Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 2, 1863

May 2, P. M,

We have had no great fighting as yet, though Sykes's division, of my corps, had quite a skirmish yesterday. It is doubtful what the enemy are going to do, but many believe they are evacuating.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 370

General Robert E. Lee to John C. Breckinridge, March 27, 1865

HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE STATES ARMIES,

March 27, 1865.

HON. SEC. OF WAR, Richmond.

SIR: I have been awaiting the receipt of the order from the Department for raising and organizing the colored troops before taking any action in the matter. I understand that orders have been published in the newspapers, but have not seen them. In the mean time, I have been informed that a number of recruits may be obtained in Petersburg if suitable persons be employed to get them to enlist. . . .

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 362

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, July 6, 1863

We have had very changeable weather for a week now — hot and sultry, then cool and pleasant, then warm and hazy. The Eleventh Iowa received two months’ pay today. I got $37.25; of this, $11.25 was allowed for clothing not drawn. The Thirteenth Iowa and the Tenth Ohio Battery went out on picket duty.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 127

38th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Defiance, Ohio, September 1, 1861. Ordered to Nicholasville, Ky., September 1. At Camp Dick Robinson, Ky., till October 19. March to relief of Wild Cat October 19-21. March to Somerset, Ky., and duty there till January, 1862. Attached to 1st Brigade, Army of the Ohio, October-November, 1861. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division (Centre), 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to October, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to July, 1865.

SERVICE. – Advance on Camp Hamilton, Ky., January 1-17, 1862. Battle of Mill Springs, Ky., January 19-20. Moved to Louisville, Ky., February 10-16; thence to Nashville, Tenn., via Ohio and Cumberland Rivers February 18-March 2. March to Savannah, Tenn., March 20-April 8. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Pursuit to Booneville June 1-6. March to Iuka, Miss., June 22; thence to Tuscumbia, Ala., June 26. Moved to Huntsville, Ala., July 19-22; thence to Deckard, Tenn., July 27. Decatur, Ala., August 7 (Detachment). March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1-15. Battle of Perryville, Ky., 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. Duty at Murfreesboro till March, and at Triune till June. Expedition toward Columbia March 4-14. Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma) Campaign June 23-July 7. Hoover's Gap June 24-26. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Conducting trains of the army from the Cumberland to Chattanooga during battle of Chickamauga, Ga., Chattanooga, Tenn., September 25-26. Siege of Chattanooga September 26-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Regiment reenlisted December, 1863. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8, 1864. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8-9. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Ackworth June 4. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station 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. 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. 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 19. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June 12. Mustered out July 12, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 132 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 227 Enlisted men by disease. Total 369.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1514

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant's Special Orders, No. 140

SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 140.

HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE TENNESSEE,

Near Vicksburg, Miss., May 25, 1863.

Corps commanders will immediately commence the work of reducing the enemy by regular approaches. It is desirable that no more loss of life shall be sustained in the reduction of Vicksburg and the capture of the garrison. Every advantage will be taken of the natural inequalities of the ground to gain positions from which to start mines, trenches, or advance batteries. The work will be under the immediate charge of corps engineers, corps commanders being responsible that the work in their immediate fronts is pushed with all vigor. Capt. F. E. Prime, chief engineer of the department, will have general superintendence of the whole work. He will be obeyed and respected accordingly.

By order of Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant:

JNO. A. RAWLINS,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 24, Part 3 (Serial No. 38), p. 348

John Brown to John Brown Jr., May 15, 1851

STEUBENVILLE, OHIO, May 15, 1851.

DEAR SON JOHN, — I wrote you some days since, enclosing ten dollars, and requesting you to acknowledge it, and also to hold yourself in readiness to go to Pittsburgh when called upon; since which I have not heard from you. I am now on my way to Akron; and as our causes at Pittsburgh have been continued until next fall, we shall not need you there until then. We have now no prospect of any trial until fall, except with Henry Warren; and we wish you to so arrange your business that you can leave for Troy upon a short notice. I also want you to keep me advised at Akron of your whereabouts, so that I may call upon you should I have time. I did expect to go to Hartford when I left home, but find I must alter my course. I was in Essex on Tuesday last. Left Ruth and husband well, and very comfortably situated. We seem to get along as pleasantly as I expected, so far; can't say how long it will be so; hope we may continue. I want you to write often and let us know how you get along. Had sad work among our Saxony ewes and lambs by dogs, Saturday night last: probably forty killed and wounded.

Your affectionate father,

JOHN BROWN.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 81

Secession Ordinance of Kentucky

Whereas the Federal Constitution, which created the Government of the United States, was declared by the framers thereof to be the supreme law of the land and was intended to limit the powers of said Government to certain general specified purposes, and did expressly reserve to the States and people all other powers whatever; and the President and Congress have treated this supreme law of the Union with contempt, and usurped to themselves the power to interfere with the rights and liberties of the States and the people against the expressed provisions of the Constitution, and have thus substituted for the highest forms of rational liberty and constitutional government, a central despotism, founded upon the ignorant prejudices of the masses of Northern society, and, instead of giving protection with the Constitution to the people of fifteen States of this Union, have turned loose upon them the unrestrained raging passions of mobs and fanatics, and because we seek to hold our liberties, our property, our homes, and our families, under the protection of the reserved powers of the States, have blockaded our ports, invaded our soil, and waged war upon our people for the purpose of subjugating us to their will; and

Whereas our honor and our duty to posterity demand that we shall not relinquish our own liberty, and shall not abandon the right of our descendants and the world to the inestimable blessings of constitutional government: Therefore,

