'•• 
 
 vF 
 
 SOLDIER 
 
 BOY'S 
 LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 HIS FATHER AND MOTHER 
 
 1861-5 
 
 
 
 
• 
 
 SOLDIER 
 
 BOY^S 
 LETTERS 
 
 TO 
 
 HIS FATHER AND MOTHER 
 
 1861-5 
 
 i 
 
 
 • 
 
% 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 / 
 
 Fifty years ago the 15th of last Au- 
 gust a boy living over the ridge in 
 the town of Gilmailton, now the town 
 of Dover, Buffalo County, enlisted in 
 the 25th Wisconsin Reg'ment to go 
 south and fight for the Union of the 
 States and for the freedom of the 
 slaves. He was below the age of con- 
 sent by two years, being ibut 16 years 
 of age, tout he was strong and some- 
 thiing told him he wanted to be a 
 soldier. 
 
 He had talked with returning sol- 
 diers who were home for brief visits 
 and in his dreams he saw himself 
 dressed in a beautiful blue suit be- 
 spangled with bright brass buttons, 
 gold braid on the seams of his trous- 
 ers and dn his hat l)and a streaming 
 ostrich plume with sundry gilt decor- 
 ation of guns and bugles. His father 
 was an Abolitionist and his earnest 
 talks at the talble and the fire side, 
 of his hope that the war would never 
 cease till the slaves were free, had 
 set the boy to thinking. There came 
 daily into his musdng a pity for the 
 hopeless slave. 
 
 G. Y. Fieeman of GalesviUle an en- 
 listing oflicer for the government, 
 came to the home of the boy on the 
 date albove named, the 15th of Au- 
 gust, and he was enlisted for three 
 ears, or for the war. 
 
 The boy's mother when asked for 
 her consent burst into tears and walk- 
 ed out of the room. The father mere- 
 ly bowed his consent. 
 
 At a farewell dinner given in Ful- 
 ler's Grove, Gilmanton on the eve of 
 his departure in company with others 
 to join his regiment, his father bid 
 the boy good bye with this injunc- 
 tion; "Remember your grandfathei 
 was a soldier of the war of 1S12 and 
 never turned his back on the enemy. 
 And don't forget there are four mil- 
 lion slaves whose hope of liberty i3 
 at stake in this war. There is a 
 wicked law on the statue books 
 which makes it the duty of the sol- 
 dier to return runaway slaves to their 
 masters. Don't mind that law. If you 
 see a slave flying from his master 
 with the master in p-ursuit, take good 
 aim and shoot the master amd help 
 the slave to freedom. 
 
 During the two years and nine 
 months service this iboy wrote many 
 letters to his mother,father and both- 
 er and sister. They were written in 
 health and in sickness, from camp, 
 from battle field from hospital. They 
 were written iby a boy who could 
 shoot with deadly accuracy, but who 
 could not spell good and who knew 
 nothing of grammer. These letters 
 were all preserved by an over fond 
 mother. This Soldier Boy, now an 
 old gentleman has consented to let 
 lis print the entire collection of let- 
 ters for the reading of the News 
 patrons. We hope they may ple;ise 
 our readers. The first letter is piint- 
 (m1 in this week's issue. 
 
A SOLDIER BOY'S LETTERS 
 
 To a boy away in the hills, whose 
 companionship was his dog and the 
 Indians who had not yet vanished in- 
 to narrow reservations, came the call 
 of his country. He was only 16, hut 
 the resire of service was in him. 
 Leaving his Tiome, he volunteered. 
 But iheing a dutiful son he wrote let- 
 ters to his parents. These letters are 
 full of human interest. He had no 
 edircational advantages, but these 
 letters liave the literary instinct in 
 them and will repay persual. They 
 are human documents. This is the 
 first: — 
 Camp 'Soloman, La Crosste, Wis., 
 
 «d. Quarters 25th Wis. Vol. Inft. 
 Sept. 15th 18C2. 
 
 Dear parents: I am sitting on the 
 straw in my tent with my paper on a 
 trunk for a desk, this is Monday, be- 
 fore breakfast that I am writing you. 
 This has been a very busy wieek for 
 the soldiers. 
 
 We did not get throngli mustering 
 until last evening which as you know 
 was Sunday. The mustering officer 
 was here all day, and he was a fierce 
 looking fellow. Any how thats the 
 way bo looked to ^is younger boys 
 that couldn't swear we was 18. We 
 had to muster in all the snme, if it 
 was 'Sunday. Some of the boys tho't 
 it was a Iwd omen, and meant bad 
 liJck. We were not exactly mustered 
 in because we did not get our )>ay, 
 but the comiianios were drawn up in 
 line, one at a time, and the office- 
 with his hands behind his back, walk- 
 ed along ten feet or feo in front of the 
 line looking every man in the face. 
 
 Every one he suspicioned of being 
 under 18, he womld ask his age. He 
 turned out a lot of them that were 
 not quite 18. Some of them that 
 might have been old enough, were 
 getting home sick and was glad to 
 get out of it by fibbing a little. See- 
 ing how it was working with the rest, 
 I did not know what to do. I went to 
 see our captain but he said he could 
 not help me. He said his interceding 
 wouild do no good." I saw our Chap- 
 lain and he told me to tell the truth, 
 that I was a little past 16, and he 
 th'^.'t that when the mustering of- 
 fici saw my whiskers he would not 
 a ; c my age. That is what the bovs 
 all told me but I was afraid. I had 
 ;ibout made up my mind to tell h'm 
 T was going on 19 years, but thank 
 heaven I did not have a chance to lie. 
 He did not ask my age. I am all 
 right and the boys were right. Say 
 do you know the sweat was run- 
 ning down my legs into my boots, 
 when that fellow came down the line, 
 and I was looking hard at the ground 
 Tfteen paces in front. 
 
 I suppose I am a full fledged soldict 
 now. I have got my uniform and 
 that awful mulstering officer has gone. 
 While I am writing, the fife and 
 drums are playing again ;how I wish 
 you could come down and see the 
 soldiers. To see a thousand soldiers 
 on regimental drill or parade is wha 
 visitors call a splendid sight. Hun 
 dreds of people in La Crosse com 
 out to see us every evening. Ther 
 was about five hundred visitors here 
 last night to see us on dress parade. 
 Oen. Pope got off here last Saturday 
 evening and we expected to see him 
 
 s 
 
 4 
 
 ■m -^ \^^^ 
 
 
in camp l)iit he did not come. I was 
 in town the evening he came but my 
 pass did not last long enough to see 
 the General. But I saw some of his 
 aids. Chester Ide's wife came from 
 Mondovi yesterday. There is hun- 
 dreds of other things I could speak 
 of but I don't have paper or time to 
 mention them. But there is one more 
 thing 1 have to tell you, we are to 
 start for Cineinnatti next Thursday, 
 so if you can come down before that 
 time you will find me here. 
 • We are to g€t our money tomorrow 
 and if we do I will get my i)icture 
 taken. We got our guns yesterday. 
 If you write at once, direct to La 
 Crosse Wisconsin. 
 
 Your loving son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 P. S. The boys that were rejected 
 lit out last night and took their uni- 
 forms with them. 
 
 Headquarters, 25th Wise. 
 La Crossie, Wis, Sept. 20, 1862. 
 
 Dear parents: One more week has 
 gone and we are still in La Crosse. 
 Our daily stunt is to drill four hours 
 a day. Our drill master is a nice lit- 
 tle fellow. He has been sent to us to 
 drill us and will l)e made our 2nd 
 lieutenant, He is a proi<d bugger in 
 his ibrand new suit of blue with gold 
 cord on his legs and shoulder strai)s 
 and he walks so darn straight he 
 leans backward. But he's a good one. 
 
 There is not a man luit would be 
 too glad if we h«d orders to march 
 for Dixie tomorrow. Its awful tire- 
 some staying here doing nothing It's 
 harder work than farming. The Gov- 
 ernor telegraphed to the Colonel of 
 
 the regiment yesterday that we were 
 liable to get orders to go up the river 
 to Fort Snelling by boat and sent in- 
 to the Sioux Indian country. There 
 is a boy 14 years old here in camp, 
 who oame from above St. Paul, wliose 
 father was murdered by the Indians 
 ten rods from him last week. The 
 boy escaped by crawling under a 
 tiridge and waiting till a team came 
 along. He came to St. Paul and 
 worked his way down on a steamiboat 
 to this place. 
 
 I haven't been homesick a minute. 
 I like drilling pretty well and our 
 Bob, that is the name of our lieuten- 
 ant, says we step up like regulars. 
 Please exause these short letters. 
 Tell George Wooster to write and T 
 will answer him. Also tell sister Do 
 to add a line when you write. 
 
 Is she catching any fish these days? 
 I hope trapping will ibe good this fa'l 
 so father can make a little extra 
 change. Are the pigeons in the stub- 
 ble like they were last fall when T 
 shot 19 at one crack? My goodness, 
 how I would like a pigeon pot pie. 
 Tell father he will find a lot of shor 
 in the old leather knife case on that 
 shelf in the entry way. They are 
 some I bought last year when Fred 
 Rosman and I were going to get rich 
 shooting prairie chickens and selling 
 them to the steam boats. I wish we 
 could get our money so I could come 
 home a few days. I sui>por.e you got 
 my picture. How do I look as a 
 soldier? I tell you it looks military 
 like to see the fellows in their regu- 
 lation 'blue. 
 
 Write often as you can convenient- 
 ly, anything from home seems good 
 CHAUNTCBT 
 
P.S. I have reopened this letter to 
 say we have orders to report at onco 
 to St. Paul. I think we will start in 
 the morning. Don't write till I can 
 give you my address. 
 
 Let the following letter speak for 
 itself. 
 
 La Crosse, Wis., Sept. 21, 18G2. 
 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 I wrote you yesterday we had or- 
 ders to report to St. Paul to fight the 
 Sioux Indians, in Minnesota. Sure 
 enough we are packing things and 
 will leave here in the morning on the 
 big sidewheel steamer St. Paul for 
 up river. Some of the boys are mad 
 and some are glad. Some say they 
 did not enlist to fight Indians hut to 
 fight rebels, hmt military orders must 
 be obeyed. If I thought the youns 
 Bioux chief who has been to our place 
 so many times with his hunting party 
 who was so good to us, letting us 
 have elk meat and venison for a little 
 of nothing, I should not like to think 
 of shooting at them. I remember 
 father said, if a few Indian contract- 
 ors were scalped, there would be no 
 trouble. I read last night in the pa- 
 per a letter from Bishop Whipple of 
 iMinnesota, who said the government 
 had not kept its promise with the 
 Indians, that they had no blankets 
 and no rations of beef, and that was 
 the reason they went on the war 
 path. The bow and arrows the chief's 
 son gave me, I wish you would see 
 that they are not lost. I don't be- 
 lieve Indian John stole Mr. Cripps's 
 gun. He Is a good Indian and if he 
 is not killed in the war he will bring 
 it back. 
 
 I will finish this in the morning. 
 
 Sept. 21st. I am sitting on the 
 hurricane deck of the St. Paul Steam- 
 er where our Company has been as- 
 signed for the trip to Fort Snelling. 
 We were an hour filing on board the 
 boat this morning. Everybody is 
 feeling good. Some of them are 
 happier than they ought to 'be. Bill 
 Anderson and some of the Mondovi 
 boys are pretty well loaded. Chet 
 Ide doesn't drink, but he is laughing 
 lou/fler at the fellows who do drink 
 Gile Bump of Mondovi, and I crawled 
 under the ledge over the cabin to get 
 in the shade. The boat has an awful 
 load. 
 
 A thousand men with all the fix- 
 tures and equipment. There is not 
 room to lie down! The band is kept 
 pretty busy. ' Whenever we pass a 
 boat or reach a town the band 
 pounds and blows for all it's worth. 
 The women and girls wave their 
 handkerchiefs, and every fellow 
 thinks it's meant for him . I'll bet 
 there never was so jolly a crew on 
 this boat befoi'e. When the boat 
 stopped at Winona, some of the boys 
 took a high dive from the top of the 
 wheel house into the river. I never 
 thought they would come up again 
 but they did, and swam back to the 
 yawl and climbed into that and were 
 l)ulled up by ropes onto the boiler 
 deck. We have just passed Fountain 
 City and I must close this letter so 
 as to mail it at .Mma. The boat 
 stops at every town, hut no soldier is 
 allowed to step off the boat. We 
 have just passed a raft and the way 
 the logs teeter in the waves is a 
 wonder. The fellows shake their fists 
 
and yell dirty, hoodhitn stuff, but the 
 hoys in hlue give it back to them in 
 plenty. 
 
 Tell Elder Morse's folks that 
 Henry is well and spoiling for a fight. 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Dear Mother. — •! missed the Alma 
 boat and so I'll add a few lines more. 
 We reached St. Paul and everybody 
 was on the shore to greet us. They 
 are mighty glad to have soldiers 
 come as the Indians are gathering in 
 big forces, and there may be bloody 
 times. After waiting for orders we 
 steamed on to Fort Snelling six miles 
 above, and after landing in the bush- 
 es at the mouth of the Minnesota 
 River, we climbed the high bluff 
 where the Fort is located. They call 
 this fort the American Gibralter, if 
 you can guess the meaning, steep 
 wall nearly round it, and some big 
 black cannons pointing in all direc- 
 tions. 
 
 I tell you those cannons have a 
 wicked look. They are the first I 
 have ever seen. I have just discov- 
 ered I have a two-dollar counterfeit 
 bill, so I am on half rations for mon- 
 ey. We got our knapsacks this even- 
 ing, and expect to start up the Min- 
 nesota and Mississippi Rivers to 
 hunt Indians in a day or two. 
 
 Wish you would make me a pair 
 of two fingered mittens, it would 
 save me $1.50; make them out of thin 
 bmrkskin. There is a lot of buck In- 
 dians in the stone jail of the for^, 
 who are guarded. They are some of 
 the ring leaders, who incited the 
 massacre. One of them looks just 
 like One Eye, who staid ground our 
 
 I)lace so much. CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Direct to Co. G., Ft. Snelling. 
 
 The letter that follows is interest- 
 ing in its reference to Minneapolis, 
 "a pretty town at the Falls of St. 
 .\nthony", now grown into a mighty 
 city. 
 
 St. Cloud, Minn., Oct 2, 1862. 
 Co. G. 25th Regt. 
 [>ear parents: 
 
 In my last I wrote you of our 
 arrival at Fort Snelling and that we 
 were to march into the Indian Coun- 
 try in a day or two. Fort Snelling 
 is a fine place and I hadn't got tired 
 of it when orders came to divide 
 our Regiment, the right wing to go 
 up the Minnesota river and the left 
 wing up the Mississippi. Our Co. 
 is in the left wing so we came up 
 the Mississippi river. The first night 
 after quitting Ft. Snelling we camp- 
 ed in the edge of Minneapolis, a 
 pretty town at the Falls of St. An- 
 thony. St. Anthony, just across the 
 river, has some nice big buildings 
 and is the biggest place. It was aw- 
 fully hot the day we left the fort 
 and our extra blankets and belts 
 full of amunition made a load. But 
 we felt good and after su|pper I 
 scuffled with Casper Meuli and Max 
 Brill tin bed time. I know father 
 advised me not to do any wrestling. 
 'but a fellow cant say no all the time. 
 A lot of uy rolled up in our blankets 
 under the trees on the bank of a 
 creek with no tents that night. A 
 lot of women or igirls from town 
 came into camp and walked over us 
 as if we were logs. I thot they were 
 pretty fresh. Some of the older 
 
soldiers talked pretty plain to thenn 
 but they didn't seem to care. After 
 while they were ordered away am? 
 then we went to sleep. The next 
 night and the night after I slept in 
 barns on the hay. The people seem- 
 ed to be Germans but they were 
 good and .^ave us all they had of 
 milk and bread. The boys would 
 gather like pigs round a milk pan, 
 three or four drinking at the same 
 time. We came into St. Cloud last 
 night. We crossed the Mississippi 
 here. It isn't the mighty stream 
 here that it is at Alma, I oould 
 throw a stone across and hit a dog 
 up here. These people gave lis a 
 warm welcome. Some of our boys 
 came down with the measles and 
 will go into hospital quarters until 
 they 'get 'well. I have a queer sort of 
 feeling, perhaps its measles with 
 me. You know I never was sick. 
 WTien the surgieon examined me in 
 La Crosse he hit me a slap and told 
 me I had a constitution like a horse 
 1 told him my living for some years 
 had been buck meat, beaver's tails 
 and bear flesh. He said, you are a 
 tough one, that is i)lain to see. I am 
 sitting on a big rock on the bank of 
 the Mississippi. It seems strange 
 that this clear beautiful stream is 
 the same yellow broad river that runs 
 so near my home. As I write I am 
 using a fine tooth comb and T am 
 finding bugs. I don't know where I 
 got them, but I've got them. I was 
 ashamed to be seen combing in camp 
 so I came down behind the big rocks 
 by the river. The other boys must 
 have them. No Indians yet. The 
 old settlers tell us the buffalos were 
 here but a few years ago. I have 
 
 seen some of their horns, sharp, 
 black wicked things. Their trails 
 can be seen on the praries and along 
 the liver banks. I remember father 
 saying the buffaloes and Indiana 
 would disappear about the same time. 
 Pot hunters would slay the buffaloes 
 for their skins, and the white man's 
 whiskey was as surely slaying the 
 Indian. Tomorrow we take up our 
 march to Richmiond, twenty miles 
 away. I will write you then. 
 Your son 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 P. S. Tell father not to brag so 
 much on Webster as a speller. I 
 know I am not in his class quite, 
 'but I have bouglit me a pocket dic- 
 tionary and I am studying it every 
 day. Our Chaplain came along last 
 night and saw me with it. He stop- 
 ped and looked at it; well, he said 
 it is next thing to a testament any- 
 how. Good bye. 
 
 Remember that these are the let- 
 ters of a boy. How many boys there 
 were in that terrible war who on 
 beds of sickness yearned for the 
 mother-care off home! This boy has 
 opinions of his own, opinions des- 
 tined to deepen with age. Later on 
 Hhe pen grown polished with use 
 was destined to voice the demand 
 for justice to the dispossesed Indian 
 and enfranchised negro. 
 
 St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, Minn- 
 Oct. 20th. 1862. 
 Dear mother, father and all the rest. 
 
 I am writinig you from a sick bed 
 propped up on the back of a chair 
 made soft with pillows. You must 
 think it strange that you have got 
 no letters these three weeks but if 
 
you knew how fearfully sick I have 
 been you would understand. I have 
 been a mighty sick boy with the 
 measles all this time in a big room 
 in the city building along with ten 
 other of my comrades. Three others 
 of my Co. are here. Andy Adams, 
 one of my chums from Mondovi. is 
 one of them and he has been veiv 
 sick. I tell you mother it is a ter 
 rible thing to be sick amon? stra:!S- 
 ers anyway. I've tho't of hdme and 
 you so many times. Maybe if I had 
 ever been sick before it would not 
 have seemed so bad, but I want to 
 tell you my dear mother, I never 
 want to be sick away from you. The 
 \\omen of the town came in every 
 day to give nice things to eat and 
 make lemonade for us but they were 
 all strange and new ones came near- 
 ly every day. They were kind, of 
 course but O, I don't know. I felt 
 if they were thinking more of their 
 nice clofhes and how fine they looked 
 than of us. They wouldn't give me 
 all the water I wanted, and I was 
 always so thirsty. I just dreamed 
 all the time. I don't want to talk 
 like a baby mother, and the boys 
 say, "Don't write any bad news to 
 your father and mother," but you 
 have always told me I should tell the 
 truth and I believe its all right. God 
 knows I never felt before what it 
 meant to have a good home and a 
 kind father and dear mother. And 
 for these nearly three weeks on my 
 back, I have thought of you all more 
 than a hundred times. What a nice 
 thing is a igood home. Don't think 1 
 am home sick mother, you know I 
 can say all these things and still n')t 
 
 be homesick. When a fellow is sick 
 and all broke up he can't help saying 
 soft things. But I know if you had 
 been here or I had been there 1 
 should not be where I am. Some of 
 the fellows here are awful rough in 
 their talk. They wasn't very sick 
 and they are joking me and a young 
 fellow in Co. E. because we are talk- 
 ing so much about our home and our 
 mothers. I don't deny that I long 
 to see my dear mother, and when 
 the tears come into his eyes I know 
 the poor boy that lays next to me 
 is thinking of home too. 
 
 Don't think for a minute mother, 
 that I am dying. I am getting bet- 
 ter and in a few days will rejoin my 
 CJo.. which is now at Ridhmond, 
 about 20 miles from here. It will 
 seem like going home almost, to get 
 back to my dear old Company. The 
 nights are getting freezing cold and 
 they tell me the lakes are covered 
 with ice, and lately I dreamed of lay- 
 ing on my stomach and drinking 
 cold icewater through the air holes. 
 I suppose it's because I am always 
 so dry. 
 
 They say that a few days ago 
 three hundred soldiers came down 
 from Ft. Abercrombie, 130 miles 
 from here. They left everything 
 quite, in fact the Indian war seems 
 at an end unless the upper Sioux 
 turn on us. 
 
 Colonel Sibley has recovered all 
 the white prisoners and nearly 2.000 
 Indian prisoners. The question 
 seems to be whether to let the Sioux 
 remain or drive them from the 
 homes of their ancestors into some 
 western reservation. It seems like- 
 
s 
 
 ly that they will be driven away. 
 Mother this whole Indian question 
 is wrong. Laying on my sick bed 
 here, I can't help thinking of the 
 wrong doing of the government to- 
 ward the Indians. I am losing heart 
 in tshis war againstl thei Indians. 
 When you come to think that all 
 this ibeautiful country along the Min- 
 nesota river was bought for 2 centos 
 an acre and that the government 
 still owes them this pitiful sum for 
 it, I am sorry for them. The boys 
 tell me I am no better than an In- 
 dian when I talk about it, but I can't 
 help it. God made this country and 
 gave it to the Indians. After a while 
 along comes Columlbule with his 
 three code shell boats, takes posses- 
 sion of all the continent in the name 
 of the Almighty, Queen Isabelle of 
 Spain and the Indians are treated 
 as wild beasts. I often think as I 
 have heard father say, "if this is 
 the spirit of the present Christianity, 
 God will dam it. 
 
 I don't expect we will have a brush 
 with the Indians unless we go farth- 
 er west. The boys at Richmond are 
 having good times, hunting deer and 
 bear and catching fish. The lakes 
 are clear and cool and full of fish. 
 
 We don't know where we are to 
 winter, likely as not just where we 
 are. My dear mother 1 am out of 
 money. I haven't got the three dol- 
 lars yet I wrote for the last time. 
 I got to borrow a stamp to send this 
 letter, but its alright. Mother, how 
 does the new house come on? Have 
 you got in it yet? Have you dug the 
 potatoes yet? Does brother W. kill 
 many prairie chickens this fall, or 
 
 hasn't he got any ammunition? Has 
 father igot the stable plastered up 
 warm? The bUle clay in the bottom 
 of the creek is all right for that. 
 
 Mother, don't you hate to leave the 
 dear old cabin this winter for the 
 new house? I love to think of that 
 best of beds under those long oak 
 shingles warped and twisted, thai 
 let in the rain and snow in my face. 
 I would give all this world if I owned 
 iti, if I could sleep there tonight. 
 Did the corn get ripe? Has father 
 broke the colts? Has brother W. 
 broke the steers so they can haul 
 things? How is father Cartwright? 
 Has father killed any game this fall, 
 what is it? Mother, as to the money 
 T sent home, I want you or father to 
 use it for anything you want. All I 
 want is the first payment on that 
 land so that is clear I dion't care for 
 the rest. You must get some apple 
 trees if you have not already, and 
 get a stand of bees. You ought to 
 raise your own honey. I would like 
 very much to hear from you mother. 
 I haven't heard from home since I 
 left La Crosse, I do not complain. 
 There may be letters some where for 
 me. Remember mother, a letter m 
 your own hand writing. Lo've to all, 
 to yourself, father, brothers and sis. 
 ter. 
 
 Your soldier boy. 
 
 CHAUNCEY 
 
 New Richmond, Minn., 
 
 Hd. Quarters Co., G. 2.5th Regt. 
 
 Wis., Vol. Tnft. October 2Sth. 
 
 Dear folks at home: Since my 
 
 last you see I have made a chanige. 
 
 I am now with the company at New 
 
Richmond. Andy Adams of Mondovi 
 and one of the Mann brothres and 
 my self came up in one of the Well's 
 Fargo stages. The captain ordered 
 us to the hotel as he tho't we was 
 not strong enough for camp yet. I 
 got your last letter the day before 
 we left St. Cloud and what you told 
 me about exposing myself after hav- 
 ing the measles scared me just a bit. 
 I had been walking about for three 
 days and when I crossed the streets 
 the wind was cold and so strong it 
 would nearly throw me down and 1 
 had nothing but my summer drawers 
 Our women nurses didn't warn us a 
 bit, but told me I should go out and 
 get strength. I was glad enough to 
 get lOut doors once more, I think ! 
 am getting all right. I was pretty 
 sick the doctor told me, just as if I 
 didn't know my own feelings. The 
 Ladies Aid Society was real kind. 
 One old lady who did not belong to 
 the society would come nearly every 
 day with some sour candy and give 
 it to all of us because our mouths 
 tasted bad of the fever. She said she 
 had a dear boy somewhere in the 
 South and she hoped some one would 
 be good to her boy if he got sick. 
 
 I tell you it seemed awful good to 
 see the faces of my old chums. T 
 had been away from them nearly 
 four weeks and it seemed that manv 
 months. 
 
 They are busy building log houses 
 to winter in. They are building 18 
 houses for store buildings and 
 quarters. It is getting cold and the 
 weather makes them hustle. The 
 'boys are still in tents thlo it is freez- 
 ing every jiigbt The rest of the 
 
 left wing have goi^e up to Paynsville 
 to winter, four comi)anies. I woke 
 up tbis morning with a pain in my 
 stomach. I told Elder Harwood of 
 it and he told me not to eat any more 
 biscuit before going to bed. We have 
 a nice hotel and lots to eat and I am 
 hungry all the time. They give us 
 wild rice, bo't of the Indians, twice 
 a day, and it is good. The Landlord 
 said it was nearly gone and the In- 
 dians were gone and he didn't know 
 when he ciould get any more. I like 
 to hear him talk about the Indians. 
 He said they had been cheated and 
 lied to by the government contrac- 
 tors, and that bro't on all the trouble. 
 He said he lived amongst them all 
 his life and they were good people 
 unless they were drunk. 
 
