe that if Genl. McClellan found he could not otherwise sustain himself in Virginia, he would declare the liberation of the slaves; and that the President would not dare to interfere with the Order. I urged upon the President the importance of an immediate change in the command of the Army of the Potomac, representing the necessity of having a General in that command who would cordially and efficiently cooperate with the movements of Pope and others; and urging a change before the arrival of Genl. Halleck, in view of the extreme delicacy of his position in this respect, Genl. McClellan being his senior Major-General. I said that I did not regard Genl. McClellan as loyal to the Administration, although I did not question his general loyalty to the country.

I also urged Genl. McClellan's removal upon financial grounds. I told him that, if such a change in the command was made as would insure action to the army and give it power in the ratio of its strength, and if such measures were adopted in respect to slavery as would inspire the country with confidence that no measure would be left untried which promised a speedy and successful result, I would insure that, within ten days, the Bonds of the U. S. — except the 5-20s. — would be so far above par that conversions into the latter stock would take place rapidly and furnish the necessary means for carrying on the Government. If this was not done, it seemed to me impossible to meet necessary expenses. Already there were 10,000,000 of unpaid requisitions, and this amount must constantly increase.

The President came to no conclusion, but said he would confer with Gen. Halleck on all these matters. I left him, promising to return to Cabinet, when the subject of the Orders discussed yesterday would be resumed.

Went to Cabinet at the appointed hour. It was unanimously agreed that the Order in respect to Colonization should be dropped; and the others were adopted unanimously, except that I wished North Carolina included among the States named in the first order.

The question of arming slaves was then brought up and I advocated it warmly. The President was unwilling to adopt this measure, but proposed to issue a proclamation, on the basis of the Confiscation Bill, calling upon the States to return to their allegiance — warning the rebels the provisions of the Act would have full force at the expiration of sixty days — adding, on his own part, a declaration of his intention to renew, at the next session of Congress, his recommendation of compensation to States adopting the gradual abolishment of slavery — and proclaiming the emancipation of all slaves within States remaining in insurrection on the first of January, 1863.

I said that I should give to such a measure my cordial support; but I should prefer that no new expression on the subject of compensation should be made, and I thought that the measure of Emancipation could be much better and more quietly accomplished by allowing Generals to organize and arm the slaves (thus avoiding depredation and massacre on the one hand, and support to the insurrection on the other) and by directing the Commanders of Departments to proclaim emancipation within their Districts as soon as practicable; but I regarded this as so much better than inaction on the subject, that I should give it my entire support.

The President determined to publish the first three Orders forthwith, and to leave the other for some further consideration. The impression left upon my mind by the whole discussion was, that while the President thought that the organization, equipment and arming of negroes, like other soldiers, would be productive of more evil than good, he was not willing that Commanders should, at their discretion, arm, for purely defensive purposes, slaves coming within their lines.

Mr. Stanton brought forward a proposition to draft 50,000 men. Mr. Seward proposed that the number should be 100,000. The President directed that, whatever number were drafted, should be a part of the 3,000,000 already called for. No decision was reached, however.

SOURCE: Robert B. Warden, An Account of the Private Life and Public Services of Salmon Portland Chase, p. 440; Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 47-9.

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, June 9, 1863

The weather away down south in Dixie is getting quite warm. The soldiers are all in good health and fine spirits. Times are quite lively, with good news from all directions around Vicksburg. Our mortar boats are throwing shells into town day and night.¹

__________

¹ We were all confident that Pemberton would soon be compelled to surrender Vicksburg, for we had him completely surrounded. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 120-1

Abraham Lincoln to Major-General George B. McClellan, July 5, 1862 – 9 a.m.

Washington, July 5,1862 – 9 a.m.

A thousand thanks for the relief your two dispatches, of 12 and 1 p.m. yesterday,* gave me. Be assured the heroism and skill of yourself and officers and men is, and forever will be, appreciated.

If you can hold your present position we shall hive the enemy yet.