Be it ordained. That we do hereby forever sever our connections with the Government of the United States, and, in the name of the people, we do hereby declare Kentucky to be a free and independent State, clothed with all power to fix her own destiny and to secure her own rights and liberties; and

Whereas the majority of the legislature of Kentucky have violated their most solemn pledges, made before the election, and deceived and betrayed the people; have abandoned the position of neutrality assumed by themselves and the people, and invited into the State the organized armies of Lincoln; have abdicated the government in favor of the military despotism which they have placed around themselves, but can not control, and have abandoned the duty of shielding the citizens with their protection; have thrown upon our people and the State the horrors and ravages of war, instead of attempting to preserve the peace, and have voted men and money for the war waged by the North for the destruction of our constitutional rights; have violated the express words of the Constitution by borrowing five millions of money for the support of the war, without a vote of the people; have permitted the arrest and imprisonment of our citizens and transferred the constitutional prerogatives of the executive to a military commission of partisans; have seen the right of habeas corpus suspended without an effort for its preservation, and permitted our people to be driven in exile from their homes; have subjected our property to confiscation, and our persons to confinement in the penitentiary as felons, because we may choose to take part in a contest for civil liberty and constitutional government against a sectional majority waging war against the people and institutions of fifteen independent States of the old Federal Union, and have done all these things deliberately against the warnings and vetoes of the governor and the solemn remonstrances of the minority in the senate and house of representatives: Therefore,

Be it further ordained, That the unconstitutional edicts of a factious majority of a legislature thus false to their pledges, their honor, and their interests, are not law, and that such government is unworthy of the support of a brave and free people; and that we do therefore declare that the people are thereby absolved from all allegiance to said government, and that they have a right to establish any government which to them may seem best adapted to the preservation of their rights and liberties.

Section 1. The supreme executive and legislative power of the provisional government of this Commonwealth, hereby established, shall be vested in a governor and ten councilmen, one from each of the present Congressional districts, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum to transact business. The governor and councilmen to be elected by the members of this convention in such manner as this convention may prescribe.

Sec. 2. The governor and council are hereby invested with full power to pass all laws necessary to effect the objects contemplated by the formation of this government. They shall have full control of the army and navy of this Commonwealth, and the militia thereof.

Sec 3. No law shall be passed, or act done, or appointment made, either civil or military, by the provisional government, except with the concurrence of a majority of the council and approval of the governor, except as herein specially provided.

Sec. 4. In case of a vacancy in the gubernatorial office, occasioned by death, resignation, or any other cause, the council shall have power to elect a governor, as his successor, who shall not, however, be a member of their own body.

Sec. 5. The council hereby established shall consist of one person selected from each Congressional district in the State, to lie chosen by this convention, who shall have power to fill all vacancies from any cause from the district in which such vacancy shall occur.

Sec. 6. The council shall have power to pass any acts which they may deem essential to the preservation of our liberty and the protection of our rights, and such acts, when approved by the governor, shall become law, and as such shall be sustained by the courts and other departments of the government.

Sec. 7. The governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint all judicial and executive and other officers necessary for the enforcement of law and the protection of society under the extraordinary circumstances now existing, who shall continue in office during the pleasure of the governor and council, or until the establishment of a permanent government.

Sec. 8. The governor shall have power, by and with the consent and advice of the council, to conclude a treaty with the Confederate States of America, by which the State of Kentucky may be admitted as one of said Confederate States upon an equal footing in all respects with the other States of said Confederacy.

Sec. 9. That three commissioners shall be appointed by this convention to the Government of the Confederate States of America, with power to negotiate and treat with said Confederate States for the earliest practicable admission of Kentucky into the Government of said Confederate States of America, who shall report the result of their mission to the governor and council of this provisional government, for such future action as may be deemed advisable, and, should less than the full number attend, such as may attend may conduct such negotiation.

Sec. 10. So soon as an election can be held, free from the influence of the armies of the United States, the provisional government shall provide for the assembling of a convention to adopt such measures as may be necessary and expedient for the restoration of a permanent government. Said convention shall consist of one hundred delegates, one from each representative district in the State, except the counties of Mason and Kenton, each of which shall be entitled to two delegates.

Sec. 11. An auditor and treasurer shall be appointed by the provisional government, whose duties shall be prescribed by law, and who shall give bond with sufficient security for the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices, to be approved by the governor and council.

Sec. 12. The following oath shall be taken by the governor, members of the council, judges, and all other officers, civil and military, who may be commissioned and appointed by this provisional government: "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm), in the presence of Almighty God, and upon my honor, that I will observe and obey all laws passed by the provisional government of Kentucky. So help me God.""

Sec. 13. The governor shall receive, as his salary, $2,000 per annum, and the councilmen, $6 per diem, while in session, and the salary of the other officers shall be fixed by law.

Sec. 14. The constitution and laws of Kentucky, not inconsistent with the acts of this convention, and the establishment of this government, and the laws which may be enacted by the governor and council, shall be the laws of this State.

Sec. 15. That whenever the governor and council shall have concluded a treaty with the Confederate States of America, for the admission of this State into the Confederate Government, the governor and council shall elect two Senators, and provide by law for the election of members of the House of Representatives in Congress,

Sec. 16. The provisional government hereby established shall be located at Bowling Green, Ky., but the governor and council shall have power to meet at any other place that they may consider appropriate.

Done at Russellville, in the State of Kentucky, this 20th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1861.

(Signed)

H. C. BURNETT,

President of the convention, and member from Trigg County.

R. McKEE,

Secretary, and member from Louisville.

T. L. BURNETT,

Assistant secretary, and member from Spencer County.

T. S. BRYAN,

Assistant secretary, and member from Christian County.