 T have lost fifteen and a half 
 Iiounds in weight the three weeks 
 past. I forgot to tell you I found 
 a letter from you dated the 10th here 
 in the Captain's hands. He forgot 
 to send it to me. I am glad father 
 has such good luck killing deer and 
 bear this fall. Thank goodness oM 
 dog Prince was close by when tbn 
 bear made that rush for father. He 
 no doubt saved father's life. I hope 
 the poor dog's jaw is not broken. 
 The bear's jaw of course was too 
 strong for him. Don't skim the milk 
 for dear old Prince, give it to him 
 with the cream on until he can eat 
 meat. We have bear and doer close 
 to this place but you will be'ieve me. 
 I would dearly like to be with father 
 in his hunts, long enougli at lea^t to 
 help him kill two or three fat bears. 
 Don't fear but I will be careful 
 dear mother of my health, you scar- 
 
10 
 
 ed me when you explained about 
 cousin Ben's death a month after he 
 got up from the measles. I have had 
 the measles, and "theys done gone" 
 as Topsey said, in TJncle Tom's 
 Cabin. 
 
 Rumors of Indians coming back 
 on the war path is the talk among 
 the boys in the hotel tonight. The 
 sky Is all lighted up some ten mile.s 
 away by prairie fires tonight. The 
 boys say it means Indians. My 
 room is about 8 iby 10 feet and th!i 
 light from the prairie fire makes a 
 shadow on the wall. Some of the 
 boys talk like they wanted dread- 
 fully to get into a scrimmage with 
 the Sioux. It must be I aint a good 
 soldier, I dont think it is fear, but I 
 am all the time thinking of One Eye 
 and his son and wife that came to 
 our house so many times to get flour 
 and coffee, and the times I played 
 with their boys and sat on their buf- 
 falo robes and ate elk steak and Ten- 
 sion steak by their wigwam fires. 
 You know we w'ondered that they 
 never came back any more, and fath- 
 er said they were afraid of their 
 lives because the Dacotas and Min- 
 nesota Sioux had declared war and 
 to save their lives they had gone 
 west. 
 
 I don't deny that I sometimes 
 think of Owena, the Chiefs daughter 
 that father plagued me about, and 
 wonder where she is. 
 
 Bishop Whipple says the govern- 
 ment has never kept its word of pay- 
 ment for the land and the rations 
 promised the Indians. That man 
 Whipple must be another William 
 Penn. He has always been the In- 
 
 dian's friend in Minnesota. I read 
 in the Sentinel yesterday that he had 
 •visited the W!hite House in Wash- 
 ington and plead with President 
 Lincoln with tears in his eyes that 
 the government ishonld pay these 
 Sioux their iJromised Ennuity and 
 that would stop the war. Why don't 
 they do it? I am a white man's son 
 and I like my own people but can 
 never forget what Chief One Eye 
 told me in his wigwam on the Three 
 mile creek that the white chief at 
 Washington was a liar because they 
 never got their annuity and their 
 beef was tough and unfit to eat. 
 
 I hope father will not sell my 40 
 even at a hundred dollars profit. I 
 like Wisconsin best of all yet. 
 
 They are all in bed but me, so 
 good night. 
 
 Your boy, 
 
 OHAUNCEY. 
 
 New Richmond, Minn., 
 
 Co. G. 25th. Regt. 
 Nov. 4th. 1862. 
 Dear sister Doe: Your favor or 
 Oct. 2.5th rec'd yesterday. It seemed 
 so good to m^e that I read it over 
 twice before stopping. I am just like 
 other sioldiers I suppose, crazy to get 
 letters from dear ones at home. I 
 wrote mother only a day or two ago 
 but that makes no difference, I am 
 iglad for an excuse to write home. 
 I told mother that I did not expect 
 to leave St. Clioud for some days 
 but we left the next day in one of 
 those big Well's Fargo coaches you 
 told me so much about. We hai 
 four horses on the coach and they 
 trotted nearly all the way 20 miles 
 
11 
 
 to this place. I found the boys fat 
 as pigs except them that were sick 
 with measles. Siome ten or a dozen 
 were sick. 
 
 You said you received $10 in one 
 of my letters? I sent $30 dollars al- 
 together in the two letters. I also 
 sent my clothes. Did you get them? 
 
 It is now quite certain we will win- 
 ter here as they have commenced 
 building cabins. It is about 225 
 miles from home, just a nice sleigh 
 ride. 
 
 I could get home for about $7 but 
 that would buy a good many things 
 you need this coming winter, and 
 may 'be I could not get away. Be 
 good enough to send me the Tribune, 
 or the Milwaukee Sentinel. We 
 don't have anything here to read 
 but dutch papers. I want to get 
 some papers or books this winter 
 and maybe you better send me a few 
 dollars. I was to good when I sent 
 the last money to father and I shall 
 be short before my next pay day 
 which is in December. I am real 
 glad you are making such headway 
 in your books. You are father's 
 girl alright. Do you know sister, I 
 used to think father was a curious 
 kind of person because he differed 
 with so many people, and I didn't 
 know what to think about it, but I 
 know now our father is a sensible 
 man. Tie opened my eyes about this 
 Indian question which I am finding 
 every day to be true, and I believe 
 his oj)inion about the slave holders 
 to be just as true. I cannot forget his 
 words in the grove at Rufus F'uller's 
 when we started for Alma after that 
 ibig dinner. He said, "be true to 
 
 your country my boy, and be true to 
 the flag, but before your country or 
 the fla«g ibe true to the slave." I 
 never saw tears in father's eyes be- 
 fore. 
 
 I am still in the tavern. I bought 
 siome packs the other day and paid 
 $3.00 for them, a big price but I had 
 to have them. Tell father to pick up 
 a chopper if he can find one and set 
 him to work at my expense in the 
 big timber over northeast. We need 
 a lot more rails. We need to keep 
 dark about timber until we get 
 some logs out of it. Cut the logs 
 and mark them together and I will 
 split them my self if I ever get ba^k. 
 Nobody knows of the timber but Mr. 
 Amidon and nobody will ever touch 
 it. Mr. Amidon got a dozen or so 
 logs there last winter, for the mill. 
 I counted the stumps last spring 
 when I speared those beaver there 
 last spring. 
 
 Poor old dog Prince and I had a 
 lot of fun on that creek. How is 
 Prince getting on from that fight 
 with that bear? I wish father would 
 be more careful in shooting at bears. 
 Prince may not always be near by to 
 lock jaws with the black devils. I 
 often think of the night I slept with 
 Prince in my arms in Traverse Val- 
 ley. The fire had gone out and It 
 was dark as tar. When a fox would 
 bark he would tremble and raise h's 
 head and growl. When that deer 
 snorted in the brush and run he near- 
 ly scared me to death as he jumiied 
 out from the blanket and run after 
 him. Give the old dog a hug for me. 
 There is lots of game here and I 
 wish I had old Prince with me. 
 
12 
 
 Obed Billiard and 1 have bo"t a 
 lot of traps and soon as T get strong 
 I am going to set them. The boys 
 have shot a lot of rats and minks 
 with their muskets. 
 
 The news came just now that Mc- 
 riel'aii h;id captured :!0.00a rebs and 
 had cornered the rest of Ijee's army, 
 and the war was at an end. We hear 
 things like this nearly every day. 
 Nobody believes it. 
 
 Your brother, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 This letter mentions names that 
 wiJll be locally familiar. It is but a 
 week or so ago that Obed Hilliard 
 died. 
 
 Ft. Wildcat, Richmond, Minn. 
 Nov. inth. 1Sfi2. 
 
 Dear mother: I believe my last 
 was written to Doe, any way I will 
 write this time to you. I like letters 
 from father and Sister Doe, too, aw- 
 ful well, but if you could hear what T 
 hear every day about things and per- 
 sons at home, you would hear the 
 fathers talked about and you would 
 hear that the sisters and brothers 
 were nice people, 'but the mothers in 
 the daily talk of the soldiers are the 
 best persons in the world. Well 
 now this may souhd like T am home- 
 sick but I ain't. T was going to say, 
 we are to have inisi)ection of arms in 
 a little while and T tho't T would put 
 in the time until then writing. The 
 snow fell to the depth 5 inches last 
 night and the woods this forenoon 
 was full of soldiers hunting deer. 
 A bear was seen by one of the boys 
 but nothing but some partridges and 
 rabbits was killed, Until day before 
 
 yeisterday the lakes were full of 
 ducks and geese. I never saw so 
 many ducks. The boys have killed 
 lots of them. I purchased a pair of 
 moccasins, paid $3.'50 for them, a 
 big price but had to have them. 1 
 want to do some shooting pretty 
 soon. The orderly has informed us 
 that there will be no inispection of 
 arms. I noticed in the Sentinel that 
 (lilmanton was exempt from draft. 
 That is all the Gilmanton folks want- 
 ed, so they said. Now we will see 
 how much those moneyed ones will 
 give now that they are in no danger 
 of draft. I was out on drill day be 
 fore yesterday, the first time in six 
 weeks. 
 
 The cabins are nearly done and I 
 shall be glad to get out of the hotel 
 with the Iboys altho I like things 
 here. The commissary building is 
 full of ibeef, pork and flour and good 
 things to eat. The c'ompany will be 
 divided into squads with a cook for 
 each squad. Obed Hilliard is the 
 cook for our squad, Obe and I are in 
 partnership in trapping. The lakes 
 and the Sioux river that runs by our 
 camp are full of mink and rats. T 
 found a big black mink in a trap of 
 gne of the other boys last night just 
 below camp. His hide was wforth $S. 
 I was half tempted to take him out. 
 The boys are playing just these 
 tricks every day on each other. I 
 nearly forgot to tell you I had bowel 
 trouble the other day and Serpjen* 
 McKay gave me a dose of burnr 
 whiskey. It was the first whiskey ! 
 ever drank. It helped my bowel 
 trouble and I suppose from what the 
 boys tell me it made me do some 
 
13 
 
 strange things. Men Bump and Cliet 
 llde of Mondovi have been laughing 
 at me and telling me that I was a 
 shame to old toppers that I talked 
 stiilff and got out Bill Mill's drum 
 and pounded it. Anyway I am alright 
 now. I have no more news to write 
 thiis time. Mr. Ball sends his respects 
 tio Mr. Cartwright, and Mr. McKay 
 sends his regards to father. 
 
 I was just closing this letter when 
 one of the boys came into my room 
 and told me the Indians were burn- 
 ing Paynsville, where the other four 
 companies of the left wing are post- 
 'ed. I went to the window and sure 
 enough there was a big light on the 
 isky in the directiion of Paynesville. 
 I have been waiting a half hour for 
 later news. If it meant Indians I 
 knew we would be notified by 
 courier. As we have heard nothing 
 it means just a prairie fire, so good 
 night mother. 
 
 Your loving boy, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Richmond, Minn., 
 
 Niov. 20, 1862. 
 Dear Parents: — • 
 
 I had no letters the past week but 
 look lor one this afternoon. Things 
 go on rather quiet most of the time. 
 Our log shanties are all finished and 
 1 am now wi'th the boys. I'll tell 
 you, I am keeping a diary and I will 
 give yiou a copy of it for a week in 
 this letter: — Nov. 10— Took a shave 
 to-day. One of the boys said my 
 bf^ard made me look like a ?oat. 
 Had my first dinner at the shanty, 
 Olip is a cood cook. Supply train 
 loaded with i)rovisions went by for 
 i:^auk renter and Paynesville. Srmie 
 men, trappers I guess, from the Red 
 River country went toward St. Cloud, 
 
 they stopped for dinner. Said all 
 quiet in the up country. They wore 
 leggins like Indians and their stories 
 if true, made ihem out more savaige. 
 According t^o their talk all Indians 
 are red devils. 
 
 Nov. 11 — A nice Indian summer 
 day, a smoky, hazy, dreamy day. 
 Took my gun and went rat hunting. 
 Shiot five but got only four. Came 
 back to camp hungry as a dog. Had 
 a glorious supiter of beef, bread, po- 
 tatoes, cranberry sauce and pie. 
 
 A big supply train bound for Fort 
 Abercrombia iiulled in for the night. 
 Hen. Pope has ordered all infantry 
 south. We may get to see Dixie yet. 
 Hurrah! Snow all gone and big 
 !)rairie fires to the east to night. 
 
 Nov. 12 — .No letter from home to- 
 day, plague on it. Wrote one to Geo. 
 Wooster. Beautiful weather. Mea 
 Bump just from St. Cloud reports 
 mother one of the boys dead from 
 measles. I believe I am all right ex- 
 cept my wind ain't quite so good on 
 a long double quick. Nothing to do, 
 vve,nt out and shiot a rat. Some of 
 the lakes are covered with rat 
 houses thick as hay cocks and as big. 
 Sold my hides for 10 cents a piece. 
 Boys trying their guns at a mark, 
 found a great deal of fault with 
 them. I found some papers at the 
 hoteil called "The Dacota Friend, " 
 that I have been reading. They 
 were left by a woman who had been 
 stopping This paper was a mission- 
 ary paper for the Indians and had 
 letters in it from Bishop Whippb^. 
 He is certainly a good man. I read 
 some of his letters about the hones- 
 ty of the Indians when the white 
 man was honest with them. It mad,^ 
 me think of good old One P^ye and 
 his band that came so many times to 
 our placn. I sjiioke of Bishop Whip 
 tile to the trappers and what he said 
 of their honesty, but ihey said Whip 
 pie was an old woman in breeches. 
 
 Nov. 13 — T dreamed last night of 
 One Eye's band, of the boys that I 
 
14 
 
 played with, and when we got hun 
 gry how we went to Chief Charleys 
 tepee and found his mother cleaning 
 the entrails of a beaver which she 
 intended for sioup. The boy talked 
 to her in Sioux and she unfolded 
 some burltskins and a robe or two 
 pnd pave "s a big hunk of elk steak. 
 We put it on the fire and she went 
 bark to her job of dressing the bea 
 vf-r guts. In my dreams I saw the 
 be^'ntiful buffalo ro'es we lay u^ion 
 whUe our F'eak was roasting. 1 
 could even smell them just as they 
 smelt four years ago. 
 
 In this miserable Indian war I 
 often wonder what has become of 
 I ightfoot (father save him that 
 na.nie because he could beat me in a 
 race) and of his brothers and of 
 Owena. They promised , to come 
 bPck in the fall lof 1S«0 whe they 
 broke camp the spring before two 
 miles b'elow us but they never came. 
 I haven't lived long, but long enough 
 to think this is a strance world. 
 When I think of the Indians and re 
 member bow good they were to nic 
 and my father and mother, and read 
 inig in this "Dacota Fri'^nd" paper 
 bow the traders have made them 
 drunk in "rder to cheat them, and 
 how the government bought HS mil 
 Ijon rtrres "^f thrm and has been ow 
 ing them for it R-rainst tbeir promisf 
 for -0 vears. and because thoy were 
 t^tarving and broke into a warehouse 
 for food, and this brought on a war, 
 I am f^r the Indians as much as the 
 whites. ' 
 
 Nov. 14 — Cold and freezing this 
 morning. A cannon from Fort .\ber- 
 crombia came by this morning. 
 They fired it a few times just for 
 fun. Obed Hilliard and 1 went hunt 
 ing, sibot five rats, lone partridge and 
 one rabbit. On return to camp found 
 a supply train in corral near us and 
 P.OO cavalry as guard. The fife and 
 drum were out to-night, in honor 
 of our guests T suppose. The visit- 
 ors have some big fires going to 
 night and the crowds around them 
 
 are very happy. The cavalry men 
 who have been on the frontier are 
 full of Indian yarns. I don't like 
 their talk. If half they tell about 
 their own rascally tricks is true, 
 there is plenty of reason for the In 
 dians to fight and fight to the death. 
 
 Nov. If) — Ther'e was quite a wild 
 time last night. Some beer was 
 stolen from the saloon and farmers 
 came in this morning claiming sol- 
 difvrs stole their chickens. The cav- 
 alry did it. Our boys denied it and 
 I am sure they told the truth. The 
 cavalry made quite a show as they 
 dashed off after the wagon train. 1 
 went to church t'l day, the first time 
 in a long while. Cold and freezing 
 to-night. I nearly froze my fingers 
 on dress parade. 
 
 Nov. 16 — Everythinig froze tight 
 this morning. This has been a lone 
 some day. Molasses was rationed 
 out, the first since we came. It run 
 awful slow. Drilled this afternoon. 
 Smnv l)egan falling while we were 
 drilling. The Colonel arrived from 
 Paynesville. I have been reading all 
 the evening in Bishop Whipple's pa 
 per, "The Dacota Friend.'' I have 
 made up my mind the Indians are 
 not to blame for this war. It is the 
 traders, the contractors, the trap- 
 pers and the Indian agents. O, the 
 injustire of the strong against the 
 weak in this world. 
 
 Nov. 17 18 — Went hmiting deer, no 
 luck at all. I shall let the deer go 
 to grass hereafter and hunt f'or rab 
 bits only. Late this afternoon had 
 a tilt snowballing. The boys had a 
 lively time dodging my balls. They 
 didn't know I had kept a pile of 
 stones at every fence corner for 
 years for blackbirds, and that a 
 blackbird's head at ten steps was an 
 easy mark. The ice on the Sioux is 
 fine. Bought a pair of skates and 
 had a little fun ion them. There is 
 a big farmer, a Swede, three miles 
 up river with a nice family of boys 
 and girls. If the ice is good, will go 
 up there in the morning. 
 
1^ 
 
 Nov. 19 — Was on the river skating 
 all the forenoon. loe not quite safa 
 on the rapids. Several of the boys 
 on a drunk. Had quite a scrap but 
 no lone much hurt. Had a spelling 
 school to-night. Word came late to 
 uisht that we w^ere to go south in a 
 week, hope it is true. 
 
 Your boy, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 NOT>iES FROM .SOLDIER BOYS' 
 DIARY CONCLUDED. 
 
 Nov. 21. — 'Went out to visit my 
 traps and found several of them 
 frozen in. Found four rats in the 
 traps set in the houses. Most of the 
 traps in the run ways except in 
 springy places were frozen in. 
 Caught a mink near the bridge over 
 the 'Sioux in a little siiring. 
 
 This afternoon skated three miles 
 up the river to the house of a Swede 
 who is one of the first settlers in 
 this county. He has a bis family of 
 boys and rosy-cheeked girls. 
 
 I ate a late dinner with them. He 
 was a great talker and told me a lot 
 about the wild times he saw when 
 he first struck the country. He was 
 a friend to the Indians. They al- 
 ways camped near his house when 
 trapping up and down the Sioux 
 River, in the fall and spring. 
 
 This man told me the war began 
 ■by a dog biting an Indian. The In- 
 dian shot the dog and the whites 
 shot the Indian and a band of the 
 Siesstou Sioux hearing of this and 
 nearly starved, for government ra 
 tions that never came, broke into a 
 government warehouse and from 
 this the war started that has cost 
 the nation, so the i)apors say, round 
 10 million of dollars. This man told 
 me he never lost a cent by a sober 
 Indian. He bad a room in his house 
 called the Indian room where he al- 
 ways put them in the winter when 
 they called. They preferred to sleep 
 in tepees in the fall and si)ring when 
 they cajne to trap for furs and to 
 
 gather wild rice. They were the 
 Santee Sioux, the band that One 
 Eye and Chief Charley belonged to. 
 He showed me a buffalo trail on a 
 steep hill side leading down to the 
 river, which he said had been worn 
 for a hundred years. 
 
 He said the Indians never killed a 
 friend if they knew it. The whites 
 were more revengeful, they shot at 
 every Indian, igood and bad. He told 
 me a lot more I can't write down. 
 When I left for camp to-night it was 
 dark, I looked at a few of the traps 
 I had set but found nothing. 
 
 I believe I am as much of an In 
 dian as the boys say, as white man 
 and I can't deny it. I am awfully 
 tired to-night. 
 
 Nov. 22. — I heard this morning 
 that Little Crow, Chief of the Sioux 
 had committed suieide. If it is true 
 it is because he has lost faith in the 
 great "white Chief at Washington 
 and the broken promises of the gov- 
 ernment. There are some things in 
 this war that make me feel that I am 
 an infidel. Why does God crush all 
 these poor Indians and give it all to 
 the white because he has wealth. 
 They owned this land from ocean to 
 ocean by the best title on earth giv- 
 en by God himself and yet because 
 we are stronger we drive him away 
 from the homes of their fathers and 
 the graves of his ancestors and 
 claim that Christ is on our side. 
 
 I have been studying the "Dacota 
 Friend," the woman left here in the 
 hotel, and I believe there is some- 
 thing terribly wrong in this war. T 
 know the Indians have been wrong 
 ed and mistreated. But what' can a 
 fellow like me do? I could not eat 
 any supper to night and I dared not 
 tell the boys what I was thinking 
 about. I knew they would joke me 
 and make fun of me. I feel that 
 Obed Hilliard is nearer to me than 
 any of the boys and yet he says the 
 Indians ought to be shot. I seem to 
 think different from any of them. I 
 may not be right but I can't help it. 
 
16 
 
 I know I think as Bishop Whipple 
 does that all the wrong in this war 
 is on the side of the whites. I am 
 sleejjy and it is ten o'clock. 
 
 Nov. 2.?.— The landlord of the ho- 
 tel gave me to understand this morn- 
 ing that I could not use any more of 
 his writing paper, as I had left the 
 house for the camp. Of course it's 
 all right but it bothers me because 
 1 can't write where the boys are 
 liothering. We had a drill this fore 
 noon. The captain said we would 
 get pay to-morrow and I am glad. I 
 have two pmges in my memoranda 
 of debt and credit accounts to be 
 settled. 
 
 Nov. 24. — 'Marching orders to be in 
 readiness to start for Fort Snelling, I 
 guess it's a go this time. The no- 
 tice came last night and all my traps 
 are set miles away on the river and 
 lakes. Obe said when the moon 
 comes up to-night if yon will gather 
 in the traps I'll do the other work. 
 
 It was after midnight when I got 
 back with all the traiis and my light 
 is the only one burning as I write 
 this last word. 
 
 Nov. 25. — It was a lonely trip I 
 made last night up the river and 
 over the lakes picking up traps. I 
 thought of so many things on that 
 trip and I was not quite satisfied 
 that Obe asked me to get traps alone 
 but I made the trip just the same. 
 In the woods between the lakes 
 where the moon shone in spots un- 
 der the pine trees I thought I saw 
 figures of Indians but I would brace 
 up and walk right u]) to them and T 
 always found them stumps or trees 
 I can't say I was really afraid, but T 
 was miles away in an Indian county 
 and sometimes my heart would 
 l)ump a little hard. 
 
 NOTES FROM SOLDIER BOY'S 
 DIARY CONCLUDED 
 
 Final orders to Ik gin our return 
 march to Fort Snelling. near St. 
 
 Paul, came late last night. We were 
 up bright and early. Some of the 
 boys said they were fixing all night 
 to get ready. I was hard to wake, 
 because I had gone to bed so late 
 after my night's jaunt gathering in 
 my traps. I had paid a dollar and a 
 quarter a piece for the traps, and the 
 merchant said I had had such bad 
 luck, 'hie would take them back at 
 cost and charge me $2.00 for the use 
 of them. I thanked him from the 
 bottom of my heart as I had ex])ected 
 a much harder deal. Some of the 
 I'ellows, one or two from Mondovi 
 had spent a good part of the night 
 It one of the saloons just across the 
 Sioux river and they were singing 
 "Dixie" and "Johnny comes march- 
 ing home" long before the morn 
 ing drum beat. I was scared for a 
 moment thinking that the march had 
 commenced when I heard them sing- 
 ing, but hearing my chum snoring at 
 my side, I went to sleep again. 
 
 All the forenoon its been Dixie, 
 Dixie. A lot of the nearby settlers 
 came in to see the boys go away. 
 Some of them said its all right for 
 us to go south, they wern't afraid 
 any more the Indians had been scaf 
 ed away, others wished we would stay. 
 I think there were four or five pret- 
 ty girls from the Sioux river that 
 felt sorry for reasons of their own 
 to see the boys go away. It was 
 near noon when we started out in 
 hit or miss order for St. Cloud. We 
 straggled into St. Cloud late in the 
 evening. Every fellow looked out for 
 his own sleeping quarters. It was 
 cold. The Captain said, "Get the 
 l)est quarters you can. I slept under 
 the flap of a tent between barrels 
 rolled up in two blankets with a 
 freezing west wind like so much cold 
 water pouring over my face all night. 
 I was awakened in the morning by 
 that song so dear to the south, 
 Dixie. I would think more of what 
 the song means, if the fellows had 
 their heads. 
 
17 
 
 We have been late this morning 
 Nov. 26th, in starting. I have put 
 in the time writing my notes. 
 
 Nov. 26 — I am tired tonight 
 march' d all day with heavy overcoat, 
 haversack, gun and two big blankets. 
 I made but 18 miles and when it 
 began to get dark 1 dropped out of 
 the squad I was with and went to a 
 private house where I saw a light 
 shining among the trees. A young 
 woman and child were the only per 
 sons there. She told me her bus 
 band had gone to the war and she 
 was carrying on the farm alone with 
 a little help her brother gave her 
 who came once in a while. She told 
 me she had but one bed in the house 
 ■but I was welcome if I could sleep 
 on the lounge in the kitchen. I ask 
 ed to sleep on the floor, but she said, 
 "iNlo." I told her where I slept the 
 night before and she just looked 
 at me with out saying a word. She 
 asked me why my mother let me go 
 into the army when I was so younff. 
 When I told her I tried to get my 
 mother's consent a year before, she 
 said, "O, you must be a crazy fel 
 low." 
 
 Nov. 27th — I was up and on the 
 road this morning by daylight. I 
 was anzious to catch uip with the 
 boys I knew were ahead of me. To 
 tell the whole truth, I shed a few 
 tears because I could not keep up 
 with the crowd. Obed had told mo 
 and Sergeant McKay that I was not 
 over the effects of the measles and 
 that I should take It easy. Father 
 wrote me too, before leaving the 
 hotel at Richmond, "Be patient and 
 not try to do too much, you will 
 need bo save your strength for 
 months." Just the same I am mad 
 that the boys are going to beat me 
 to St. Paul. 
 
 Nov. 28th-^Fort Sn«niing, Minn. 
 Arrived this noon. A few of the 
 company still hero, most of them 
 come and gone. The right wing of 
 our Rog't came down the Minnesota 
 some days ago bringing with them 
 
 1700 captured Sioux, wives, children 
 and old men and women of the bos 
 pitilies. They are cami^ed on the 
 bottoms just below the P"'ort at the 
 junction of the Minnesota and Mis 
 sissippi rivers. They are a broken 
 hearted ragged, dejected looking lot. 
 They have a million dogs almost, and 
 you can hear them barking for miles. 
 There are 156 Teepes. A Minnesota 
 Reg't is in charge of them and no 
 soldier is allowed inside the Teepes. 
 Papooses are riilnning about in the 
 snow barefoot and the old Indians 
 wear thin huckskin moccasions and 
 no stockings. Their ponies are poor 
 and their dogs are starved. They 
 are going to be shipped West into 
 the Black Hills country. Like the 
 children of Israel in the Bible story 
 they are forced to go forever from 
 the homes of their childhood and the 
 graves of their fathers to dwell in 
 te mountains and on the barren 
 plains of a strange land. I lifted up 
 the flaps of a number of their Teepes 
 and looked in. Every time I looked 
 in I met the gaze of angry eyes. 
 Nearly all of them were alike. Moth 
 ers with babies at their breasts, 
 grandmothers and grand sires sat 
 about smouldering fires in the center 
 of the Teepe, smoking their long 
 stemmed pipes, and muttering their 
 plaints in the soft guttural tones of 
 the Sioux. The white man's face was 
 their hate and their horror and they 
 showed it by hate in their eyes and 
 their black lowering brows. Why 
 shouldn't they? What had they done? 
 What was their crime? Th<? white 
 man had driven them from one 
 reservation to another. They were 
 weary and broken hearted and des- 
 perate at the broken promises of the 
 government. And when they took 
 up arms in desi)eration for their 
 homos and the graves of their sires 
 thoy are called savages and red 
 devils. When we white people do the 
 same things we are written down in 
 history as heroes and patriots. Why 
 this difference? I can't see into it. 
 
