Baltimore, May 21 [1862].

The Old Point boat has arrived but brings no news.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 1

Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, September 24, 1861

I am going to write a letter to my darling pet esposita, who paid me such a sweet visit, and whose dear face I can still see, though she is 'way down in the Old North State. If my darling were here, I know she would enjoy General Jones's band, which plays very sweetly. We are still at the same encampment as when you left, and I have the promise of three more wall tents. Yesterday Rev. Dr. William Brown visited Munson's Hill, and took a peep at the Yankees. . . . The Board of Visitors of the Institute met in Richmond, and decided if the professors did not return they would fill their places, superintendents and all. Suppose they ask you to go back. Are you going to do so, or will you let them fill your chair? Colonel Echols returned this morning, but does not bring, to our finite minds, very good news. General Floyd was only about thirty miles west of Lewisburg, and General Wise was fifteen miles in advance of him. General Lee, with four regiments, had gone on to General Wise.

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 184

Foreign News by the Steamer Scotia

NEW YORK, May 21.

The steamer Scotia arrived at one o’clock this p.m.

The Sumter remained at Gibraltar.

Mr. Longard stated in the House of Commons that as far as the Government knew, Mr. Mercier’s visit to Richmond was without instruction from France, and was attended with no practical result whatever.  The Paris correspondent of the New Confederate organ, the Index, asserts that M. Mercier was under instructions to ascertain certain points, and will report in person to the Emperor.

The Independence Belge asserts that the object of Lavelette’s recent visit to London was to induce England to consent to a common intervention in American, and England agreed, on condition that the Roman question was first settled.  The French government gave ear to this, and it has led a conference relative to intervention.

Mr. Layard, in announcing the conclusion of a slave treaty in the House of Commons, said its conditions gave every person hope that the traffic will effectually be suppressed.

Mr. Bright said Earl Russell’s late statement, that he hoped in a few months the Northern States would allow the independence of the South, had paralyzed business in Lancashire for the time being, and showed how little he knew of the sentiment of the north.

The Times editorially speaks of the distress in Lancashire, and says it is for the honor of the nation that this distress be known, that the world may see the sacrifices made in the cause of neutrality.

The Times regards the new slave trade treaty as the first fruits of secession, but says it is not a blow at the South but a victory over the North.

The Paris correspondent of the London Herald says it’s beyond  a question that the recognition of the South is seriously contemplated by the French government.

The Bourse was flat – 70 to 80c.

Rumors of the approaching solution of the Roman Question are getting more general.  It is reported that the Papal government is prepared for sudden departure.

LONDON, P. M., May 10th. – Consols further declined, closing to-day at 92 1-2a29 3-4; Ill C. 49 1-4a46 3-4 discount; Erie 32 1-4a32 3-4.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 1

Col. Thomas Kilby Smith to Mrs. Eliza Walter Smith, April 24, 1862

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

CAMP NO. 8 BEFORE CORINTH, May 24, 1862.

MY DEAR MOTHER:

In the midst of "battle and murder and sudden death," your letter of the 12th inst. is handed me. I snatch a hasty moment to reply. I have waited for many days for the time to come when I might sit down to write you as I would wish, but the hurry of the march, the incessant labor at the breastworks, the din of the skirmish leave no opportunity for writing. I have slept in my clothes with bridle in hand for the past ten days and nights. We are close upon Corinth. Our pickets within sight of the enemy's entrenchments. My troops stack arms behind our own breastworks, and there I bivouac. You must, judging from the slips you sent me, have very meagre accounts of the movements of Sherman's Division. I have asked wife to forward the newspaper intelligence, which is partly reliable, and with which the Cincinnati papers have been filled. Pretty full accounts, I am told, have also been published in the New York Herald, a correspondent of which is with the division, and there also will be found Sherman's and Stuart's reports. Sherman's report is decidedly the best account of the battles of the 6th and 7th, and Stuart's will locate the position of our brigade in the field those days. Many papers published in St. Louis and Chicago and local country papers in Ohio have been sent me in which my name is prominently mentioned, and they have been pleased to compliment me. I am only conscious of having tried to do my duty. Acts of heroism were rife those days, and thousands of brave hearts ceased to beat. I rode many a weary mile over the dead and dying. Some of these days, if we live to meet, I will tell you some of the horrors of that battle. Strange how soon one becomes blunted to horror. How little one thinks of human suffering and death and despair. I could tell you of trenches dug and filled with bodies, packed to lie close ; of gentlemen of the South, whose delicate hands, ringed fingers, and fine linen gave evidence of high birth and position. Twenty, thirty together in one hole; men thrown in head downward or upward, clotted, mutilated, bloody, sometimes a man and horse together, and in the midst of these graves and trenches and the carrion of hundreds of dead horses, I camped for twenty-two days, right on that part of the battlefield which was the very charnel, and right where I halted my brigade on Monday night. From thence our course has been forward; every inch of the ground stubbornly contested by the enemy. We have crossed the State line from Tennessee, and now in Mississippi by regular parallels approach the stronghold of the enemy; for every commanding ridge or hill there is a fight, a skirmish we call it here, and think but little of forty or fifty killed and one or two hundred wounded. . . . It is a terrible war in all its phases. God grant that our beloved country be once again blessed with peace. How little did we appreciate the blessing! how priceless now would be its restoration! You ask for incidents interesting to me. I wish, dear mother, I could gratify you. If I only had memory and a graphic pen I could give you a startling history, something in comparison to which the scenes in Scott and James would seem tame, but my aversion to writing amounts to a mania. I shrink from pen and paper as a mad dog does from water, and save to you and wife, I write ne'er a line to man or woman. I wish I had never learned to write, and could set my seal like the knights of old instead of affixing the signature which has also become distasteful to me. I ought to tell you of some of my night marches when I have been ordered out in rain and utter darkness with my own regiment, unsupported, and with no one to divide the responsibility, and none but a doubtful resident as a guide. How, at the head of my men, with the guide's bridle in one hand and a pistol in the other to shoot him should he prove recreant, I have marched for miles through the pathless and almost impenetrable swamp, my men toiling after me with their cartridge-boxes slung at bayonet point to keep the powder dry. How with clothes wringing wet they have lain in ambuscade till day-dawn right under the enemy's guns without fire or food, word or whisper, till gray dawn, and then making reconnoissance, steal silently back. I could tell you of my charge when my color-guard were all killed, and my standard-bearer swept away by a falling tree, a tree cut sheer off by the solid shot from a cannon; how my gallant horse pressed right through rank after rank and enabled me to rescue my flag; or I could tell how the same gallant stallion (and I thank God he stands now unscathed right near me munching his oats) by three successive leaps bore me right up, not down, a precipice of rock almost perpendicular, and when one could hardly have found foot-hold for an antelope. For the first time in my life on horseback I closed my eyes in fear. Jagged rocks were behind me, a sheer perpendicular wall in front; here and there a fissure where the wild vine caught root. I thought he must have fallen backwards and that I must die ingloriously mangled under him, but with unequalled power and activity he bore me to the top, and there amidst a perfect rain of balls he tossed his head and flung his neigh like a clear ringing trumpet. These things should be for others to tell; it is not mine after I have fought my battle to tell my own story, but alas! there are so many stories to tell that it is hard to find a historian; and one's comrade, in scenes such as these transpiring, has enough to do to take care of himself instead of taking care of another's fame and notes to give it wing. Speaking of fame, I may as well give up the hope of it. This name of Smith, in these latter days, attaches to too many good men and true, to say nothing of the damned rascals who also inherit it. There are four colonels, one a Kirby Smith from Ohio. There is your friend, E. Kirby Smith of Southern notoriety, and now, to cap the climax, I have been brigaded with Morgan L. Smith, the hero of Fort Donaldson. He is a dashing, fighting man, and we have an eminently fighting brigade, the left flank of which I still retain; but a man by the name of Smith might as well attempt to pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon as to win fame. If I figure in the ball, the scribblers attach the feat to Morgan; if he performs some dauntless deed of heroism, I get the glory. But as I have said and written, this is not the war or the field in which to gather laurels; it is unholy, unnatural fratricide. As well might he who has buried his knife in his brother's heart rush forth and exultingly brandish the dripping blade as evidence of good deed done, as he, the executioner of the law (for we are nothing else than executioners sent forth by Government to see the law enforced), offer his trophies, the wrung heart of the widow and fatherless, the ruined plantation, the devastated field, the destruction of the fond hopes of the loving, the ruined patrimony of the unborn, claiming fame, glory, and renown. In sadness and sorrow we draw the sword, the true soldier and patriot sheathes it in the body of the rebel in the same spirit as the patriarch of old offered his son.