W. M. COFFEE, of Ballard County.

A. D. KINGMAN.

W. J. LUNSFORD.

3. J. CUNNINGHAM, of Grayson County.

JOHN J. GREEN.

J. P. BURNSIDE.

GEORGE W. MAXSON.

ROBERT S. FORD, of Hardin County.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON, of Hardin County.

WILLIAM W. THOMPSON, of Hart County.

W. S. SHOWDY, of Hart County.

J. J. GROVES, of Hart County.

J. W. CROCK KTT, of Henderson County.

B. W. JENKINS, of Henry County.

L. M. LOWE, of Hopkins County.

GREEN MALCOLM, of Jefferson County.

B. K. IIORNSBY, of Jefferson County.

WILLIAM K. DANIEL, of Jessamine County.

D. P. BUCKNER, of Kenton County.

C. BENNETT, of Livingston County.

C. N. PENDLETON, of Logan County.

JAMES M. BEALL, of Logan County.

JOHN W. MALONE, of Logan County.

E. D. RICKETTS, of Louisville, First district.

J. A. PENTON, of Louisville, Second district.

GEORGE P. TALBOT, of Louisville, Third district.

J. G. P. HOOE, of Louisville, Fourth district.

H. W. BRUCE, of Louisville, Fourth district.

R. McKEE, of Louisville, Fourth district.

R. L. COBB, of Lyon County.

WILLIS B. MACHKN, of Lyon County.

GEORGE R. MERRITT, of Lyon County.

J. C. GILBERT, of Marshall County.

WILLIAM E. RAY, of Marion County.

L. M. RAY, of Marion County.

MICHAEL McARTY, of Marion County.

JOHN BURNAM, of Warren County.

J. H. D. McKEE, of Anderson County.

JAMES A. McBRAYER, of Anderson County.

W. TOWSLEY, of Ballard County.

J. P. BATES, of Barren County.

R. W. THOMAS, of Barren County.

N. A. SMITH, of Barren County.

W. K. EDMUNDS, of Barren County.

C. W. PARRISH, of Barren County.

J. W. EYARTS, of Barren County.

WILLIAM F. BELL, of Barren County.

S. S. SCOTT, of Barren County.

W. R. CUNNINGHAM, of Bourbon County.

SAMUEL H. McBRIDE, of Boyle County.

DORSEY B. BOWERS.

WILLIAM N. GAITHER.

JAMES W. MOORE.

HARDY S. LYPERT.

L. K. CHILTON.

JOHN J. THOMAS.

ROBERT McKEE.

STEPHEN EDWARDS.

P. C. BARNETT.

D. MATHEWSON, of Galloway County.

P. S. HAMLIN, of Galloway County.

T. M. JONES, of Galloway County.

ALEXANDER WESSON, of Galloway County.

FRANCIS W. DODDS, of Galloway County.

WILLIAM T. MATHES, of Galloway County.

C. A. DUNCAN, of Galloway County.

A. J. HOLLAND, of Galloway County.

H. L. GILTNER, of Galloway County.

THOMAS T. BARRETT.

ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE.

J. S. GIBBON.

R. B. ALEXANDER.

E. R. WOODWARD, of Metcalfe County.

E. M. BRUCE, of Nicholas County.

J. J. CONOVER, of Owen County.

OWEN DORSEY, of Oldham County.

GEORGE W. JOHNSON, of Scott County.

A. KEENE RICHARDS, of Scott County.

WILLIAM B. CLARK, of Simpson County.

B. W. WILLIAMS, of Simpson County.

T. L. BURNETT, of Spencer County.

J. A. RUSSELL, of Todd County.

W. B. HARRISON, of Todd County.

G. LINE, of Todd County.

H. H. POSTON, of Trigg County.

W. H. MURTRIE, of Trigs County.

ROBERT WOLDRIDGE, of Trigg County.

ANDREW CUNNINGHAM, Jr., of Trigg County.

J. Y. NEWKIRK, of Trimble County.

WILLIAM D. RAY.

WILLIAM J. PAYNE, of Union County.

S. D. BLACKBURN, of Warren County.

SANDFORD LYNE, of Woodford County.

JOHN W. ARNETT.

ROBERT A. BRECKENRIDGE, of Washington County.

WARREN LYTTLETON JENKINS, of Webster County.

THOMAS S. BRYAN, of Christian County.

J. F. BELL, of Galloway County.

A. R. BOONE, of Graves County.

H. M. ROSE, of Graves County.

J. A. PERTLE, of Graves County.

J. D. SCAFF, of Graves County.

JOHN RIDGWAY, of Graves County.

BLANTON DUNCAN, of Louisville.

PHILIP B. THOMPSON, of Mercer County.

Z. McDANIEL, of Monroe County.

W. N. WAND, of Muhlenburgh County.

A. F. WILLIAMS, of McCroskin County.

JOHN M. JOHNSON, of McCroskin County.

WILLIAM G. BULL1TT, of McCroskin County.

H. H. HUSTON, of McCroskin County.

JOHN Q. A. KING, of McCroskin County.

WILLIAM E. MINER, of Nelson County.

JOHN C. BRODHEAD, of Nelson County.

JOHN J. DENNIS, of Calhoun, McLean County.

J. L. GREGORY, of Calhoun, McLean County.

SOURCE: Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, Vol. 1, p. 537-40

Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, April 25, 1861

CINCINNATI, April 25, 1861.

DEAR UNCLE: — We are glad to hear from you often. I have written almost daily, and am surprised you do not hear from me more regularly. Your letters reach me in good time.

The point of interest here now is as to Kentucky. Her Legislature meets on the 6th of May. If a secession measure is passed we shall expect lively times here immediately afterwards. The chances are about equal in my opinion. If they were armed and ready they would go beyond all question; but their helpless condition will possibly hold them. Our people generally are quite willing to see them go. They prefer open enmity to a deceptive armed neutrality.

