Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, May 23, 1863

Met the President, Stanton, and Halleck at the War Department. Fox was with me. Neither Du Pont nor General Hunter has answered the President's dispatch to them a month since. Halleck does not favor an attack on Charleston unless by the Navy. The army will second, so far as it can. Fox, who commanded the first military expedition to Sumter, is for a renewed attack, and wants the Navy to take the brunt. Stanton wants the matter prosecuted. I have very little confidence in success under the present admiral. It is evident that Du Pont is against doing anything, — that he is demoralizing others, and doing no good in that direction. If anything is to be done, we must have a new commander. Du Pont has talents and capability, but we are to have the benefit of neither at Charleston. The old army infirmity of this war, dilatory action, affects Du Pont. Commendation and encouragement, instead of stimulating him, have raised the mountain of difficulty higher daily. He is nursing Du Pont, whose fame he fears may suffer, and has sought sympathy by imparting his fears and doubts to his subordinates, until all are impressed with his apprehensions. The capture of Charleston by such a chief is an impossibility, whatever may be accomplished by another. This being the case, I have doubts of renewing the attack immediately, notwithstanding the zeal of Stanton and Fox. I certainly would not without some change of officers. Having no faith, the commander can accomplish no work. In the struggle of war, there must sometimes be risks to accomplish results, but it is clear we can expect no great risks from Du Pont at Charleston. The difficulties increase daily [as] his imagination dwells on the subject. Under any circumstances we shall be likely to have trouble with him. He has remarkable address, is courtly, the head of a formidable clique, the most formidable in the Navy, loves intrigue, is Jesuitical, and I have reason to believe is not always frank and sincere. It was finally concluded to delay proceedings until the arrival of General Gillmore, who should be put in possession of our views.

Sumner brought me this P.M. a report in manuscript of the case of the Peterhoff mail. I have read it and notice that the attorney, Delafield Smith, takes the opportunity to say, I doubt not at whose suggestion, that there is no report that the public mails have ever been opened and examined. He does not say there is any report they were not, or that there is any report whatever on the subject. All letters and papers deemed necessary are always examined. Upton well said in reply to Smith that the question had never been raised. Much time was spent in arguing this point respecting the mails. It was reported to Seward, and that point was seized upon, and the question raised, which led the President to call on me for a record of a case where public mails had been searched. Seward's man, Delafield Smith, having learned through Archibald, the British Consul, that the Secretary of State had given up our undoubted right to search the mails, set up the pettifogging pretense that there was no report that captured mails ever had been examined, which Judge Betts did not regard, and Upton correctly said the point had never been raised. The court never asked permission of the Executive to try a prize case; there is no report that they ever asked or did not ask; the right was no more questioned than the right to search the mails.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 309-10

Diary of John Hay: February 9, 1864

Jacksonville. . . . . We came to Jacksonville, gay with flags and busy with shipping at noon. I landed and found no General, no staff, no means of information. Ignorance the densest. Met Dorman, who took me to Mrs. Taylor’s. I saw in a few moments' glance the wretched story of two years. A lady, well-bred and refined, dressed worse than a bound girl, with a dirty and ragged gown that did not hide her trim ankles and fine legs. A white-haired, heavy-eyed, slow-speaking old young man. A type of thousands of homes where punishment of giant crimes has lit on humble innocents.

I put on my seven-leaguers and rode with Reese and Place in the afternoon around the pickets. Reese selected points for fortifications. We saw two negro regiments, one at dress parade, gay with banners, one in camp, fragrant with salt-horse. Some firing in the front, with ultimate intentions of mutton or fresh pork. As we came home we saw a train going to provision Gen Gilmore’s advance; — a pretty dowdy walking in the silent street, — and some blue-bellied vandals making themselves agreeable to one of the few remaining families.