But, my dear mother, I must write you of yourself. I received two letters from wife, one acquainting me with your illness, one of your convalescence; but I am grieved and shocked that you should have been so ill. You have been worried about me, and your anxiety has affected your head and brought on those dreadful hemorrhages. I know how prone you are to borrow trouble and always fear the worst; but don't fear for me, dear mother; the same God to whom you nightly pray for me will hear your prayers and the prayers of my wife and children. I have firm reliance upon Him, that He will uphold, sustain, and strengthen me, and bring me out of the conflict unharmed. If it should be my lot to go under — if I should fall, believe me, dear mother, I shall fall with my face to the foe, and then, in the language of the poet who has written the beautiful lines you have sent me, "Yield him 'neath the chastening rod, to His Country and his God."

But banish all apprehensions from your mind. A few years, perhaps a few short months, will intervene when you and I together will join those who have gone before us, when we shall solve the great problem, fathom the great gulf, and relying on the Holy Word of God walk with the loved ones in the paths of Paradise. A little, only a little while, and the battle of life for both of us, dear mother, will have been fought, and, with God's help, the victory won.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 205-9

Brig Wrecked

WASHINGTON, May 21.

An altogether reliable dispatch received this morning, dated Fort Monroe to-day, says the Oriental, in which Brig. Gen. Saxton sailed for Port Royal, was wrecked on Friday night, May 16th, on Body’s Island, 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras.  The passengers and crew were saved.  A portion of the cargo was lost.  The remainder will be saved on the beach.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 1

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, March 29, 1863

FALMOUTH, VA., March 29, 1863.

I received yesterday your letter of the 26th. The same mail brought me a letter from Franklin. It is evident from Franklin's letter that my surmise was correct, that he had taken it into his head that I had been talking to Burnside and furnishing him with data for the controversy. I don't intend to quarrel with Franklin if I can help it, because I feel that in all this war he has shown more real regard for me and appreciation for me than any other man. I have never had any official relations with Franklin, till Fredericksburg, and I know that he has on numerous occasions referred to me as one who has not been advanced in proportion to his merits. Besides this feeling, selfish to be sure, my judgment is that Burnside is making a mistake in holding Franklin responsible for the disaster at Fredericksburg. Franklin may be chargeable with a want of energy, with failing, without reference to orders, to take advantage of a grand opportunity for distinction, with, in fact, not doing more than he was strictly required to do; but it is absurd to say he failed to obey, or in any way obstructed the prompt execution of his orders; that is, so far as I know them.

Burnside says he sent him orders about the middle of the day to attack with his whole force. Franklin, I understand, denies having received any such orders. Moreover, Baldy Smith, I hear, has sworn that a day or two before Franklin was relieved, Burnside told him (Baldy Smith) that he was going to give up the command of the army and urge the President to put Franklin in his place. This seems very inconsistent with his subsequent course, as there is no doubt Franklin's command was taken away from him on the representations of Burnside. My position, with my friendly feelings for both, is not only peculiar but embarrassing.

We had some grand races day before yesterday, gotten up by Birney. I went over there and met Governor Curtin. He returned with me and inspected several of the Pennsylvania regiments in my command, making little speeches to each.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 361-2

New York, May 20 [1862].

The sale of lager beer in concert saloons has been declared to be legal.  The opinion in this case was rendered by Judge McCann this afternoon.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 1

General Robert E. Lee to James A. Seddon, January 11, 1865

[Telegram from Headquarters A. N. Va.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

January 11, 1865.

HON. J. A. SEDDON:

There is nothing within reach of this army to be impressed. The country is swept clear; our only reliance is upon the railroads. We have but two days' supplies.

R. E. LEE.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 348

List of Dead

The steamer City of Memphis, which arrived at Keokuk on Sunday last with about 200 sick soldiers aboard, buried the following men on her trip from Pittsburg Landing:

Peter Smith, Co. B, 7th Iowa, buried at Quincy, 17th May.

Uriah Egbert, Co. F, 15th Iowa, buried at Landing, 12th May.

Levi Dailer, Co. H. 15th Iowa, buried at Paducah.

Sylvester Knouse, Co. D, 11th Iowa, buried at Paducah.

Samuel Farley, Co. F, 13th Iowa, buried at Quincy.