Sincerely,

R. B. HAYES.

P. S. — My company drills at 10 A. M. today — Sunday! I have two clergymen and the sons of two others in the ranks. I suspect they will not answer at roll-call.

S. BIRCHARD.

 SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 11-2

Major-General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, October 14, 1861

October 14th.

I am going to write a letter to the very sweetest little woman I know, the only sweetheart I have; can you guess who she is? I tell you, I would like to see my sunshine, even this brightest of days. My finger has been healed over for some time, and I am blest by an ever-kind Providence with the use of it, though it is still partially stiff. I hope, however, in the course of time, that I shall be again blest with its perfect use. ... If I get into winter-quarters, will little ex-Anna Morrison come and keep house for me, and stay with me till the opening of the campaign of 1862? Now, remember, I don't want to change housekeepers. I want the same one all the time. I am very thankful to that God who withholds no good thing from me (though I am so utterly unworthy and ungrateful) for making me a major-general in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States. The commission dates from the 7th of October

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 195

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, July 22, 1862

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

CAMP NEAR MEMPHIS, July 22, 1862.

I seize the earliest opportunity to advise you of my safe arrival at this point, now in occupation by the troops of General Sherman, as you have probably ere this learned through the newspapers. Our last marches have been tedious and the troops have suffered much from the heat of the weather. You may judge of the intensity of the heat when I tell you that as we marched our Brigade through the streets of Memphis at seven o'clock in the morning of yesterday the mercury stood at 102 degrees in the shade. To-day is cloudy and somewhat cooler, a fortunate thing for me, for as Division Officer of the Day it becomes my duty to set all the pickets, which will involve hard riding all day and night.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 230-1

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 30, 1863

April 30, 1863.

The papers will of course tell you the army has moved. I write to tell you that there is as yet but a little skirmishing; we are across the river and have out-manceuvered the enemy, but are not yet out of the woods.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 370

General Robert E. Lee to John C. Breckinridge, March 17, 1865

HEADQUARTERS, PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA, March 17, 1865.

HON. JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE,

Sec. of War, Richmond, Va.

SIR: A dispatch from Lieutenant-General Taylor at Meridian on the 12th inst. states that he had returned that morning from West Point; that Thomas was reported to be moving with the Fourth Army Corps and about 12,000 cavalry; that General Maury reports enemy, some 30,000 strong, moving with fleet and by land from Pensacola on Mobile; that about 30,000 bales of cotton in Mobile will be burned as soon as the city is invested; that he has provided for these movements as fully as his resources permitted, but that he had received no aid from Mississippi or Alabama, yet hoped to embarrass the enemy in his efforts to take those States. If the estimate of the enemy's strength is correct, I see little prospect of preserving Mobile, and had previously informed him that he could not rely upon the return of the Army of Tennessee to relieve that city, and suggested the propriety of withdrawing from it, and endeavor to beat the enemy in the field. I hope this course will meet with the approbation of the Department.

General Johnston on the 16th, from Smithfield, reports the Federal army south of the Cape Fear, but near Fayetteville. He had ordered 1,000 wagons of the Tennessee army to be used in filling gaps in railroads and 100 wagons to collect supplies in South Carolina for this army. I hope this will furnish some relief.

General Echols at Wytheville, on the 12th, reports that a portion of the troops in East Tennessee had removed south of Knoxville, destination not known, and that the engineer corps which had commenced to repair the Tennessee Railroad from Knoxville east had been withdrawn and sent to Chattanooga for the purpose, it was thought, of repairing the road toward Atlanta. He also states that an intelligent scout just from Kentucky reports Burbridge's force had been taken to Nashville, and that considerable bodies of troops were passing up the Ohio on their way to Grant. He believed all these reports may be relied on.

The enemy seems still to be collecting a force in the Shenandoah Valley, which indicates another movement as soon as the weather will permit. Rosser's scouts report that there is some cavalry and infantry now at Winchester, and that Hancock has a portion of his corps at Hall Town. I think these troops are intended to supply the place of those under General Sheridan, which it is plain General Grant has brought to his army. The addition of these three mounted divisions will give such strength to his cavalry, already numerically superior to ours, that it will enable him, I fear, to keep our communications to Richmond broken. Had we been able to use the supplies which Sheridan has destroyed in his late expedition in maintaining our troops in the Valley in a body, if his march could not have been arrested it would at least have been rendered comparatively harmless, and we should have been spared the mortification that has attended it. Now, I do not see how we can sustain even our small force of cavalry around Richmond. I have had this morning to send Gen. William H. F. Lee's division back to Stony Creek, whence I had called it in the last few days, because I cannot provide it with forage. I regret to have to report these difficulties, but think you ought to be apprised of them, in order if there is any remedy it should be applied.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 360-2

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, July 5, 1863

We came in this morning at 10 o'clock from an all night picket along the Big Black river. We were relieved by General Tuttle's Brigade. Our brigade then fell back a mile and went into bivouac in heavy timber. The rebels all left last night, it is thought, for Jackson, Mississippi, with the forces of Sherman and Ord in pursuit of them. Sherman passed us, crossing the Big Black at Messenger's ford, while Ord's army crossed the river over the railroad bridge. There is great rejoicing in camp over the fall of Vicksburg and the boys are singing songs and celebrating.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 127

37th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, and mustered in October 2, 1861. Ordered to the Kanawha Valley, West Virginia. Attached to Benham's Brigade, District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to October, 1861. District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to March, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division, Dept. of the Mountains, to May, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to August, 1862. District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, Dept. of the Ohio, to December, 1862. Ewing's Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to January, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to October, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 15th Army Corps, to June, 1865. Dept. of Arkansas to August, 1865.