SOURCES: Clara B. Hay, Letters of John Hay and Extracts from Diary, Volume 1, p. 162-3; Michael Burlingame, Editor, Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay, p. 159-60

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, Evening, August 18, 1862

On Steamer Monitor, Kanawha River,

August 18, [1862]. Evening.

Dear WifE: — I am four hard days' marching, and a few hours' travel on a swift steamer nearer to you than I was when I last wrote you, and yet I am not on my way home. You will see in the newspapers, I suppose, that General Cox's Division (the greater part of it) is going to eastern Virginia. We left our camps Friday, the 15th, making long and rapid marches from the mountains to the head of navigation on this river. We now go down to the Ohio, then up to Parkersburg, and thence by railroad eastwardly to the scene of operations. My new regiment fills slowly, I think, and it may be longer than I anticipated before I shall be called for at Cincinnati, if at all. There is talk of an order that will prevent my going to the new regiment, but I think it is not correctly understood, and the chance, it seems to me, is that I shall go home notwithstanding this change of plan.

Our men are delighted with the change. They cheer and laugh, the band plays, and it is a real frolic. During the hot dusty marching, the idea that we were leaving the mountains of west Virginia kept them in good heart.

You will hereafter direct letters to me “General Cox's Division, Army of Virginia.”

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 328

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, Evening, August 19, 1862

August 19. Same steamer on the Ohio River. —

Dearest: — We have had a particularly jolly day. The river is very low, and at many of the bars and shoals we are compelled to disembark and march the troops around. In this way we have marched through some villages, and fine farming neighborhoods in Meigs County. The men, women, and children turned out with apples, peaches, pies, melons, pickles (Joe took to them), etc., etc., etc., in the greatest profusion. The drums and fifes and band all piped their best. The men behaved like gentlemen and marched beautifully. Wasn't I proud of them? How happy they were! They would say, “This is God's country.” So near you and marching away from you! That was the only sad point in it for me. Only one man drunk so far; his captain put him under arrest. He insisted on an appeal to me, and on my saying, “It's all right,” he was sober enough to submit, saying, “Well, if the colonel says it's right, it must be right,” so he made no trouble.

I shall write daily until we get to Parkersburg — that is on the line of railroad to Chillicothe, I believe. No more tonight.

[R. B. Hayes.]

Mrs. Hayes.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 329

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 4, 1864

And now we are getting ready to move somewhere, the Lord only knows where. One good thing about their old prisons, we are always ready for a change. Have made many new acquaintances while here in Pemberton, and some agreeable ones; my boy Havens has fever and chills. Is rather better to-day. It is said we move to-night. Minnesota Indians confined here, and a number of sailors and marines. I am quite a hand to look at men, sometimes for hours, and study them over, then get to talking with them and see how near I was right in my conjectures. Its almost as good as reading books. The Astor House Mess is now composed of-but four members, E. P. Sanders, F. L. Lewis, Geo. W. Hendryx and myself; we still adhere to our sanitary regulations and as a consequence are in better health than a majority of those here. Sanders may be said to be at the head of the mess, (we call him Dad,) while Lewis is a sort of moderator and advisor, with Hendryx and myself as the rank and file. Are quite attached to one another, and don't believe that either one would steal from the other. I certainly wouldn't take anything short of pumpkin pie or something of that sort. Of course a man would steal pie, at least we all say so, and Lewis even declares he would steal dough–cakes and pancakes such as his wife used to make. We are all well dressed, thanks to the Sanitary Commission and our own ingenuity in getting what was intended for us to have. False alarm of fire.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 38-9

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 29, 1863

No news. Yet a universal expectation. What is expected is not clearly defined. Those who are making money rapidly no doubt desire a prolongation of the war, irrespective of political consequences. But the people, the majority in the United States, seem to have lost their power. And their representatives in Congress are completely subordinated by the Executive, and rendered subservient to his will. President Lincoln can have any measure adopted or any measure defeated, at pleasure. Such is the irresistible power of enormous executive patronage. He may extend the sessions or terminate them, and so, all power, for the time being, reposes in the hands of the President.