A. LINCOLN.

Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN,

Commanding Army of Potomac.

__________

* For that of 1 p.m., see “Corespondence, etc,” part III.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 1 (Serial No. 12), p. 72

10th Ohio Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Camp Harrison near Cincinnati, Ohio, and mustered in May 7, 1861. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, May 12, and duty there till June 3. Reorganized for three years' service June 3, 1861. Three months' men mustered out August 21, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1500

10th Ohio Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 3, 1861. Left State for West Virginia June 24, and duty at Grafton, Clarksburg and Buckhannon till August. Attached to 2nd Brigade, Army of Occupation, W. Va., to September: 1861. Benham's Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to October, 1861. 1st Brigade, Kanawha Division West Virginia, to November, 1861. 17th Brigade, Army Ohio, to December, 1861. 17th Brigade, 3rd Division, Army Ohio, to September, 1862. 17th Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps, Army Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Center 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 14th Army Corps, January, 1863. Headquarters Provost Guard, Dept. of the Cumberland, to May 1864.

SERVICE.--West Virginia Campaign July to September, 1861. Battle of Carnifex Ferry September 10. Operations in the Kanawha Valley and New River Region October 19-November 24. Pursuit of Floyd November 10-15. Gauley Bridge November 10. Cotton Mountain November 10-11. Moved to Louisville, Ky., November 24-December 2, thence to Elizabethtown, and to Bacon Creek December 26. Duty there till February, 1862. Movement to Bowling Green, Ky., February 10-15. Occupation of Bowling Green February 15-22. Advance on Nashville, Tenn., February 22-March 2. Advance on Murfreesboro March 17-19. Occupation of Shelbyville, Fayetteville, and advance on Huntsville Ala., March 28-April 11. Capture of Huntsville April 11. Advance on Decatur April 11-14. Action at West Bridge near Bridgeport April 29. Duty at Huntsville till August. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 27-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1-15. Battle of Perryville October 8. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 16-November 7. Provost duty at Headquarters of Gen. Rosecrans, Commanding Army of the Cumberland, till December, 1863, and at Headquarters, Gen. Thomas Commanding, Army and Dept. of the Cumberland, till May, 1864. Advance on Murfreesboro, Tenn., December 26-30, 1862. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Stewart's Creek January 1. Duty at Murfreesboro till June. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Battle of Chickamauga September 19-21. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-November 23. Battles of Chattanooga November 23-25. Mission Ridge November 24-25. Reconnoissance of Dalton, Ga., February 22-27, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-27. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Ordered to rear for muster out May 27. Mustered out June 3, 1864, expiration of term. Seventyfive Enlisted men unassigned, Army of the Cumberland, till September, then assigned to 18th Ohio Battalion Infantry.

Regiment lost during service 3 Officers and 86 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 77 Enlisted men by disease. Total 168.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1500

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, June 9, 1862

HEADQUARTERS 54TH REGT. O. V. INF.,

CAMP CHEWALLA, MISS., June 9, 1862.

We are now encamped near a small town called Chewalla, about fifteen miles south of Corinth and near the State line that divides Tennessee from Missouri. But I have just received marching orders for five o'clock to-morrow morning, and as yet do not know our destination. Memphis and Fort Pillow are taken; their army must be scattered; we know it was a good deal demoralized; where they will make a stand is the merest matter of conjecture.

The heat begins to make itself felt, though the nights continue cool. I have had tolerably good health, nothing to worry about. I believe I stand the campaign better than the average of the men and officers.

There is no use, however, to attempt to disguise the fact that a summer campaign in the South must be terribly fatal to our troops. Not that the Northern men are not just as capable as the Southerners, indeed more so, to endure the vicissitudes, but no troops can stand it. We must use fortitude, and do the best we can, — I leave the result with God, in whom I have firm reliance. I am always sustained by thoughts of you and of your prayers in my behalf. I long, oh! how ardently, to see you, but I must not think of it. God only knows what is in the future for us. I could not leave my post; I would not be permitted to do so however strong my desire. I must press on to the bitter end.