SERVICE. – Operations in the Kanawha District and New River Regiment, West Virginia, October 19-November 16, 1861. Duty at Clifton till March, 1862. Expedition to Logan Court House and Guyandotte Valley January 12-23. Demonstrations against Virginia & Tennessee Railroad May 10-18. Actions at Princeton May 15, 16 and 17. Charleston May 17. Moved to Flat Top Mountain and duty there till August. Moved to Raleigh Court House August 1. Operations about Wyoming Court House August 2-8. Wyoming Court House August 5. Operations in the Kanawha Valley August 29-September 18. Repulse of Loring's attack on Fayetteville September 10. Cotton Hill September 11. Charleston September 12-13. Duty at Point Pleasant till October 15, and at Gauley Bridge till December 20. Ordered to Napoleon, Ark., December 20; thence to Young's Point, La., January 21, 1863, and duty there till March. Expedition to Rolling Fork via Muddy, Steele's and Black Bayous and Deer Creek March 14-27. Demonstrations on Haines and Drumgould's Bluffs April 27-May 1. Movement to join army in rear of Vicksburg, Miss., via Richmond and Grand Gulf May 2-14. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 5-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Camp at Big Black till September 26. Moved to Memphis, thence march to Chattanooga, Tenn., September 26-November 21. Operations on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20-29. Bear Creek, Tuscumbia, October 27. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Tunnel Hill November 24-25. Mission Ridge November 25. March to relief of Knoxville November 29-December 8. Reenlisted at Larkinsville, Ala., February 9, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Resaca May 8-13. Near Resaca May 13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Ruff's Mills July 3-4. Chattahoochie River July 6-17. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Ezra Chapel, Hood's 2nd Sortie, July 28. Flank movement on Jonesbore 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. Turkeytown and Gadsden Road October 25. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Fort McAllister December 13. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Salkehatchie Swamp, S.C., February 2-5. Cannon's Bridge, South Edisto River, February 8. North Edisto River February 12-13. Columbia February 16-17. Battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 20-21. Mill Creek March 22. 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. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June; thence to Little Rock, Ark., and duty there till August. Mustered out August 7, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 9 Officers and 102 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 94 Enlisted men by disease. Total 206.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1513-4

Col. Thomas Kilby Smith to Mrs. Eliza Walter Smith, July 28, 1862

CAMP NEAR MEMPHIS, July 28, 1862.

MY DEAR MOTHER:

I wonder sometimes that I do not lose myself in the frequent flittings I have made; as to the properties, the belongings, they are narrowed down to the smallest possible compass. My little leather travelling trunk is my bed, board, lodging, library, and secretary. Its key long disappeared; and as it is strapped up, I bid an affectionate adieu to all its contents, in the firm belief that I shall never see them again.

Soldiers are great thieves on principle; when they can't steal from the enemy, they circumvent each other to keep in practice, taking that which, “not enriching them,” causes, in its loss, their comrades to swear worse than “our army in Flanders.” One by one my shirts, drawers, socks, gloves, boots, handkerchiefs, books have disappeared. The last theft committed upon me was amusing from its boldness. We were encamped on the edge of an immense cotton field near a grove before “Holly Springs,” on our second march there, when we shelled the city. It was terribly hot; I was longing for something to read, when Stephen most opportunely produced from his bag a most excellent copy of Byron, that I had taken from Bragg's quarters at Corinth. I had entirely forgotten the book, which the boy had boned for his own use, and was overjoyed to get hold of anything to relieve ennui and the deadly tedium of waiting orders with the thermometer at an hundred and upwards, so I seized “My Lord,” and forthwith repaired to a log in the shade; but just as I was composing myself to read, a chattering above made me look up to see a fox squirrel and a jay bird fight. I drew my pistol, aimed at the squirrel, and in that brief moment the book was spirited away by some lurking vagabond who probably sold it for a glass of grog. For three long summer days I cursed that thief. Last night our regimental surgeon hung his trousers on the fence before his tent; they vanished just as he turned his back, and being his sole remaining pair, left him disconsolate. I can tell you many an amusing instance of just such purloinings as vexatious as they are ludicrous.

Still, barring attack sometimes talked of, it being a new base of operations, I think we shall hardly begin a fall campaign before the last of September or the first of October. I also acknowledged receipt of your most affectionate letter of the 4th inst., found here with quite a budget of mail. You say you look only for Halleck’s army. Events multiplying and succeed with lightning-like rapidity. Since the date of your letter Halleck has been given in charge of all the armies of the Union, et nous verrons.

The result of this struggle no human mind can foretell; the farther I penetrate the bowels of this Southern land, the more fully I am convinced that its inhabitants are a people not to be whipped. The unanimity of feeling among them is wonderful. The able-bodied men are all in the army. We find none en route but the old, the feeble, the sick, the women. These last dauntless to the last. Those the army have left behind have learned that there is nothing for them to fear from us. We shower gold and benefits which they accept with a greed and rapacity . . .