18 
 
 I often think of what father said of 
 justice in the world. That is, that 
 it is the winning party the lions of 
 the earth, that write its liistory. He 
 said, "Cataline, had any body but 
 his bitter enemies written his history 
 might have been shown to be a good 
 man." I have been fooling around 
 the Indian camps all day and my 
 company are all gone home. From 
 where I sit writing these notes in a 
 little niche on the side of the Fort 
 overlooking the camp brlow I can see 
 the sentinels pacing their rounds and 
 hear the yelping of hungry Indian 
 dogs. My fingers are numb. The 
 cold west wind hits me here and T 
 must quit. I must look for a warm 
 place to sleep tonight and start for 
 home in the morning by the way of 
 Hudson and Eau Claire. 
 
 CAMP RANDALL MADISON, WIS. 
 
 Co. G. 25th Wis., Vol. Inft. 
 
 Dec. 16, 1S62. 
 
 Dear parents: After just one 
 week of varying incident from the 
 time of leaving my old dear home 
 I am seated to write to you. We 
 did not find our regiment at Winona 
 as we expected, they had gone to T.a 
 Crosse. There were 27 of us in the 
 crowd so we hired three liveries and 
 drove all night and reached T.a 
 Crosse at f o'clock in the mornins 
 we nearly swamped in the Black riv 
 er crossing Mcdilvery's ferry the ice 
 was running so, but we ?ot over all 
 right. W'e stayed in La Crosse cue 
 night and came on to Madison the 
 next night. The iieople of l.a Crosse 
 were good to us, they gavp us a fine 
 dinner in the biggest haH in to'^n 
 bnit miother it did not tris^e half rs 
 good as the last one you pave me of 
 bear meat and vension and hot bis 
 cuit and honey. Tt may be T did not 
 do right when I sneaked out of th'^" 
 house and got Billy and rode away 
 without saying good bye, but I co'ild 
 n't help it. I knew it hurt you to say 
 
 good >l)ye and that's why I did it. 
 
 Well, we are in Madison, the Capi 
 tal of the state. How long we are to 
 stay nobody knows. They say we 
 need drilling and must get more dis- 
 ciplined before we go to the front. 
 Well I hope we won't stay here long. 
 These barracks are awful cold, and 
 my bunk is on the top tier, next to 
 the shingles too hot in the evening 
 cold in the morning. I am wearing 
 father's moccasins yet. I didn't get 
 time to buy me boots in La Crosse or 
 Winona. 
 
 Tell father to use my money and 
 buy him some more. We are to be 
 paid soon and I will send you some 
 money. You need not lay it up as 
 you did before but uise it, and don't 
 think of me, I am all right. I never 
 want to see father wear patches 
 again. I don't believe this war is for 
 long. I expect to be home next year 
 t'. help with the work. Maybe not, 
 but we'll see. 
 
 I forgot to tell you that we came 
 in the cars to Madison from La 
 Crosse. It was a new experience to 
 me, I was wide awake the whole way 
 I was afraid we were off the track 
 every time we crossed a switch or 
 came to a river. At the towns, girls 
 swarmed o» the platforms to ask the 
 boys for their pictrtHres and to kiss 
 the best looking ones. A young 
 Frenchman, we called him the pony 
 of the reigiment because he was so 
 small and (juick got the most kisses. 
 'He was so short the boys held him by 
 the legs so he could reach down out 
 the windows to kiss the girls. Many 
 times some old fellow held the girls 
 up so she could be reached. It was 
 fun anyway. 
 
 I never think but I am all rig'^t 
 except when I try to double quick 
 for a half hour or so. My wind gives 
 out. Lieutenant Parr says, "Your 
 measles stay with you yet." "Warm 
 weather" he says, "will fix you all 
 right." Love to all. 
 
 Your son. 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
19 
 
 Madison, Wis., Dec. 25tli. 1862 
 Co. G.. 2oth Regt 
 
 Dear mother: You see my paper 
 don't have tlie regulation picture on 
 it of Soldiers in file or in battle ar 
 ray I am tired of such fluinmory. 
 The meaning of the whole thing is 
 to make money for the inventor and 
 not for the soldier. We are told thai 
 the life of the Nation is at stake, and 
 every fellow that enlists offers him 
 self as a martyr to save his country. 
 I was thinking these things over Inst, 
 about 2- P. M. in the morning when I 
 was nearly froze and the relief 
 guard came round and I was off duty 
 to go to my tent and get some sleep. 
 It seems like foolery to the common 
 soldier that for two hours we must 
 stand in a temperature of r!0 or 40 
 degrees when we are a thousand 
 miles from the enemy. I had to Avalk 
 and walk to keep from free:^ing. The 
 mercury was down near 40 below 
 zero and the guard house where we 
 sat down between reliefs or lay 
 (fown was little better than out 
 doors. The health of aur Resriment 
 is none too good. One man dies on 
 an average every day. .As T writp 
 this letter the drum is beatins-. Th'^ 
 food we get is too blame for our bad 
 health The boys thr'^aton a riot 
 everv day for the bad bppf and snoi't 
 bread issued to us and all this in 
 our home state.of Wis^^onsin. T went 
 to meeting yesterdav l>oth morning 
 and evening. Tn the mnrnins- at thp 
 Ranficts in tho -^venine at tlip Rnisro 
 nal chureh. The nreacher discussed 
 thp state of the TTnion. T thot he 
 talkf^d a bit like a traitor He wa<5 
 porrv the states shoii'd co tn war 
 over thp nupstion of slavprv. He 
 hoped the T^nion wnnld hp nreservpd 
 and hp thot TTnelp Tom's '^^bin was 
 mueh to hiamp for thp wnr ra"t 
 Dwarwin said the prpaehpr omebt to 
 I'vp in South Paroli'ia Thprp is till- 
 that «-p w)'l rrt tiav tio morrow. T 
 have sent a record of o'U^ rompany 
 
 home. Hope you got it I shall send 
 you a lot of clothing just before we 
 leave. Renuinl)er me to Uncle Ed 
 ward Cartwright. It was kind of 
 him to ask so often about me. I 
 wonder where Ez and Ed are. They 
 don't say a wV^rd. You remember 
 they went in the 2nd Calvery. 
 
 1 am glad father had such good 
 luck getting deer this fall, you will 
 have lots of venison this winter. It 
 is too bad the Elk are all gone •r 
 lulled off I know father is sorry. He 
 blamed the Sioux Indians for scaring 
 his game but the St. Uouis hunters 
 and the Farringtons of Mondovi have 
 spoiled his hunting more than the 
 Indians. I hope he will stop hunting 
 bears alone. Its a dangerous busi 
 ness. Old Prince is a dear good dog 
 but a bear is too much for him at 
 close qiUi'arters. Is his jaw all right 
 again? Every letter I get fr'om home 
 I expect to hear of Jenny's death. 
 She is bound to rub her red blanket 
 off in the brush and the first hunter 
 that sees her will shoot her for a 
 wild deer. I wonder what Claffin's 
 peo|)le tho't when she ran in their 
 bedroom and laid down to get away 
 from the dogs. 
 
 Poor thing eight miles from home 
 with no friend near, raced by dogs, 
 until her tongue hung out, and to 
 save her life rushed into the open 
 door of the Claffin home. Poor .Jenny 
 Deer. With four bullet marks on her 
 legs and body and one thru her red 
 blanket, and the damned d'ngs rac 
 ing her for life. Poor thing. Poor 
 thing. T can't help it, but these 
 things make me homesick. 
 
 I'm ashamed of myself. Dear 
 Mother, Good Bye. 
 
 From Your Son 
 riT.MTNCEY. 
 
 Madison, Wisconsin, .Tan. Btb, ISfi.'^. 
 
 Hd. Quarters 2.Tth R'^gt. Wis. 
 Dear sister: I am sure you would 
 
2(1 
 
 smile if you could get a view of Co. G. 
 as 1 can see them from whore I sit. 
 You wouUd say, "What a writing 
 school." 1 can count more than 40 
 of the boys writing letters to their 
 mothers or their girls. Mostly to 
 •their girls. Its easy to tell, if a fel 
 low is writing to his mother he don't 
 squirm and cover his puper when 
 some guy looks over his shoulder. 
 There is a lot of such teasing. The 
 only way is to iget away up in the top 
 bunks out of reach and hold their 
 portfolios on their laps for a desk. 
 1 came off guard this morning after 
 the coldest night of the winder. .\ly 
 beat was long side the railroad track 
 on a high bank where the wind cut 
 me from all sides. 1 set my gun 
 down and run back and forth to keeit 
 from freezing my toes. The snow 
 sifted in the path and kept it soft 
 and mealy. The Legislature had 
 some extra work at the capitol last 
 night. 1 could see the light at the 
 top of the dome until after midnight. 
 No pay yet though they keep prom- 
 ising it. Went to the Episcopal 
 church last Sunday. Say, don't they 
 i' I .a styie ilioughV 1 compared 
 them in my mind to our little bunch 
 m that two by four school house in 
 (Jilmanton. The i)reacher came out 
 in a black dress and 'alked about 
 things 1 couldn't understand, but the 
 music was nice when 1 came away. 
 If 1 was any better in heart, it was 
 because of the music and not for any 
 thing the preacher said. A lot of the 
 boys celebrated Christmas and New 
 Year to their sorrow. Some of them 
 were put in jail up town and two of 
 them are there yet. Nearly every 
 other house betwesn here and the 
 Capitol sells beer and by the time the 
 lovers of grog get into town they are 
 full to running over v.itli ,'When 
 Johnny comes marching home." 
 There was close to a mutiny of the 
 two regiments here the other day be 
 cause so many of the boys had been 
 arrested and jailed in the city. The 
 30th. regiment and several companies 
 
 (if till. 25th cime out without officers 
 formed in ranks swearing they would 
 go up and storm the city of Madison, 
 if necessary and release their com 
 rades in jail. Feeling ran so high 
 that I took my place in the ranks 
 without much heart in it to tell the 
 truth. I was glad when our officers 
 came around and explained that we 
 were mutineers and in violation of 
 the rules of war and that we should 
 disl)and. 
 
 1 had no pity in my heart for the 
 fellows in jail and 1 was glad for an 
 ti.vciise lu sneak back lo head qaar 
 .CIS. \\e have s^me good fellow.s in 
 our company who are devils whtu 
 they are in drink. And we have 
 
 bout tour who are devils drunk or 
 sober. While I am writing these, the 
 
 oys are singing Di.xie in a .^reat 
 chorus. This awful weather makes 
 )us hanker for the warmer south and, 
 since there is no hope of home. All 
 seems quiet on the Potomac. 
 
 I see by the papers that the church 
 are urged to pray for the end of the 
 war. 'l''hey have had several spells 
 ai this and the battles have been 
 harder and the slaughter greater. 
 The churches south have been doiiiy 
 the same thing. It would seem that 
 
 ;od ought to i)ity the slave and help 
 our side, but will he'.'' I know what 
 father would say. He would quote 
 Napoleon, who said, "put your trust 
 in well drilled troops and keep your 
 powder dry." 1 remember the last 
 time I heard him say this, when Kl 
 der Morse was visiting us and they 
 were talkinig about the wickedness of 
 slavery about which they both 
 agreed. Father disputed the Elder's 
 opinion that God presided over the 
 movements and att'airs of earth. He 
 cited slavery and the wicked wars of 
 the earth and the crimes of the liq 
 uor traffic as being inconsistent with 
 the character of a just Oi^d. Elder 
 Morse agreed with father this far, 
 I hat they were not in harmony with 
 the Divine plan, but were tolerated 
 for some reason not given to man to 
 
21 
 
 know. 
 
 Have father tell Elder Morse, I 
 thank him for his kind words. His 
 son Henry is about and ahlc to eat 
 his rations every day. I hope you 
 wont sell your land as you talk of 
 
 doins. 1 got a letter from G the 
 
 other day and answered it. He thinks 
 McClellon is a traitor. Lets of us 
 think the same. Our Captain is a 
 wise man and he says McClellon has 
 heen waiting and waiting when h" 
 should have been marching and 
 fighting. I am awful sorry that Free 
 mont was set down on by Lincoln. I 
 am with Freemont as many of the 
 boys are. I have no heart in this 
 war if the slaves cannot go free. 
 Freemont wanted to set them free 
 as fast as we came to them. I am 
 disappointed in I^incoln. 1 remember 
 a talk father had witli uncle Ed. 
 Cartwright, who was ))laming the 
 war on the Abolitionists. It made 
 father mad and he talked back pret 
 ty hot. He said I have a boy who 
 wants to go to the war and 1 would 
 give his life as cheerfully as Abra 
 ham offered his son if necessary that 
 the slaves might be freed. Father 
 meant all right though it seemed 
 hard, but I love him all the more 
 for it, although I suppose I am the 
 boy ho meant for the sacrifice. We 
 are all anxious to go south, though 
 none of us that I know are anxious 
 to get shot for any cause. Direct as 
 before to Camp Randall. Love to 
 all, mother father and lirothers. 
 
 Your brother. 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Camp Randall, Madison, Wis. 
 Hd. Quarters 25 Regt. Wis. Vol Infty. 
 Dear mother: 
 
 This is a fine miorning and the 
 29th. of January, 1863. How the time 
 flies. Your last letter came day be 
 fore yesterday. I am c<.,wfully glad 
 father had such good luck killing 
 deer. You will have i)lenty of good 
 meat for the winter. You wish I 
 could have a taste along with you. 
 
 Yau bet I do to, but it can't be, so we 
 must not think of it. We came close 
 to a row with the :!Oth regiment yes- 
 terday. The Colonel in command of 
 a squad came down to put some of 
 our boys in the guard house. The 
 word spread like wild fire and a rush 
 was made for the barracks where the 
 boys were taken,, and it took but a 
 minute to get them from th(> 30th. 
 men and the 30th. Colonel was glad 
 to get back to his regiment. The 
 boys are threatening revolt against 
 the commissary. Our meat and bread 
 is a fright and a big share of the men 
 in both regiments are ripe for mis 
 chief. I get a lunch nearly every 
 day at a ilttle grocery just outside the 
 fence. I get a glass of cider, a hand 
 ful of crackers and a nice piece of 
 Swiss cheese for ten cents. They 
 are Swiss Germans that run the 
 grocery and the girl that clerks has 
 the blackest hair and eyes I ever 
 saw. She has been in this country 
 three years and talks very good Eng 
 lish. She has a brother in the Swiss 
 army and when she brags the 
 Swiss soldiers and how much nicer 
 they are than we Yankees, she shows 
 the prettiest -white teeth as she 
 smiles. 
 
 There is a rumor that we are to be 
 paid soon, anyway befor-e we go 
 South. Rumor is such a liar we 
 don't know what to believe. It i.s 
 auite sure we will be assigned to the 
 Southwest somewhere. Perhaps to 
 Vicksibu<rg, where the rebs are mak 
 ing a grand stand, perhaps to post 
 duty on some of the river points. 
 Some of the boys pretend they would 
 like to smell gun powder on the bat 
 tie line before the war ends. I sup 
 liose they feel that way. I am 
 
 learning some things. f find that 
 men who talk the most are not al 
 ways the bravest. 
 
 The news from Washington is bad. 
 McClellen with bis hi.-.; ,';rmvhasg:>np 
 into winter quarters instead of mak 
 iug an aggressive eamiiaign toward 
 Richmond. Gen. McClennard is doing 
 
22 
 
 far more good work than all the rest. 
 Some of the boys are dreaming of 
 home and a good time pretty soon, 
 but the Richmond papers talk like 
 the south was just beginning to wake 
 up. Lots of poor fellows will bite the 
 dust before the end yet. 
 
 Friday "Jan. 30th. I took a run 
 this morning up to the Adjutants 
 otttce and back, to try my wind. It is 
 quite a distance from our barrack. I 
 believe 1 am getting my legs and 
 wind back, and 1 am aiufuliy glad. 
 Some of the poor fellows who were 
 sick with me in St. Cloud, Minn., with 
 measles, are losing ground. Orlando 
 Adams of Mondovi says he has no 
 wind any more. Nathan Manu says 
 he has no vim any more and can't 
 stand the drill exercises. 
 
 Lots of the boys are blue as wnet 
 stones. They say if they were only 
 out of it, the Union might go to bla/. 
 es. If they would take us where the 
 traitors, are, and give us a cliance tu 
 fight, we would feel that we were 
 doin<g something. But this dreadful 
 sameness is wearing. 
 
 February 2nd. Dear mother: 
 
 Your latest letter came this morning. 
 1 hope you wont delay writing be 
 cause news is scarce. Anything from 
 home is news if it Is in your hand 
 writing and only abo'ut the dog or 
 cat . No, I dont suppose we get the 
 war news earlier than you do. 1 
 thank yoiu for sending the paper of 
 tea, altho you remember I don't love 
 It especially. But I am sure this will 
 be good coming from the best of 
 mothers. I will drink it in memory 
 of you and home. I have read it 
 somewhere that mothers were the 
 best beings in the world and now 1 
 know it to be true. I trust 1 may 
 live to come home and prove it to 
 you. You think our officers should 
 see that our bread and meat is good. 
 My dear mother, they dont have a 
 word to say about it. It's in the 
 hands of the contractors. Dont wor 
 ry, we will live thru it. and if south 
 
 ern biuUets dont get us, wo will tell 
 you all about it when we come home. 
 So Henry Amidon is married Well 
 well, Henry is a good boy and 1 hope 
 he has made no mistake in his choice- 
 So the world goes. I used to think 
 Mrs. Amidon's doughnvils and milk 
 gravy was belter than ours. You, 
 dont care mother do you if 1 say 
 this. She was a nice cook and after 
 walking down to Beef river, and tak- 
 ing a swim with Henry, and by the 
 time we got back to his home for a 
 late dinner, things tasted mighty 
 good. 
 
 I was just a 'bit of a fool two years 
 ago next March when I tried to wade 
 across the foot bridge up to my cli^n 
 in ice water near the mill dam to vi-sit 
 flenry when his folks were in Ver 
 mont. I had to back out aid when 1 
 got back to shore 1 was so numb that, 
 1 ran clear down to Uncle Dan 
 Loomis' place and back to start my 
 blood circulatiUig. 1 was so cold 1 
 couldn't put all my clothes on and 
 ran half naked. 
 
 I guess I've strung this letter plenty 
 long, and part of it I can't read my 
 self. I expect to catch it from father 
 about my spelling ds usual, well 
 thats alright, 1 ought to improve 
 as I have bo't me a pocket dictionary. 
 It looks so much like a teslament 
 that our Chaplain came along ihr 
 other day and asked me what chapter 
 I was reading. Well, he said, llie 
 testament is the only book tlutt is 
 better anyway. He is a good man 
 and wants every soldier to have a 
 testament. 
 
 Direct as before to Co. G. Camp 
 Randall, Madison. 
 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Yours of recent date juet received. 
 1 am glad you are knocking the split 
 rail endways. Now we will have a 
 good fence and no mistake. 
 
 We must not put any hollow logs 
 
in for a foundation liive the one you 
 told of in Oliio, wliere one end came 
 on the outside and the other on the 
 inside of the field. I never think of 
 that story of the old sow trying to 
 get into the field after the farmer 
 had turned both ends on the outside, 
 without a good laugh. It seems you 
 have heard that small pox is preval 
 ent here. Don't be scared. There 
 was but three or four cases and they 
 were in the 30th Regt. Deaths are 
 frequent enough but from other 
 causes. We are losing a man a day 
 on an average. The boys are buried 
 on a hill jiist above the camp, and 
 the roll of the muffled drum and the 
 blank discharge of a dozen muskets 
 is the solemn reminder that another 
 soldier has gone to his last bivouc. 
 Fat,her, I begin to hate war and 1 
 have seen nothing of it eitlier. There 
 is so much contention among the 
 boys so much that we hear from the 
 Potamac, about treachery, of Mc- 
 Clellan and a never ending dispute 
 about the freedom of the slaves. 
 Just now too we are having a fear 
 ful rumpus about the rations. The 
 boys are on the point of revolting 
 against the government, the con- 
 tractors or the state for the sour 
 bread and stinking meat rationed out 
 to us. The sickness of our Regt. is 
 laid to bad food. StUff they call 
 coffee is made of various seeds. 
 
 It seems an outrage to get such 
 treatment in the Capitol of our State. 
 Curse upon curse is heaped upon the 
 contractors. We have appealed to 
 the members of the Legislature but 
 they can't help us. After we had 
 drawn our rations of sour bread the 
 
 I other day some three hundred of the 
 boys marched down and stormed the 
 commissary with the sour loaves as 
 ammunition. The next day we got 
 better bread but it did not last long. 
 We hear that it is made out of musty 
 crackers and soap. I don't know I'm 
 sure. I got a letter jufit this minute 
 and dear, I am so glad. I can see 
 you all gathered about the kitchen 
 stove. Mother has just filled the tea 
 kettle for morning, and father is fill- 
 ing the oven with kindling to wet 
 for starting the fire in the morning 
 and I can see myself cuddled up 
 under the blankets just as mother 
 used to leave me after saying good 
 night under the open shakes with 
 the snow drifting in upon me. I 
 don't believe I am homesick, but if 
 1 could not recall in memory these 
 pleasant days of my boyhood I am 
 not quite sure but I should be. Tell 
 mother I am just childish enough to 
 recall that little truindle bed prayer 
 and to repeat it in a whisper every 
 night. I do it because it brings 
 me closer to her but how I cannot 
 tell. 
 
 We are .going south pretty soon, 
 We hear it rumored every day. 
 
 I got a letter yesterday from Fred 
 Rosman. He recalled the times we 
 hoed corn together in 1S57. Fred 
 and 1 layed great plans about killing 
 chickens and sending them to Foun- 
 tain City and selling to the steam 
 boats. 
 
 What funny folks boys are anyway. 
 We talked about a lot' of things. 
 Most of our schemes have come to 
 naught. O the pity, that the world 
 don't pan out as they expected. Dora 
 
24 
 
 said in her last letter that you were 
 not so well. Your letter makes no 
 mention of illness. I hope you are 
 all right. 
 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbus Kentucky, 
 25th, Regt. Wis. Volitoitcers. 
 
 February, 2Sth. 186.']. 
 Dear sister: \our letter came 
 in due time. H was handed me yes- 
 terday by the orderly as I oame off 
 guard. You rate me pretty low on 
 composition and spelling but I mean 
 to do better. Yes, I sent my clothes 
 the day before we left Madison. I 
 directed the box in care of Gile>- 
 Cripps at Trempealeau. Father will 
 have to get it from there. It weighs 
 about 100 pounds. You will know 
 my knapsack by my name stamped 
 on one of the shoulder straps. Bar- 
 ney Bull has a coat in my bundle, all 
 the rest belongs to the Mondovi boys 
 out side of my knapsack. Father 
 should leave their clothes at Yankee 
 Town, (Gilmanton), where their folks 
 will get them. I hope father wont 
 wear my coat. I hate to see a civi 
 lian in soldiers dres.s. If I ever get 
 back it will do me for some time, 
 and if I dont get back give it to some 
 poor soldier in the neighborhood. You 
 did not say anything of my letter 
 written on the eve of leaving Madi 
 son for Caire, Illinois. Of course ynu 
 have it by this time. The sweet 
 hearts and wives of the boys from 
 all parts of the state swarmed about 
 the station to say pood bye. There 
 were lots of mothers and fathers too. 
 The sweethearts smiled buit the 
 mothers an^ wives shed tears. I 
 
 ■saw a few tears in the eyes of some 
 of the married men. It made me 
 think of the song I have heard father 
 sing so many times. Here are two 
 lines: "Go watch the foremost ranks 
 in danger's dark career, Be sure the 
 hand mast daring there, has wiped 
 away a tear". There were a thous- 
 and handkerchiefs fluttering in the 
 air waving final adieus as the two 
 long trains bearing the 25th. slowly 
 pulled out of the station to begin 
 their journey south. I don't remem 
 ber what I wrote you about Cario. 
 They say it is a bit like Cario in 
 Egypt. Our Cario has more rats 
 111 bet, and it is built right in the 
 forks of the Ohio and the Mississippi 
 I'ivers. I don't like the people. They 
 are half rebs, never look at a sol- 
 dier nor .speak in passing. There are 
 a lot of steamers tied up here loaded 
 with supplies for Vixburg and other 
 points occupied by our troop. 
 
 The site of our camp here in Col- 
 umbus K. Y. is fine. We can see for 
 miles up and down the river. We 
 are on a high bliiX'f 200 feet higher 
 than the town. The water is not 
 good tho and we drink cold coffee to 
 quench thirst. No enemy can ap- 
 proach us by water and on the land- 
 side we throw out pickets every day 
 in a half moon circle touching the 
 river above and below town, so we 
 cannot be taken liy surprise from the 
 land. We have a lot of heavy can- 
 non behind strong breast works over- 
 looking the river so that no hostile 
 fleet could reach us. On the land 
 side there seems little danger oi at 
 tack. Half the i)eople in this part of 
 Kentucky are Union and we would 
 have plenty of warning of any rebel 
 
advance. 1 have been on i)icket duty 
 in the woods some two miles from 
 town twice since coming here. My 
 beat was supposed to keep moving 
 constantly back and forth for two 
 hours at a stretch. 
 
 A comrad would be on a similar 
 beat either .side of me but one was 
 not allowed to have any conversation 
 with comrades on guard. Say I wani 
 to tell you its a lonesome job special- 
 ly if the night is cloudy and dark. 
 Its an awful good time to think of 
 home and soft warm bed and all 
 that. Then I would say to myself, 
 what's the use. When the stars are 
 shining I always look for the dipper 
 and the north star. They are both 
 a little lower down here than in 
 the north but they look just as 
 friendly a.s they did in Wisconsin 
 There is a sort of companionship in 
 the stars when one is alone. I re- 
 member how I used to look up at 
 the stars when I was out trapping 
 alone with old Prince, over Traverse 
 creek or in Borst Valley. The bark 
 ing of foxes and the snort of pas- 
 sing deer would keep me awake for 
 hours. Old Prince and I slept under 
 the same blankets with nothing over 
 us but the sky. 
 
 Ah, but tho.se delightful days are 
 no more and I am here in far away 
 Kentucky. Confound it there goes 
 the "drum. IC means i)Ut on your 
 belts and get out for drill. 
 
