On yesterday evening
we received orders to cook three days rations and be ready to march today at
daylight. We were up late at night cooking and left this morning early, wading
the Rapidan at
Raccoon Ford. We are
now, 2 o'clock p. m., one mile from Culpepper Court House, having marched
fifteen miles this morning
SOURCE: John Camden
West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a
Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, pp. 57-8
On yesterday we
marched six miles to a large open field beyond Culpepper to witness a review of
General Stuart's cavalary [sic].
There were 8,000 or 10,000 horsemen covering an immense area. The infantry were
permitted to rest and gaze at will, from the railroad embankment, on their
manouvers. Except the difference in the numbers present there was nothing to
note which may not be seen at the review of a regiment. The great numbers
inspired a feeling of awe and created an impression of strength and security.
We returned to camp
about sunset, having made a march of twelve miles for recreation, entertainment
and inspiration. Just as I was writing the last line we received orders to be
ready to march at 12 o'clock; it is now nearly 11. I asked yesterday for Lamar
Stark, but I learned from Wat Taylor that he was across the river; so I cannot
tell when I shall see him.
SOURCE: John Camden
West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a
Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, p. 58
On the morning of
the 6th, Saturday, we were ordered to be prepared to march at 12 o'clock. We
started about 1 o'clock towards the Rappahanock. It rained in the afternoon, and
I was soaked to the skin, and the road very muddy. We dragged along until
10 o'clock at night and were then ordered to camp without fires. We slept on
the wet ground in a perfect heap; 10,000 or 12,000 men lying promiscuously on
the side of a public road, like so many tired hounds, was a novel sight, or
rather sound, to me. I slept soundly, except when waked up by the rain falling
in my face. At daylight on Sunday morning we were ordered to form and were
marched back over the same road to our camp near Culpepper, a distance of
sixteen miles. We remained there until morning, when we moved to this place,
about half a mile farther from Culpepper. This marching and countermarching is
what the military authorities call making a demonstration. It is a tiresome and
monotonous business, but if it accomplishes the purpose for which I left home I
will be satisfied.
SOURCE: John Camden
West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a
Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, pp. 58-9
This morning about
six o'clock there was heavy cannonading towards the Rappahanock. It is now
after nine o'clock and the firing still continues. We have just received orders
to form and are now resting in line ready to move at the word of command.
Perhaps I may see my first battle today or to-morrow—will it be the last?
SOURCE: John Camden
West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a
Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, p. 59
Went yesterday to
call on General Kershaw. Found Henry Deas, Albert Doby and Charley Dunlap at
his headquarters. Neddy Dunlap is forage master, Tom Salmon, surgeon, Jimmy
Davis is adjutant of DeSaussure's Fifteenth Regiment South Carolina Volunteers.
John Kennedy is Colonel of a regiment; Jim Villepigue, quartermaster; Frank
Gilliard, major. Josie Dunlap is in William Shannon's old company, of which
Doby is now captain. Tom Chestnut is captain of a cavalry company. All the
above names are old acquaintances and schoolmates of Camden, South Carolina.
SOURCE: John Camden
West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a
Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, pp. 59-60
We were paid off
this morning, after which there was a general settling up of accounts. I drew
$41.00; $25.00 advance bounty, one month's advance pay, and $3.00 premium for
re-enlisting. I expressed $25.00 home. It is very cold this morning, not more
than five or six degrees above zero. Towards noon the report came that we were
to be relieved. We were almost frozen, having no chance to fire up and keep
warm. These are the dark days of a soldier's experience.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 28
I was on guard
supernumerary in the daytime and stood beyond Wolf Creek at night. instructions
to be ready at 6:30 o'clock in the Towards
night the sergeant-major came along with morning to go aboard the transports
for down the river.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, pp.
