General Robert E. Lee to Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, April 7, 1865

APRIL 7, 1865.

Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT,

Commanding Armies of the United States:

GENERAL: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender.

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 619

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to General Robert E. Lee, April 8, 1865

APRIL 8, 1865.

General R. E. LEE,

Commanding C. S. Army:

GENERAL: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, asking the condition on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say that, peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, viz, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

 U.S. GRANT,

 Commanding Armies of the United States.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 641

General Robert E. Lee to Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, April 8, 1865

APRIL 8, 1865.

Lieutenant-General GRANT,

Commanding Armies of the United States:

GENERAL: I received at a late hour your note of to-day. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army; but as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia; but as far as your proposal may affect the C. S. forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 a.m. to-morrow, on the old stage road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two armies.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

 R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 641

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to General Robert E. Lee, April 9, 1865

HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES,

Appomattox Court-House, Va., April 9, 1865.

General R E. LEE,

Commanding C. S. Army:

GENERAL: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate – one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate; the officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.

Very respectfully,

 U. S. GRANT.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 665

General Robert E. Lee to Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, April 9, 1865

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

April 9, 1865.

Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT,

Commanding Armies of the United States:

GENERAL: I have received your letter of this date containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

 R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 666

Capt. Mahanna, of Co. B 14th regiment . . .

. . . is acting Major at Fort Randal Dakotah Territory, where there are three companies of that regiment stationed.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 2

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Eliza Walter Smith, August 20, 1862

CAMP NEAR MEMPHIS, Aug. 20, 1862.

MY DEAR MOTHER:

Our army here is now being thoroughly disciplined. Parades and reviews are of daily occurrence. On Saturday, as Chief of Staff to General Sherman, I witnessed a fine review of General Hurlbut's division. Yesterday our own brigade was reviewed. It is considered the most soldierly body of troops in the Army of the Tennessee. Our Brigadier-General is a terrible martinet, but well calculated to make good soldiers. I assure you, a parade of such a brigade as ours is an imposing sight.

I send you my “carte.” Can you recognize any likeness to the little whitehead who clung round your knee lang syne?  He’s had some rough encounters with the world that opened so bright upon him, since those days at Dorchester. The image of his young mother is ever before his mind, her dear bright eyes still gaze into his. He dreams he still feels the impress of her kiss.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 236

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, July 12, 1863

We started this morning at sunup and arrived at General Sherman's headquarters at 10 o'clock. Two regiments of Sherman's army came out to reinforce our train guard. They feared that the rebels' cavalry would make a raid on the train before we could reach the main army. We arrived safely without losing a single wagon. Cannonading is going on quite lively from both sides. Good water is very scarce here, and the few wells and cisterns which we can draw upon are crowded all the time; I stood with two canteens for more than an hour waiting for my turn.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 128

44th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Springfield, Ohio, September 12 to October 14, 1861. Ordered to Camp Platt, W. Va., October 14. Attached to Benham's Brigade, District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, October, 1861. 1st Brigade, District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to March, 1862. 3rd Brigade, Kanawha Division, West Virginia, to September, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Kentucky, Dept. of the Ohio, to January, 1863. 1st Brigade, District of Central Kentucky, Dept. of the Ohio, to June, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 23rd Army Corps, Dept. of the Ohio, to July, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 23rd Army Corps, to August, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 23rd Army Corps, to January, 1864.

SERVICE. – Operations in the Kanawha Valley and New River Region, West Virginia, October 19-November 16, 1861. Duty at Camp Platt, W. Va., till May, 1862. Action at Chapmansville April 18. Moved to Gauley Bridge May 1. Expedition to Lewisburg and Jackson River Depot May 12-23. Jackson River Depot May 20. Action at Lewisburg May 23. Moved to Meadow Bluffs May 29, and duty there till August. Expedition to Salt Sulphur Springs June 22-25. Scout from Meadow Bluffs to Greenbrier River August 2-5 (Cos. "F," "G" and "K"). Greenbrier River August 3. Near Cannelton September 1. Campaign in the Kanawha Valley September 6-16. Camp Tompkins September 9. Miller's Ferry and Gauley Bridge September 11. Near Cannellton September 12. Charleston September 13. Point Pleasant September 20. Ordered to Covington, Ky., September 27. Brookville September 28. Moved to Lexington, Ky., October 6. To Richmond December 1, thence to Danville, Ky., December 20. Regiment mounted at Frankfort, Ky. Operations in Central Kentucky against Cluke's forces February 18-March 5, 1863. Action at Slate Creek, near Mr. Sterling, February 24. Stoner's Bridge February 24. Hazel Green March 9 and 19. Operations against Pegram March 22-April 1. Hickman's Bridge March 28. Dutton's Hill, Somerset, March 30. Expedition to Monticello and operations in Southeastern Kentucky April 26-May 12. Barboursville April 27. Monticello May 1. Saunder's Raid into East Tennessee June 14-24. Pine Mountain June 16. Big Creek Gap June 17. Knoxville June 19-20. Strawberry Plains, Rogers' Gap and Powder Springs Gap, June 20. Williams' Gap and Powell Valley June 22. Rogers' Gap June 26. Operations against Scott July 22-27. Williamsburg July 25 (Detachment). Loudoun July 26. Richmond and Manchester Cross Roads July 27. Burnside's Campaign in East Tennessee August 16-October 17. Expedition to Cumberland Gap September 4-7. Operations about Cumberland Gap September 7-10. Cumberland Iron Works September 23. Blue Springs October 10. Knoxville Campaign November 4-December 23. Siege of Knoxville November 17-December 5. Bean's Station December 14. Designation of Regiment changed to 8th Ohio Cavalry January 4, 1864. (For losses, etc., see 8th Ohio Cavalry.)