A day of reckoning will come, for the people of the United States will resume the powers of which the war has temporarily dispossessed them, or else there will be disruptions, and civil war will submerge the earth in blood. The time has not arrived, or else the right men have not arisen, for the establishment of despotisms.

Everything depends upon the issues of the present campaign, and upon them it may be bootless to speculate. No one may foretell the fortunes of war — I mean where victory will ultimately perch in this frightful struggle. We are environed and invaded by not less than 600,000 men in arms, and we have not in the field more than 250,000 to oppose them. But we have the advantage of occupying the interior position, always affording superior facilities for concentration. Besides, our men must prevail in combat, or lose their property, country, freedom, everything, — at least this is their conviction. On the other hand, the enemy, in yielding the contest, may retire into their own country, and possess everything they enjoyed before the war began. Hence it may be confidently believed that in all the battles of this spring, when the numbers are nearly equal, the Confederates will be the victors, and even when the enemy have superior numbers, the armies of the South will fight with Roman desperation. The conflict will be appalling and sanguinary beyond example, provided the invader stand up to it. That much is certain. And if our armies are overthrown, we may be no nearer peace than before. The paper money would be valueless, and the large fortunes accumulated by the speculators, turning to dust and ashes on their lips, might engender a new exasperation, resulting in a regenerated patriotism and a universal determination to achieve independence or die in the attempt.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 281-2

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Saturday, September 17, 1864

Warm and pleasant: gentle south breeze; looks like a southern storm. General Grant came to-day, but has gone. It looks like a move. Fifty men from our regiment went on picket this afternoon. We have been moving camp, another indication of a move. Let it come. Orry Blanchard and Nate Harrington have been over this evening.

SOURCE: Lemuel Abijah Abbott, Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864, p. 149

Diary of Private Charles Wright Wills: May 11, 1861

Camp Defiance. We have been seeing and feeling the roughest side of camp life, ever since my last. Rain in double-headed torrents; lightning that will kill easily at five miles; thundering thunder; and wind from away back. But the mud dries like water on a hot brick, and six hours sun makes our parade ground fit for drill. Afternoon when the sun is out its hot enough to scorch a phoenix; yesterday we drilled from 1 to 3. I was almost crisped, and some of the boys poured a pint of grease out of each boot after we finished. Up to 10 last night when I went to sleep it was still boiling, but at five this morning, when we got up, we shivered in coat, vest and blankets. Bully climate! And then the way that the rain patters down through the roof, now on your neck; move a little and spat it goes, right into your ear, and the more you try to get away from it the more you get, until disgusted, you sit up and see a hundred chaps in the same position. A good deal of laughing, mixed with a few swears follows, and then we wrap our heads in the blankets, straighten out, “let her rip.” I never was in better health, have gained four pounds since we started, and feel stronger and more lively than I have for a coon's age. Health generally excellent in our company, because we are all careful. There has not been a fight yet in the whole camp. A man was shot dead last night by one of the guards by accident. We have a fellow in the guardhouse whom we arrested a couple of days since as a spy. He is almost crazy with fear for his future. His wife is here and has seen him. His trial comes off this p. m. We all hope that he will be hung, for he laid forty lashes on the back of a man down south a few weeks since, who is now a volunteer in our camp. The boys would hang him in a minute but for the officers.

The news of the fuss in St. Louis has just reached us. We suppose it will send Missouri kiting out of the Union. General Prentiss has some information (don't know what it is) that makes our officers inspect our arms often and carefully. I know that he expects a devil of a time here shortly, and preparations of all kinds are making for it .