You want to know something about me, but I hardly know what to write about. I am sitting in a tent in the midst of dense woods, but near the side of a dusty road, over which regiments are marching, and all towards the South. My soldiers are all about cooking rations, and making other preparations for the march to-morrow. To-morrow night I may probably sleep on the ground, with a saddle blanket, because our transportation train will not be with the regiment, and there is no other way to carry my tent or cot. This will be no inconvenience to me, for I have very often done so, and that in the rain, with nothing but an India-rubber cape over me. I sleep sound with the bridle of my horse in my hand, and am refreshed at daylight. We carry canteens of water and food in haversacks, hard crackers, and salt pork.

We are always on the lookout for the enemy, flankers and skirmishers, and advance guards. Men are prevented from straggling. We march on steadily, halting for a few moments every hour. When we camp, pickets and sentinels are posted, and they who are not on guard sleep sound. Men sleep the soundest in the presence of danger. I have known them to go to sleep on the battlefield. Indeed, I have never known sweeter sleep or more delightful dreams than I have had behind the breastworks of fortifications which we momentarily expected would be stormed, and amid the incessant booming of cannon, bursting of shells, and rattling of musketry.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 212-3

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 11, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, April 11, 1863.

The President has now reviewed the whole army, and expresses himself highly delighted with all he has seen. Since our review, I have attended the other reviews and have been making myself (or at least trying so to do) very agreeable to Mrs. Lincoln, who seems an amiable sort of personage. In view also of the vacant brigadiership in the regular army, I have ventured to tell the President one or two stories, and I think I have made decided progress in his affections. By-the-by, talking of this vacancy, I have been very much gratified at the congratulations I have received from several distinguished general officers on the prominence that has been given my name in connection with this appointment. The other day, Major General Stoneman came up to me and said he was very glad to hear I was so much talked of in connection with this vacancy; that he hoped I would get it, and that he believed the voice of the army would be in my favor. Coming as this does from those who are cognizant of my services, some of whom are themselves candidates, I cannot but regard it as most complimentary and gratifying, and I am sure it will please you. Stoneman also told me that, hearing I had a boy in the Lancers, he had sent for him and introduced him to Mrs. Stoneman. Stoneman also spoke very handsomely of the Lancers, and said he intended they should have full chance to show what they were made of.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 364-5

General Robert E. Lee to General Samuel Cooper, February 4, 1865

HEADQUARTERS, PETERSBURG, February 4, 1865.

GEN. S. COOPER,

A. and I. General, Richmond, Va.

GENERAL: I received your telegram of the 1st inst. announcing my confirmation by the Senate as general-in-chief of the armies of the Confederate States. I am indebted alone to the kindness of his Excellency the President for my nomination to this high and arduous office, and I wish I had the ability to fill it to advantage. As I have received no instructions as to my duties, I do not know what he desires me to undertake.

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 351

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, June 8, 1863

The Third Brigade received their knapsacks this morning. The boys are at work building sheds of the canebrake which is so plentiful in this part of the State. Fighting is still kept up and reinforcements are arriving every day. Vicksburg must and shall fall this time!

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 120

9th Ohio Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Camp Harrison near Cincinnati, Ohio, April 22, 1861. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, and duty there till May 27. Reorganized at Camp Dennison for three years May 27 to June 13, 1861, the first three-years Regiment from the State. Three months' men mustered out August 4, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1500

9th Ohio Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, May 27 to June 13, 1861. Ordered to West Virginia June 16. Attached to 3rd Brigade, Army of Occupation, W. Va., to August, 1861. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division West Virginia, to November, 1861. 3rd Brigade, Army Ohio, to December, 1861. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Army Ohio, to September, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 3rd Corps, Army Ohio, to November, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, Center 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to October, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to May, 1864.