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1517

Rosecrans Going to Corinth

Gen. Rosecrans arrived in this city on Saturday, from Western Virginia, and left in the evening, on the steamer Emma, for Pittsburg Landing, accompanied by his staff.  We understand that Gen. Rosecrans has been appointed to take the command of the lat Gen. Smith’s division at Pittsburg Landing. – Cin. Gaz. 19th.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 2

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

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., May 12, 1863.

I did not suppose you would credit the canard in the papers about our crossing and Lee's retreating. This story, however, with minute details, I see is published in Forney's Press, an Administration organ, that must have known and did know better. It has been circulated for some purpose, and is doubtless considered a great piece of strategy. There is no doubt Hooker assured the President that he would soon cross again and repair all disaster, but I fear he finds the execution of this promise more difficult than the making. The enemy have all returned to their old positions and they have been seen to-day busily engaged throwing up dirt and strengthening all the crossings by additional works, though one would suppose, from the work they had previously executed, there was no room for more.

To-day I had a visit from Governor Curtin. The Governor is very much depressed, and I tried to put him in better spirits.

I cannot write you fully in relation to all the recent operations. All I can say is that Hooker has disappointed the army and myself, in failing to show the nerve and coup d'oeil at the critical moment, which all had given him credit for before he was tried. It is another proof of what a sense of responsibility will do to modify a man's character, and should be a warning to all of us to be very cautious how we criticise our neighbors, or predict what we would do ourselves if placed in similar circumstances. My only fear is that Hooker, goaded by the attacks that are now made on him, may be induced to take some desperate step in the hope of retrieving his waning fortunes. At the same time, as I have already told you, he was fully aware when he ordered the withdrawal of the army, that he was running the risk, and great risk, of self-sacrifice. For he said he knew his personal interests were involved in advancing. I believe he acted sincerely, and for what he considered the interests of the army and the country, but I differed with him in judgment, and I fear events will confirm my view. I was clearly in favor of tempting the hazard of the die, and letting Washington take care of itself. I am sorry for Hooker, because I like him and my relations have always been agreeable with him; but I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that he has on this occasion missed a brilliant opportunity of making himself. Our losses are terrible; they are said to exceed fifteen thousand men, greater than in any other battle or series of battles, greater than in the whole of the celebrated six days' fighting before Richmond, and greater than McClellan's Maryland campaign. This large loss, together with the loss of over twenty thousand nine-months' and two-years' men, will very materially reduce this army, and unless it be speedily reinforced will paralyze its movements.

Stoneman's success was very complete, and his whole operation brilliant in the extreme. The enemy acknowledge he has beaten Stuart, and that the latter's laurels are faded. Alas, that we should not have taken advantage of his success! As it is, before we can advance or press them back, they will have repaired all the damages Stoneman inflicted on them.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 374-5

The Democratic State Convention of Iowa . . .

. . . is to meet at Des Moines, Thursday, June 17th, to nominate candidates for Secretary of State, and other officers.  “Lafayette” Jones and Clay Dean, a worthy pair of rebels are traversing the State as emissaries of Jeff. Davis, under the cloak of organizing the Democracy to respond to this call. – Chicago Trib.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, May 22, 1862, p. 2

General Robert E. Lee to Lieutenant-General Richard S. Ewell, April 3, 1865, 6:30 p.m.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

April 3, 1865, 6.30 P. M.