 Good bye, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columil)us, Ky., March 5th. 1S<i'! 
 
 25th. Wis., Vol. Infantry. 
 
 Dear folks at home: I sent you a 
 
 letter a day or two ago and mayl)e 
 
 I will hear from you soon. I hope 
 
 I shall. 1 am well and we are hear- 
 
 ing and .seeing things and the days 
 are not so heavy as at Madison. The 
 weather is fine most of the time 
 warm and clear. 
 
 We drill every day, do police work 
 cleaning round the camp, and take a 
 .i5troll now and then back in the 
 country, far as the pickets will let 
 us. We are really in the ' sunny 
 sotfth." The slaves, contrabands, 
 we call them, are Hocking into Col- 
 umbus by the hundred. Oeneral 
 Thomas of the regular army is here 
 enlisting them for war. All the old 
 buildinys in the edge of the town are 
 more than full. You nev^er meet ono 
 but he jerks his hat off and bows 
 and shows the whitest teeth. I never 
 saw a bunch of them together Ijut I 
 could pick out an Uncle Tom, a 
 Quimibo, a Sambo, a Chloe, a Eliza 
 or any other character in Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin. The women take in a 
 lot of dimes washing for the soldiers, 
 and the men around picking up rdd 
 jobs. I like to talk with them. They 
 are funny en/ough, and tlie 
 stories they tell of slave life are 
 stories never to be forgotten. Ask 
 any of them how he feels and the 
 answer nearly alway.s will be, "Sah, 
 I feels mighty good sail," or "God 
 bress you massa, I'se so proud I'se a 
 free man." Some are leaving daily 
 on up river boats for Cairo and \i]> 
 the Ohio river. The Ohio has al 
 ways been the river Jorden to the 
 .slave. It has been the dream of his 
 life even to look upon the Ohio 
 river. 
 
 The government transports r^' 
 turning from down river points 
 where they had been with troops or 
 supplies, would pick up free men on 
 every landing and deliver them fren 
 of charge at places along the Ohio 
 and upper Mis.sissippi points. 
 
 The slaves are not all black as wo 
 in the north are apt to suppose. 
 Some of them are quite light. Those 
 used as house servants seem- to have 
 some education and don't talk so 
 'broad. A real pretty yellow girl 
 
2G 
 
 about 18 was delivering some wash 
 ing to the boys yesterday. She left 
 her master and mistress in Decem- 
 ber and came to Columbus. In 
 answer to the quie.stions of the boys 
 she said she left home because her 
 mistress was cross to her and all 
 other servants since Lincoln s 
 emancipation. She said her mother 
 came with her. One of the boys 
 asked her why her father did not 
 come with her . She said," My father 
 haint no colored man, he's a white 
 man." When tli'e boys began to laugh 
 she picked i"lJ her two -bushel bask- 
 ets of clothes, balanced it on her 
 head and went her way. That girl 
 must have made fifty stops among 
 the tents leaving her basket of 
 clothes. I wonder if she heard the 
 same dirty talk in each of them. The 
 talk ^'asen't clean, but some of us 
 who thiot so just let it pass and kept 
 still. 
 
 The talk now is our regiment will 
 be divided, half sent up the Ohio to 
 Ft. Donoldson the other half down 
 the river. But this may be but one of 
 many like^^ rumors. There is alway.s 
 somiething in the air. Say but the 
 picture before me as I write this is 
 fine. I am sitting on the rampart of 
 the Fort 200 feet above the river. 
 The river, turbid and swollen from 
 melting snows in Ohio and Indiana 
 boils and .twirls as its mighty cur- 
 rent strikes the bluff almost direct 
 ly below where I sit. A regiment of 
 calvary has just landed from a gov- 
 ernment (boat, and .are climbing the 
 bluff in a long winding column. 
 Their horses are fresh and they 
 come prancing along, the swords of 
 their riders jingling, as if they were 
 proud of their iiart in the scene 
 They don't know where they are go- 
 ing but doubtless to garrison some 
 post farther south in the state. 
 wrote Ben Gardner some time ago, 
 am afraid he has fallen or taken 
 prisoner. He has always been 
 prompt to answer. His regiment is 
 south of Memphis. 
 
 I am afraid you will think me 
 given to much to frequent and long 
 letters, but I remember fathers ad- 
 vice never to limit postage or letter 
 paper expenses. 
 
 1 should have mentioned that 
 while the health of the boys is good 
 in the main, we have some 20 in reg- 
 imental hospital. Nathan Mann of 
 ouV company and Orlando Adams 
 of Mondovi are not expected to live. 
 These poor fellows are victims of the 
 measels and were sick with me in 
 the hospital at St. Cloud, Minnesota. 
 Direct as before to Columbus. 
 Your son, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Cohim'.'us K. Y. March 10th. 186:-;. 
 25th. Wis. Vol Inft. 
 
 Dear parents: Rec'd a letter from 
 home yesterday. It came to Colum- 
 bas and was remailed to me at Cairo 
 where our company had made a halt 
 enroute with Ave other companies to 
 Ft Donaldson. We stopped at Cairo 
 to get our new guns. They are not 
 here but we are going to wait for 
 them. Cairo is not so muddy as 
 when we came here in February. 
 Still the water in the river is 12 feet 
 higher than the prairie behind the 
 town. The levee or filling is all that 
 saves the town from drowning. 
 
 I am sorry you are so frightened 
 when you read of the big guns and 
 stacks of cannon balls. I thought I 
 had a niore courageous mother. You 
 know it is said that it takes ten ton 
 of iron and lead to kill one soldier. 
 Just think of that and take courage. 
 They Hooked kind of ugly to me at 
 first but now I never think of their 
 being fearsome. We may have a 
 different feeling about them when 
 the time comes to use them. I stood 
 guard last night on a government 
 transport loaded with hard tack and 
 sow ))eMy (salt pork). I never saw 
 so many rats, the boat was swarm 
 ing with them. Of course they had 
 plenty to eat. I counted more than a 
 hundred rat holes in the cracker 
 
27 
 
 iboxes. The day before we left Col- 
 umbus a steamboat tried ^o pass 
 down by the fort without landing. 
 She was hailed and ordered to land. 
 It was fomid that she was loaded 
 from iSt. Lewis with medical sui>plies, 
 mlostly quinine for the rebel forces 
 at \ icks'burg. Of course the boat 
 and its cargo were confiscated. 
 
 I am glad you like your new teani 
 so well. 1 hope they will be alright. 
 1 shall want a cutter to match them 
 when I get l)ack so 1 can step round 
 a little. 
 
 Say mother, I had a question asked 
 me yesterday by Elder Harwood, our 
 Chaplain, that set me to thinking and 
 stumped me slo I couldn't answer. 
 He asked me if 1 would go 
 with him after the war. He said he 
 wanted to get five or six goud smart 
 young boys that would go with him 
 thru college, 1 an^iwered that 1 
 could not say at once but would tell 
 him later. Now mother, advise nie 
 what to say to him. Ihe Elder is a 
 minister of course, and aUho he did 
 not say, I suppose he meant to edu- 
 cate us for ministry. Mr. Harwood 
 is a mighty fine man and I like to 
 hear him talk. He preached the 
 other Sunday in one of the churches, 
 ill Colivmbus, and in his prayer he 
 thanked Cod tier the freedom of the 
 slaves. Some of the boys don't like 
 this in him, but they are mo.•^tly the 
 lough sort. J was in his tent when 
 a coloied woman brot his washing 
 and he spoke to her as nicely as if 
 •ihe was a white woman. When she 
 curtseyed and called him massa, he 
 said, ■■/My poor woman I am not 
 your massa, you have no massa any 
 more, President Lincoln has made 
 all the colored people free just like 
 the white folks." The poor wioman 
 kept saying, "bress de Lord, bress 
 de Lord, dis am de yeah of jubilee. " 
 When he handed her a fifty cent 
 scrip to pay for the washing she 
 looked at the picture of Lincoln 
 on the corner of the bill, and putting 
 it to her mouth, kissed it. The Elder 
 
 asked her what she did that tor, and 
 she answered, "O bress you honey, 
 Ma.ssa Aibraham Lincoln is de first 
 and onliest Savior of us poor nig- 
 gahs, an we des love dat face of 
 his." 
 
 The order to go to Ft Donaldson, 
 has been recalled and we are to go 
 back in a day or so to Columbus, 1 
 am glad of anything to get us out 
 of the.Se rat hole barracks. They run 
 over our faces at night and we cant 
 sleep. When I remember the talks 
 of fielder Morse and father about the 
 wrongs of the slaves, I wish they 
 might be in Clolumbus a few days 
 and see and hear them as I have. 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbus, Ken., March 20th, 1803. 
 25th. Wisconsin Vol. 
 
 Dear mother; The six campanies 
 of our Uegt. ordered last week to Ft. 
 Donaldson returned to Columbus last 
 night after a week's stay at Cairo. 
 Glad to get back to the top of the 
 big bluff once more. We got here at 
 midnight. There is an awful tlood in 
 the Oiiio pouring into the Missis- 
 sippi at Cairo from the melting snow 
 above and the seething water is 
 black as mud. The air of our camp 
 is fine compared to the miasma of 
 Cairo. A short time ago I read a let- 
 ter in the Alma Journal purporting 
 to be a dream by S. S. Cooke. It 
 suited the boys to a dot. Some of 
 them tho't it was a day dream with 
 his senses and eyes wide open. It 
 seems you are still having winter 
 weather. Grass here is fine picking 
 for cattle and there is a lazy sum- 
 mer like quietness in the air. The 
 trees are leafing and the spring 
 'birds are here in force. I have seen 
 several gray thrush in my strolls in 
 the woods and strings of ducks and 
 wild geese are passing north daily. 
 Well if I was a wild goose I suppose 
 1 would go north too. 
 
 March 21st. After drill went out 
 
28 
 
 in the edge of the woods. Its more 
 peaceful and homelike than the 
 racket of the camp. I can .see the 
 picket guard 1 eyond me slowly 
 pacing his beat. There is no enemy 
 about but the discipline and regula- 
 tions are just as rigid as they are in 
 Georgia. No white man can come 
 within the picket line excejit he has 
 the l>a.'^s word. A negro is allowed 
 to come in. We are afraid that the 
 whites may be spies, we know that 
 the blacks are our friends. The 
 health of the regiment is good save a 
 few cases of bowel trouble. The 
 boys call it the Kentucky Quick 
 Step. There is more sickness amoug 
 the poor lazy blacks. They are fill 
 ing all the vacant houses and even 
 sleeping under the tree.s, so anxious 
 are they to get near de "Lincoln 
 soldiers. ■■ They live on scraps and 
 whatever they can pick up in camp 
 and they will shine our shoes or do 
 any camp work for an old shirt or 
 cast off coat. They had a revival 
 meeting at the foot of the bluff last 
 night and such shouting and singing 
 and moaning. It was Massa Lincoln 
 was a savior that came after two 
 hundred years of tribulation in the 
 cotton field and cane. They had 
 long known that something was so- 
 ing to happen because so many times 
 their massa had visitors and t'l^y 
 would tell the .'Servants to stay in 
 their cabins and not come to the 
 "big house" utitil they was called. 
 Then some of the house servants 
 would creep round utider the win 
 dows and hear the white folks talk 
 ing about the war and that the .slaves 
 were going to be free. And when 
 the one that was sent to listen 
 would come back and tell the others, 
 they would get down on their knees 
 and pray in whispers and give 
 thanks to the Lord. Everthing with 
 the darkies is Lord, Lord. Their 
 faith that the Lord will belli them 
 was held out more than 200 years. I 
 sometimes wonder if the Lord is not 
 partial to the white race and rather 
 
 puts it onto the black race because 
 they are black. We sometimes get 
 terribly confused when we try to 
 think of the law of Providence. This 
 black race for instance, they cant 
 talk ten words about slavery and old 
 Massa and old Missus, but they get 
 in something about "de blessed Lord 
 and de lovely .lesus" and yet in this 
 land of Washington, God has per- 
 mitted them to be bought and sold 
 like our cattle and our hogs in the 
 stock yards, for more than 200 years- 
 I listened for two hours this morning 
 to the stories of a toothless old slave 
 with one blind eye who had come up 
 the river from near Memphis. He 
 told me a lot of stuff. He said his 
 master sold his wife and children to 
 cotton planter in Alabama to pay his 
 gambling debts, and when he told 
 his master he couldn't stand it, he 
 was tied to the whipiiing post striii- 
 ped and given 40 lashes. The next 
 night he ran to the swamps. The 
 bloodhounds were put on his track 
 and caught him and pulled him down 
 They bit him in the face and put out 
 hi.s eye and crushed one of his hands 
 so he could not use it. He stripped 
 down his pants and showed me a 
 gash On one of his hips where one of 
 the hounds hung onto him until he 
 nearly bled to death. This happened 
 in sight of Nashville, the Capitol of 
 Tennessee. I told this to some of 
 the boys and they said it was all 
 I bosh, that the niggers were lying to 
 I me. But this story was just like the 
 ones in Uncle Tom's Cabin and 1 
 believe them. And father knows of 
 things very mulch like this that are 
 true 
 I will write you again soon. 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbia K. Y., March 25th. 1863. 
 25th Regiment Wise. Vol 
 Dear father: 
 
 Your latest leter rec'd 
 I am perfectly happy to know that 
 all are well at home. Don't worry 
 
29 
 
 about my morals or my healthy 1 am 
 taking pretty good (^are of ' both. 
 The life of the soldier is not a very 
 good reform school, but a boy can 
 keep clean iu the army, bad as it 
 is around him, if he has the stuff in 
 him. Our LiejiUenant Colonel was 
 talking about the loose ways of some 
 of the soldiers the other day. He 
 said there would be one man if he 
 lived tluat would go home as clean 
 as when he entered the army, mean- 
 ing himself of course. 
 
 Dan Hadl|y got a U'tter from 
 Geo. W. Gilkey the other day. It 
 was a nice friendly letter. He said 
 he hoped we would hurry up and 
 lick the rebels so we could come 
 home as they needed our society iu 
 Buffalo Co. He said the girls were 
 all waiting for a soldier boy. Mr. 
 Gilkey .seems to be a tine man. 1 
 see by the northern paiiers there is 
 talk of conscripting. Are you in ^lu' I 
 conscript limit? I hope not. I would 
 hate to see you in the army. I don't 
 think the government will need any 
 more soldiers. They are planning a 
 big campaign on the Potomac to try 
 and break Lee's army. (Jrant has 
 driven Gen. Pendleton into Vicks 
 burg and is closing in around thai 
 city. The move seems to be to lay 
 seige and starve him out. We hear 
 a lot of such talk on the streets but 
 the fellows keep mighty straight in 
 their conduct. 
 
 There are some rebel officers in 
 prison here. 1 was on provost guard 
 the other day and stood on a post 
 near a barred window of the jail. I 
 could see four or five young locking 
 fellows in the rooni walking back and 
 forth in their grey uniforms^ trim- 
 med in fancy gold braid and shoulder 
 straps. They would call me up to 
 the window and try to make snakes 
 out of me. They said I was a black 
 Repul)lican and that I was fighting 
 for the niggers and didn't know it. 
 The oldest one talked like a gentle 
 man, asked me a lot of questions 
 about Wisconsin and said he had -^ 
 
 boy in the southern army about my 
 age. 
 
 liSince the hot weather we are all 
 getting our hair shaved off. Mine is 
 cut close to my seal it. Boats are 
 passing daily loaded with troops for 
 V^icksbury. It begin.s to look war- 
 like in that vicinity. There will be 
 a liig battle at Pemberton will come 
 out side his breastworks and fight. 
 'We look any day for orders to go 
 down there. We don't know the 
 names of the troops that go by but 
 we always give them a good big 
 hurrah and tliey .send it back with 
 a roar. 
 
 We expect the 27lli,. Wisconsin 
 here tomorrow. We will make them 
 welcome as we Iiave a lot of picket 
 diKty for the force at this place. Yes 
 1 wisli you would send me the Sen 
 linel while we stay here at least. 
 Northern paper.s are peddled in 
 camp at from ten to fifteen cents 
 apiece. 
 
 Its nice that you have some fresh 
 cows. Better not try to raise the 
 calves you have so much else to do. 
 We get pretty good milk from the 
 nearby farmers but they don't know- 
 how to make butter. Its white and 
 rank. The cows down here are a 
 poor starved looking race. They 
 liave no grass for hay much to de- 
 pend on, they have corn stalks for 
 feed in winter. The Blue tJrass re- 
 gion is away east of here. That is 
 the home too of the Kentucky hors- 
 es we have read about. 
 
 Well, the boys are putting on their 
 belts getting ready for the call to 
 di'ill so I must close for this time. 
 Love to all. 
 Your son 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbus, Ky, 25th regt. 
 April loth., 1863. 
 Dear mother: 
 
 Your much valued let 
 ter received. 1 am just as glad as 1 
 can be that all are well, but there is a 
 tone of plaint as to things 1 can't 
 
30 
 
 understand. It must be you have 
 the blues. Don't think of me as be 
 ing in danger for a minute, for I am 
 having a royal good time. Its this 
 way with me. If I have the lilues it 
 is when I get a fit on of thinking of 
 the past when I did'nt do as T shouUli- 
 I guess yo'Ui would call it remorse 
 Some of the younger fellows and 1 
 have talked these things over and 
 I find they were kind of troubled in 
 the same way. They said it made 
 them feel awful mean when they 
 remembered «ome sly things or some 
 deception they played on fboir moth 
 er and father. These things bring 
 on homesickness and that sends 
 them to the hospital, bnrause they 
 can't eat and so are put down on the 
 sick list. I think as much of home 
 as any of them but I don't want to 
 see it until we thrash the rebs to a 
 finish. We have four Wisconsin re- 
 giments at this place, the '25, 27, 31 
 and 34, a full brigade. You have 
 doubtless heard, that the Gov. is en 
 listing negroes and forming negro 
 regiments. They are officered by 
 whites and there are a lot of candi- 
 dates for positions in all the white 
 regiments. Some 2.^ have applied for 
 positions from our regiment. There 
 is a lot of joking on the side about 
 the fellows that want to officer the 
 nigger regiments. Our regt. has just 
 drawn a new outfit of rubber blank 
 ets. hats and short coats. Enclosed 
 you will find some flowers given me 
 by a poor black washer woman I 
 met on the road up the Itluff today 
 with a bundle of clothes on her head. 
 As she handed them to me she said 
 "Please massa will you 'cept dese 
 flowers from a poor nigger woman 
 who jes loves de Lincoln soldier.^." 
 Maybe you has a sweet heart and 
 will send um to her." I told her I had 
 a .sweet heart, my mother, and she 
 said "You's a good boy honey." The 
 black folks are awful good, poor mis- 
 erable things that they are. The 
 boys talk to them fearful and trea<^ 
 them most any way and yet they 
 
 ican^'t talk two minuties fbut tears 
 come to their eyes and they throw 
 their arms up and down and praise 
 de Lord for de coming of de Lincoln 
 soldiers. 
 
 In your last letter you spoke of my 
 going to school, if I ever return.. I 
 am not l)othering about things so 
 far in the future. I am troufbled 
 about this awful war. Maybe I 
 ought to think more of Webster, as 
 father keeps jibing me about my 
 spelling. If he will give me time 
 I will learn to spell too as I aint but 
 16 years old, that is I'll be 17 on the 
 15th of May if there has been no 
 juggling with the family register. 
 
 By the way I nearly lost some val 
 
 uables the other night. I was on 
 
 Provost guard, the other night in 
 
 town, at the depot. My relief had 
 
 lain down at 11 o'clock for a four 
 
 hours sleep. At 3 o'clock in the 
 
 morning we were routed to go on 
 
 guard, feeling in my pockets 1 found 
 
 my gold pen mi&sing. My money 1 
 
 j had placed in my shirt pocket was 
 
 I safe. The comrade next me lost $17- 
 
 j In the morning my gold pen and 
 
 j holder was found in the mud near 
 
 the platform. A detective force has 
 
 I been looking for the thieves but they 
 
 ! don't find any thieves. Word has 
 
 julst come that Nathan Mann of our 
 
 ' Co. has just died in the hospital 
 
 Poor fellow, he has two brothers left 
 
 in our compaany. 
 
 A skirmish yesterday at Hickman, 
 2(; guerillas were captured and bro't 
 to this place for confinment as pris- 
 , onei-s of war. There is nothing very 
 I stirring about u.s. The boys are gef 
 I ting tired of mere guard duty and 
 are hoping for any chance that will 
 send us to the front. For my part 
 I aint dying to go to Vicksburg where 
 their is a better chance of gettin? 
 killed as some claim they are. May- 
 be they are more anxious to die for 
 their country than I am but from 
 what 1 know of them 1 am doubtful. 
 There is nothing farther from my 
 mind at this writing than a wish to 
 
31 
 
 die for anybody or anything. I am 
 hopeing and praying for anything to 
 malte the rebels squeal and call it 
 quits so I can come home and have 
 a good time. Of course I am willing 
 to take my chance, come what may, 
 but I would a little rather live, come 
 what may. 
 
 Tell Elder Morse, Henry is ail 
 right and eats, if any difference 
 more than hi.s rations every day. 
 Love to all. 
 
 Your son, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Head Quarters 2.5th Regt. Wis 
 Vol. Inft. 
 Colmnbuis, Ky. 
 April 15th, 186-. 
 
 Dear Father: — Yours of April 9th 
 came in due time. I am so glad all 
 are well and that you are so cheer- 
 ful and hoijeful that the war will 
 soon end. 
 
 You must be very brave to under- 
 take so much work as you have 
 planned, this spring. I have .iust 
 received a letter from cousini Ben 
 Gardner, whose regiment is camped 
 just l)ack of Memphis, Tennessee. 
 You know he i« in the cavalry. He 
 says he is orderly and having a good 
 time. Plenty of rations, no bullets to 
 face and regular pay. He says. "I 
 hope to meet you my son and talk 
 over family matters and get a good 
 look at you." I'll bet he i.s a lively 
 fellow and loves a good time. He 
 writes about the war as if it was a 
 picnic. I enclose his last letter. He 
 has no fear of rebel bullets, you can 
 see that. 
 
 We moved our canip yesterday over 
 near the brow of the overhanging 
 bluff. The view is much finer espec- 
 ially of the Mississippi. Say father 
 do you know I never look at the 
 river but I thir.ik of home. I go down 
 to the shore nearly every day 1o 
 wash my feet. When I dip my hand 
 in the water I think that it comes 
 from Wisconsin and I wonder what 
 part of it came fro n Beef River. It 
 
 is terribly black and muddy, made so 
 by the water of the Missouri that 
 Hows into it above St. I^ouis. From 
 our r.iew camp we can see the daily 
 mail boat, 12 or 15 miles away that 
 brings us good and bad news from 
 home and from Washington. 
 
 Last night 1 lay awake for hours 
 listening to the honk honk of the 
 wild geese passing over our camp 
 toward the north. Does the dam 
 which we repaired, the beaver dam 
 east, still hold? If it does you must 
 have plenty of shooting at ducks and 
 geese this spring. Don't think me 
 homesick father, when I tell you I 
 turned over many times in my bunk 
 last night thinking of the stories you 
 told me of the early French traders 
 who broke the great beaver dams to 
 get the beavers and so destroyed the 
 nesting places of the wild ducks and 
 geese that made their homes ir.i our 
 valley and on the neighboring creeks 
 before the coming of the whites. That 
 novel called "The Prairie Flower" 
 still sticks in my craw. I never read 
 any book that so haunted me, sleeii- 
 ing or awake. I remember that ycu 
 told me that it was poisoni to read 
 such stuff, but I don't believe it has 
 hurt me. The people in "The Prairie 
 P'lpwer" were not in fear of any law 
 but they did right in the midst of the 
 Sioux Indians and the lonesome hills 
 and wild ar.iimals about them. 1 re- 
 member you said Prairie Flower was 
 a fictitious character, an unreal char- 
 acter, and that women were not as 
 good on the- average as she was paint- 
 ed. Well father, I thought you 
 might be wrong then but now 1 have 
 come to thinik that you were right. 
 Getting back to ducks and geese and 
 the beavers, how I wish I might bo 
 with you this spring. • What lots of 
 fun you are having. All this passed 
 through my mind last night as I lay 
 in my tent with the lappQl thrown 
 back so I could see the north star 
 and the dfi)i)er. Both of them are 
 nearer the horizon than in Wiscon- 
 sin. But they brought to me in their 
 
32 
 
 silence and sameness somethintg of 
 the nearness of home. 
 
 The deep dark forests on the Miss- 
 ouri ijide reaching back for miles are 
 slowly turning to green. Spring is 
 here and no mistake. The freshness 
 of the grass and leaves, the golden 
 .sunshine and carol of birds in every 
 tree, give no hint of this human war. 
 One thing 1 most forgot. I expressed 
 $20 with Capt. Darwin to Durand. 
 lou may have to ^ to his home for 
 it. His family lives about three miles 
 from Durai.id. I have an overcoat 1 
 wish wa.s home. I will give it away 
 to the first darkey that looks like 
 Ur.icle Tom. I know there are some 
 grey backs in it. I would rather put 
 the grey backs on some darkey than 
 on mother, for 1 know sh^ dreads 
 .9uch things. 
 
 I send you today a couple of 
 southern papers. One, The War 
 Eagle, printed at this place, the other 
 a Vicksburg sheet f'Ul of brag and 
 bluster about foolinig, the Yankees. 
 They are a fair specimen of .southern 
 newspapers. Are there any copper- 
 heads up there? It makes the boys 
 mad to read of copperheads at home. 
 They are more dangeroois than rebe^d 
 at the front because the south is 
 made to believe they have lots of 
 friends in the north. They had better 
 lay low if we ever get home. They 
 will find its no joke to the south. 
 
 How I should like to have a bro- 
 therly tussel with brother K. and I 
 thintk of the boys so often. Well, we 
 will have a good time when the war 
 i.s over. 
 
 How does Henry Amidon prosper'.' 
 Confound him he has forgotten old 
 times I guess. I have written him 
 but he don't answer. I asked him in 
 my letter if he remembered the time 
 his father caught u,s down l)y the 
 swiming pool laying ir.i the hot sand 
 stark naked anj covering ourselves 
 with the sand. I never was more 
 ashamed in my life than when his 
 father hollared and yelled to see us 
 
 and we rolled into the creek to hide. 
 Henry didnt mind it as much as I 
 did. O, but those were happy days 
 and we did'nt know it. 
 
 Father good bye till next week. 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Coluraibus, K. Y. May 3rd. 1S6:{. 
 Hd. Quarter^?, 25th. Wis., Vol. Inft. 
 
 Dear sister: I am pleased that 
 you have a 'good school and a good 
 boarding place. That strapping boy 
 so t^i'Al in his lessons may come 
 handy in a fight with the others 
 siome time. Try and get home 'o 
 see the folks ofteci. Mother is wor- 
 r.td lor ut>r our regiment .will be 
 .sent to Vicksburg where Grant is 
 collecting a big army to storm the 
 city. There are no rumors of our 
 going of late, tho troops are passing 
 downi the river daily b-ound for 
 \ icksburg. 
 