SERVICE. – West Virginia Campaign July 6-17, 1861. Battle of Rich Mountain July 10. Capture of Beverly July 12. Duty at New Creek till August 27. At New River till November 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., November 24-December 2, thence to Lebanon, Ky., and duty there till January, 1862. Advance to Camp Hamilton January 1-17. Battle of Mill Springs January 19-20. March to Louisville, Ky., thence moved to Nashville, Tenn, via Ohio and Cumberland Rivers February 10-March 2. March to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 20-April 7. (Presented by ladles of Louisville with a National flag for gallantry at Mill Springs.) Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Ordered to Tuscumbia, Ala., June 22, and duty there till July 27. Moved to Decherd, Tenn., July 27, thence march to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Pursuit of Hood into Kentucky October 1-15. Battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8. March to Nashville, Tenn., via Bowling Green, Lancaster, Danville and Lebanon October 16-November 7. Duty at South Tunnel opening communications with Nashville November 8 26. Guard fords of the Cumberland till January 14. 1863. Duty at Nashville, Tenn., January 15-March 6. Expedition toward Columbia March 6-14. Moved to Triune and duty there till June. Franklin June 4-5. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 27. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 19-21. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Reopening Tennessee River October 26-29. Brown's Ferry October 27, Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Battles of Orchard Knob November 23. Mission Ridge November 24-25. Demonstration on Dalton, Ga., February 22-27, 1864. Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23-25. Reconnoissance from Ringgold toward Tunnel Hill April 29. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-25. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Left front May 25. Mustered out at Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 7, 1864, expiration of term.

Regiment lost during service 6 Officers and 85 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 60 Enlisted men by disease. Total 153.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1500

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, June 7, 1863

The rebels made an attack on our forces at Duck's Point, Louisiana, where, it is reported, two negro regiments met the attack and captured two hundred prisoners and five pieces of artillery. Who says that the negro will not fight? I say he will fight! Arm the negroes and let them fight for their liberty! There are some Northern troops with them at Duck's Point, and together they make a strong garrison.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 120

8th Ohio Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Cleveland, Ohio, April 18-May 4, 1861. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, and duty there till June 22. Reorganized for three years June 22, 1861. Three-months men mustered out July 24, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1499

8th Ohio Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 22, 1861, and duty there till July 8. Moved to Grafton, W. Va., July 8. At West Union, Preston County, till July 13. Pursuit of Garnett's forces July 13-18. Guard duty on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to September. Attached to Hill's Brigade, Army of Occupation, West Virginia, to August, 1861. 3rd Brigade, Army of Occupation, to January, 1862. Landers' Division, Army Potomac, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, Shields' 2nd Division, Banks' 5th Army Corps, and Dept. of the Shenandoah, to May, 1862. Kimball's Independent Brigade, Dept. of the Rappahannock, to July, 1862. Kimball's Independent Brigade, 2nd Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 2nd Army Corps, to March, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 2nd Army Corps, to June, 1864.