The boys are just now having a big time over a letter in the Transcript of the 10th, signed W. K. G. Of course it is a bundle of lies. We have given nine groans and three tiger tails for the writer W. K. G. A man just from Mobile is in camp now. He landed this morning. He took off his shirt and showed a back that bore marks of 30 strokes. They laid him across a wooden bench and beat him with a paling. His back looks harder than any one I ever saw. He says that nine men were hung the day before he left, good citizens, and men whose only crime was loyalty to the United States Government. They would not volunteer under the snake flag. He reports 1,500 men at Memphis, a few at Columbus, only 50 at Mobile, and none worth mentioning at other points. A man has been here this morning from 20 miles up the river In Missouri. He wants arms for four companies of Union men that have formed there, and who are expecting an attack from the secessionists. The Union men have but 20 shotguns now. A boat came up yesterday crowded with passengers. Looked as though she might have a thousand on her. All Northerners.

One of the boys has just come in with a report that there are “to a dead certainty” 5,000 men now at Columbus (20 miles below) who have just arrived this morning. They are after Cairo. The boys are all rumor proof, though, and the above didn’t get a comment. One of the boys has just expressed my feelings by saying: “I don't believe anything, only that Cairo is a damned mud hole.” I have not stood guard yet a minute. Have been on fatigue duty is the reason. A general order was given last night for every man to bathe at least twice a week. Most of us do it every day. The Ohio is warm enough and I swim every night now. There were over 2,000 of us in at once last night. We had a candy pulling this p. m. There was an extra gallon in to-day's rations, and we boiled it and had a gay time. Our company is, I believe, the orderly one here. We have lots of beer sent us from Peoria, and drink a half barrel a day while it lasts. (Do those two statements tally?)

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 11-13

Diary of Sergeant Major Luman Harris Tenney: March 4, 1863

After the work in the morning repaired to headquarters and heard Andy Johnson of Tennessee and Gov. Wright of Indiana. Both spoke well, said much to encourage us soldiers and discourage traitors. Received good letters from Sarah Felton, Ella Clark and home. Went over to see Charlie. Wrote a line to Delos.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 58

Diary of 1st Lieutenant John S. Morgan: Sunday, July 2, 1865

Storm nearly all night. Wind high all day but so unsteady that the sea remains comparatively smooth. Several of the officers and quite a no of the Men become sea sick Col. bears dispatches for Indianola, run into harbor at Corpus Christi. find the mistaken coast along to Indianola at 5. P. M. leave dispatches on board gunboat, & strike out for Galveston.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923, p. 607

Major Robert Anderson to Brigadier-General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, April 12, 1861

Fort SUMTER, S.C., April 12, 1861.

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt by Colonel Chesnut of your second communication of the 11th instant, and to state in reply that, cordially uniting with you in the desire to avoid the useless effusion of blood, I will, if provided with the proper and necessary means of transportation, evacuate Fort Sumter by noon on the 15th instant, and that I will not in the mean time open my fires upon your forces unless compelled to do so by some hostile act against this fort or the flag of my Government by the forces under your command, or by some portion of them, or by the perpetration of some act showing a hostile intention on your part against this fort or the flag it bears, should I not receive prior to that time controlling instructions from my Government or additional supplies.

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

ROBERT ANDERSON,

Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

Brig. Gen. BEAUREGARD,

Commanding.

SOURCE:  Samuel Wylie Crawford, The Genesis of the Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 425; The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 1 (Serial No. 1), p. 14.

Edmund B. Whitman: Order No. 2, October 19, 1857

(Order No. 2.)

Quartermaster's Department, Headquarters Kansas

Volunteers For The Pkotection Of Thk Ballot-box,

Lawrence, Oct. 19, 1857.

Whereas, On the 3d day of August an order was issued from this department requesting the appointment of company, brigade, and division quartermasters, and an immediate return to be made of the number and description of all arms available for the use of the respective companies; and whereas, said returns have been generally made: Now, therefore, in reply, and in explanation of the failure to furnish an entire supply for the deficiency, it is deemed proper to declare, that while no efforts were spared by this department, and by the entire staff, promptly to supply the necessary quota of arms, yet the unexpected obstacles which the great financial pressure threw in their way have prevented the anticipated success for the time being. It is, however, a cause for congratulation, that while the reports show a considerable deficiency, yet the entire armament is by no means insignificant.