 So Ezra C is writing home some 
 dreadful tales of g^uis and drums 
 and gory battles? Let me tell you a 
 bit of a secret. I don't want to 
 dispute anybody, but he has not fired 
 a gun. Hi.s story of the groans of 
 I he wounded and dying and the din 
 i' battle, does his imagination more 
 credit than his sense of truth. 1 
 uUGw v.here their regiment is posted 
 ini .1 ibey have been in any fights, 
 I he war departmemt don't know of 
 it. 
 
 Our Colonel has granted 100 fur- 
 .i^h.- lo (lie regt. which means 10 
 en to each company. Those thai 
 are sick and convalescent will get 
 the preferance. I am glad I am not 
 in either list of unfortunates. I am 
 feelii:ig fine. 1 believe I have re- 
 covered from every ill effect of the 
 measles in Minnesota. Poor Orlando 
 Adams of Mondovi is still down and 
 may never get better. Orlando has 
 applied for a discharge, but they are 
 hard to get. I wish he might go 
 home for he is a very sick boy, and 
 some say there is no hope for him. 
 John Le Gore and or.ie or two Men- 
 
33 
 
 dovi hoyi^ are going to get furlouglis. 
 
 Some new war songs have struck 
 camp lately. One of them is 
 "iWhen Johnny Oomes Marching 
 Home." The band boys tent, Chet 
 Ides headquarters, gets the new 
 i^oy.igs first. If there is anythinig fan- 
 ny about them, we can hear Chet 
 hiugh his peculiar litjal'ty laugh. 
 Another darkey sang, "Babylon is 
 Fallen," has been going the rounds. 
 It l)egins, "Don't you see de black 
 cloud risen ober yonder, whar de ole 
 plar.itation am?" I was in a .saloon 
 down town yesterday with a lot of 
 the boys, some darkies were sing 
 ing it. I could have heard it all day. 
 The boys would chip in a penny each 
 and the black fellows sang it over 
 and over. Then they got the negroe^^ 
 to butting. Alec Harvey gave five 
 cer.its. I gave five, and a lot of others. 
 The darkies woa'ld back off like 
 rams and come together head to 
 head. They said it did not hurt, but 
 I believe it did. The boys kept set 
 ting them on by giving them 5 cent 
 scrip. The darkies were kept about 
 half drunk to give them grit. 
 
 I was on picket duty the day 1 
 got your letter, about two miles in 
 the country. I went to a house near 
 my beat and found a lot of Union 
 girls, anyway they said they were 
 for the union. One of them asked 
 me my age. When 1 told her she 
 said that was just about her age. 
 They gave me a lunch of corn 
 bread and a piece of pork. When 
 1 came away 1 got .some milk in my 
 coffee can and a piece of Johr.inie 
 cake for 10 cents. I saw three 
 blacks, two men and a women work- 
 ing around. 1 don't know whether 
 tliey were slaves or hired help. 1 
 am goinig to get a pass one of these 
 days and go back and buy .some of 
 the old ladle's butter. Of course 
 I aint thir.iking about the girls. 1 
 have lately found out there are a lot 
 of fellows getting passes to go into 
 the country for milk and butter that 
 are lying like troopers. It aint 
 milk they want nor butter. They 
 
 are lokin.g for pretty girls or rich 
 widows. Such things are common 
 talk in the tents after the candles 
 are lit until bedtime. Some of them 
 have got so far in their fancies that 
 they say they are coming back to 
 Ciolumbus after the war is over. 
 
 By tlie wuy, have you got that box 
 of clothintg yet'? You .say nothing 
 about it. I often think of you and 
 father singing together the planta- 
 ion isoii£.s -^r the slaves. But do you 
 know I would give O, so much if you 
 could have heard what I heard last 
 light. A steamboat from St. Louis 
 lay here at wharf last night wait 
 ing for orders. After ur.Joading its 
 freight, the deck hands, all darkle =, 
 joined in singing a lot of plantation 
 songs. I sat on some cotton bales 
 watching them and listendnig to their 
 curious speech. They gathered on 
 the forecastle of the lioat and for 
 more than an hour sang the mast 
 pitiful songs of slave life I ever 
 heard. The negroes may not know 
 much, but they sing the most sor- 
 rowful songs iiii the sweetest voices 
 I ever heard. It is wrong for me 
 to have wished you here to hear 
 them, because you would have shed 
 tears. Just before I left one of them 
 came up the gang plank near me. 
 I asked him how long he had been 
 free. He said he quit lii.s old Alassar 
 in Tennessee last December and 
 shipped on de steamer. Natchese at 
 Memphis. I asked him where he 
 learned the sonps he had been sing 
 ing. He answered "I dont know 
 massa, cept da jes igrowed up wi'l 
 me. Seems like I always knowed um 
 Maybe I learned um from my old 
 .Mammy who used to sing um wid 
 me for she was sold down in .Via 
 bama." As the poor black wretch 
 shH'.|ffled along past me (he had no 
 clothes above his waist) I noticed 
 scars across his back as if made by 
 a whip. 
 
 I paid 10 cents for a New York 
 paper yesterday. It had a speech ir.i 
 it by Wendell Phillips on the hor- 
 rors of slavery. 1 am just beginning 
 
34 
 
 to see what made father walk the 
 floor and Bay hard things about the 
 slave holders after reading a speech 
 by Wendell Phillips. 
 
 You will get this letter when you 
 go home. 
 Death to copperheads. 
 
 Your brother, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbus K. Y. May 12tli 1863, 
 Hd. Quarters 25th Wise. 
 Dear mother: 
 
 At last we are under 
 marching orders for the South. 
 Hurrah. The orders came yesterday 
 and I am just writing to tell you the 
 glad news. I don't know why but 
 the 'boys are clear sone wild about it. 
 They say they enlisted to fight and 
 they want to fight. We have some 
 rebel prisoners down town and they 
 have been talking pretty saucy to 
 the guard. They aay one butternut 
 (that is the color of their undform) 
 is good for four Yanks. Poor ignor- 
 ant devils. 1 know from their talk 
 they don't come down and marry 
 them. They don't know hut little 
 more than the negroes, they use the 
 same brogue. If you shut your eyes 
 you would think from their jargon 
 you was talking to a lot of "diggers" 
 as they call the blacks. A call for 
 dress parade. 1 suspect some im 
 portant order will be read. Will fin- 
 ish later. 
 
 May 13th. 
 
 This morning we were 
 relieved from further marching or- 
 ders and told to resume our former 
 quarters. Last night came a rush 
 order to strike camp and march 
 double quick to a boat lying at the 
 wharf. 1 bad just gone to bed like 
 the others and was asleep. Orderlies 
 wpre rushing from one tecit to anoth- 
 er calling the boy? (o uj) and dre-s 
 and fall in. In ten minutes time or 
 less every tent alon^' the ten com- 
 pany streets was struck and the 
 match applied to everything of bed- 
 
 ding and bunk boards that would 
 'burn. Eck Harvey and Bill Ander- 
 son the twins as they were called 
 the two biggest men in th© company 
 had just come up from town and 
 were feeling pretty well. They were 
 swearing and calling it a rebel scare. 
 After everything was in a blaze and 
 the companies lining up for order.^ 
 a Icavalrymah came dashinlgi along 
 'bound for the Colonels tent. What 
 did the messengers mean? Was it 
 a Countermanding order or was it a 
 hurry order"? The order came to re- 
 turn to camp, and the camp all in a 
 blaze. Such a howl as went up from 
 a thousand mad men you never 
 heard. I am sure it must have look- 
 ed to the hundreds of negroes who 
 were watJching ifls as if the devil 
 with all his fire works and his imps 
 had oome to Columtous. This is but 
 one incident of that suspenice pecul- 
 iar to the life of the soldier. Her^ 
 we had packed up our movables and 
 burned the rest, and it was midnight 
 and dark but for the fire. We lay 
 down and pulled over us for the rest 
 of the night the tent cloth and we 
 'Went to sleep and dreamed of home 
 and of father and mother just the 
 same. 
 
 While we were eating our break- 
 fast our good Lieut. Colonel ordered 
 us to loose no time in falling in with- 
 out armes. We were in line in a 
 twinkling and waiting for further 
 orders. The Colonel then told ub 
 that Gen. Hooker had won a victory 
 and he wanted us to give three great 
 big cheers and a lot of tigers. And 
 they were loud and long. Before 
 this letter reaches you, you will 
 hiajve heard of Hooker's victory. Old 
 Hooker is a fox, Old Hooker is a 
 coon, is the praise heard on every 
 side. And he deserves it all if what 
 we hear is true. I heartily wish he 
 had the bloody 2.5th in his command. 
 If he had I kind of think we would 
 have a chance to work off some of 
 our conceit and surplus patriotism. 
 Though We never met the enemy it 
 is our belief no thousand rebels ever 
 
35 
 
 stood in line of battle that could take 
 our colors. 
 
 The 11th Missouri came through 
 here yesterday from Clintoci 12 miles 
 from this place. They are a hard 
 favored set. of war worn veterans. 
 They had seen service. I never saw 
 in my life such a siiffht as followed 
 in their rear. Such human beings 
 once slaves. Some were black as 
 eibony with great pitiful white roll- 
 ing eyes, and some nearly white and 
 as pretty and polite as any woman I 
 ever saw. I wionder mother if you 
 ever thought what it is to be a slave, 
 that is for the women, the mothers 
 and daughters. I have thought it all 
 out and I will tell you some time if 
 I ever come home. 
 
 iSome sardine of a scamp pulled the 
 rope out of our flag pole the other 
 (lay. Ten dollars was offered any 
 one who would climb the pole and 
 put it in the pole again. As I write 
 there is a daring fellow on the tip 
 top of the pole putting the rope in 
 the pully. As Lieutenant Brackett 
 ha^ skipt our orderly has been pro 
 moted to second Lieutenant and our 
 second to first Lieutenant. Sargeant 
 'McKay of Mondovi takes the first 
 Sargeants place and Adam Hein- 
 •beaugh of Mondovi comes in as 8th 
 Corporal. I think we have the best 
 set of officers in the regiment. We 
 have a bully captain even if he did 
 try to resign at one time. Captain 
 Dwarwin is a real good man. I 
 would rather go into battle with him 
 than any other man on the jol). He 
 can't keep st^p to the music, but 
 he aint to blame. It just happens 
 there is no tim« or music about h' 
 The 'boys make fun of him hut they 
 like him just the same. 
 
 The fellows that were promoted 
 had to set up the beer, and the way 
 some of the brave lads drank to their 
 health was a bit saddening to see. 
 Of course your son had to drink 
 Riorae beer, not to be out of fashion, 
 thou to tell the whole truth he had 
 joined the cold water society. My 
 excuse is I wa^ told I could drinl 
 
 cider, and I find I can't, so I was 
 deceived. But I promise you, mother 
 I have not touched a drop of whiskey 
 nor will I while I am in the army. I 
 have never forgotten the firm stand 
 father took soon as he found he liked 
 the taste of drink, and 1 never shall. 
 I never took a swallow of beer but 1 
 felt as guilty as a thief. I wrote sis- 
 ter D. only the other day. Love to 
 the boys and father. 
 
 Your son, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Colum'bue, K. Y. May 23rd. 1863. 
 Hd. Quarters, 25th. Wis. Infantry. 
 
 Dear mother: — I sect you a Ion? 
 letter the other day ibut I forgot to 
 mention my birthday. Ii:» fact I was 
 not reminded of it until the day after 
 but it has come and gone. I am sure 
 if I had been at home my good mo- 
 ther would have reminded me of it 
 in the shape of something good to 
 eat. I don't know as I am any older 
 feeling than I was *wo weeks ago 
 and the future looks just the same. 
 When 1 See an old person I never 
 think of being that way myself. 
 Maybe the Lord will perform a 
 miracle and keep me young like the 
 story ini the old testament, but if he 
 doesn't I am pretty well satisfied to 
 be in this good old world. WTien I 
 go back in the country, away from 
 the sight of these l)ig black cannons 
 sticking their muzzles through the 
 port holes of the fort, and look up to 
 the green of the trees, and hear the 
 hum of the bees and the twit- 
 ter of the .bird.s. and see the 
 peaceful quiet of the country. It is 
 hard to realize that the country is 
 being torn to pieces in a big war. 
 
 Dear mother. I should have an- 
 swered your last letter more prompt- 
 ly. I have written so many of late. 
 I had almost forgotten I owed you 
 one. You know it is said everythir.c 
 is far in war, and I know you will 
 excuse me. 
 
 During the last four days we har*^ 
 been shading our tents with brash. I 
 
26' 
 
 tell you we have them fixed up nice. 
 Standing off a little ways one cani 
 hardly see the tents and it makes it 
 so much cooler. Hot? Well 1 should 
 remark. The^ie May days in old Ken- 
 tucky make everybody lawl but the 
 darkies and nobody think of them. 
 The heat pretty near diove us out of 
 the tents in mid day. We take turns 
 going over to the hospital to fajj the 
 sick boys and brush away the flies. 
 The doctors say the younger ones 
 are dying of homesickness much as 
 anything. 
 
 Some of my chums and myself 
 have been skylarkicig out in the 
 country of lat« and we have visited 
 a lot of pretty Kentucky homes. In 
 a good many of them I am sure they 
 hated to aee us come in. They might 
 he Union people but they hate to see 
 us talking to their slaves and the 
 soldiers were a little saucy where 
 they thought they were not wanted. 
 We would hunit the strawberry beds 
 and eat them too. We would call 
 for milk, butter, apples and other 
 good things to eat. Most of these 
 people We knew were our bitter" ene- 
 mies and some of the boys were 
 afraid their bread was poisoned. We 
 found some places where we were 
 invited into the house and where 
 the young ladies would smile and 
 would talk to us about our homes. 
 We knew these smiling young ladies 
 might have been traitors and might 
 have spies hidden away to hear 
 what was being said. The dwell- 
 ings or cabins of the slaves were 
 mostly empty. Here and there we 
 saw a few old negroes who chose to 
 stay by Ol mis.sus and masser to 
 leaving their old Kentucky home to 
 go out into a strange world. These 
 old slaves were awful shy and al 
 ways made -pome excuse to get away 
 when we tried to talk to them. I 
 suppose tliely were afraid Masser 
 would see them. 1 often wonder 
 wheve the i)Oor blacks will go to find 
 a home and something to eat. Those 
 
 I have talked with say they are 
 treated better now since they can 
 run away without being chased by 
 dtJgs. 
 
 We found a pretty country home 
 the other day where the young lady 
 took us out in her flower garden and 
 gave each of us a bunch of flowers. 
 I am .svvre her mother did not like to 
 see us there. She had a cross look 
 on her face and watched us thru the 
 window as if she feared we might 
 capture the girl and i;un away -vrith 
 her. When we went away one of the 
 Durand boys told the girl he hoped 
 to come back after the war and mak- 
 ing the prettiest bow she said she 
 hoped he would. When we went 
 back to camp we told Chet Ide and 
 .Joel Harmon of Mondovi what a pic- 
 nic we had and we all joined in and 
 Bang "Our Old Kentucky Home." I 
 found out a strange thing lately, the 
 darkies doni't know anything about 
 the song, of Old Kentucky Home, ex- 
 cept as they have picked it up from 
 hearing the whites sing it. I guess 
 I must have thought it came out of 
 some negroes heart. Anyway when 
 ever I met a negro alone anywhere 1 
 always wanted to ask him to sing 
 that socig. Those I did ask would 
 smile and grin and say "Massa I 
 don't know it." Their ignorance of 
 the song gave me a curious feeling. 
 
 This is a long letter. I hope it 
 will find you all well as I am and 
 happy. I..ove to the boys . father and 
 sister Do. 
 
 Your boy, 
 
 OHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbus K. Y. May 29th 1863, 
 
 Hd Quarters 25th. 
 My dear mother: 
 
 Your last letter came 
 in due tinip. inst two ard a balf dav<5 
 from the hour it was written. It 
 must have been dated wrong. T got 
 a letter from father the same day. 
 Tt had been held up somewhere. t 
 suppose the mail clerks get things 
 mixed sometimes. 
 
37 
 
 We are under orders to march on 
 short notice. We don't know if it 
 means to go south, north, east or 
 west. It meanis just one thing and 
 nothing else "be ready." A soldier 
 can't find any fault and if he does he 
 is put in the guard house or if on a 
 march he is tied up by the thumbs. 
 
 We have cooked up five day'.s ri 
 tions and are ready at the first note 
 of command to fall in. 1 am ir.i a 
 mighty hurry and must make this 
 letter brief. .Just another word. One 
 of my mates wants me to say a goo(. 
 word for him to sister D. He is a 
 nice clean fellow and all riglit. His 
 only fault is quite common he don't 
 think the black race is jus; humar.i 
 I can't beat him in argument but 1 
 know ii my heart he is wrong about 
 these poor wretiChed black peqpie. 
 You need not get excited, marching 
 orders m^- not mean anythir.ig. 
 
 We may not strike tents for a 
 month yet. 
 
 May 30th. 
 
 Was out last night where the 
 evening gun, a black cannon booms 
 the hour of sunset. A man pulls a 
 string called a lanyard and a roar 
 that shakes the great bluff follows, 
 and all this means sunset. I learn- 
 ed last night what it meant in 
 French. I was standing near the 
 big black cannon which stands al- 
 most straight above the river some 
 300 feet. A negro sweep doing 
 police work, a fine looking mulatto 
 was idly leaning upon his shovel and 
 staring at a passing boat. Whai^ 
 are you thinking about 1 asked? 
 Taking off hi-s dirty cap and bowing, 
 he answered with a smile, "1 kind 
 hates to tell you, but I was thinking 
 of my .Jewlarke." I didn't know 
 what a Jewlarke was so I asked him. 
 "Why Massa he answered just a 
 sweetheart." and heui he told nie 
 his story how he was a slave in 
 Louisina, how he came out as cook 
 for his master who was a Lieutenant 
 in a Louisina Regiment, how his 
 master's cavalry company was sur- 
 prised by Union cavalry was fired 
 
 upon by our boys, how he fell down 
 to make believe he was dead and 
 when our boys came up, he jumiped 
 to his feet and came back to Colum 
 bus with our boys. He had been at 
 work in the fort at Columbus ever 
 since. Whenever he spoke he took 
 off his cap. I asked him what he 
 done that for he said slaves had to 
 Jo that in the south, i a.sked liim if 
 he was glad he was free and he said, 
 "O yes Massa, I would be glad if 1 
 had my Kizzie wid me." (Kizzie was 
 his sweetheart.) The ipoor fel|low 
 took off his hat as he said this and 
 slowly replaced it again. I am sure 
 I >saw tears ini the fellowt's eyes. 
 The song of Nellie Gray came to 
 my mind. It disappoints me that 
 the negroes have never heard these 
 songs. They stare at you when you 
 sing them. While we were talking 
 the gunner came and fixing the 
 lar.iyard pulled the cord with a jerk 
 and with a mighty roar that sent a 
 tremor thru the bluff and a black 
 smoke that hid the river for a mo- 
 ment told us that the sun had set 
 and the flagman at head quarters 
 slowly lowered the stars and stripes. 
 Soliquasha, said my colored friend. 
 What do you mean by that I asked. 
 That is French he replied meaning 
 sunset. Here was a slave teaching 
 me French. Mother do you know 1 
 asked myself Ithis question. what 
 right have I simply because I am 
 white to be the master race, while 
 this man knowing more than I should 
 be a slave because he is black. He 
 called himself a Creole; that is a 
 negro born in Louisina. He said he 
 was. born in a Parish nO miles from 
 New Orleans. His master raised 
 sugar and rice and they toted it on 
 two wheel carts to New Orleans 
 where they sold it. His Massa's 
 plantation was long side a live oak 
 swamp that was full of deer- bear 
 and aligators. He said the "Gait- 
 ors" warnt so bad as folks let on. 
 "De niggers had a swimming hole U'j 
 de bayou whar an old Gator had 
 raised a nest of youcig uus ever 
 
^m 
 
 38 
 
 year. In the winter the gaitors bur- 
 ied themselves lilte frogs in ithe 
 mud. When they came out in the 
 Spring you could hear them bellow 
 all night long." I don't know and 1 
 don't care whether this fellow was 
 stuffing me or not. I was interested. 
 ThingvS he said about New Orleans 
 and things he told me about his 
 master's plantation away back in the 
 swamps made me think of the story 
 of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It looks as 
 tho this war Was to change all this. 
 The South ha^ had a mighty soft 
 snap with darkies to do their work 
 for a hundred years, while their 
 masters have grown rich and in- 
 solent to us of the north. The papers 
 don't say much about it but the 
 tjruth is tfcese slaveholders, these 
 three hundred and fifty thousand 
 chivalrouB southern genitlemen, who 
 own some four million of poor ig- 
 norant fellows who pushed to tha 
 front and mowed down by Union 
 (bullet don't know what they are 
 fighting for. Love to father, broth- 
 er ac<d sister D. 
 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Columbus, K. Y. 2-5th Wis. Co.G. 
 May :50th, ISOrt. 
 Dear folks at home: 
 
 The final order came to-night after 
 we had gone to bed, to be ready to 
 go to Vicksburg by boat in the 
 morning. There was a lot of skiirry 
 around all the long night. Clothes 
 at the washerwoman's had to he 
 looked after. I.etters had to ue 
 written as I am writing this by the 
 dull light of a tallow candle, some 
 to wives some to mothers, fathers 
 and many to sweethearts. I hoi)e 
 there were no unhappy girls be- 
 cause of this sudden leaving near 
 about Columbus. But I fear there 
 was a few. I am quite sure of two 
 or three. Well. I am content if we 
 must leave Columbus even if it has 
 been a sort df "Old Kentucky Home' 
 to us for nearly two months. It is 
 one o'clock in the morning and the 
 
 lights are yet burning in the tent3. 
 In a lot of the tents they are sing- 
 ing the "Old Kentucky Home." 1 
 guess the boys don't think much of 
 its meaning but sing it because we 
 are in Old Kentucky. A lot of col- 
 ored women are running about the 
 tents collecting washing bills. They 
 all seem to know that we are to 
 leave in the morning. There will 
 be a lot of unpaid washing bills, but 
 the darkies won't mind it much as 
 they are used to working lor noth- 
 ing. 
 
 Max Brill my bunk mate has final- 
 ly shut his mouth, so has Delos Al- 
 ien and John LeGore niy other tent 
 mates, leaving me to blow out the 
 light and go to sleep. Will finish 
 letter and mail it in the morning. 
 
 May 31st. When we woke up this 
 morning we found a great big New 
 Orleans side wheel packet laying at 
 the wharf waiting to take us on 
 board. The roll call found many of 
 us still asleep after such a night. 
 Many of the boys fell in for roll 
 call in nothing but shirts and draw- 
 ers. I got on all but my pants and 
 shoes. About half the company 
 was in the same plight. The order- 
 ly was so good natured we gave him 
 a good long cheer and ran back to 
 our tents to finish dressing. The 
 town was crowded with country peo- 
 ple mostly colored folks to see us 
 leave. The grand march to the boat 
 began at ten o'clock and it was near 
 three P. M. when we were all pack- 
 ed away on the three decks. Our 
 company was on the hurricane deck. 
 When the black deck hands loosened 
 the four inch cable that tied our 
 ship to the shore, the Regimental 
 band began to play Dixie. The big 
 boat floated out into the current, the 
 big propelling wheels turned round 
 and roiuid in the muddy waters and 
 looking back at the big high bluff 
 which had been our home so long 
 we did not know whether to be glad 
 or sorry that we were leaving it. 
 
 There were hundreds to wave us 
 goodbye, yes thousands. There were 
 
39 
 
 loud cheers and good wishes from 
 the regiments we left Ijehind. The 
 blacks were afraid to come out in 
 the open to show their good feeling 
 but down by the river bank and from 
 behind houses and fences where 
 they could not be seen by the whites, 
 they threw up their caps and hats 
 and danced like crazy. The women 
 caughjL their skirts with both hand? 
 and bowed and courtesied and some 
 dropped upon their knees and held 
 their uauds above their head as if 
 they were praying. The boys didn't 
 seem to notice it much because they 
 were niggers, but it made me think 
 of some things in Uncle Tom's Cab- 
 in. I take one last look at Columbus 
 and the fort on the bluff wijth the 
 big black cannon peering out over 
 the river. We make a bend in the 
 river and Columbus is hidden from 
 view. 
 
 A lot of boys are gathered on the 
 forecastle singing "My Old Kentuc- 
 ky Home." I suspicion the fellows 
 have a homesick streak on, they 
 sing with so much feeling. Hick- 
 man is in sight but four miles away. 
 I must close this line in order to 
 mail it there. Those lines of Char- 
 les McKay I have heard father quote 
 so often come to mind, "Groaning, 
 steaming, panting, down the Missis- 
 sippi." Your Son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Sa Haines Bluff, June 8, 1863. 
 25th Wis. Vol. 
 Dear father and mother: I've seen 
 some tough hours the last three 
 days, but am feeling pretty well at 
 this writing. Every night the last 
 three or four we have been laying 
 on our arms, expecting the bugle call 
 to fall in for battle. The nights are 
 hot and sultry and we lay with noth- 
 ing but the sky for covering. You 
 know how warm it is in Wisconsin 
 in .June but O, Lord it is nothing to 
 Mississippi. Corn with you is abouC 
 six inches high. Here it is four feet 
 higher than a man's head. I never 
 
 j aaw such big corn. While we lay at 
 •Satartia the boys went wild raiding 
 and foraging the country for any- 
 thing they could eat or wear or de- 
 stroy, and it was all right, for every 
 white man and woman was ready to 
 shoot or poison us. The negroes 
 were our only friends and they kept 
 us posted on what the whites were 
 doing and saying. Their masters 
 told their slaves that the Yankees 
 had horns that they eat nigger ba- 
 bies and that they lived in the north 
 in houses built of snow and ice and 
 that the Yankee soldiers were fight- 
 ing to take the niggers back nort*! 
 where they would freeze to death 
 It is a fright what stories the whites 
 tell their slaves. The younger ones 
 know better and laugh when they 
 speak of it, but some of the real 
 black ones just from Africa look 
 nervous and scared when the boys 
 crowd around them to tease and 
 [)lay tricks on them. They seem to 
 know what the boys want. They 
 bring in chickens, turkeys, eggs, mo- 
 lasses, sugar corn pones, smoked 
 meat and honey. The boys don't 
 treat them right. They cheat them 
 out of a lot and their excuse is they 
 stole the stuff from their white mas- 
 ters. The poor black creatures nev- 
 er get mad but just smile and say 
 nothing. The day before we left 
 Satartia some of our boys raided a 
 big plantation, took everything in 
 sight and came into camp with a 
 mule team and wagon loaded with a 
 fancy piano. They put the piano on 
 board a steamboat and blindfolding 
 the mules which were wild, turned 
 them loose in camp. It was a crazy 
 thing to do. There was some bee 
 hives in the wagon full of honey and 
 bees. The mules run over some tents 
 nearly killing a lot of soldiers and 
 scattering bees and boxes along the 
 way. It was fun all right for some 
 of the boys got badly stung. 
 