SERVICE. – Action at Worthington, W. Va., September 2, 1861. Hanging Rock, Romney, September 23. Romney September 23-25. Mill Creek Mills, Romney, October 26. Duty at Romney till January, 1862. Expedition to Blue's Gap January 6-7. Blue's Gap January 7. Evacuation of Romney January 10. Bloomery Gap February 9 and 13. Duty at Paw Paw Tunnel till March 7. Advance on Winchester, Va., March 7-15. Strasburg March 19. Battle of Kernstown March 22. Winchester March 23. Cedar Creek March 25. Woodstock April 1. Edenburg April 2. Mt. Jackson April 16. March to Fredericksburg, Va., May 12-21, and return to Front Royal May 25-30. Front Royal May 30. Expedition to Luray June 3-7. Port Republic Bridge June 8. Port Republic June 9. Moved to Alexandria, thence to Harrison's Landing June 29-30. Haxall's, Herring Creek, Harrison's Landing, July 3-4. At Harrison's Landing till August 16. Movement to Fortress Monroe, thence to Centreville August 16-28. Cover Pope's retreat from Bull Run to Fairfax Court House September 1. Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. Moved to Harper's Ferry September 22, and duty there till October 30. Reconnaissance to Leesburg October 1-2. March to Falmouth October 30-November 19. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15. At Falmouth, Va., till April 27, 1863. "Mud March" January 20-24. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee to Manassas Gap, Va., July 5-24. On detached duty at New York during draft disturbances August 15-September 16. Bristoe Campaign October 9-22. Auburn and Bristoe October 14. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7-8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. Robertson's Tavern, or Locust Grove, November 27. Mine Run November 28-30. Demonstration on the Rapidan February 5-7, 1864. Morton's Ford February 6-7. Rapidan Campaign May 3-June 15. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Laurel Hill May 8; Spottsylvania May 8-12; Pa River May 10; Spottsylvania Court House May 12-21; "Bloody Angle" May 12; North Anna River May 23-26. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 8-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16-25. Jerusalem Plank Road, Weldon Railroad, June 22-23. Left trenches June 24. Veterans and Recruits formed into two Companies and transferred to 4th Ohio Infantry Battalion  June 25, 1864. Regiment mustered out at Cleveland, Ohio, July 13, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 124 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 72 Enlisted men by disease. Total 205.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1499-1500

Major General George B. McClellan to Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas, July 1, 1862

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,

Haxall's -Plantation, July 1, 1862.

Brig. Gen. LORENZO THOMAS,

Adjutant-General U. S. Army:

GENERAL: My whole army is here, with all its guns and material. The battle of yesterday was very severe, but the enemy was repulsed and severely punished. After dark the troops retired to this position. My men are completely exhausted, and I dread the result if we are attacked to-day by fresh troops. If possible I shall retire to-night to Harrison's Bar, where the gunboats can render more aid in covering our position. Permit me to urge that not an hour should be lost in sending me fresh troops. More gunboats are much needed.

I hope that the enemy was so severely handled yesterday as to render him careful in his movements to-day. I now pray for time. My men have proved themselves the equals of any troops in the world, but they are worn-out. Our losses have been very great. I doubt whether more severe battles have ever been fought. We have failed to win only because overpowered by superior numbers.

Very truly, yours,

GEO. B. McCLELLAN,

Major-General, Commanding.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 3 (Serial No. 14), p. 282

Major General George B. McClellan to Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas, July 1, 1862 – 2:45 a.m.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,

Turkey Island, July 1, 1862 – 2.45 a.m.

Brig. Gen. LORENZO THOMAS,

Adjutant-General U.S. Army:

GENERAL: Another desperate combat to-day. Our troops repulsed the enemy. I was sending orders to renew the combat to-morrow, fearing the consequences of farther retreat in the exhausted condition of the troops and being as willing to stake the last chance of battle in that position as any other under the circumstances, when I learned that the right had fallen back after dark and that the center was following.

I have taken steps to adopt a new line, the left resting on Turkey Island, and thence along a ridge parallel to James River as far as I have the force to hold it. Rodgers will do all that can be done to cover my flanks. I will probably be obliged to change this line in a few days, when I have rested the men, for one lower down, and extending from the Chickahominy to the James.

If it is the intention of the Government to re-enforce me largely it should be done promptly and in mass. I need 50,000 more men, and with them I will retrieve our fortunes. More would be well, but that number sent at once will, I think, enable me to assume the offensive. I cannot too strongly urge the necessity of prompt action in this matter. Even a few thousand fresh men within the next twenty-four or forty-eight hours will do much toward relieving and encouraging this wearied army, which has been engaged in constant combat for the last five or six days.

I must apologize for the probable incoherency of this letter. I am exhausted by want of sleep and constant anxiety for many days.

Very respectfully, yours,

GEO. B. McCLELLAN,

Major-General, Commanding.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 3 (Serial No. 14), p. 281

Major-General George B. McClellan to Edwin M. Stanton, June 30, 1862 – 7 p.m.

TURKEY B BRIDGE, June 30, 1862 – 7 p.m.