Children are reared to curse us. The most strange and absurd stories are told of us, and stranger still, they are believed. I have been gazed at as if I were a wild beast in a menagerie. The slaves thought we were black. We are scorned, though feared, hated, maligned. Seventeen hundred people have left Memphis within three days rather than take the oath of allegiance. Leaving, they have sacrificed estate, wealth, luxury, and the majority of them have gone into the Confederate army. There is scarce a lady in the city; the few who are left, our open and avowed enemies. We shall always whip them in the open field, we may cut them off in detail; we shall never by whipping them restore the Union. If some miraculous interposition of Divine Providence does not put an end to the unnatural strife, we shall fight as long as there is a Southerner left to draw a sword. Europe is powerless to intervene. England may take sides, but she can't grow cotton in the face of a Federal army. France, who is now equipping her navies, who by similarity of language and habit has close affiliations with Louisiana, who is eagerly stretching out her hand for colonies, and to whose arms the Southern Mississippi planters would eagerly look for protection — France must beware; Russia is no uninterested spectator. The first step towards intervention is the match to kindle the blaze of war all over Europe. The South would gladly colonize; it is her only hope for redemption. Congress has forced a new issue. Slavery is doomed. New levies must be forced. Three hundred thousand men from the North will not obey the President's call and volunteer. Drafting on the one side and conscription on the other. The result is plain — a military dictatorship, then consolidation. The days of the Republic are numbered. But a little while and the strong right arm is the only protection to property, the value of property existing only in name.

These thoughts are gloomy, but I must confess there is but little to encourage one who perils his life for his country's honor.

You flatter me when you say my letters are interesting to you. Save to you, or to wife, I am inclined to think there would be found in these letters little worth perusal. They have almost invariably been written while upon the march, in bivouac, often behind intrenchments, right in front of the enemy, and only to reassure you of my continued safety. I continually regret that the pen of the ready writer has not been given me, with industry commensurate. I might then have made pencillings by the wayside, through the wilderness and the camp, worth more than passing notice. For four long months my life has been rife in incident; the circumstance that would have made an era to date from in times that are past, being so rapidly followed by one of more startling nature, as to drive it from the memory, and so the drama of life has gone on, the thrill of excitement a daily sensation.

I had become somewhat familiarized with camp life and its surroundings before I undertook to recruit my own regiment at Camp Dennison. The fall and winter passed away quietly enough in barracks, though it was no light task with me, to recruit, organize, and drill a regiment of new levies.

Suddenly and before spring was opened, marching orders came and we found ourselves hurried into the field, without arms or adequate camp equipage. The first issue of arms I had condemned as unreliable and returned to the State arsenal. Within a week of our arrival at Paducah a detachment from my regiment with borrowed arms had taken possession of Columbus. There our colors waved for the first time over an enemy's fortification, and I may say, par parenthese, this of these colors, that their history is rather peculiar. The regiment never had its regimental colors; the flag we carry was presented by a Masonic lodge of Cleveland to a company I recruited in that city. It floats over me as I write, and I thank God is unstained by dishonor. It waved at Columbus, at Chickasaw Bluff; at Shiloh its guard of four men were all killed, its bearer crushed and killed by the falling of a tree-top, cut off by solid shot. The staff was broken and the flag tangled in the branches; there I dismounted for the first and only time during that day to rescue the old flag, which I took under a sheet of flame. I rode upon it the rest of that day, slept upon it at night, and on Monday flaunted it in the face of the Crescent City Guards. The old flag floated at Russell's house. We were in reserve in that battle, but under fire. It was foremost in all the advances upon Corinth, and the first planted inside the intrenchments. Since the evacuation of Corinth, on detached service, it has been unfurled at all the important points; at Lagrange, at Holly Springs, at Moscow, at Ammon's Bridge, at Lafayette, at Germantown, at White's Station, and now at Memphis. But, to return, we received our arms at Paducah, and were terribly exposed while encamped there. From thence we were transported on steamboats to Chickasaw Bluffs on the celebrated Tennessee expedition. For nine days we were crowded close on small steamboats, and the first day we disembarked were compelled to wade streams breast high, the weather terribly cold. We were driven back by high water. We again embarked and landed at Pittsburg Landing. There my men began to feel the effects of the terrible exposure to which they had been subjected. But no time was allowed to recuperate, constant and severe marches by night and by day kept the army on the qui vive. I can assure you there was no surprise at Shiloh. I made a tremendous night march only the Thursday before, of which I have heretofore given you some account; was ordered upon a march that very Sunday morning, and was setting picket guard till twelve o'clock of Saturday night. Well, then came the great battle and the burying of the dead, and here I will refer you to an autograph order of General Sherman which I enclose; he will doubtless be a great man in time to come, and it will be worth while to preserve as a memorial of the times. . . . After the burial of the dead and a brief breathing spell in a charnel-house, we were ordered forward; then came more skirmishing, then the advance upon Corinth by regular parallels, the felling of enormous trees, to form abattis, the ditch, the rampart, often thrown up by candle-light. Scouting, picketing, advancing in force, winning ground inch by inch, bringing up the heavy siege guns; at last the evacuation, the flight, the pursuit, then the occupation of the country. Now my labors were not lessened, though my responsibilities increased. I was often upon detached service, far away from the main army, as at Ammon's Bridge, where I lay for ten days, and where I had frequent skirmishes, taking many prisoners. There I made acquaintance with the planters, and finally, when I left, destroyed the structure, by chopping it away and by burning, bringing upon my head, doubtless, the anathemas of all the country-side. There is a portion of Tennessee and Mississippi where they know me, and where I think my memory will be green for some time to come. And now I am at Memphis or rather in the suburbs, that I assure you are beautiful. The shrubbery is splendidly luxurious, the most exquisite flowers, magnificent houses and grounds and a splendid country about it. I do not wonder its people have made boast of their sunny South; no more beautiful land is spread out to the sun, but now devastation and ruin stares it in the face. I have met but few of the people, those I have seen are sufficiently polite; but it is easy to see we are not welcome guests, that the Union sentiment expressed, is expressed pro hac vice. If I stay here long I will write you more about them. Thus you have a brief synopsis of the history of my regiment in the field; unfortunately, it has no historian in its ranks; all connected with it have been satisfied with doing their duty, without recording their acts. Thus while we see in every paper, officers and regiments lauded and praised, the most insignificant performances magnified into glowing acts of heroism, the most paltry skirmishes into great battles, we find ourselves unknown. I do not regard courage in battle as a very extraordinary quality, but fortitude on the march and in the trenches, in the endurance of the thousand vicissitudes that attach to such a campaign as we have gone through, is above all praise. My men, now sadly reduced in numbers — for dysentery, diarrhoea, camp fever, exposure, to say nothing of wounds, have done their work — have shown this fortitude in a superior degree. They have been a forlorn hope, have always led the van, have never missed a march, a battle, or a skirmish, but their history will never be written, the most of them will go to their graves unhonored and unsung. But I am wearying you with too long a letter, written not under the most favorable auspices. I enclose you a report from Sherman partly mutilated before I received it.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 225-30