F. K. Dean, Co. G, 13th Iowa, buried at Quincy.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, June 2, 1863

We lay here in bivouac again all day. Our quartermaster drew some clothing for the regiment. I drew a pair of shoes, a shirt and a canteen. We are still without provisions. We spent the day in cleaning our clothing and equipments. There was some very heavy cannonading at Vicksburg today and we are expecting to receive orders to leave soon for the lines in the rear of Vicksburg.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 119

4th Ohio Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Camp Jackson, Columbus, Ohio, April 25, 1861. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, May 2, and duty there till June 4. Reorganized for three years' service June 4, 1861. Three months men mustered out July 24, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1497

4th Ohio Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 4, 1861. Moved to Grafton, W. Va., June 20-23. Attached to McCook's Advance Brigade, West Virginia, to July, 1861. 3rd Brigade, Army of Occupation, West Virginia, to November, 1861. Kelly's Command, West Virginia, to January, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Landers' Division, Army of the 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, 1865.

SERVICE. – West Virginia Campaign July 6-17, 1861. Capture of Beverly July 12. Expedition to Huttonsville July 13-16. At Beverly till July 23; thence moved to New Creek. At Pendleton August 7 to October 25. Action at Petersburg September 7 and 12. 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. At Paw Paw Tunnel February 9 to March 7. Advance on Winchester March 7-15. Martinsburg March 9. Cedar Creek March 18. Strasburg March 19. Battle of Winchester March 23. Cedar Creek March 25. Woodstock April 1. Edenburg April 2. Mt. Jackson April 16. March to Fredericksburg May 12-21, and return to Front Royal May 25-30. Front Royal May 30. Battle of Port Republic June 9. Moved to Alexandria, thence to Harrison's Landing June 29-30. Haxell's, Herring Creek, 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,  W. Va., September 22, and duty there till October 30. Reconnoissance to Leesburg October 1-2. March to Falmouth, Va., 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. Pursuit of Lee to Manassas Gap, Va., July 5-24. On detached duty at New York City August 15 to 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 6-7, 1864. Morton's Ford February 6-7. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May 3 to June 15. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Laurel Hill May 8; Spottsylvania May 8-12; Po 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 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Old members mustered out June 21, 1864. Consolidated to a Battalion June 26, 1864. Jerusalem Plank Road, Weldon Railroad, June 22-23, 1864. Demonstration north of James River July 27-29. Deep Bottom July 27-28. Demonstration north of James River August 13-20. Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August 14-18. Ream's Station August 25. Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run, October 27-28. Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5-7, 1865. Watkins' House March 25. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Boydton and White Oak Road March 29-31. Crow's House March 31. Fall of Petersburg April 2. Sailor's Creek April 6. High Bridge and Farmville April 7. Appomattox Court House April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army. March to Washington, D.C., May 1-12. Grand Review May 23. Mustered out July 12, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 95 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 155 Enlisted men by disease. Total 261.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1497-8

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, March 21, 1863

FALMOUTH, VA., March 21, 1863.

I had seen in the papers a glowing account of the "Merry Wives of Windsor," which must have been a great treat. There is nothing I feel so much the deprivation of as hearing good music, and I was very sorry that there was no opportunity to indulge myself while in Philadelphia.

We have literally nothing new or exciting in camp. Averill’s brilliant cavalry foray has been the camp talk. The enemy, through Richmond papers, admit they were whipped and believe it to be the commencement of Hooker's campaign, and already talk of the probable necessity of Lee's having to fall back nearer Richmond. This confirms what we have suspected, that their force opposite to us had been much reduced, and that when we pressed them they would retire. There is not much chance of doing this at present, however. Yesterday it snowed all day, and to-day it is raining, so that our roads are again, or will be, in a dreadful condition.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 361

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, December 30, 1864

December 30, 1864.

Yesterday afternoon three little girls walked into my room, each with a small basket. The eldest carried some fresh eggs laid by her own hens; the second, some pickles made by her mother; the third, some pop corn which had grown in her garden. They were accompanied by a young maid with a block of soap made by her mother. They were the daughters of a Mrs. Nottingham, a refugee from Northhampton County, who lived near Eastville, not far from old Arlington. The eldest of the girls, whose age did not exceed eight years, had a small wheel on which she spun for her mother, who wove all the cloth for her two brothers — boys of twelve and fourteen years. I have not had so pleasant a visit for a long time. I fortunately was able to fill their baskets with apples, which distressed poor Bryan,¹ and begged them to bring me nothing but kisses and to keep the eggs, corn, etc., for themselves. I pray daily and almost hourly to our Heavenly Father to come to the relief of you² and our afflicted country. I know He will order all things for our good, and we must be content.