28-9
We were up early and
had our things packed at 8 o'clock, fell into ranks and marched down to the
wharf and on board the "Superior," a fine river boat. The 11th Ill.,
17th Ill., and part of the 16th Wisconsin regiments are on our boat. It took
all day to load and at night we went up to the coal yard just above town to coal
up. Abe and I made our bed down on the top of the hurricane deck. About
midnight it began to sleet and rain, and before morning our blankets were
completely soaked. It was about as disagreeable a night as I ever spent.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 29
Cold, rainy and
windy. We lay here all day coaling up, and suffered with the cold. Most of the
boys kept warm by drinking whisky. Nearly all have their canteens full. We have
details patrolling the town, picking up the stragglers. Still rainy and
disagreeable. At 1:30 the boats backed off and started down the river. We
stopped a few minutes at the forts, two or three miles below the town. There
are fifteen boats in the fleet, among the principal ones are the "Nettie
Dean," "Silver Moon," "Minnehaha," "Platte
Valley," "Superior," "Maria Denning,"
"Sunnyside," "St. Louis, "Gate City," "Mary
Forsythe," "City of Madison," “Arago," and "Belle
Reora." Our regiment lost about fifty men at Memphis, three from our
company. At dark we tied up to the Arkansas shore. It was dreary and cold but I
went on shore on purpose to put my foot on Arkansas soil. We set our pickets
and stayed all night. Abe Van Aukin and I slept under Jim Mitchell's bunk, the
same as the night before and slept fine.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, pp.
29-30
The boat shoved off
at daylight and started down at 10 o'clock. We arrived at Helena, a small town,
where we stopped about three hours, and then went on down the river. It is
thickly timbered on both sides most of the way. There are a few farm houses
scattered along. At sundown we tied up to the Arkansas shore just forty miles
above Napoleon, at the mouth of the Arkansas river. As soon as we halted the
"Silver Moon" played several tunes on her calliope. I went back to a
little town of Nig quarters just over the levee, about one-half a mile from the
river and tried to get something to eat, but they had nothing to sell or give.
Everything was eaten up and the levees were all breaking away and they could
not repair them as the able bodied had run away. Most of the Whites that are
not in the Rebel service have left. One of our boats was fired on today. We
passed Napoleon about 9 o'clock. At sundown we tied up at the Mississippi
shore, eighty miles above the mouth of the Yazoo, and opposite the state
of Mississippi.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 30-1
We started at
sunrise as on the preceding morning. The wind blew quite strong, making it
difficult for some of the smaller boats to keep up. When we were within a few
miles of the Yazoo, the flagship "Platte Valley" halted and gave us
the signal to close up. We closed up in regular order and about 3 o'clock came
in sight of a fleet of eighty transports and gunboats at the mouth of the
Yazoo. We halted about one mile above them, and twelve miles from Vicksburg by
water, or eighty by the short cut on the Louisiana side. The troops here tell
us our boys are working on the Farragut's canal and are to have it finished in
a few days. We slept in the boat last night, Abe and I in our old place. The
country for over a hundred miles above here is quite thickly settled by wealthy
planters. On some of the plantations the Negro quarters form quite a town. The
trees on the shore are covered with a long vine-like growth called Spanish
moss. It is light green in color, and gives an appearance of being dead and covered
with icycles.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 31
Rained all day;
slept in the boat last night.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 31
The regiment was
formed early this morning and we moved back out of the levee into camp. The
river is rising, it is on a level with our camp. It is warm and pleasant,
a real spring day. There was heavy firing this evening down the river. I saw
the "Chillicothe" tonight. There were four men detailed to go down to
the ditch tomorrow.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p.
31-2
Warm and rainy. More
boats went down last night, one war boat and several transports. We heard heavy
firing this morning, supposed to be the gunboats. The river is still rising.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 32
Bill Boggs and
myself secured a pass this morning early and started down to the canal. We
followed the river bank until we were about one mile and half from the ditch,
when we saw that we were upon a bayou that ran back up the river about two
miles. We had to turn back, feeling pretty badly sold as it made us four miles
extra walk. Young poplars were so thick that we could not see where we were for
a while. The levee is broken in two places. Our division (6th McArthur) is
repairing the upper one, and the lower division the lower one. The water is
running through here badly. They are planting artillery behind the levee all
along between camp and the ditch. The levee forms a substantial breastwork. One
mile this side of the ditch we came, for the first time, within full view of
Vicksburg. The town lies upon the west side of a sloping bluff. One large
church and the court house and one earthworks could be distinguished quite
plainly. The town did not look more than two or three miles distant, but
it is not less than eight. An officer was looking through a glass, he could see
transports at the wharf, and a crowd collected around someone who was taking
observations. As we passed the mouth of the Yazoo we could look up and see
three or four gunboats and as many rams, while on this side lay the
"Chillicothe" and three rams. As I was going down I was hailed by two
cavalry men who had just passed me. On looking up, whom should I see but Oll
and Dave Hubler, formerly of Co. E, 12th Ind. They belong to Co. C, 4th Ind.
cavalry. They told me that Geo. Hissung is down here. They are body guard to
Gen. Smith. Pat Gallegher and Bill Humphrey, our old first lieutenant and
orderly, are here. Nearby is the far famed ditch. About noon we sat down on its
banks and took a good rest. The boys encamped there say the water has risen one
foot today. It is now five feet deep and has a rapid current. It averages over
twenty feet wide upon the surface. The Mississippi is rising rapidly. I went
down to the lower end of the ditch, it is one mile and one-eighth in length.