(Received July 1, 11.30 a.m.)

Hon. E. M. STANTON:

Another day of desperate fighting. We are hard pressed by superior numbers. I fear I shall be forced to abandon my material to save my men under cover of the gunboats. You must send us very large re-enforcements by way of Fort Monroe, and they must come very promptly. My army has behaved superbly, and have done all that men could do. If none of us escape, we shall at least have done honor to the country.

I shall do my best to save the army. Send more gunboats.

GEO. B. McCLELLAN,

Major-General, Commanding.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 11, Part 3 (Serial No. 14), p. 280

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, May 31, 1862

HEADQUARTERS 54TH REGT. O. V. INF.,

CORINTH, MISS., May 31, 1862.

Well, the long agony is over, and Corinth is ours. Long before this letter reaches you, will your mind and heart have been set at ease in respect to my safety. You will be gratified to learn that my regiment was the first to drive in the enemy's pickets, the first to enter, and the first to unfurl the national flag at Corinth. That I am now Commandant of the Post, and that Major Fisher of my command is Provost Marshal of the city. How long I shall be stationed here I do not know, and how soon I shall be relieved of the command of the Post. I hope, however, they will leave me time enough to give me a little rest; until to-day I had not had trousers or boots off for seven days and seven nights. But to-day Master Stephen provided me with a bucket of clean cold water and some clean linen, and you may be sure I went through the luxuries of a thorough ablution. I am now living in a fine cottage house, which was yesterday occupied by General Bragg, and which he evacuated in my favor; such are the fortunes of war, the wheel of which rapidly turns; to-morrow it may be my fate. The enemy leaving, destroyed an immense amount of property, ten thousand bushels of wheat were burned in one pile ; beans, flour, all sorts of comestibles shared the same fate; tents, quartermaster's stores, baggage of officers, arms, and ammunition were all ruthlessly sacrificed. They must have left in a terrible panic. I do not know what the country will say, but I regard the evacuation as a complete victory, and although a bloodless victory, none the less important on that account. They never could have stood before us had our batteries once opened, carnage must have raged. I suppose their policy now will be to give our troops the possession of the larger cities, thinking thereby to weaken us, and afterwards by contracting their forces, to cut us off in detail. We are not yet advised where they are gone. There were probably from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five thousand troops here, and they seem to have left by three different routes. Those I was in pursuit of yesterday numbered, judging from the accounts of prisoners and deserters, some thirty thousand. We rushed them four miles beyond Corinth until we were stopped by a burning bridge. My regiment was ordered back, but to-day cavalry and artillery, together with infantry, are in hot pursuit. I have no news since last evening, and am writing in hot haste lest I should miss the opportunity to write at all.

My own health is pretty fair, considering all things. The weather is very hot, but as long as I can stay here I shall be but little exposed, and the water here is good. The troops have suffered intensely for want of water. We shall undoubtedly have a protracted war, and a Southern campaign seems for me inevitable, so the sooner I get used to it the better. There is a rumor prevalent that we are under marching orders, and that our destination is Washington City. I have received no official communication yet, however, and am in the dark. It is astonishing how soon one gets used to this nomadic course of life, here to-day and gone to-morrow.

For the present I am really living “en Prince.” I have three grooms and six guards in constant attendance upon my horses; and such horses! In one respect at least, I 'm the “young Lochinvar” of the army ; Halleck, nor Thomas, Sherman, none of them can begin to show with me. My “Bell” is the very king of horses, and realizes to the very full, if any horse ever did, Job's description. Then I have one groom of the chambers, and my high chamberlain is Stephen Davis, vulgarly called “Kernel,” a name which he despises as altogether beneath his dignity. Truth to say, he looks down upon me latterly a good deal, and I should really feel reproached, if I had not learned early in life “that no man is a hero to his valet de chambre.”