__________

¹ His steward.

² Mrs. Lee was sick.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 348

Review: Grant At Vicksburg

Grant At Vicksburg: The General and the Siege

By Michael B. Ballard

Many scholars believe the twin victories of the Union Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3rd and Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4th, 1863 was the turning point of the American Civil War; driving back the northern advance of the Confederate Army and severing the Confederacy in two.  Shelves of books have been written about the dramatic three day battle at Gettysburg, while the number of books written about the 47 day Siege of Vicksburg pales by comparison.

Michael B. Ballard’s tome, “Grant At Vicksburg: The General and the Siege,” adds one more volume to the slowly growing shelf of books dedicated to the study of the siege of Vicksburg and Ulysses S. Grant’s role in it.  Mr. Ballard is an associate editor in the U. S. Grant Presidential Library and University Archivist at Mississippi State University. He has written or edited eleven books, including Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles, Vicksburg: The Campaign that Opened the Mississippi, and U. S. Grant: The Making of a General, 1861-1863.

“Grant at Vicksburg” quickly dispenses with the necessary details of Grant’s military career, and briefly describes the Vicksburg campaign prior to establishing the siege of the city, including the two failed assaults to capture the citadel on the Mississippi River.  The remainder of the book is dedicated solely to Grant’s role in the conduct of the siege.  Ballard dissects the details of Grant’s decisions in troop placement, his relationship with other officers (most notably with his rival, John McClernand, and his partnership with William T. Sherman), while also paying close attention to Grant’s strategies and tactics, as well as Grant’s caution when dealing with the threat Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s troops to the rear of his army.

A fair amount of time is spent by the author disproving and dispensing with the rumor reported by Sylvanus Cadwallader of Grant’s drinking during a trip to Satartia, Mississippi, which has been too often been repeated by many historians who have not challenged Cadwallader’s version of the story.

Battle histories often deal only with the facts of the particular military operation they are covering, rarely do they tackle social issues, but Ballard surprises was a frank discussion of racism in Grant’s army, and its impact on the lives of both freed and enslaved black people in the Vicksburg area.

The book concludes, as one might rightly assume, Vicksburg’s surrender on July 4th, 1863, and the retreat of Johnston’s Confederate army from Jackson, Mississippi, and its impact on Grants career.

Coming in at one inch in thickness Mr. Ballard has successfully written what one history teacher of mine would call a “skirt length” treatment of the Grant’s actions during the siege of Vicksburg, “long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting.”

ISBN 978-0809332403, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2013, Hardcover, 232 pages, Maps, Photographs, End Notes, Bibliographic Notes & Index. $32.95.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, June 1, 1863

We lay over here below Haines's Bluff all day, the boys being very tired after their long march. We ran out of provisions last night and could not draw any today. Some of the boys went out into the country to see what they could forage. We heard the roar of cannon at Vicksburg all day.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 119

3rd Ohio Infantry – 3 Months

Organized at Camp Jackson, Columbus, Ohio, April 25, 1861. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, April 28, and duty there till June 12. Reorganized for three years' service June 12, 1861. Three months men mustered out July 24, 1861.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1497

3rd Ohio Infantry – 3 Years

Organized at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Ohio, June 4, 1861. Moved to Grafton, W. Va., thence to Clarksburg, W. Va., June 20-25, 1861. Attached to 1st Brigade, Army of Occupation, West Virginia, to September, 1861. Reynolds' Command, Cheat Mountain, W. Va., to November, 1861. 17th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to December, 1861. 17th Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 17th Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Centre 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 14th Army Corps, to April, 1863. Streight's Provisional Brigade, 14th Army Corps, to May, 1863. Unattached, Dept. of the Cumberland, August to November, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 14th Army Corps, to April, 1865. Garrison at Chattanooga, Tenn., to June, 1864.