There are heavy details at work throwing up a levee on the west side of it. We
have thirty two-pound parrots blockading the river. They are posted behind the
levee here. When we arrived Gen. McClernand was taking observations. The Rebels
are throwing up heavy works below the mouth of the ditch upon the opposite
side. It is about three miles distant. We could see them moving around, coming
up and going away. We lay there about two hours and watched them. We could see
two heavy earthworks, or forts, and one line of rifle pits. We went from here up
to the head of the ditch. It starts in an eddy and there was a tug, "The
Ivy," lying in front to keep out the driftwood. It is hard to tell if the
thing will prove advantageous. Large details at work, showing that the generals
still have faith in it. We understand that they have sent for a dredge. There
are encampments all the way between our division and the ditch. Gen. Steele's
division is below the mouth of it. We came back to camp a little after dark,
tired and hungry, having traveled during the day about twenty miles, but were
amply repaid. McClernand is a homely man, apparently about forty-five years of
age, with black whiskers and a Roman nose. I saw a fine looking general, said
to be Gen. Steele.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p.
32-4
This is a beautiful
day. I am quite stiff and sore from the effects of my walk. There was a detail
from the sixth division this morning, mounted on mules and sent out in the
northwestern direction upon a scout. Corp. Si. Livingston and Privates Briton
and Schultz represented Co. K, 17th Ill. They went about sixteen miles to a little
town called Richmond, where they found a detachment of the enemy, but owing to
a large bayou, our boys could not get at them, and had to leave them in
possession of the place. We heard heavy cannonading this morning. The Rebs had
undertaken to cross with about five hundred head of cattle, but slipped up on
it, and they fell into our hands.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, pp.
34-5
I was detailed on
fatigue this morning. The detail from our regiment worked on the big break in
the levee. We did a good day's work, and slightly checked the current. The
Mississippi continues to rise. Uncle Ben, Scott and Patterson returned from
their three days' scout. They had been up the river after beef and had secured
fifty head. Mail came in last night, Frank received a letter from Rosalie,
dated Jan. 4. Just to think, they have had no snow yet in the north. Generals
U. S. Grant and Ross have arrived.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, p. 35
The first news that
greeted us this morning was marching orders. After breakfast we drew four days'
rations, two of them cooked, put them in our haversacks, and were ready to
march aboard the boats. About 2 o'clock the regiment was formed and we marched
aboard the "Crescent City" and the "Ella," escorted by a
gunboat, or Ram No. 2. We started in the fore part of the night. Abe and I
found a place on the lower deck on the top of a wood pile, and it is well we did,
for it rained nearly all night.
SOURCE: Seth James
Wells, The Siege of Vicksburg: From the Diary of Seth J. Wells,
Including Weeks of Preparation and of Occupation After the Surrender, pp.
35-6
Davis Mills. We had
a general inspection by U. S. Grant and General Quinby of the 3rd Division.
SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd
Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, p. 13
La Grange, Tenn.
Awoke to hear the rain pattering briskly on the Sibley [tent] above me. We were
called out, and with expectations to march, we drew three days' rations in our
haversacks. 8 A. M. the rain cleared off and the column of infantry began to
move by on the road leading to Holly Springs. At 9 A. M. we fell in rear of
column. We marched west about three quarters of a mile, then turned north
toward La Grange; travelled through very pretty country. We halted at Wolf
River to water our horses, fill our canteens and ate a dinner of hard crackers
and sugar. Ascended a steep hill, half a mile in length, on the top of which
was situated La Grange, when we turned westward and travelled until 7 P. M.
Encamped on a hill. Killed a beef for supper.
SOURCE: Jenkin Lloyd
Jones, An Artilleryman's Diary, p. 13