 June Sth. — We have been resting 
 on our arms all day awaiting a re- 
 port from couriers who are watching 
 
40 
 
 the rebel General Johnson. He has is what our chaplain calls a roue 
 a big tree aucl his plan s.ems to bo Look in the dictionary and see what 
 
 to cut off our ni;,rch to Haines Bluff 
 where we would bo in touch with the 
 ., ain union army. In the afternoon 
 we were ordered in line as were ail 
 the regiments of the three brigades. 
 We were told the rebel army was 
 moving our way and to l)e prepared 
 at anv moment. 
 
 June 9th.— We lay upon our arms 
 all nis^ht. It was not a good night to 
 sleep. We expected every hour an 
 order to fall in and retreat to Haines 
 Bluff. It came at day break. We 
 had scarcely time to make coffee 
 and fry hard tack. Mounted order- 
 lies with clanging sabers were rush-, 
 iiig about with orders from head- 
 quarters. They would spring from 
 their saddles leaving their horse h\ 
 charge of a black servant, who al- 
 ways met them hat in hand at the 
 Colonel's tent. Since daybreak there 
 has been a fearful booming of can- 
 nons toward the south. - All sorts of 
 rumors are flying al)out. One is that 
 
 roue means. I don't w^ant my sister 
 to keep company with a roue, if I 
 understand the word. Let me tell 
 you, my dear girl, most young men 
 ain't as good as they ought to be. 
 And 1 wish you would l)e more care- 
 ful and mind me a little if you are 
 older than 1. But T must tell you of 
 things here. 
 
 We had a dreadful march from Sa- 
 tartia to reach this place. It was a 
 killing march. Our Division General 
 was a coward, and the march l)egan 
 at sunrise and ended at ten o'clock 
 that night. It was, a retreat, a per- 
 fect rout. The rebel Johnson was 
 supposed to be close in our rear with 
 a body of cavalry and the orders 
 were to iiress forward with all pos- 
 sible speed. Through great forests 
 and corn fields without end standing 
 above our heads, in the hottest sun 
 I ever felt, the army became a regu- 
 lar mob, every man for himself. Men 
 threw aside their coats and blankets 
 their testaments and their shirts. 
 
 Johnson has 3umi)ed in on our flank | Hundreds lay down in the corn rows, 
 at Snyder's Bluff with his army and 
 another report that Grant has storm- 
 ed the city of Vicksburg under cover 
 of all his big guns. 
 
 If nothing happens will write in a 
 dav or two. Your son, 
 
 CHATINCEY. 
 
 Haines Bluff, Mississippi, 
 Hd. Quarters 25 Wis.. June 11. ISO:'. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 Am ill receipt of your last letter 
 but an hour ago. You do write a 
 good letter. So full of news, just 
 the stuff for a brother in the war to 
 read, and you tell things in such a 
 good way. It's just like a story in a 
 book. You are father's girl all over 
 just as mother has often said. How 
 I wish I could have some of the fish 
 
 under the trees and on the banks of 
 the creeks. Many -of them in the 
 faint of a sunstroke, others fanning 
 themselves or cursing those in com- 
 mand. The constant roar of besiee- 
 ing mortar and cannon at Vicksburg 
 grew louder and louder as we ad- 
 vanced. The aml)ulances and the 
 ammunition and supply wagons that 
 followed were full of men unable to 
 march, long liefore night. You know 
 that father always said T was moth- 
 er's boy because T never was tired or 
 never sick till I went into the army. 
 It was about 4 o'clock in the after- 
 noon. I had lost sight of every man 
 of Company G, and w^as marching 
 with a bunch of Indiana boys. I had 
 divided the water with them I had 
 in my canteen. 1 had thrown away 
 i a woollen sliirt and torn mv blanket 
 
 you tell of catching, only T don't like : in two and left a part of that to 
 "the fellow that took you home that , lighten my load. My cartridge box 
 time. He is nice looking and knows w'as the heaviest thing we had, every 
 how to say pleasant things, but he j man was loaded with all the bullets 
 
41 
 
 he could carry, for we expected to 
 need them. 1 was just about fainting 
 with tlie lieat when one of the Indi- 
 ana boys said, "my boy you better 
 lay down, your lace is awful red." 
 We were on the bank of a muddy 
 creek. 1 walked away from the road 
 up anions: the trees and after taking 
 a drink fn.m the creek I lay down in 
 the shade of a tree with no one in 
 sight and fell asleep. When 1 opened 
 my eyes the sun was down and it 
 was just gotlint; dark. For a minute 
 I didn't know where 1 was nor what 
 had h:ii)i)ened. Then the march and 
 the mix-up of the day all came back 
 to me. Here and there I could see 
 through the woods the light of the 
 camp tires. T went back to the road 
 where 1 left my Indiana friends five 
 hours before. T sat down while a 
 battery of six guns went by, each 
 drawn by six big horses. Then fol- 
 lowe-d a rear guard of five or six hun- 
 dred cavalry whose sabers and car- 
 bines clanged as they rode by. 1 
 knew if .Tohnson was so near, these 
 cannon and cavalry would not l)e 
 passing toward Vieksburg in this 
 peaceful way. A straggling group of 
 infantry followpd the cavalry and 1 
 joinfMl them. T had gone Init a few 
 steps when 1 felt a hand upon my 
 shoulder. Turning to see who it 
 was, what was my delight to see the 
 Cai)tain of my company. Captain 
 Darwin, smiling upon me. Like my- 
 self he too was lost from the com- 
 pany. The Captain had ivever looked 
 so good to me. He had laid down by 
 the road like me, overcome by he.Tt, 
 and he was smxious to find the com- 
 l^any. Until I found Cai)tain Darwin 
 1 was ashamed to think tbat maybe I 
 was the only one lost from the com- 
 pany. The Captain is a great big 
 s'rong man and nice looking. .And 
 wiien 1 found the heat had played 
 him out just as it had me T took 
 coiirage. After calling at about a 
 hundred cAmi'i f;es and half as many 
 regiments we found our company 
 and our regiment. If there is a just 
 God he will punish the man that or- 
 
 dered that awful march. It was use- 
 less and uncalled for. We hear that 
 the (leneral has been at rested and 
 win be tried by Court Marshal. Ev- 
 ery soldier on that horrid march 
 hoi)es he will be punished. 
 
 Tiie air is sickening with the 
 stench of decaying fiesh. Mississippi 
 is full of cattle running wild in the 
 cane brakes, and the boys are shoot- 
 ing great, beautiful steers in sight as 
 they would rabbits, leaving every 
 thing but the choicest parts on the 
 ground to smell and stink. Ten 
 miles from here the people in Vieks- 
 burg are starving for beef to eat and 
 where we are camped the air is poi- 
 soned with the decaying flesh of ani- 
 mals more than we can eat. \\'hat a 
 world this is. I am only giving you 
 a brief sketch of the important 
 things. .Tusl think of the horror of 
 "■•0,000 !)eople with half enough to ea^. 
 with no rest nor sleep, stormed at 
 with shot and shell, night and day in 
 the city of Vicksbnrg. They have 
 dug holes U!ider their houses and in 
 the bluffs and on The river side to 
 get away from the shot and bursting 
 shell (if T^nion guns. They can't get 
 anything more to eat outside the city 
 so tlley eat horses and mules to keep 
 alive. O. but the poor wretched 
 whites that let the rich slave hold- 
 ers drag them into this war. The 
 negroes tell us the rich white man 
 in the south looks down on the poor 
 white trash who has no slaves, as 
 much as he does on the black man. 
 And the common soldier in the rebel 
 army is awful ignorant. There ain'r 
 one in ten that can read or write, 
 and they think the Dutch boys in 
 our army were hired in Germanv 
 and came over just to fight them, f 
 have just been notified by the Order- 
 ly Sargeant that T am to go on picket 
 duly to-morrow and to i)ut my gun in 
 order. Tiie reports that we get every 
 hour from the pickets that men are 
 lieing shot reminds us that we are 
 not in sleepy old Columbus. Kentuc- 
 ky any more, where we could go to 
 sleep without danger, except from 
 
42 
 
 the officer of the guard. I'll let you 
 know in a few days how nice it is to 
 do picket duty in the cane brakes of 
 Mississippi within gun shot of the 
 enemy's line. I haven't the least 
 fear of danger, sister and I am feel- 
 ing real good after a two days' rest 
 of racket and roar of big guns that 
 put me to sleep nights and waken me 
 in the morning. There is an army 
 of some 15,000 men around us and 
 between here and Vicksburg. Love 
 to all, father, mother and the boys. 
 
 P. S. — There is a rumor at this mo- 
 ment that we are to counter march 
 for iSatartia to-morrow. I'll bet it is 
 a false rumor. Your brother, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Haines Bluff, Missisisppi, 
 June 15, 1863. 
 Dear father: 
 
 I sent sister D. a letter some days 
 ago and promised to tell her some- 
 thing of picket duty close to the 
 enemy's line, next time I wrote. I 
 made some notes in my memoran- 
 dum every evening so I enclose 
 them. 
 
 June 10th, 6 o'clock P. M. Have 
 just come in from the picket line 
 where I have been for four hoiirs 
 during the day, from ten to twelve 
 this morning and from four to six 
 this afternoon. Will go on again to- 
 night at 10 o'clock for two hours and 
 again at four o'clock in the morning 
 until six. 
 
 It has been a blistering hot day, 
 but I have kept in the shade of some 
 great trees most of the time. My 
 beat is about as far as from the 
 house to the creek, on a ridge, some 
 thing like the little hill behind the 
 house. The soldier whose place I 
 took this morning, belonged to the 
 Jersey Zouaves, told me it would be 
 nice during daylight, but to look out 
 to-night. He said he had seen thf 
 glint of a gun l)arrel last night in 
 the edge of the cane brake. He ad 
 vised me to keei) my eyes peeled and 
 stay as much as possible in the shad- 
 ow of the trees. I asked him how 1 
 
 could do that and obey orders to 
 keep pacing his beat. He said 1 
 don't give a damn for orders when I 
 am alone here at midnight, and the 
 officer of the guard asleep in his 
 tent miles from here. One thing he 
 said, you will hear a lot of hogs 
 grunting in the cane brakes. May- 
 be they are hogs and maybe they 
 ain't. Some of the boys have been 
 shot by those hogs, so look out. 
 These Jersey Zouaves are supposed 
 to be dare devils, simply afraid of 
 nothing. They wear fancy uniforms 
 covered with yellow braid and all 
 soris of yellow stripes. The rebel 
 soldiers hate these Zouaves and try 
 to shoot them wherever they can. 
 They are toughs picked up from tiie 
 prisons and jails of the cities. Noth- 
 ing happened worth mentioning dur- 
 ing the day. From my beat I could 
 see the Yazoo River and miles of 
 corn fields on the west now tramped 
 down and ruined. On the east where 
 the enemy line extends are deep for- 
 ests and dense cane brakes. All day 
 long hundreds of men, yes, thou- 
 sands were chopping down the trees, 
 felling them toward the enemy, and 
 sharpening the limbs so that they 
 would be hindered and at the mercy 
 of our guns if they tried to charge 
 our lines. 
 
 Columns of smoke from burning 
 buildings fills the sky, and this af- 
 ternoon a south wind brought the 
 smell of smoke from the big cannon 
 that keep up their awful roar about 
 Vicksburg. 
 
 June 12th, 9 o'clock A. M. After 
 a rather wakeful night we ai"e back 
 to quarters in camp and while wait- 
 ing for coffee to boil will jot down a 
 note or two. The air about the camp 
 smells better this morning. Several 
 hundred carcasses of cattle left to 
 rot in the sun were buried yesterday. 
 The smell had got to be terrible. I 
 remembered what the Zouave told 
 me when T went on guard last night 
 and I kept my eyes wide ojien and 
 my ears too. during the two hours of 
 midnight. I heard some rustling in 
 
43 
 
 the cane thicket on my left but the 
 sound seemed to recede rather than 
 come nearer so I concluded it was 
 some animal. I don't think I was 
 afraid the least hit. until midnight 
 the boom of cannons at Vickshurg 
 and the half circling tlery curves of 
 the shells and the sudden lighting of 
 the sky when they burst gave me 
 something to see and to think of. 
 From four till six this morning the 
 firing at Vicksburg had nearly 
 ceased. 
 
 June 1 Uh. A letter of May 23rd 
 from home to-day. I am glad a^ 
 ever a boy could he, who is in love 
 with his home. T had wondered why 
 no letter came. I wish father had 
 sent me some stamps. Money won't 
 buy them here. They seem to for- 
 get my request for stamps. Saw D. 
 D. I.oomis yesterday, of the second 
 csivalry. Sam, as they call him, is 
 in good health and spirits. He is a 
 sort of an assistant to the Pommis- 
 sary looking after the horses and ra- 
 tions. The 8th Wis. too, is here. 11 
 still carries the Eagle The order 
 for our return to Satartia up the Ya- 
 zoo has l)een recalled. I am glad. 
 The fact is, too many of our Regi 
 ment were Ijoat out on the march 
 here. There are nearly :!00 men un- 
 der the doctor's care as a result of 
 that 'i^ mile march. Tf the water 
 was good we would be happy. 
 Blackberries are plenty and nice. 
 Our Regiment went out last night 
 three miles to support a battery 
 planted on a ridge. We lay on our 
 arms all night without being dis- 
 turbed by the rebs. This place will 
 be retaken by the rebels if possible. 
 Every precaution is being taken to 
 secure it against attack. .Tohnson 
 jfnd biagg are on their way here 
 with an army to drive us out, but 
 Old Rose, that is Rosencranze, is 
 following them and we ain't afraid. 
 Row many troops we have here, T 
 don't know, but somewhere between 
 twenty and forty thousand. T» 
 drive us from here will cost the rebs 
 a good lot of blood, and they know it. 
 
 This is an easy country to fortify, 
 just about as hilly as Buffalo County 
 and the sides of the hills ten times 
 harder to scale, because of the tim- 
 ber we have fallen against the ene- 
 my and dense jungle of cane brakes. 
 It's nearly impossible to get through 
 a Mississippi cane brake. Here is 
 where our fish poles come from. 
 
 There has been a lull in the firing 
 at Vicksburg. There is a rumor thai 
 the Confeds have made a breach 
 and are retreating up the Black Riv- 
 er. Another story ii that Jeff Davis 
 is inside the City and Pemberton has 
 asked a parley with a view to sur- 
 rendering. Everybody is looking to- 
 ward Vicksbuig and wondering why 
 the thunder of the guns has stopped. 
 Another rumor says General Grant 
 has mined their forts and has given 
 them twelve hours to surrender and 
 if they refuse the chain of forts will 
 be blown u]). 
 
 Have just heard that i)oor Orlando 
 Adams, my chum from Mondovi, is 
 dead. He tried to get a furlough 
 but failed. I was afraid when I bid 
 him good bye in Columbus, Ken- 
 tucky, I should never see him again. 
 The poor fellow cried when we left 
 him to go south. Orlando never re- 
 covered from the effect of the mea- 
 sles. He wanted so bad to go home 
 to die, but the rules had been strict 
 agalnsi furloughs. Big Bill Ander- 
 son of Durand had just peeped in 
 my tent and asked about my health. 
 He gave me some blackberries. He 
 said he had been out foraging for 
 the sick boys. Bill is a wild fellow, 
 but he has a great big heart and I 
 know he is sicker this minute than 
 some of the boys he is nursing. 
 
 You may send this letter over to 
 sister D. Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Snyder's Bluff, Miss. 
 Hd. Quarters 25tTi. Wis. Vol. Inft. 
 Dear father: 
 
 Since my last letter we have 
 QBoved our position to within eight 
 Bll«9 of Vicivsburg. Yesterday elev- 
 
44 
 
 tc nf Rurnside-s corps ( rlay at ten o'clock. Every gun is ex- 
 Zr^:-^ o^ ^^;^-. wiU. 1 an^ne. an. wo- -e -^ ^^ 
 his well known f^^^. ^^^f ff ^^^ It what hour day or night the roll of 
 also. His "^^" 2"^f„,^^„ J valleys the drum will call us into line of bat- 
 near a ,god. The lulls and ^^^^^^^ ^j^ ^ „oti,ed in a copy of the Alma 
 for miles and miles are 1 t^^'^^ j„^^„^j , ,^„t ^^ that the people 
 white with tents, and the mus c o ^^ p^ji^^^j^ton, had t)een subscribing 
 bands from morning till ^^^J^^^j^j U^nds for the V. 3. Sanitary commis- 
 •ringing in our ears^ ' ", less than sion. The ol)ject is a noble one and 
 ^Z^H^r^^rte^^ w?Uiln a I am glad the^Gilmanton folks have 
 
 twenty-five thousand tents >w..^^^, ^^^^ .^^^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ .^ 
 circumference of e^- '^t jniie.. ^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^, ^^ anything 
 
 of dust from moving troops hli t^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ hundred dollars he 
 air in every direction. Se^ erai^^^^^^ l ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^^^.^^^^ 
 teries of artil ery are j i - ^ school in our valley when T enlisted? 
 
 six to eight big ^l^o^^es t°e«^^;?;'^' Don't say anything about it. If he 
 and the men ^'^ding on the ca^sion^ ^^.^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^,^^ ^^^ 
 
 nrp hreathmig a constant i^muut, i,„„^^„,i 
 
 are hreathinfe « , ^ • 
 
 They don't have to walk that is one 
 thing in their favor, but I don t thmk 
 r would like the battery ^ service^ 
 Rumor is still in the air tha> the 
 
 !^^t 'Sr^'^ar'Sroughr'Sp jdier^s hWe or;st^,;pit^;pla^, ^wh^r 
 
 right. I don't care for his hundred 
 dollars. But of course as he volun- 
 teered to give it I never can think 
 as much of him for lying about it. 
 This sanitary commission is a sol- 
 
 Cxeneral Pemberton in Vickshur 
 That is the reason for so many bat^ 
 teries and infantry coming here and 
 taking positions at this time. I am 
 sure a hundred thousand rebe s 
 could not break our lines at this 
 point We have three lines of heavj 
 fortifications with lotteries every 
 eighty rods. Several thousand spadeb 
 are kept constantly busy strength- 
 ening the lines. Our regiment was 
 out yesterday on spade duty, i sup- 
 
 ever a soldier happens to be, in any 
 town in the north. He is given a 
 bed and meals free of charge and 
 medicine and care if he is sick. 
 They are in the border states as wel' 
 too, where our troops are in posses- 
 sion. If they are out of money they 
 can stay weeks or months without 
 cost until they get money or trans- 
 portation to go on. 
 
 Of course the good people of Gil- 
 manton, expect to cele])rate the 4th 
 
 - - ,.^ „ ,^< '^f Hi'oicine but for of -l^'y and I expected to be with 
 
 ^";'pS I don't tthink^^I did more I them when I enlisted but I shall not 
 
 than an hour's work, and am sure 
 .1 worked as hard as aiiylmdy. It 
 takes the darkies to dig. One hun- 
 dred negroes will shovel as mucn 
 dirt as a thousand yankee soldiers, 
 and sing plantation songs all the 
 time I went out a mile yesterday 
 on the second line to see them w-ork 
 and hear them sing. Most of then- 
 songs are love songs, and it's always 
 something about the cotton and the 
 cane fields. Rules are mighty strict 
 and getting stricter every day. Oui' 
 main work is to clean and polish u!> 
 pur guns, and to see that our car 
 
 be there. I am glad to hear you say 
 that my sjielling is better than it 
 was, althouigh you don't find my 
 writing any better. You say I don't 
 write any plainer than Horace 
 Clreely. Well, there were some that 
 managed to read Greely and what 
 the world found in his writings 
 makes me rather glad that my pen- 
 manship is no lietter Ihan his. 
 
 I am glad that sister D. secured a 
 school. She don't write me so often 
 any more. What's the matter with 
 her? If the folks at home could 
 know what happy fools it made of 
 
 pur guns, ana to see i"^"- - - ^.^ to get letters, they would write 
 
 tridge and cap \'«^^« J'^^^^^^^t^^^'every more of them and longer ones. I 
 We have inspection of arms every ^ 
 
have half a mind to confess that T 
 have had the bines for a couple of 
 days. I have had a touch of inter- 
 mittant fever. Hundreds of the boys 
 are under the care of the doctor for 
 chills and fever. We are drinking 
 water a little better than poison, and 
 the niasma of this Yazoo River is 
 getting in its work. The cannonad- 
 ing about Vicksl)urg is fiercer than 
 ever. Last night the doctor gave 
 me some infernal stuff for my fever 
 that kept me awake. It must have 
 been midnighl before I got to sleep. 
 I lay with the flap of my tent thrown 
 back watching the shells from a 
 hundred mortars, making a fiery 
 half-circle as rising like a flaming 
 rocket they circled and fell into the 
 city, then followed the explosion. 
 How can those people sleep? 1 
 should think the people of that city 
 would be perishing lor sleep. There 
 has not been an hour the three 
 weeks past Init shells have been 
 bursting in every jiart of the city. 
 There was a bunch of about fifty 
 rebs passed our camp yesterday tak- 
 en at Vicksburig in a charge upon 
 our works. They were put upon a 
 boat at this landing for transporta- 
 tion to the north. They tell awful 
 tales of hunger and want of sleep in 
 Vi(;ksburg. It takes half the people 
 all the time to put out the fires 
 started by our shells and they have 
 no flour and only horse and mule 
 meat. 
 
 They hinted that .letf Davis was 
 inside the lines. The story isn't be 
 lieved, but everybody is talking 
 about it. It pleases me that Elder 
 :\lorse likes my letters. 1 told Henry 
 what his father said about his writ- 
 ing and he merely laughed. Henry 
 Morse is sick at this time with chills 
 nnd fever. It is a common sickness 
 on this Yazoo River. 
 
 There is talk that the city will l)e 
 stormed from the entire ten miles of 
 line this week. A victory here and 
 the surrender of Pemberton would 
 open the Mississi))))i to the gulf, 
 
 then hurrah for Virginia and a 
 healthier climate. 
 
 Send me some stamps as money 
 won't buy stamps down here. Tell 
 her an aunt Dinah or a Topsy black 
 as to show her how to bake hoe 
 mother when I come back I'll bring 
 cake in the fire ])lace and roast po- 
 tatoes in hot ashes. 
 
 Love to all, Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Hd. Quarters 25th Wis. Vol., 
 Snyder's Bluff, Miss., .luly 1, 1863. 
 Dear Father: 
 
 It has been some time since writ- 
 ing you last, but we have had a busy 
 time coming and going and maneu- 
 vering, that is our regiment has been 
 on the move for more than a week 
 and no chance to write a letter nor 
 to mail one. A week ago yesterday 
 our regiment got orders to go to Cy- 
 press Bend, on the Arkansas side 
 the river 200 miles up the river to 
 capture or diperse a band of guer- 
 rillas that were firing from ambus'a 
 along the shore on the passing 
 steamers, trying to kill the pilots 
 and cripple the boats. They have 
 even fired into Hosi)ital boats that 
 were flying hospital flags. Every 
 able bodied man in our regiment, 
 about six hundred, were ordered in- 
 to line, guns and ammunition in- 
 spected. The next morning we 
 boarded the Dexter, . Mississi))pi 
 boat that reached nearly across the 
 Yazoo River, and were soon pushing 
 down toward the father of waters. 
 The idea of riding on the Mississippi 
 again and heading toward home 
 made us happy. .And we figured on 
 having a good drink soon as our boat 
 touched the muddy wafers of th« 
 big river that we somehow loved 
 just because it flowed by our homes. 
 We had just been i)aid off for two 
 months and the boys had a good fill 
 of oysters and store crackers. [ 
 only got six dollars though. I had 
 drawn some extra clothing and my 
 little thirteen dollars was cut to 
 three dollars a month It was so 
 
46 
 
 long ago I got the clothes, I began 
 to think the clothes were forgotten. 
 Uncle Sam"s Paymasters have a 
 good memory. Just as I am writing 
 this the Silver Moon, a Ya/,00 steam- 
 er, is passing up the Yazoo toward 
 Haines Bluff. She has a Calliope 
 and it is playing Nellie Gray. She is 
 loaded with hard tack and bales of 
 hay clear to the water line and her 
 half naked deck hands lying around 
 on the hay bales look like so many 
 alligators. 
 
 She gave us the right of way and 
 we pushed on down this river whose 
 water though clear and tempting we 
 dared not drink. The boys kept 
 cracking away at the alligators that 
 lay on logs and drift wood on the 
 sand banks. The scaly things would 
 flounder into the water and sink 
 oiit of sight. Some of them looked 
 to be seven or eight feet long, more 
 of them were three or four feet. 
 
 We reached Young's Point in the 
 evening and waite'l there all night 
 for some cavalry and a battery that 
 was to accompany us. We were just 
 out of cannon range of Vicksburg_ I 
 lay on the hurricane deck of our 
 boat and with my head bolstered up 
 on my knapsack so I could see. I 
 watched the fire of our gun boats in 
 sight of us down the river as broad- 
 side after broad-side was poured in- 
 to the city. Every discharge would 
 come up the river like a great roll 
 of thunder., It may seem strange 
 to you but all the first part of that 
 night I was thinking more of home 
 than of the things going on around 
 me. It seemed as if the shells from 
 the mortars went up into the clouds 
 a half mile and then would drop in a 
 circle of fire into the city of Vicks- 
 burg. They looked like meteors 
 only their track was red and they 
 would often hurst before they reach- 
 ed the ground. 1 don't think I got 
 to sleep before midnight and when 
 T woke up the sun was shining. 
 
 .Tune 26th. Our battery and Caval- 
 ry regiment came at nine o'clock 
 and at eleven o'clock we swung into 
 
 the great river with bow headed up 
 stream. Soon as we got fairly into 
 the current the boys made a rush 
 for the boiler deck to get a drink of 
 the wa^,er that came from the lakes 
 and springs of Wisconsin and Min- 
 nesota. It was dirty and muddy 
 and we saw dead nmles and cattle 
 floating by and knew that it was the 
 sewer for all the filth of the north- 
 ern states, but whether we were dry 
 or not we drank, and drank, until it 
 ran out of our nose just because it 
 came from the glorious north. 
 
 Well, all that day as we steamed 
 up the great river -ve lay round and 
 talked, dreamed and Ipafed. Ther^ 
 was scarcely a break in the deep, 
 dark forests that came right down to 
 the river bank. Our guns were 
 loaded and we had them in hand all 
 day because we were warned that 
 we might be attacked at any mo- 
 ment. We had in our fleet four 
 transports loaded with troops, and 
 three gunboats with heavy brass 
 cannon. 
 