The immense immigration of the past year, composed largely of those who deceived by official promises of protection had anticipated no occasion for personal defence, readily accounts for this deficiency. In our disappointment we may rejoice that the effect of the organization, with all its imperfections, has been in the highest degree satisfactory. The knowledge that an outraged people had at length banded themselves together, almost to a man, for the protection of the most sacred rights of freemen, and were ready to die in their defence, has most manifestly deterred an organized invasion. Voting lists ready manufactured and false returns have been made to supply its place; against this the organization could afford no protection.

It remains to be seen whether the people of Kansas will have any further use for this organization. It is always true that the surest way to prevent an evil is to be prepared to meet it, and three years' experience in the past should teach us not to indulge in any premature feelings of security and safety. In view of possible contingencies, this department hereby announces that it will still continue its exertions to furnish the means of protection and defence to all who may be destitute of them, and in all cases first to supply those localities most exposed to invasion and attack.

E. B. Whitman,

Quartermaster-General Kansas Volunteers.

Approved: J. H. Lane, Organizer.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 403-4

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, May 22, 1863

Information is received that Grant has beaten Pemberton after a hard fight of nine hours. It is said to have taken place on the 15th inst. Had an interview with Admiral Lardner, who goes out to take charge of the West India Squadron. He is prudent, but, I fear, not so efficient as the duty assigned him requires. Wilkes has accomplished but little, has interfered with and defeated some Navy plans, but has not committed the indiscretions towards neutrals which I feared he would, and of which he is charged.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 309

Diary of John Hay: February 2, 1864

The enemy's fire was getting pretty warm. They had the range perfectly; most of the shell burst in or over the works; but the men were so well protected that all the time we were there but three were hit, and they were said to be imprudent. The men dodged and broke to cover at the flashing of the enemy's battery, but the officers exposed themselves with perfect insouciance.

The shells had singular voices. Some screamed frightfully; some had a regular musical note like Chu-chu-weechu-weechu-brrr; and each of the fragments a wicked little whistle of its own. Many struck in the black, marshy mud behind us, burying themselves, and casting a malodorous shower into the air. Others burrowed in the sand. One struck the face of Chatfield, while I was standing on the parapet, with a heavy thud, and in a moment afterward threw a cloud of sand into the air. I often saw in the air a shell bursting, — fierce, jagged white lines darting out first, like javelins — then the flowering of the awful bud into full bloom, — all in the dead silence of the upper air; — the crack and the whistle of the fragments.

Col. Drayton took us to see the great 300 pounder Parrot. At a very little distance, an ugly-looking hole where a shell had just burst; — beside the gun traces in the sand of hasty trampling and wagon-wheels; — dark stains soaking into the sand; — a poor fellow had just had his leg taken off by a piece of a shell.

I saw them putting a crushed and mangled mass into an ambulance. He was still and pale. The driver started off at a merry trot. A captain said: — “D[amn] you, drive that thing slower!”

Two or three young fellows were playing with their horses in the parade. The horses joining in the fun threw riders over their heads and started off.

The ill-starred boat got badly pounded, her machinery and works battered in. She seemed sinking before we left. The navy were off nearly two miles, but still made passable shooting. Their ricochet shots, however, were generally failures.

With a good glass we could see a good many anxious spectators on the rebel side.

Chatfield to boat, 2,600 yards.

Wagner to boat 3,000 yards

Monitors, 2 miles.

We walked back on the beach to Wagner. A shell exploded close behind us. I made a bad dodge. Walked all over Wagner and got a sympathetic view of the whole affair.