HEBRON CHURCH, 6 miles from Goode's Ford.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL EWELL:

When you were directed to cross the Appomattox at Genito Bridge, it was supposed that a pontoon bridge had been laid at that point, as ordered. But I learn today from Mr. Hascall that such is not the case. Should you not be able to cross at that point or at some bridge higher up, you must take the best road to Rudd's Store on the Goode's Bridge road, and cross the Appomattox on the bridge at that point, and then conform to your original instructions.

This portion of the army is now on its way to Goode's Bridge, the flats of Bevel's Bridge being flooded by high water. Notify me of your approach to the bridge and passage of the Appomattox by courier to Amelia Court House or wherever I may be.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

P. S. — 7.30 A. M., April 4th. The courier has returned with this note, having been able to learn nothing of you. I am about to cross the river. Get to Amelia Court House as soon as possible, and let me hear from you.

R. E. LEE.

 John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 365

The War News

McClellan Close to Richmond.

Our Fleet go up to Vicksburg.

Movements before Mobile.

FOREIGN NEWS.

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

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, July 11, 1863

The Eleventh Iowa started at sunup this morning for Jackson, Mississippi, as an escort for two hundred and forty-five wagons loaded with provisions and ammunition for General Sherman's army. By night we were within one mile of Clinton, where we went into bivouac, closely corralling the wagons. We rode on the wagons a part of the time during the journey. Whenever they came to a stretch of good roads, the teamsters would put the horses on the run, and in order to keep up we had to climb onto the loaded wagons. We suffered for lack of water today, for the rebels in their retreat polluted the branches they crossed by killing and throwing into the streams their worn-out horses and mules, hoping thus to strike a blow at us. Their march was marked by the buzzards flying above or feeding upon the carcasses of the slain animals.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 128

43rd Ohio Infantry

Organized at Mount Vernon, Ohio, September 28, 1861, to February 1, 1862. Left State for Commerce, Mo., February 21, 1862. Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Mississippi, to March, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Mississippi, to April, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Mississippi, to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 8th Division, Left Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 8th Division, 16th Army Corps, to March, 1863. 4th Brigade, District of Corinth, Miss., 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to May, 1863. 3rd Brigade, District of Memphis, Tenn., 5th Division, 16th Army Corps, to November, 1863. Fuller's Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to March, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 16th Army Corps, to September, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 17th Army Corps, to July, 1865.

SERVICE. – Siege operations against New Madrid, Mo., March 3-14, 1862. Siege and capture of Island No. 10, Mississippi River, and capture of McCall's forces at Tiptonville, Mo., March 15-April 8. Expedition to Fort Pillow, Tenn., April 13-17. Moved to Hamburg Landing, Tenn., April 18-22. Action at Monterey April 29. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Reconnoissance toward Corinth May 8. Occupation of Corinth and pursuit to Booneville May 30-June 12. Duty at Clear Creek till August 20, and at Bear Creek till September 11. Battle of Iuka Miss., September 19. Battle of Corinth October 3-4. Pursuit to Ripley October 5-12. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November 2, 1862, to January 12, 1863. Duty at Corinth till April, 1863. Dodge's Expedition to Northern Alabama April 15-May 8. Rock Cut, near Tuscumbia, April 22. Tuscumbia April 23. Town Creek April 28. Duty at Memphis, Tenn., till October, and at Prospect, Tenn., till February, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September, 1864. Demonstrations on Resaca May 8-13. Sugar Valley, near Resaca, May 9. 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. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Montieth Swamp December 9. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Reconnoissance to the Salkehatchie River, S. C., January 20. Skirmishes at Rivers and Broxton Bridges, Salkehatchie River, February 2. Actions at Rivers Bridge, Salkehatchie River, February 3. Binnaker's Bridge, South Edisto River, February 9. Orangeburg, North Edisto River, February 12-13. Columbia February 16-17. Juniper Creek, near Cheraw, March 3. Battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 19-20. 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 30. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June. Mustered out July 13, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 61 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 189 Enlisted men by disease. Total 256.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1516-7

John Brown to John Brown Jr., November 20, 1852

Nov. 20, 1852

I parted with Frederick at Ravenna, on his way to your place; he has told you of the death of our Mr. Jenkins (of Vernon, N. Y., a brother of Timothy Jenkins). We have employed Timothy Jenkins, M. C, to finish up his business, and I am now on my way to assist him to understand it, previous to having our trial with O. J. Richardson. We now expect our trial at Boston to come off sometime about the middle of December, and hope to see the end of it before the close. We hope the situation of your family is such, before this time, that you are relieved in regard to the anxiety you have expressed, so that you can leave at once, and go on when you get notice of the time. I will send you funds for your expenses and the earliest possible information of the exact time when the trial will come on. All were well at home and at Hudson this morning. I should wait and go on with you, did not our Warren business require my immediate attention. I suppose our Pittsburgh cause is decided before this; but we had not heard from it when I left. I will only add that you all have my most earnest desire for your real welfare. Will you drop me a line (care of A. B. Ely, Esq., Boston), on receipt of this, to let me hear how you all do?