 June 27th. The Aveather is awful- 
 ly hot. We are tied up at Cypress 
 Bend where all the attacks have 
 been made on passing vessels. Our 
 boats are tied to the Arkansas shore. 
 We had a rain last night that gave 
 us on the top a good wetting, but 
 the air this morning is cooler for 
 the rain. The gun boats anchored 
 amid stream and sent a lot of shells 
 over into the woods beyond tlie 
 plantation that lays along the shore. 
 The idea was to draw the fire of the 
 rebel forces, but nothing came of 
 our firing. The cavalry was landed 
 at noon and deployed as scouts 
 across the 1>ig bend in the river. .\t 
 seven o'clock we ran to the Missis- 
 sipi)i side and tied up for the night. 
 Ever thing was quiet for the night. 
 There Avere some ooats calling to 
 our guards as they passed during 
 the night to finfr out if the river 
 was clear to Vicksburg. Next morn- 
 ing we went on shore, both cavalry 
 and infantry under cover of our gun 
 boats. They first sent a few shells 
 
47 
 
 screaming through the tree tops a 
 mile or two inland as a sort of feel- 
 er, but getting no reply the batter- 
 ies, cavalry and infantry went 
 ashore. 
 
 This letter will be finished next 
 week. 
 
 Cypress Bend, Arkansas, 
 
 July 2nd, 1S6;J. 
 
 Dear Father; 
 
 We were deployed a good half 
 mile in line soon as we got ashore 
 in a grove of timber that lay be- 
 tween the river bank and the man- 
 sion of the planter and the village 
 of negro huts that flanked the big 
 house on the right and left. This 
 plantation worked nearly 500 slaves 
 we were told. The mansion wa.s 
 built on piers like most homes of the 
 South, ten or twelve feet above the 
 ground; the basement surrounded 
 by a lattice and serving as kitchen 
 and laundry and living place for the 
 house servants. We had orders to 
 make a oareful examination of the 
 place as It was thought the guerril- 
 las we were after had made this 
 place their headquarters. I was 
 among the first to reach the house. 
 There were no whites in sight but 1 
 saw a few scared looking black 
 faces who got out of sight as we 
 came near. Some of the boys had 
 talked with the blacks who denied 
 that there had been any rebels 
 quartered there. We knew the ne- 
 croes were lying. We found, where 
 there had been beds and lots of ash 
 heaps where ther6 had been camj) 
 fires and the tracks of horses and 
 scaitering corn fodder. Five or six 
 of us went to the stairway and 
 opened the door leading on to the 
 gallery .Tust as we stepped in the 
 wide hall, three women, an old grey 
 haired lady and two young ladies 
 came up to us and asked us not to 
 come into the house. The oldest 
 one pleaded pitifully, wringing and 
 rubbing her hands first one and then . 
 the other, and then reaching out fter ' 
 
 hands toward us as far as she could 
 urging us to stay out, all the while 
 crying and at times screaming as if 
 her heart was breaking. She said 
 her mother was sick and likely to 
 die and begged us to go away. I 
 never felt meaner m my life. The 
 Co. K. man who did the talking told 
 her we had orders to search the 
 house for rebels and w-e had to do 
 it. He tried to say something by 
 way of excuse. One of the boys 
 pushed by the girls and opened a 
 closet in the wall. The girl jumped 
 into the door and with tears stream- 
 ing down her face begged him to 
 stay out. There is nothing in here 
 she said but the wardrobe and rel- 
 ics of my dying mother. She took 
 him by the arm and pushed him 
 away and closed the door. The 
 house was soon crowded with sol- 
 diers and the door of the closet 
 opened and examined but we found 
 nothing but dresses and cloaks and 
 bonnets and blankets. I got asham- 
 ed and wished that I was out of it. 
 T went back into the big hall and 
 found a book case. I stuck Long- 
 fellow's Hiawatha in my pocket and 
 Kd Coleman and Elder Harwood 
 (how National Chaplain of the G. A. 
 R.) took turns with me reading it on 
 our return to Snyder's Bluff. When 
 I went outside I found several build- 
 ings on fire. The orders had been 
 not to set any fires, but nobody 
 cared and nobody would tell Sud- 
 denly a report came in that a body 
 of rebels had been seen by our cav- 
 alry some four miles inland. We 
 hurriedly got into line and for two 
 hours marched back through the 
 deepest, darkest forest I over saw. 
 All at once there came the ring of 
 rifles on every side.- The ranks 
 were broken and men supposed to 
 be brave as lions dodged right and 
 left, while others fired their guns 
 out of pure fright with no enemy in 
 sight. It had turned out that we 
 had stiri)rised a company of rebel 
 cavalry who were boiling coffee for 
 an afternoon lunch and after empty- 
 
48 
 
 ing their carbines at our cavalry 
 scouts and giving us a good surprise 
 they retreated in every diren'ioii 
 through the woods. U was luci<y 
 for us after all. We hail .just i)ullcd 
 ourselves together for a forward 
 march when scouts came galloi)iiig 
 up with the news that l.cOO rebels 
 under the command of Marmaduke 
 was flanking us on both sides and 
 had already i)lanted cannon on tlie 
 cross roads between us and the riv- 
 , er. Tn less time than I am telling 
 you we were counter marching at 
 double quick. We made four cross 
 roads to the big plantation and at 
 every one of them we expected to 
 be raked by rebel cannister and 
 grape. Before we reached the last 
 cross road, shells from our gun 
 boats were screaming over our 
 heads and bursting in our rear, 
 scattering de;ith amongst the relis 
 as it seemed to us letting us get 
 back into the open of cotton field of 
 the big plantation with not a man 
 lost. But it was music to hear 
 those shells ripping through the 
 tree tops on their rpission of death 
 We knew it meant our salvation 
 and death to the rebels. When we 
 got back to the big plantation we 
 found nearly all the l)uildings on 
 fire save the mansion alone. The 
 barns, gin house, saw mill, and ini- 
 rrense drying sheds, were all abla/.e 
 sending u]) columns of black smoke. 
 The cavalry that followed us told us 
 that we hnd bnrely crossed the last 
 r'ross road when the reliels planted 
 a battery not fifty rods from our line 
 of retreat so as to rake us at the 
 crossing with cannister. There is 
 no doubt our gun boats that kept up 
 a rapid fire over our heads was a 
 mighty lucky thing for us. The reb- 
 els had three men to our one and 
 knew every road and van I age point 
 but for our brass war dogs they 
 Avould have made it hot for us. We 
 boarded our boats and with oqe gun 
 boat for convoy, leaving two al the 
 bend for protection to passing ves 
 
 sels reached our old quarters on the 
 Yazoo yesterday. 
 
 Don't forget to send a paper now 
 and then. You are right when you 
 sui)pose it is hot down there. Da,n 
 hadley and Henry Morse are both 
 on the sick list and about twenty - 
 five others you don't know in I he 
 company I am glad to hear that 
 you have, help for harvest. I hope 
 mother won't need to go in the hay- 
 field this summer nor rake up grain. 
 It is too hard work and it don t seem 
 right. I loaned all my stamps and 
 I must hunt one to send this letter. 
 Love to mother and the res;. 
 
 Your bov, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Snyder's Bluff. Miss.. .Tuly 15. 186?;. 
 Hd. Quarters 2.jth Vol. 
 Dear Brother : 
 
 1 have for many days thoug'it of 
 writing to you, first because I like 
 you and second because you are not 
 writing to me as often as you ought. 
 
 Since the surrender of "Vicksbnrg 
 on the fourth of this month there 
 has been all sorts of rumors as to 
 our future movements. The late 
 battles won by the army of the Po- 
 tomac along with the victory over 
 Pemberton here at Vicksburg. some- 
 how makes us boys feel that the end 
 of the war is near. O, if you could 
 have seen and heard what T have 
 these ten days past. Pemberton had 
 nearly .'!0 thousand all surrendered 
 to Grant on the 4th of this month. 
 And they were glad to be prisoners 
 and iiaroled to go to their homes. 
 They cursed the war and called it a 
 nigger war. T heard lots of them 
 say that had never owned a nigger, 
 that they were fooled and wished 
 they had stayed at home. The bom- 
 bardment of Vicksburg the night of 
 the surrender was fearful. The 
 clouds above the city looked blond 
 red as if they were all on fire. Th« 
 Thunder of the cannon for two or 
 three nights and the rumor of sur- 
 render kept us awake. We, that were 
 rather on the sick list with chills 
 
49 
 
 and fe.ver. were pre' ^\ ; ii <ious at 
 tile reports that the '•r' i<l General 
 loliiii-on was daily preparin.u; to ::' 
 fru-R lis. ' Since the b^iiiender "'- 
 Iroops by brigades -^"-i dlvis'-j" : 
 have gradually withdrawn. .\11 this 
 means tliat the danger of attack is 
 past. 
 
 . \\niile 1 ani writing this lettei- our 
 scouts have l.rought in word that 
 file rebel General .Tohnaon has been 
 bapKPd with OHOUU trooi)s. Some of 
 the boys are wild over the news, 
 others simply, smile and say it's 
 nothing but a false runio'-. • Whether 
 it is true or false you will know by 
 the papers before this reaches you. 
 
 Some of the boys were down to 
 the city of Vicksburg to-day. They 
 Slid It was a pretty nice place, Vnit 
 it was badly shot up. Nearly half 
 tlie town had been burned and the 
 streets were torn up bv our shells. 
 It costs twenty dollars in confeder- 
 :'ti> money to get a meal, and one 
 d'lllar In U. S. Greenbacks. The 
 darkies were filling un the town and 
 grinning and showing their whito 
 tc(>th at every corner. Grey headed 
 I'iggpis and pretty rpiardoons begged 
 the sf)ldiers for money and blessed 
 .\braliam Lincoln for sending them 
 south to make them free. Most of 
 the bnvs hate the blacks and sav 
 liRrd thinsis about them. T never 
 fon ff^rret tbnt father tohl me at .\^r, 
 Fulb>r's Place when T got in the 
 \Mig(ui after that awful trood dinner, 
 to £ro to .Mma. ^ou remember it 
 brother W. He said, if you evev 
 get a chance, niv boy. taVp e'ood aim 
 and shoot twice to free the black, 
 while shooting once for the TTnion. 
 
 T don't dare sav anythina like th'.=; 
 to the bovs. because tbev woull 
 laiii^h at me. But T have read enough 
 to know that Pbitiips was ri^bt and 
 Garrison was rirbt and he thouerht 
 as thev did. .\nd T thought for days 
 after going to T a Crosse of tPc tears 
 T saw in his eves as he asked nio 
 alwavs to remember the slave. 
 
 Well, brother, to change the suh- 
 iect. have yon killed any prairie 
 chicks tliis summer? It is nearlv 
 
 time for pigeons again. Good Lord, 
 how I hope I can be with you to eat 
 ypeckled trout and iirairie chicks 
 his fall. 
 
 I am writing this upon my b'lck. 
 The doctor gave me something for 
 my fever that makes my head whirl. 
 f\"hen he came to my tent this 
 morning I asked him if I was very 
 sick. When I told him T was seven- 
 teen he said, you ought to have be(?n 
 thrashed and keiJt at home two 
 years longer. 1 told the doctor that 
 he looked sick himself, and he ad- 
 mitted he Was not; feeling well. 
 (This doctor diod within ten days of 
 the date of this letter.) 
 
 Say, how are the neighbors com- 
 ing? How does Geo. Cartwrlght be- 
 have? Does he ana uncle Ed. cook 
 up twice as much hay as you and 
 father? What doe« Edward Cass 
 busy himself about? Has he and 
 father got that big tield fenced in 
 yet? And Maggie C, is she as pretty 
 and haughty as ever? How does 
 Tim Pierce prosper this summer? 
 Has he commenced that brick house 
 he never tired of tolling about? T 
 sometimes wish lightning had struck 
 that man. father then might have 
 got a better farm. Pierce took fath- 
 f^r in just because he was too honest. 
 no the cows break in the fields any 
 tin's summer? Does mother make 
 lots of cheese and butter? Great 
 heavens, what butter and cheese 
 mother could make. When those 
 people from St. Louis c^ame through 
 there and praised mother's bread 
 and butter T thouirht they were fool- 
 ing, but now. I know they were tell- 
 •ng the truth. Well, I have got some 
 soft bread to-day noon, some biscuit 
 T bought of a settler. .And I have 
 sojne butter 1 paid -jft conts for and 
 some coffee. Dfm't you think I hare 
 a first rate suiiper? .lust like the 
 little boy in the third render who 
 was happy over his porridge alone 
 when he discovered that evprythin.>;: 
 else of the meal ha.d been stolen. 
 
 T.ove to yourself, father, mother 
 and sister H. Vour brother. 
 
 CHATTKCRY. 
 
Suvder Bluff. Misfj., July 19, 1863. 
 25111 Kegt. Wis. Vol. luft. 
 Dear SiMer: 
 
 1 got your much valued IfettPr 
 t-oiUainlng your iikeneMS tit^arly two 
 \\ct>k9 ago. 1 Was pretty sick if 
 that time with tlie fever, the Ya/oo 
 Tever. SiJice then T have written 
 home. Just two weeks ago I was 
 taken with the chills the clay after 
 the fall of VMcksburg. But 1 ain't 
 alone, there are thousands alom* 
 this river of death, that's what th(^ 
 boys have named the Yazoo, thai 
 are on their back« just like me. 
 
 The Qoctor hSH knocked the ohM!'! 
 for the time at least, though they 
 have made me weak. Dan Hadley 
 and Bill .\nder3on look in on m^ 
 once in a while to see that I want 
 for nothing. All the other boya that 
 are well have their patients too. 
 Kvery fellow has his chum to wait 
 on him. It rained night before las' 
 and all day yesterdiiy and there was 
 a hot steam ri.sing from the groun.l. 
 But it settled the dust and the mov- 
 ing troops don't kick up any dust. 
 We can hear the scream of boats on 
 the Afississippi and Yazoo night and 
 day. Troops are being ship'M^d un 
 aij'l down the river noints fast n ; 
 boats can get here, flpveral battp- 
 ies liave passed to-day with six and 
 eight big sleek horses to each gun. 
 The gunnerfi were laughing and 
 ^•ailing to one another like a bunch 
 of school boys. Moving infantry is 
 constantly in sight, .\ regiment of 
 cHvalry is just now trotting slowly 
 by. Their salier scabboards freshlv 
 scoured look Itright in the sun nul 
 their horses after their long rest are 
 acting pretty wild. I often wish 1 
 had got transferred to the cavalry 
 like Kd. Cartwright did :it the fir-t, 
 There is a little more danger but 
 you don't have to Avalk and that 
 saves a soldier a lot. 
 
 They are fitting out sonin Hpsi)ital 
 boats and after the troors fit for 
 service are transiiorto'l the sick and 
 convalescent will he taken to North- 
 ern hospitals. 1 hear that some 
 three huncjred in our regiment are 
 
 TI-o night 
 
 »0 
 
 ■ •■ ■. - "■ - 
 
 to be put on. I dont know whether 
 I fall within that last or not. but t 
 feat* i &0 
 
 Th& doctor says we can't recruit 
 in this hot climate but must get 
 farther north. Wo are looking for 
 marching orders atiy day. frr some 
 point up the ri\rr r»e far as Mem 
 phis. Tenn.. or ijerha-i,'^' to Kentucky. 
 Mensus Buniii has jiit been in. to 
 see me. He p^aid ! nifi'le myf4flf pi 'l< 
 by eating a Mtoll* ("'M o! 
 What n^ mea-it wa."* tbi 
 we went on hoard for Cypress !V-^ 1. 
 , we had just ha'J c;:- pay and th.» 
 I boys were b'mrrv ♦'^r n'^Tc ^i^Vq f 
 j l>ought a can of oy.-ters took it on 
 the boat for fear the boys would 
 steal it from me when I was asleep. 
 (\te it all up that night. T knew it 
 WHS too much hut I never thought 
 oysters would hurt a fellow. 
 
 Sister D. your picture suits me to 
 a dot. Your face never looked so 
 fco'l to me before and your letters, 
 sav my dear girl, you have a won- 
 derful k n a c k of telling things. 
 Mother alwavs said you were fath- 
 er's Rirl. I shall be glad when T can 
 ('o as we'! as you. Yon remember 
 Mr. Rosman used to say T was al- 
 wa- s chi'-'ning in when you tried to 
 tc'l somethins; a.lout catching trout 
 or I'^out father's shooting a deer or 
 a bear. Well, sonietbings you would 
 fo»-:Tet. and T tried to help you out. 
 Sav. .sistf'r I haven't forgot how you 
 WfM'ld p"iM me for these thing.=? 
 wheTi wp would be going back over 
 the hill liome the next day. Laying 
 here on mr hack under a tent of thin 
 cotton cloth, under a hot southern 
 sun T can't help thinking, thinking, 
 thinking. 
 
 Pay, f'v Oeorpe. how T wish I could 
 have some of that strawberry short 
 cake. Tyaivl of Goshen. T can tast.» 
 it now. We have no strawberr'es 
 lilt oceans of blackberries. Wo 
 have nlentv of sugar to go with 
 them but no cream. 
 
 Well it's getting dull here, most 
 of the troops in sight save our Bri- 
 gade have gone north or out to fol- 
 low up the Rebel Johnson's scatter- 
 
61 
 
 ed army. It has been sj cjniet and 
 still shice the surrender of Vickcs- 
 I)urgh it seeras dull enough. It is 
 only three miles to th(> i ar and V": 
 l)oys that are able run ''i often ;t~ 
 they can get a pass. 
 
 The black freednien are coniin.? 
 in from the country by the thousand 
 and going north to enlist. Several 
 men from our regiment have offered 
 to go OS officers in the black regi- 
 ments. They are doing with the 
 R'ftves just what Gen. Freemont 
 asked Lincoln to do at the beginning 
 of the war. This is. set the blacks 
 free and make soldler.'a of them, ff 
 you had not sent me stamps, I could 
 not send you this letter. I am glad 
 yon like your school. Only look out 
 for the fellow who lives so near. 
 You should go home as often as 
 po.4Hil>le and help mother and take 
 <are of sister E. They say she is a 
 dreadful nice girl. Wonder if she 
 isn't a bit like her older brothe '. 
 Sorry f offended i)retty Maggie Cass 
 when I wrote her the bla'^k people 
 were human beings and had souls. 
 So she says she wont write me anv 
 more? Well unless I run against ;i 
 rebel bullet or a hard dcse of Yazoo 
 fever I'll try and outlive her f^corn. 
 
 Sam T.oomis's company is camn- 
 ing about two miles from here 11*? 
 comes down once in a while to visit 
 uss. He looks i)retty thin but his 
 duties as commissary are pretty 
 light so he ought to stand it. I most 
 forgot to tell you, Henry Morse an*! 
 Daniel Hrylley have l)een aick for 
 the last six weeks. They have been 
 getting lietter. O, how did you pass 
 the Uh of .July? I was on picker 
 duty that day though sick enough to 
 be in bed. It's the fashion of sol- 
 diers to run on comrades who com- 
 plain of lieing sick. They call it 
 playing off. T have noticed that the 
 fellows that do that kind of jibing 
 are infernal cowards themselves. T 
 have learned that the Dutch boys 
 make the bravest soldiers. They 
 don't do any bragging and they are 
 ready for service no matter how 
 djingerous. Is there any one work- 
 
 ing your 80 this summer? I am 
 thinking what a fine farm my 40 ai>d 
 'Our xo would make together. 
 
 If Myra Amidou ever asks you. 
 whether or not 1 received that letter 
 she and you w^rote in company, toll 
 her I did of course and answered It 
 and directed to you. If she wants 
 an answer tell her to write on her 
 own hook and I'll be glad to answer. 
 Tell her I owe her a grudge for beat- 
 ing me at that foot race through the 
 cornfield to the house. My heavens 
 how that girl can run. Myra has 
 the nicest blue eyes I ever saw. 
 How easy it is to write and write of 
 friends and dear ones at home. 
 You will be tired when you read all 
 this, and I must quit. Kiss mother 
 for me and save one for yourself. 
 Youv brother, 
 CHAUNCRY. 
 
 Snyder's Bluff, Miss.. .July 25. ]8«?.. 
 
 Hd. Quarters 2oth Regt., Wis. Vol. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 T feel just like writing you to-day. 
 I am sitting in the shade of a big 
 Cyiiress tree, on the banks of ],he 
 Ya/.oo. Looking across the river f 
 can see on some flood trash, two 
 black things looking like alligators. 
 They don't move and I am not sure. 
 There is a pretty spring just below 
 where T sit and a sign over it which 
 says, "Don't drink this water, poi- 
 Hon." It is as big as tlie spring at 
 the head of our spring and as pure 
 looking. It seems strange that we 
 cannot drink out of the springs here 
 that look just as they do in Wiscon- 
 sin. Some of the boys don't mind 
 the sign. Some that are burning un 
 with fever and thirst manage to 
 stagger down here and fill up with 
 writer and .go back to their tents 
 and die. Say mother, what would 
 you think if T should say I have some 
 times wished when the fever made 
 me so hot T could hardly stand Jt 
 that I could go to sleep and never 
 wake up till the war was over. Now 
 this may sound kind of weak for a 
 soldier. 
 
but T am 116 ct)Xvard, mother. T 
 'don't co^n*6 ttom that kind of stock 
 *! reiVi^^^liber how you put the gun at 
 ♦h^ head^of your bed whei\ father 
 \vas gone to Fount«iVi City, ready to 
 use it if Ilidlft'MS anould come or 
 wild aftimals attack ^\e cattle, .^nd 
 TatliiSeP came home and he would pai 
 o*a>J on the back and say "you are 
 just the slrl for a pioneer's wife, f 
 remember th^^se things mother, and 
 under »U circumstances 1 shall nev- 
 «^v foi'K^t that my father and mothef 
 M<ii^ brave people. 
 
 ^ wrote brother "VVai-ifeil the day 
 I efore getting your letter so I have 
 delayed answering yours. I am a 
 gr^l deal bttter from chills and n 
 ssort of intermittent fever. T have 
 \)<e'ett taking quinine wblch seems lo 
 hAX^ broken the chills. I am thank- 
 t^^^ it is not th-it other kind of fever 
 *that is killing off tjie boys so fast. 
 -2:! niett have lately died out of o\ir 
 'regih\eut. There are only about 100 
 ineii out of the regiment fit to do 
 tiuty. 
 
 Thank goodness we are about done 
 with this part of the south. The re- 
 port now is that our entire Brigade 
 will go 4>o \iomphis and on up tho 
 Tennessee where a northern soldier 
 can live. Two regiments of our bri- 
 gade have already left, the '.',r(\ 
 31inn. and the 40th Iowa. The 27tb 
 "Wis. and our regiment will leave 
 Roon and then hurrah for a healthier 
 climate. The rebel Gen. .Johnson 
 and his Butternut hand have skeda- 
 dled to parts unknown. Of course 
 you b-',ve bcird o*" the rctrent of 
 Gens. J.ee and Bragg, and of the 
 rinf of the mob in New York Gitv 
 and the biiniing of negro asvlums 
 and school bouses. Thf't mob up- 
 rising looked 1 ad for the north. It 
 was a Democratic crowd in sympa 
 thy. with the south. Tost what blood, 
 time and treasure it mny, the T'nion 
 win yet win out. 
 
 We were iiaid off the other day. 
 and to my surjirise nothing was tak- 
 en out for extra clothes drawn. 
 
 Maybe they will takPi H odl laier. 
 \V6 got full p'iy, $26, 
 
 This makes twice we have drawn 
 pay at this place. You ask what 
 general it was tb;jt ordered that 
 killing retrea'. for. r»>tr?>flt it v^as. 
 from SalaftiH in Ikincs Bl'iff? (t 
 wft9 tieherai Kemball. a Potomac 
 General, wl o i« now actin;.: General 
 for our coris. ^^■e .re not in love 
 with him, and son.e of the 1 oys s;iy 
 be will get shot hy hiw nxvn nii>tt th^ 
 first fight wu fv'f i'hIU. ll is tSnie for 
 rol' call aii'l as 1 '»m not excu,. ■ ' ! 
 must quit r.iid go !.:.ck to camp. 
 
 Love lo I'ntb.c-r r.nl "i;^ rc'». 
 Your Son, 
 €HAU^*C'B:V, 
 
 ( Snyders Bluff. :Miss., .luly 28, 1863, 
 Hd.Quarters Wis. Regl. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 Your last letter at hand. Ther(? is 
 no medic'ne like a letter i'vom homtv 
 Let me tell you niotht^r it does a fal- 
 low a lot of good, 1 am glad you 
 are having such success with the 
 hees. Tt makes niy mouth water for 
 biscuit and honey. I wish you wo'.ild 
 not take so many chances of getting 
 st''ng. YoH ought to wear a veil of 
 cb<c!sc cloth over your face. Don't 
 think so much of me. f am all right. 
 We ba\e p i)!cMity to eat. By payinw 
 a good riund pric»; we can get al- 
 most an>t'iin.!v good to eat. 1 wi^h 
 you would think more of yourself. 
 When I see you in my sleep working 
 in the hayfield helprng to get up the 
 hay it troubles me. 1 suppose as 
 vou say that help is hard to get and 
 may be there is no other way. I am 
 careful you may be sure what I eat. 
 Our dainties we get of the sutler, 
 -^nd it is nearly all In (lans. I eat a 
 'oi of oystprs and 1 find them good 
 •'nr me. Tliat deer that father killed 
 '■■nist have come in good play. Don't 
 ■:noiI your relish for it by constantiv 
 'biiikiua- of me. I told you T am all 
 '•■ght. When 1 get a dish of oys'ers 
 ' always think how fond father is of 
 ♦hem. 
 
 You say they are going to get rich 
 
 *in Bennet Vwlley where father 
 
bought that forty for Die. Well I am 
 bappy to know that. It may be they 
 will have use for a part of it when 
 the next recruiting offlcer comes that 
 way. Nor will he, likely as not. 
 waste his eloquence in trying to 
 coax them to enlist as .J. A. Brackett 
 did when I enlisted. He will like as 
 not tell them to furnish so many 
 men or stand a draft." 
 
 This war ain't over yet. There 
 may be a lot of money paid out for 
 substitutes yet. .lust think of it, 
 they are payinK as high as a thou- 
 sand dollars for substkutes in many 
 of the Slates. It all means that peo- 
 ple are getting tired of the fiissy 
 way the war is being carried on. If 
 the slaves had been declared free 
 right at the start just as lather said 
 and put into the ranks to fight the 
 war might have ended long ago. I 
 see by the papers there are fifty 
 thousand freedmen under arm and 
 they are doing good servicft. The 
 poor black devils are fighting for 
 their wives and children, yes and 
 for their lives, while we white cusseii 
 are fighting for as Capt. Darwin 
 calls an idea, 1 tell the boys right to 
 their face 1 am in the war for the 
 freedom of the slave. When they 
 talk about the saving of the Union 
 I tell them that is Dutch to me. I 
 am for helping the slaves if the Un- 
 ion goes to smash. .Most of the boys 
 have their laugh at me for helping 
 the "Niggers" but Elder Harwood 
 and Ed Colemon and .Julius Parr and 
 .loel Harmon andChet Ide, the last 
 t'wo of Mondovi. tell nie 1 aTu right 
 in my argument. 
 
 1 am sorry father lost tha: deer. 
 He should take old Prince to help 
 him next time. It Is too bad to 
 wound a deer for the wolves to catch 
 and eat up in that way. 
 