Then I have six guards for my chamber door and hall, and twelve guards for my entrance hall, and as I have pressed into the service as contraband of war a “neat-handed Phyllis” of the African persuasion, who boils coffee to perfection, and by intuition knows the nature of a dodger and its congener, light biscuit, you need have no fears that as a modern Corinthian, I shall go under for lack of creature comforts. As I before remarked, I hope they will let me remain a little while to enable me to recuperate, but if they do put me on the march for Washington I shall not have much to regret, for I swear I would not take Tennessee and Mississippi, from what I have seen of either soil, climate, water, herds, flocks, men or women, for a swine pasture if they both together came as precious gift. As for this city of Corinth, to which I have come not as Paul to that other Corinth (they call this Corinth, by the way, with the strongest possible emphasis on the “rinth”), that for which it is the most remarkable is flies, not tent flies, nor the insect spoken of in Scripture, the wicked flea, though the wicked did flee from here; but flies, the same veritable, old, brown-coated curse that I used to chase over the windowpane when I was a baby, impale on a pin when I got a little older; put up in cages to mourn over when Sally Tinney stepped on them, and which finally have come back to me multiplied as the sands of the sea, at morning, at noon, and at night as thick as the leaves of Vallambrosa. Damn the flies! they remind you of home, and you miss them in the woods; they are eminently fond of houses and cities, scorning “green fields beyond the swelling flood” — and this city being the fungus growth of railroads, three of which concentrate, and the only business of each being the transportation of sugar and molasses, here they most do congregate, and I only wish that in their congregations they would chew sugar and eschew me.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 209-12

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 9, 1863

FALMOUTH, VA., April 9, 1863.

I have omitted writing for a day or two, as I have been very much occupied in the ceremonies incidental to the President's visit. I think my last letter told you he arrived here on Sunday, in the midst of a violent snow storm. He was to have had a cavalry review on that day, but the weather prevented it. The next day, Monday, the cavalry review came off; but notwithstanding the large number of men on parade, the weather, which was cloudy and raw, and the ground, which was very muddy, detracted from the effect greatly. Orders were given for an infantry review the next day (Tuesday). I was invited on this day (Monday) to dine with General Hooker, to meet the President and Mrs. Lincoln. We had a very handsome and pleasant dinner. The President and Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Bates, Secretary of the Interior, a Dr. Henry, of Colorado, who accompanied the President, Mrs. Stoneman, wife of Major General Stoneman, besides the corps commanders, constituted the party. The next day, owing to the ground not being in condition, the infantry review was postponed; but the President did me the honor to visit my camps and inspect them, and I believe (leaving out the fatigue) passed a very pleasant day. Yesterday (Wednesday) we had the grand infantry review, there being out four corps, or over sixty thousand men. The review passed off very well indeed. The day, during the early part of it, was not favorable, being cloudy and raw, but after noon the sun came out and rendered everything more cheerful. Mrs. Carroll and Mrs. Griffin and the two Misses Carroll, together with two other young ladies, having come down to General Griffin's, I was invited to meet them at dinner, which I did yesterday evening, and had a very pleasant time. So you see we are trying to smooth a little the horrors of war. I saw George¹ the day of the cavalry review. He told me he was to have a leave that day, so that he will undoubtedly be there when this reaches you.

The day I dined with Hooker, he told me, in the presence of Mr. Bates, Secretary of the Interior, that he (Hooker) had told the President that the vacant brigadiership in the regular army lay between Sedgwick and myself. I replied that I had no pretensions to it, and that if I were the President I would leave it open till after the next battle. The next day, when riding through the camp, Hooker said the President had told him he intended to leave this position open till after the next fight.

You have seen the report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War. It is terribly severe upon Franklin. Still, I took occasion when I had a chance to say a good word for Franklin to the President, who seemed very ready to hear anything in his behalf, and said promptly that he always liked Franklin and believed him to be a true man. The President looks careworn and exhausted. It is said he has been brought here for relaxation and amusement, and that his health is seriously threatened. He expresses himself greatly pleased with all he has seen, and his friends say he has improved already.

__________

¹ Son of General Meade.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 363-4