Your affectionate father,

JOHN BROWN.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 83

Diary of Rutherford B. Hayes, May 10, 1861

Great events the last month. April 12 and 13, Fort Sumter [was] attacked and taken by the South Carolina troops by order of the Government of the Confederate States at Montgomery. Sunday evening, April 14, news of Lincoln's call for 75,000 men [was] received here with unbounded enthusiasm. How relieved we were to have a Government again! I shall never forget the strong emotions, the wild and joyous excitement of that Sunday evening. Staid and sober church members thronged the newspaper offices, full of the general joy and enthusiasm. Great meetings were held. I wrote the resolutions of the main one, — to be seen in the Intelligencer of the next week. Then the rally of troops, the flags floating from every house, the liberality, harmony, forgetfulness of party and self — all good. Let what evils may follow, I shall not soon cease to rejoice over this event.

The resolutions referred to were published in the Gazette of the 16th [of] April and in the Intelligencer of the 18th.

[The resolutions were as follows:

"Resolved, That the people of Cincinnati, assembled without distinction of party, are unanimously of opinion that the authority of the United States, as against the rebellious citizens of the seceding and disloyal States, ought to be asserted and maintained, and that whatever men or means may be necessary to accomplish that object the patriotic people of the loyal States will promptly and cheerfully furnish.

"Resolved, That the citizens of Cincinnati will, to the utmost of their ability, sustain the general Government in maintaining its authority, in enforcing the laws, and in upholding the flag of the Union."]

 SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 16

Major-General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, November 9, 1861

. . . I trust that my darling little wife feels more gratitude to our kind Heavenly Father than pride or elation at my promotion. Continue to pray for me, that I may live to glorify God more and more, by serving Him and our country. ... If you were only here, you would have a very nice house, the description of which I will postpone until after answering your letters; and if there isn't room, it will be deferred for the next letter, as it will take nearly a whole letter to tell you how very nice it is. And if your husband stays here this winter, he hopes to send one of his aides for one little somebody. You know very well who I mean by “little somebody.”

And now for an answer to your questions; and without stating your questions, I will answer them. My command is enlarged, and embraces the Valley District, and the troops of this district constitute the Army of the Valley; but my command is not altogether independent, as it is embraced in the Department of Northern Virginia, of which General Johnston has the command. There are three armies in this department — one under General Beauregard, another under General Holmes, and the third under my command. My headquarters are for the present at Winchester. A major-general's rank is inferior to that of a full general. The rank of major-general does not appear to be recognized by the laws of the Confederate States, so far as I have seen; but there may be some law embraced in the Army Regulations which I have not seen. At all events, the President appoints them in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, and these appointments are only for the war. As the regulations of the army of the Confederate States do not require the rank of major-general, there is no pay and no staff appointed for it; but I expect to have two aides, and at least an adjutant-general. I am making up my staff slowly, in consequence of desiring to secure a good one, and some of them being at a distance. My promotion places me between a brigadier and a full general; but I don't think that either a major-general or a full general will be paid any more than $301 per month (the pay of a brigadier), but as commander of an army my additional pay is $100, making in all $401 per month. I send you a check for $1000, which I wish invested in Confederate bonds, as I think, as far as possible, persons should take Confederate bonds, so as to relieve the government from any pecuniary pressure. You had better not sell your coupons from the bonds, as I understand they are paid in gold, but let the Confederacy keep the gold. Citizens should not receive a cent of gold from the government when it is so scarce. The only objection to parting with your coupons is, that, if they are payable in gold, it will be taking just so much out of the Treasury, when it needs all it has. Give my love and congratulations to William¹ upon his promotion. I saw Captain Barringer at Manassas, and his regiment of cavalry presented a fine appearance. I send you a letter announcing that Amy² has gone to a better world. The tears came to my eyes more than once while reading it.

__________

1 His brother-in-law, Major W. W. Morrison.

2 His faithful old servant.

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 205-7

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith, August 14, 1862

CAMP NEAR MEMPHIS, Aug. 14, 1862.

Your letter of the 8th inst. was received two days ago, and just while I was preparing to act as Chief of General Sherman's Staff in a grand review to be made of Hurlbut's division. To-day our brigade, which is considered the crack brigade of the army here, is to be received; in this I have, of course, to lead my regiment.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 236