SERVICE. – West Virginia Campaign July 6-17, 1861. Action at Middle Fork Bridge, W. Va., July 6-7. Rich Mountain July 10-11. Pursuit to Cheat Mountain Summit July 11-16. Moved to Elkwater Creek August 4. Operations on Cheat Mountain September 11-17. Action at Elkwater September 11. Cheat Mountain Pass September 12. Scout to Marshall October 3. Reconnoissance to Big Springs October 6. Moved to Louisville, Ky., November 26-28. Duty at Elizabethtown and Bacon Creek, Ky., till February, 1862. Advance on Nashville. Tenn., February 10-25. Occupation of Nashville February 25-March 17. Advance on Murfreesboro, Tenn., March 17-19. Reconnoissance to Shelbyville, Tullahoma and McMinnville March 25-28. Moved to Fayetteville April 7. Advance on Huntsville, Ala., April 10-11. Capture of Huntsville April 11. Pursuit to Decatur April 11-14. Action at Bridgeport April 27. West Bridge, near Bridgeport, April 29. Duty at Huntsville till August 23. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 23-September 25. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1-15. Battle of Perryville October 8. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 16-November 7, and duty there till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. At Murfreesboro till April, 1863. Streight's Raid to Rome, Ga., April 26-May 3. Day's Gap, Sand Mountain and Crooked Creek and Hog Mountain, April 30. East Branch Black Warrior Creek May 1. Blount's Farm Gadsden, May 2. Near Centre May 2. Cedar Creek, near Rome, May 3. Regiment captured. Exchanged May, 1863. At Camp Chase, Ohio, reorganizing till August. Quelling Holmes County Rebellion June 13-18. Pursuit of Morgan July 15-26. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., August 1, thence moved to Bridgeport, Ala., and guard duty there till October. Expedition against Wheeler October 1-8. Duty at Battle Creek, Looney Creek and Kelly's Ford till November 27. Garrison duty at Chattanooga, Tenn., till June, 1864. Ordered to Camp Dennison, Ohio, June 9. Mustered out June 23, 1864.

Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 87 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 3 Officers and 78 Enlisted men by disease. Total 172.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1497

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, May 21, 1862

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

CAMP NO. 7 BEFORE CORINTH, May 21, 1862.

I am still safe through constant skirmishing. The great battle has not come off, but the premonitions peal upon the ear every minute. Both armies are stubborn and brave. We shall see and take part in the greatest battle of the age, unless the enemy evacuate Corinth, which I do not expect. Don't let apprehension for this battle give you pain or fear for my safety. Scores of bullets have whistled close to my ear since I wrote you three days ago, and I am still unharmed. I have been in the din of conflict and thick of the fight by day and I may almost say by night. The roar of cannon and rattling of musketry are constantly in my ear, but I have been preserved, and the same good God will continue to uphold me.

I rather think this day Stephen has deserted me. He is tired of war, and latterly has become very useless. I attach but little blame to those who having the power leave this field — unless stimulated by patriotism or hope of glory. Deprivation, disease, and suffering are the lot of the mass, and it requires powerful nerves and great fortitude to stand up against that which the soldier has to endure. One tithe of his sufferings, aside from fatigue and exposure, will never be told.

The weather is now cold and rainy, but has been intensely hot. The insect and worm tribe are infinite in number, and the little wood tick is always at work under your skin. I am often compelled to sleep on the bare ground, and without a tent. Such a night is a precursor to myriads of them. My health, however, is as good as that of the general average about me. I feel pretty well when I get good food, not so well without it. Good beef, good mutton, good bread, brandy, ale, and wine is what the human system wants, and these I recommend to you. They are better than all the doctor's stuffs.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 204-5

From The 2d Iowa Cavalry

A private letter from Rev. C. G. Truesdell, chaplain of the 2d Iowa Cavalry, dated May 16th, says:

“To-day we heard from some of our missing men.  Those who were left on the field, wounded in last Friday’s skirmish, were picked up by the enemy and taken to Corinth, and a few were captured who were not wounded, but their horses having been killed and wounded, and the men unable to escape on foot, they were taken prisoners, but provisions being rather scarce in Corinth they concluded to return all the privates loose on parole, which they did to-day, and several of them returned to camp.  Among them were John Berg, and Mr. Raymond, of Maquoketa.

“Lieut. Owens was not killed, as we at first supposed, but was wounded in the head, and is now a prisoner and in their hospital with some others of our regiment who were more or less injured.  Mr. T. B. Sweet, of Co. B, died very suddenly.

“Both armies are now large and well prepared, and can fight desperately, and it will be a terrible fight if at all; but the intentions of either are known only to those having the management of the affair.  We are now ordered to prepare two days’ rations and be ready to start at daybreak to-morrow morning.  We will be ready, but whether the fight comes off or not you will know by the papers before this reaches you.”

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 1