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, May 24, 1863

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,

Near Vicksburg, Miss., May 24, 1863.

Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,

General in-Chief, Washington, D.C.:

GENERAL: My troops are now disposed with the right (Sherman's corps) resting on the Mississippi, where the bluff strikes the water, we having the first crest and the upper of the enemy's water batteries. McClernand is on the left with his corps, his right having about one brigade north of the railroad, the rest south of it. One division occupies the roads leading south and southeast from the city. The position is as strong by nature as can possibly be conceived of, and is well fortified. The garrison the enemy have to defend it I have no means of knowing, but their force is variously estimated from 10,000 to 20,000.

I attempted to carry the place by storm on the 22d, but was unsuccessful. Our troops were not repulsed from any point, but simply failed to enter the works of the enemy. At several points they got up to the parapets of the enemy's forts, and planted their flags on the outer slope of the embankments, where they still have them. The assault was made simultaneously by the three army corps at 10 a.m. The loss on our side was not very heavy at first, but receiving repeated dispatches from General McClernand, saying that he was hard pressed on his right and left and calling for re-enforcements, I gave him all of McPherson's corps but four brigades, and caused Sherman to press the enemy on our right, which caused us to double our losses for the day. The whole loss for the day will probably reach 1,500 killed and wounded.

General McClernand's dispatches misled me as to the real state of facts, and caused much of this loss. He is entirely unfit for the position of corps commander, both on the march and on the battle-field. Looking after his corps gives me more labor and infinitely more uneasiness than all the remainder of my department.

The enemy are now undoubtedly in our grasp. The fall of Vicksburg and the capture of most of the garrison can only be a question of time. I hear a great deal of the enemy bringing a large force from the east to effect a raising of the siege. They may attempt something of the kind, but I do not see how they can do it. The railroad is effectually destroyed at Jackson, so that it will take thirty days to repair it. This will leave a march of 50 miles over which the enemy will have to subsist an army, and bring their ordnance stores with teams. My position is so strong that I could hold out for several days against a vastly superior force. I do not see how the enemy could possibly maintain a long attack under these circumstances. I will keep a close watch on the enemy, however.

There is a force now at Calhoun Station, about 6 miles north of Canton, on the Mississippi Central Railroad. This is the force that escaped from Jackson, augmented by a few thousand men from the coast cities, intended to re-enforce the latter place before the attack, but failed to reach in time.

In the various battles from Port Gibson to Big Black River Bridge, we have taken nearly 6,000 prisoners, besides killed and wounded, and scattered a much larger number.

The enemy succeeded in returning to Vicksburg with only three pieces of artillery. The number captured by us was seventy-four guns, besides what was found at Haynes' Bluff. From Jackson to this place I have had no opportunity for communicating with you. Since that, this army fought a heavy battle near Baker's Creek, on the 16th, beating the enemy badly, killing and capturing not less than 4,000 of the enemy, besides capturing most of his artillery.  Loring's division was cut off from retreat, and dispersed in every direction.

On the 17th, the battle of Big Black River Bridge was fought, the enemy again losing about 2,000 prisoners, seventeen pieces of artillery, and many killed and wounded. The bridges and ferries were destroyed. The march from Edwards Station to Big Black River Bridge was made, bridges for crossing the army constructed, and much of it over in twenty-four hours.

On the 19th, the march to this place was made and the city invested. When I crossed the Mississippi River, the means of ferriage was so limited, and time so important, that I started without teams and an average of but two days' rations in haversacks. Our supplies had to be hauled about 60 miles, from Milliken's Bend to opposite Grand Gulf, and from there to wherever the army marched. We picked up all the teams in the country and free Africans to drive them. Forage and meat were found in great abundance through the country, so that, although not over five days' rations were issued in twenty days, yet there was neither suffering nor complaint witnessed in the army.

As soon as reports can be got from corps commanders, I will send in a report, embracing the campaign from Milliken's Bend to the investment, if not the capture, of Vicksburg.

When I crossed the Mississippi River, it was my intention to detach an army corps, or the necessary force, to cooperate with General Banks to secure the reduction of Port Hudson and the union of the two armies, but I received a letter from General Banks, stating that he was in Louisiana, and would return to Baton Rouge by May 10. By the reduction of Port Hudson he could add only 12,000 to my force. I had certain information that General Joe Johnston was on his way to Jackson, and that re-enforcements were arriving there constantly from Port Hudson and the Southern cities. Under this state of facts, I could not afford to delay. Beating the enemy to near Port Gibson, I followed him to Hankinson's Ferry, on the Big Black River. This placed my forces 15 miles on their way from Grand Gulf to this place, Big Black River Bridge, or Jackson, whichever I might turn my attention to. Altogether, I am satisfied that my course was right, and has given us with comparative ease what would have cost serious battles by delay.