SOURCES: Clara B. Hay, Letters of John Hay and Extracts from Diary, Volume 1, p. 160-2

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sophia Birchard Hayes, August 12, 1862

Camp Green Meadows, August 12, 1862.

Dear Mother: — I received your good letter of the 2d the day before yesterday. On same day received one from Lucy of same date.

We have had some fighting and a good deal of excitement and night riding and duty of various sorts during the last week. We have been exceedingly lucky, losing, so far as I know, but one man. We had two accidents — one man drowned and eight struck with lightning. All were senseless and most of them seemed dead for a short time, but all are living and probably all will recover entirely. It was the same day that we were attacked, after the enemy had retreated. The men all supposed that a shell of the enemy had burst. The enemy were in great force and had artillery superior to ours, but the security of our position was soon apparent, and after less than an hour's firing they retired, having lost a few killed and wounded.

I have agreed to accept [the] colonelcy of [the] Seventy-ninth regiment if it is filled without drafting. I suppose this will take me to Cincinnati and home in three or four weeks. I shall no doubt be in duty bound to devote all my time to the new regiment, but I shall of course manage to see you if it is but for a day or night.

The weather is seasonable — that is hot as Tophet. We have a few more sick than usual but nothing serious.

I am pleased with the war prospects. We may meet with disasters to give things a gloomy look before the new troops are ready for the field, but it certainly seems as if we could, with the new army, put a speedy end to the Rebellion. I trust you will live to see the country again at peace. But war isn't the worst thing that can happen to a country. It stirs up a great deal of good. I see more kindness, more unselfish generosity around me than would probably be found among these young men if they were plodding along in ordinary selfish pursuits.

Affectionately, your son,

R.

Mrs. Sophia Hayes.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 327-8

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 3, 1864

The ham given us to-day was rotten, with those nameless little white things crawling around through it. Promptly threw it out of the window and was scolded for it by a fellow prisoner who wanted it himself Shall Never become hungry enough to eat poor meat. Guards careless with their guns. An old man shot in the arm. Hendryx tried to pull a brick out of the casing to throw at the shooter. Barbarians these rebs.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 38

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 28, 1863

We have nothing additional or confirmatory from the West. A letter from Gen. Beauregard states that he has but 17,000 men in South Carolina, and 10,000 in Georgia, 27,000 in all. He asks more, as he will be assailed, probably, by 100,000 Federals. The President refers this important letter to the Secretary of War, simply with the indorsement, “this is an exact statement of affairs in South Carolina and Georgia."

Col. Lay predicts that we shall be beaten in thirty days, or else we shall then be in the way of beating the enemy. A safe prediction — but what is his belief? This deponent saith not. There will be fearful odds against us, and yet our men in the field fear nothing.

We are sending Napoleons up to Lee. But the weather, which has been fine for the last two days, is wet again. If Hooker makes a premature advance, he will be sure to “march back again.”

An amusing letter was received from an officer in Tennessee today. He was taken prisoner by seven Federals when straying some distance from camp, and subsequently hearing the men express some anxiety to be at home again with their families, gave them some brandy which he happened to possess. He then suggested a plan by which they might return to their homes, viz., to become his prisoners, and being paroled by him. After consultation, they agreed to it, and released him. He then paroled them, giving them the usual certificates to exhibit to their officer, and so, taking another drink, they pursued their different ways. If this disposition prevails extensively among the Western Federals, we may look for speedy results in that quarter. Rosecrans may lose his laurels in a most unexpected manner.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 280-1

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Friday, September 16, 1864

It's a delightful evening; has been pleasant all day. There was battalion and company drill this forenoon and afternoon respectively. Extracts from the Richmond Examiner and other Southern journals state that Lee's army about Richmond is in terrible condition, is living on half rations, clothes worn out and no prospect of getting more. It has got so they have to use negroes to transport supplies, etc. I wouldn't blame that army for changing its politics or anything else to get out of the scrape it's in.