This army is in the finest possible health and spirits.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

 U.S. GRANT,

Major-general.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 24, Part 1 (Serial No. 36), p. 37-9

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, April 26, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., April 26, 1863.

Hooker seems very confident of success, but lets no one into his secrets. I heard him say that not a human being knew his plans either in the army or at Washington. For my part I am willing to be in ignorance, for it prevents all criticism and faultfinding in advance. All I ask and pray for is to be told explicitly and clearly what I am expected to do, and then I shall try, to the best of my ability, to accomplish the task set before me. This afternoon, while at headquarters, I saw the arrival of Mr. Seward with several ladies, and three or four of the foreign Ministers, from Washington. I was not introduced to them, as I was on business and in a hurry to get home.  I have been riding all day and am a little fatigued.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 369-70

General Robert E. Lee to Governor Zebulon B. Vance, March 9, 1865

HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE STATES ARMIES,

March 9, 1865.

HIS EXCELLENCY Z. B. VANCE,

Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh.

GOVERNOR: I received your letter of the 2d inst. and return you my sincere thanks for your zealous efforts in behalf of the Army and the cause. I have read with pleasure and attention your proclamation and appeal to the people, as also extracts from your addresses. I trust you will infuse into your fellow-citizens the spirit of resolution and patriotism which inspires your own action. I have now no cavalry to spare for the purpose you mention, and regret that I did not receive the suggestion at an earlier period. I think it a very good one and would have been glad to adopt it. I have sent a force of infantry under Brigadier-General Johnston (R. D.) to guard the line of the Roanoke and operate as far as practicable in the adjacent counties to arrest deserters. Another detachment of 500 men under Colonel McAllister has been sent to Chatham and Moore counties, in which the bands of deserters were represented to be very numerous. They will, however, operate in other quarters as occasion may require. They are instructed to take no prisoners among those deserters who resist with arms the civil or military authorities. I hope you will raise as large a force of local troops to cooperate with them as you can, and think that the sternest course is the best with the class I have referred to. The immunity which these lawless organizations afford is a great cause of desertion, and they cannot be too sternly dealt with. I hope you will be able to aid General Johnston, who needs all the reinforcements you can give him. If he can check the progress of General Sherman, the effect would be of the greatest value. I hope the late success of General Bragg near Kinston will revive the spirits of the people and render your labors less arduous. The conduct of the widow lady whom you mention deserves the highest commendation. If all our people possessed her spirit, our success I should feel to be assured.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 360

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, July 4, 1863

A despatch came that Vicksburg has been taken and that Pemberton has made an unconditional surrender to General Grant. The terms include the surrender of his army of twenty-seven thousand men, one hundred siege guns, one hundred and twenty-eight field guns, and eighty thousand small arms.¹ Early in the day the rebels drove some of our skirmishers in, but in the afternoon we commenced to shell them and they withdrew. They surrendered soon after. Our company went out on picket this evening. This has been a hard Fourth of July; I don't want to see another such a Fourth.

__________

¹ There were no provisions to give up and General Grant Issued Government rations to all the prisoners taken. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 125

36th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Marietta, Ohio, July 30-August 31, 1861. Left State for West Virginia September 10, 1861. Moved to Summerville, and duty there till May, 1862. Attached to Cox's Kanawha Brigade, West Virginia, to October, 1861. District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to March, 1862. 3rd Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to September, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Kanawha Division, 9th Army Corps, Army Of the Potomac, to October, 1862. 2nd 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 April, 1864. 1st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, West Virginia, to January, 1865. 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, West Virginia, to July, 1865.

SERVICE. – Expedition to Meadow Bluff December 15-21, 1861. Expedition from Summerville to Addison April 17-21, 1862 (Cos. "E," "G," "I" and "K"). Expedition to Lewisburg, W. Va., May 12-23. Jackson River Depot May 20. Action at Lewisburg May 23. Moved to Meadow Bluff May 29. Expedition to Salt Sulphur Springs June 22-25. Operations in Kanawha Valley till August. Movement to Washington, D.C., August 14-22. Joined Gen. Pope, and on duty at his Headquarters till September 3, during battles of Bull Run August 28-30. Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Frederick City. Md., September 12. Battles of South Mountain September 14 and Antietam September 16-17. March to Hagerstown, thence to Hancock, Md., Clarksburg and the Kanawha Valley October 6-November 16. Duty at Charleston, W. Va., till January 25, 1863. Ordered to Nashville, Tenn., January 25, thence to Carthage February 22, and duty there till June. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Hoover's Gap June 24-26. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and the Tennessee River, and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22. Catlett's Gap September 15-18. Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 19-21. 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. Regiment reenlisted January, 1864, and Veterans on furlough March and April. Ordered to Charleston, W. Va. Crook's Raid to Dublin Depot, Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, May 2-19. Battle of Cloyd's Mountain May 9. New River Bridge May 10. Hunter's Raid on Lynchburg May 26-July 1. Lexington June 11-12. Diamond Hill June 17. Lynchburg June 17-18. Buford's Gap June 20. Salem June 21. Moved to the Shenandoah Valley July 12-15. Cablestown July 19. Battle of Winchester July 23-24. Martinsburg July 25. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign August 6-November 28. Cedar Creek, Strasburg, August 15. Summit Point August 24. Halltown August 26. Berryville September 3. Battle of Opequan, Winchester, September 19. Fisher's Hill September 22. Battle or Cedar Creek October 19. Kablestown November 18. Duty at Kernstown till December. Ordered to Cumberland, Md., and duty there till April, 1865. Moved to Winchester, and duty there till June, and at Wheeling, W. Va., till July. Mustered out July 27, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 136 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 163 Enlisted men by disease. Total 303.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1513