SOURCE: Lemuel Abijah Abbott, Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864, p. 148-9

Diary of Private Charles Wright Wills: 11 a.m., Sunday, May 5, 1861

Cairo. The bells are just ringing for church. I intended going, but it is such hard work getting out of camp that I concluded to postpone it. Anyway, we have service in camp this p. m. This is an awful lazy life we lead here. Lying down on our hay constitutes the principal part of the work. As our routine might be of interest to you, I will give it. At 5 a. m. the reveille is sounded by a drum and fife for each regiment. We arise, fold our blankets in our knapsacks and prepare to march. We then “fall in,” in front of our quarters for roll-call; after which we prepare our breakfast and at the “breakfast call” (taps of the drum at 7) we commence eating; and the way we do eat here would astonish you. At 9 a. m. we fall in for company drill. This lasts one hour. Dinner at 12. Squad drill from 1 to 3 and supper at 5:30. At 6 p. m. the whole regiment is called out for parade. This is merely a review by the colonel, and lasts not more than 30 minutes and often but 15. After 8 p. m. singing and loud noises are stopped; at 9:30 the tattoo is beat when all are required to be in quarters, and at three taps at 10 p. m. all lights are put out, and we leave things to the sentries. Our company of 77 men is divided into six messes for eating. Each mess elects a captain, and he is supreme, as far as cooking and eating are concerned. Our company is considered a crack one here and we have had the post of honor assigned us, the right of the regiment, near the colors. Our commanders, I think, are anticipating some work here, though they keep their own counsels very closely. They have spies out in all directions, down as far as Vicksburg. I think that Bradley's detective police of Chicago are on duty in this vicinity. We also have two very fleet steamers on duty here to stop boats that refuse to lay to, and to keep a lookout up and down the Mississippi river. Yesterday, p. m., I noticed considerable bustle at headquarters which are in full view of our quarters, and at dark last night 20 cartridges were distributed to each man, and orders given to reload revolvers and to prepare everything for marching at a minute's notice, and to sleep with our pistols and knives in our belts around us. That's all we know about it though. We were not aroused except by a shot at about 2 this morning. I heard a little while ago that it was a sentinel shooting at some fellow scouting around. The Rebels have a host of spies in town but I think they are nearly all known and watched. The men confidently expect to be ordered south shortly. Nothing would suit them better. I honestly believe that there is not a man in our company that would sell his place for $100. We call the camp Fort Defiance, and after we receive a little more drilling we think we can hold it against almost any number. We have 3,300 men here to-day, but will have one more regiment to-day and expect still more.

We are pretty well supplied with news here; all the dailies are offered for sale in camp, but we are so far out of the way that the news they bring is two days old before we get them. Transcripts and Unions are sent to us by the office free. I wish you would send me the Register once and a while, and put in a literary paper or two, for we have considerable time to read. We have a barrel of ice water every day. Milk, cake and pies are peddled round camp, and I indulge in milk considerably at five cents a pint. Everything is much higher here than above. Potatoes, 50 cents; corn, 60 cents, etc. It has been raining like blue blazes since I commenced this, and the boys are scrambling around looking for dry spots on the hay and trying to avoid the young rivers coming in. Almost all are reading or writing, and I defy anyone to find 75 men without any restraint, paying more respect to the Sabbath. We have not had a sick man in camp. Several of the boys, most all of them in fact, have been a little indisposed from change of diet and water, but we have been careful and are now all right. There are 25, at least, of us writing here, all lying on our backs. I have my paper on a cartridge box on my knees.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 10-11

Diary of Sergeant Major Luman Harris Tenney: Wednesday, February 25, 1863

After breakfast wrote to Fannie. Thede took the letter to town. Found tea, candles and coffee in McGuire's box — the thief. In evening at quartermaster's. Ate apples. Got beaten at four games of checkers. Read in Irving. Am rejoiced at the reaction against the Copperheads. God still rules.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 57