 We have fresh beef all the time 
 since the surrender. These canf^ 
 brakes are full of half wild cattle, 
 and they are fat as butter. 
 
 1 thank brother W. for sending me 
 those stamps. 1 will send him a 
 book when 1 get to Memphis. Moth- 
 er, I wish you would send me a small ! 
 
 package of butter by Lieut. McKay, 
 who is home on furlough for thirty 
 days. I like John McKay. He is a 
 good man. He is a good officer and 
 fair to his men. His wife, I think, 
 is in .Modena, where he enllBted, 
 You will see a notice of his arrival 
 In the .\lma -Journal. Eor the can 
 of l)utter you send I want you to re- 
 serve a ten dollar greenback for 
 your own especial use out of the 
 sum I send you. Good bye Dear 
 .Mother. Your boy, 
 
 CHAl'NCEY. 
 
 Helena, Ark., August 8, 1863. 
 2.^th Wis. Hd. Quarters. 
 Dear Parents: 
 
 The expected move came at last. 
 .\fter four days of steaming and 
 tugging and puffing and groaning, 
 we find ourselves camped near 
 Helena, Arkansas, on the banks of 
 the old -Mississippi. Uor nearly four 
 days the wheels of the brave old 
 boat went round and round stem- 
 ming the muddy water of the dear 
 old river. \A'e were glad to know 
 that every hour brought us nearer 
 to good drinking watfer and pure air. 
 
 All the 27th and 2Sth pf July the 
 ambulances were busy picking up 
 and carrying the sick to the hospi- 
 tal boats. The bands on the boats 
 kept up their playing so as to give 
 the sifk fellows courage. The even- 
 ing of the 2.'Nth our' regiment, reduc- 
 ed to TOO men, marched on to an old 
 vessel that had Veen used as a block- 
 ade runner, and as you may suppose 
 it was fall of holes bored through 
 and through. Well we had not been 
 on l)oard an hour before the rain and 
 wind began to pour upon us from 
 above and from all sides. It was a 
 regular cloud burst. The fellows on 
 tlie ujjper deck were soaked and flo 
 were all of us below decks. The wa- 
 ter iioured through every seam and 
 hole. 
 
 We lay at the landing all night. 
 We ,aot under way down stream 
 early in the morning and about ten 
 o'clock our old shaky craft turned 
 its nose up the muddy current of the 
 
3J 
 
 Father of Watere. Every fellow that 
 could get a string lowered his coffee 
 ran for a drink of water. The boys 
 would smack their lipH and say the 
 dirt In it tasted like Wisconsin dirt. 
 Heachlng L a k e Providenf;e that 
 evening it was decided to transfer 
 three companieH to another boat, as 
 our loat was overloaded and threat- 
 ening to fiink. Companies B., (' 
 and F. went ashore to follov/ on the 
 next boat. We pushed on with d 
 more comfortable feeling The next 
 day I had a turn of fever ae did a 
 hundred others, on account of sleep- 
 ing in wet clotheB. I fixed that after 
 a while with a dose of quinine ani 
 brandy, put up for me by the stew- 
 ard. Our vessel was old and rickety 
 and made slow headway. 
 
 The faithful old craft panted, toil- 
 ed and groaned its onward wav 
 toward the north star. We laid up 
 alongside the shore two nights. And 
 except to stop now and then for 
 wood, there was no excitement. We 
 alopped one night opposite a l;ig 
 peaeh orchard. Got peaches and 
 chickens enough to make us uearh- 
 all sick and confiscated sixty muh^s. 
 There are few towns alony on elt er 
 Bide and the forests come right down 
 to the Bhore and look as wild an.i 
 dark as they did when the French 
 Jesuits visited the river two hun- 
 dred years ago. Helena is not so 
 far up as we had hoped to so. Soon 
 as the remainder of our regiment 
 gets here we expect to be sent to 
 Jdemphls, Tenn., a hundred mllen 
 farther north. 
 
 We are camped under soine hi:; 
 trees close to the shore, and we like 
 it much better than on the miserable 
 ^'a/.oo. \^'e can buy stuff here for 
 less money than at NMcksburg. 1 
 should judge there were 15,000 
 troops at this place. They expect. 
 Gen. Price to attack this place any 
 day. He Is a foxy old war dog and 
 may pop up any day. Let him comi', 
 h^ won't catch our commander Gen. 
 l^rentlsB asleep. They say Prentiss 
 Always sleeps with one eye open. 
 
 While I am writing William 
 
 ' Thomas of Mondovj. is sitting on a 
 
 { bench beside me. The poor fellow 
 
 is dead home sick. He looks very 
 
 bad. He watches the steam boats 
 
 passing up the river and wishes he 
 
 I i..it,at get a pass to .i-'o home on nn» 
 
 I <M them. 
 
 -Mensiis Bump came round awhile 
 ago and treated us all to n cup of 
 milk punch, that is milk and whisky. 
 .•\11 the sick boys got some. It pret- 
 ty near laid me out as it did a lot of 
 others. It is a cold morning for this 
 country and 1 dropped my paper and 
 went over by the fire, and the heat 
 made me dizzy. iJan Hadley and 
 Obe Hilliard said it was better than 
 cpiinine and they just as leave lake 
 some every day. 
 
 ^^'ell father, what do you think of 
 the war anyway? It seems the rebs 
 are trying to make an alliance wiMi 
 France, and make Xapoleon Dicta- 
 tor, or something. Anyway to get 
 the French to help. The South ain't 
 licked yet, and we may be in for x 
 lot of trouble yet. We get the daily 
 papers from Memphis, and so keep 
 posted. Have you got a letter advis- 
 ing you of the check 1 sent you of 
 forty dollars? A load of Butternuts, 
 rebel prisoners, is just passing on 
 the steamer Hope, bound for the 
 north. They will get into some pris- 
 on, get full rations, get strong and 
 be exchanged for our boys that have 
 been starved and unfit for service. 
 
 Father, I often think of the three 
 hundred thousand Catalines, as yo.i 
 called them, that brought on this 
 war just because they could not run 
 this government in the interest of 
 shivery. It is only slave holders 
 that fill the offices in the southern 
 army. It is the poor white trash 
 that even the darkies look down up- 
 on that fill the ranks and take the 
 bnmt of the fight. Poor devils, they 
 don't know that they are fighting for 
 a rich aristocracy that despises, 
 them. 
 
 I don't know n'^out your taking 
 that Pierce darkev to work for you. 
 Some of them are the worst liars 
 and thieves in the world. Be care- 
 
&g 
 
 I'* 
 
 tul. We soldiers have lots of deal- 
 ings with them. They aeem nice 
 eoough to me and honest, but it is 
 elttlmed they are awfully dishonest. 
 When they are faced with the facts 
 of their lying they put on the most 
 jiltiful look of innocence. 1 am try- 
 ing to find exfuses for them when I 
 remember what you told me aboiv 
 them. 1 don't doubt but tiie whites 
 would be liars and thieves too if 
 they had been slaves for two hun- 
 dred years. Whatever 1 think T 
 won't side with the boys that are 
 abusing them. This I do notice, the 
 boys that 1 think the best and like 
 the best say the least acainst the 
 blacks. 
 
 Heretifter direct to Cairo. Mail 
 will be forwarded from there. 
 Your son, 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Helena. Ark.. Hd. Quarters. 
 25th Wis. AugUHt fith, 18(i3. 
 Dear Father: 
 
 1 wrote to you but three days ago, 
 but I am glad for an excuse to write 
 to you again. I got your last letter 
 with the extract from the New York 
 Tribune enclosed. 1 am not sur- 
 prised that old CJreely, as the boys 
 c.'ill him, would have something to 
 say about the New York riot. lie 
 feels terribly because of the late 
 riots against thp negroes in New- 
 York City. 
 
 I showpid the extract to Dv.yer. an 
 frlNlimau in our comi^any. a real 
 good fellow, and one of my best 
 friends. He said O'Connell himself 
 could not m;tke the Irish like "Nig 
 gers.'" He said, when O'Connell 
 talked to the Irish in Ireland about 
 Liberty, it was nil ripht. but it wa.? 
 asking too mucli for OTonnell or 
 anybody else to (Igni for the libertv 
 of tho nigger. He did l)!ame the 
 Irish though, for their i)iirt in burn- 
 ing the Schools and asvlun.s of the 
 blacks in New York Titv. The boy.-, 
 had been talking this thing over a 
 s-ood deal since the New York riot 
 It must have hurt Wendell Phillip^: 
 
 dreadfully after all the handsome 
 ihings he has said about O'Connell 
 and English oppression of the Irls'.i 
 nation to see them so bitterly op- 
 posed to the freedom of the slave. 
 
 1 told Dwyer I didn't see how he 
 01- any other Irishman could feel 
 kindly toward the south, that hai 
 never made them welcome nor had 
 fliey treated any Toreign people a^ 
 kindly as we had done in the north. 
 Their pajiers were always sneering 
 at the Dutch or Hessians, the Jews 
 and the Irish. 
 
 Dwyer said, the Irish dont hate 
 the Nigger l)ecause he is black but 
 because he won't fight. The Irish 
 like a fighter. Dwyer has always 
 cursed Lincoln because he was so 
 slow to enlist the blacks in the 
 army. 1 don't knmv but he was 
 right. Lincoln seems to be a good 
 man but he is slow. Things seem to 
 be in a terrible jangle at \\'a8hlng- 
 ton. There is so much jealousy 
 among the officers and backbiting to 
 Lincoln that the poor fellow don't 
 know who to trust. The Vlcksburg 
 papers up to the time of the surren- 
 der, were ulways sneering at the 
 Yankees and saying that if the 
 South was l)eaten it would be owing 
 to the foreign hirelings, that we 
 wei-e l)ringing in by the ship load, to 
 fill up our ranks. Most of their 
 siiite is against the Germans, whom 
 they call Hessian.s. 
 
 Well, so much for the comments in 
 the Tr'bune extract you sent me. I 
 have little to say about our doing« 
 here. Most of us are sick. We 
 ■dimply lay round and sleep and 
 Ireani and gaze out on the big river 
 that never stoos but flows on and 
 on towiird the gulf, .lust below our 
 ;ami) is a big flat boat loaded with 
 •ce. They came from tho Ohio. 
 Tliey ask five cents for enough ice 
 'o cool a drink of water. There is 
 a lot of cows In the edge of town 
 Tnd the boys milk them everv day 
 Thomi)son Pratt and Obed lillliard 
 brought me some milk the dav be- 
 ore yesterday. I ! ought a pound of 
 
St 
 
 i(.e and cooled it and with liard tat-k 
 tor iTread I liad a royal good ineal. 
 
 Say. how are things at home 01' 
 course you are having veniscn these 
 days and plenty of trout. Oive old 
 Frlnce a good htig I'or me. Dear 
 old dog. I often think of the days 
 and nights we hunted toget'ier. 1 
 never feared anything the darkest 
 night that ever bleAv when out in the 
 hills with old Prince snugged up in 
 the blanket beside me. He Las been 
 the dearest friend of my boyhood 
 and if anything happens to liim l)ury 
 him on the big hill and 1 will nuirk 
 his grave if I fome back. Tell moth 
 er never mind sending the butter. 
 It's too fearful hot. There is a ru- 
 mor that a lot of our regiment will 
 be sent to- the hospitals at Memphi-s 
 soon. 1 liate to think that I may hi 
 one of that number. 1 think I am 
 feeling better since the weather got 
 cooler. Love to all, 
 
 Your son, 
 
 OHAUNCEY 
 
 Helena, Arkansas, August 14, 186.">. 
 Pear Mother: 
 
 Your favor with father's came 'o 
 day. It seems a long time between 
 letters, I read them over and over. 
 They are the second 1 have had 
 since we came to this miserable 
 town. The sallow faced natives 
 here call it Arkansaw. I don't blame 
 them. Any kind of a name is good 
 enough for such a dismally Hat sick- 
 ly country. I have had a touch oi' 
 chills twice the last week. Our 
 Regiment has moved again nearer 
 the river and nights when all is still 
 I can hear the swash of the waves 
 along the shore. There are a lot o;' 
 boats passing day and night and all 
 up the river boats are loaded with 
 Grant's soldiers bound for the Ten- 
 nessee and Potomac campaigns. If 
 looks as if we are to hold this placi! 
 for some time. Our duty being to 
 stand provost guard on city patrols 
 The most of the troops here a week 
 ago have been ordered out to gan*i- 
 son Little Rock. 
 
 The war cloud that has been loom- 
 ing up in Arkansaw has about van- 
 ished. It looks as if the rebs can- 
 not muster force enough to make a 
 stand. 
 
 Tl.e darkies are bringing in lol:-; of 
 ii.it and selling it to the .soldiers 
 They buy it of their former masters 
 and "tote" it down on their heads. 
 1 am eating sparingly of green fruit. 
 
 So father's contraband (negro) 
 has left him so soon. Well, you re- 
 member wluit I told y>)U aljout their 
 tricks. Makin.g them free has rat- 
 tled them. They think they have 
 nothing to do now but play the ban- 
 jo and dance .ju' a. Tlxey are a fun- 
 ny race and no mlbtake. I like to 
 hear them laugh. 
 
 1 am sorry that the corn crop is 
 likely to fail. Perhaps the frost has 
 not spoiled it all. What in the world 
 can you do with the pigs? If it 
 wasn't for the wolves you could 
 turn them on the hills to eat acorns. 
 
 It gives me the blues that you are 
 having such poor crops. And so 
 Indian Charley and his band don't 
 come back this summer as he used 
 to with bear meat and venison. V\'ell 
 athat means better hunting this fa'l 
 for you. But what Jias become of 
 poor Charley and his family? I am 
 so afraid he was killed in Minneso- 
 ta last summer or he killed some- 
 body himself, some white man, and 
 has gone west with the rest of the 
 Sioux. You know Mother, I can 
 never forget Charley. He was al- 
 ways good to us when during the 
 first years no whites lived near us 
 .and his band might have scalped us 
 ••■ll and nobody would have known it 
 for months after. 
 
 So Mr. Cripps got his rifle back 
 from Indian Curley. That proves 
 to my mind that Curley never was 
 in the .Minnesota massacre. If he 
 had i)een be would never have 
 showed lU). it jiroves another thing. 
 It proves tliat ludiuns are honest 
 when they are dealing with honest 
 Meoiile. It would have been a wick- 
 ed thing if Cripps had shot Curley 
 
S7 
 
 on K'.ispicion that he had used his ri- 
 de shooting whites in Minnesota. It 
 was to save his own life tliat he 
 stayed away this lonp. He Itnew 
 the whites were wjld over the Sioux 
 war and ready to shoot any red man 
 on night. I see by the paper yo'.i 
 sent me, that every Sioux has been 
 driven from ]Minnesota their homo 
 for generations. What's tlie mat- 
 ter with the white race? Why could- 
 
 and glad that he was sent with me 
 to the same hospital. Bill is a big, 
 rough fellow but he was nice to us 
 younger boys. He often came round 
 and brought me tilings to eat an,I 
 drink when he w-as sicit himseli'. 
 He is looking very bad just now but 
 he says it's a "damned lie, I'm all 
 right." Ciood hearted BUI. 
 
 Well, we got here In the night 
 and in a heavy rain and in the mud. 
 
 nt they live with the Indians around j They had a time with their fat pine 
 them as we have done all these .torches, getting us straightened 
 
 years in peace and friendship? 
 
 Vou see mother 1 have nothing 
 II round here to write about of inter- 
 est. 1 like better to talk a'iout home 
 matters. 
 
 Poor William Thomas of .Mondovi 
 is very low and they say he cannot 
 live, ^\^^at seems strange, the doc- 
 tor says it is homesickness that is 
 killing him. . Dan Hadley and Obe 
 Hilliard have just dropped in with a 
 melon just to tease me. They know 
 1 can't eat such stuff. D.nn says to 
 remember him to the Tiilmanton 
 girls. 
 
 Oood bye mother hi\(\ father. 
 
 Tour son, 
 ClTArNCEl'. 
 
 P. S. — I had sealed this letter, and 
 have opened it to say that our Or- 
 derly has just notified me that T am 
 on the list to go to Memphis day 
 after to-morrow, to the General hos- 
 pital. I hate to think of it. but no 
 doubt it will be the best place to re- 
 cruit. Will write when I start. — C. 
 
 Qayoso General Hospital. 
 Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 21. ixil.'] 
 Dear Parents : 
 
 I had hoped never to write you as 
 the inmate of a hos!)ital but I could 
 n't helu it. Day before yesterday fW) 
 from Helena, that is Helena, Arka« 
 sas. were landed here In Memphi? 
 from the hospital steamer, Oood 
 Hope. There were more than a 
 hundred and forty from my regi- 
 ment. A lot from my company be- 
 side myself. 1 was glad Bill .\nder 
 
 son of Durand was In our crowd. J for his mother, and between hU 
 
 round and separated into five bunch 
 es and sent to as many hospitals. 
 
 I carried my gun and belts from 
 the lan.'iing. but a ')ig negro grabl ed 
 my kuai)sMck and four or five other.^ 
 and lugged them to the hospital. 
 
 The ffayso Hospital is a big build- 
 ing on second street, looking out u|i 
 on the river, 1 am all alone in my 
 ward which is 7. That is there are 
 no other soldiers in it that 1 know. 
 There are 28 sick and wounded in 
 the ward beside.s myself. I will fin- 
 ish this letter in the morning. 
 
 August 22nd. I had a nice bed, 
 but somehow the ga.s lights or souie 
 thing kept me awake. My nurse, i 
 great V)ig woman with a kind face, 
 brought me a clean pair of drawers 
 and shirt and told me to take off 
 ■everything and |)ut them on, and sat 
 lown on the bed l^eside me as if she 
 expected me to striii right before 
 her. 1 didn't know what to do 
 Presently she got up and said, have 
 vour clothes tied up, I'll be hack in 
 ten minutes and carr.v them out to 
 ^he wash room.'' When she went 
 out I skiivned off every thing quicv 
 ns I could and got into the clean 
 hirt and drawers and into bed 
 ihout a minute before she got '^ack. 
 She didn't say a word but wrote out 
 a check with my number, put it into 
 my stand drawer, and pinned a du 
 tlicate on my clothes and carried 
 them awav. 
 
 August 2:lrd. I slept until about 
 three this morning. A poor fellow 
 about that time commenced calling 
 
it 
 
 moanings there was little quiet in coming and going up and down river, 
 the ward. The nurse after awhile Had nothing on but my shirt and 
 would come again. $he would ar- drawers. Nurse came and walked 
 rauKe and smooth back" his hair ar.d with me to my bed. When the doc- 
 KO back to her room. His was only I tor came he said, wasn't you on the 
 six beds from mine and his moan- i imlcony today? I said yea. Then 
 ings kept me awake. j he said I will put you on the list to 
 
 His moanings and cries for moth- go . to the Convalescent Fort tomor- 
 er came fainter and fainter and row. Vou are strong enough to live 
 when tlie nurse came at daylight he in ^ tent. 
 
 was dead. They wrai)ped him in a 
 sheet and carried him away and a 
 little later another man was put on 
 his bed. \ 
 
 I dont like my Doctor although hei 
 is a Wisconsin man. He don't asic 
 many questions and he smiles at my 
 answers as if he thought I was try- 
 ing to fool him. 
 
 When I told him the cough I hml 
 for a week past began to hurt me in 
 my left breast, he looked at me for 
 a moment while he twisted his mus- 
 tache, then he said, "you oup,ht to 
 have your lung scraped." His an 
 swer made me feel that I had said 
 something that t ought not to say.; 
 That unless I was in the deepest 
 l)ain 1 ought to keep still. In truth 
 1 was not in very sreat pain except! 
 when 1 coughed. And my coughing 
 was recent. \ 
 
 Don'r let this trouble you for ai 
 moment Father and Mother, I shall 
 be all right again very soon. 
 
 Your oldest boy. 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Gayoso Hosjiital Ward ISfi:^, 
 Memphis, Tenn. 
 
 The following notes are taken by 
 our "Soldier Boy" from his diary 
 kept while in the .Memi)his hospitals, 
 things of his condition he would not 
 write his parents, things that would 
 worry father and mother, when he 
 knew they could not help him. 
 
 August 27. Am ailing from a 
 fierce attack of diarrhoea. Have used 
 the stool many times today. There 
 i« no toilet room in this building. 
 Women nurses moving about all the 
 time makes a fellow feel strange. 
 Sat for a time this afternoon on the 
 gallery faping the river. Boats were 
 
 August 28. An Illinois boy thtu 
 was wounded, died in the ward last 
 night. His father an,'! mother sat by 
 him all night. The nurse brot me 
 my breakfast and putting it on the 
 stand asked me how I felt. Told her 
 I didn't know only 1 had a pain in 
 my left breast, when f coughed. She 
 said 'the doctor has listed your name 
 for the Fort below the city, I hope he 
 has made no mistake in your case. I 
 will get your clothes. You leave 
 your shirt and drawers, the ones 1 
 gave you, on the cot." I don't quite 
 like this going to the Fort, I don't 
 feel strong. It is four o'clo<-k. Word 
 has just come there will be no re- 
 movals to the fort tonight. 
 
 August 2'9th. The nurse came 
 round early this morning and leaving 
 some coffee and ])read on the stand 
 told us to be ready in an hour to go 
 to the fort. T had been up a lot dur- 
 ing the night and felt weak. T ate a 
 l)art of my breakfast. .lust before 
 starting the nurse gave me a glass of 
 egg nog. When I went down stairs 
 1 found the street full of half sick 
 soldiers. After marching a. few 
 l)locks T told one of the guards 1 
 would have to rest. We stopped 
 three times before reaching the fort. 
 The guard carried my knai'Sark the 
 rest of the way. 
 
 The fort is an enclosure of some 20 
 acres filled with a lot of dirty wall 
 tents, enclosed by a stokade on three 
 sides, and on the river side a steep 
 clay bank a hundred feet high. Here 
 I am in a tent with a dozen other 
 half sick fellows. layln,^- on the 
 ground with a bit of straw and a 
 single blanket under us. I don't 
 like that Wisconsin Doctor that sent 
 
m 
 
 me here. Jle has made a mistake 
 aud I am sure of it. 
 
 AtiguBt 30. Have Just had din- 
 ner, a dish of soiip and crackers, 
 sent UH from the mess room. I ate 
 Home but Mjas not hungry. Have 
 been thinking about home a great 
 deal today. This Is a fearful place 
 for man or boy sick or well. Hun- 
 dreds yes, thousands crawling about, 
 like myself trying to help them- 
 selves. When the fort doctor ex- 
 amined me this morning he said he 
 would see me again tonight. He 
 talkol very kind and I like him bet- 
 than the hospital doctor. 1 made a 
 trip for water to the spi'lng at the 
 foot of the bluff and 1 thought I 
 would never get back. The spring 
 is close by the river. 
 
 August 31. The doctor came last 
 night and put my name down to be 
 sent to the Adams Oeneral Hospital 
 in the city today. T am glad and 
 yet I fear it means something seri- 
 ous. He said in answer to my ques- 
 tion, "your lungs are ailing." 
 
 I had a bad night, along with five 
 others who were as sick as myself. 
 1 went down the i)luff last night to 
 fill my canteen with water. 
 
 First 1 called for water. There 
 was no answer. T knew what that 
 meant. They were sick themselves 
 or h-^'l none to spare. 1 crawled 
 over the sleeping forms of four 
 comi)anions and picked my way 
 down the steep clay hank to the 
 spring by the river side. 1 filled 
 by canteen and drank my fill and 
 sat down with the others who came 
 and went. 
 
 .After a long time I got back to the 
 top of the bank and went to bed. 
 Some of the boys complained that 
 my coughing kept them awake. 1 
 said all ri.cht you will be rid of me 
 today. 
 
 f, P. M. .Vlams Hosiutal. I lind 
 nearly lost all heart at the Fort this 
 afteiuoon when an ambulance drov« 
 up to the tent and called for me. 
 
 Here T am ut last on a clean white 
 l>ed in a cheerful room and the face 
 
 of our nurse they call Aunt Lizzie, 
 is so kind I feel quite content tho 
 my cough Is getting more painful. 
 
 Adam's General Hospital, 
 Memphis, Tenn. Oct. 2, 186a. 
 
 f am writing this, this morning 
 propped uj) on my knapsack for u 
 pillow. It looks as if I was in for a 
 siege of it. The doctor is feeding me 
 on Cod Liver oil and whiskey. He 
 says I have pneumonia and pne of 
 my lungs is affected. Aunt Lizzie, 
 our nurse, an Illinois woman, as kind 
 as a mother came to take away the 
 dishes on my stand. She scolded me 
 a little because 1 did not eat any of 
 my breakfast. She put ray knap- 
 sack under my head and gave me a 
 book to write on. When the doctor, 
 came this morning, 1 told him what 
 the Guyoso doctor said about my 
 lungs, that they ought to be taken 
 out and scraped. He said that 
 doctor was a brute to say sic;i 
 things. 
 
 October ;>rd. 
 
 I am writing this, this afternooa 
 I did not sleep much last night, and 
 have been dozing all forenoon. The 
 nurse handed me a letter from home 
 forwarded from the regiment. Motli 
 er wants to know if 1 am very sick 
 and she says father will come down 
 If I am. They can't helji me an 1 
 what'.i the use telling them the 
 truth. It will be an awful worry to 
 mother and cost a lot of money. 
 There is a big noise in the streets 
 and all the boys that are strong are 
 up looking out the windows. There 
 is a lot of cavalry and several bat 
 teries passing. 1 can hear the clank- 
 of their sabers and feel the jar of 
 the he^uy guns on the stony streets. 
 My cough i!x getting so bad 1 can't 
 write, and my lung hurts me. 
 
 October 3th. 
 
 Cousin Ben Gurdner of the 2nd 
 Illinois cavalry called at the hospi- 
 tal to-day. Hi* regiment is doing 
 guard duty 2G miles south of Mem- 
 
i* 
 
 phis. He said it gave him the Jilues 
 to find me in such shape. He had 
 hoped we foiled walk around to- 
 j^ether. He is a «ergeaiit in his 
 company and a strong and husky fel* 
 low. He said we would have a good 
 time when the war was over and all 
 of us got home. I tried, to look 
 brave in spite of my i)ain and tho 
 he was laughing when he bid me 
 goodbye, I saw a tea.r in his eyes, 
 oan't write :.ny more so I can read 
 
 October 6th. 
 
 .\11 night the lights were burning 
 in the ward, and I had but little 
 sleep. It was nine in the morning 
 when Aimt Lizzie roused me from 
 my cot. They talked a while and 
 went away. I asked Aunt Lizzie 
 what they wanted, and she said they 
 were holding counsel. The weather 
 is very warm. 
 
 (During the three weeks foUowin 
 our soldier boy made no further en 
 tries in his notebook. He was 
 sick, quite sick, with pneumonia. 
 The grim destroyer had been beaten 
 off and at the end of five weeks he 
 was able to walk about the ward. 
 Two letters from home had reached 
 him in the meantime, and they were 
 read to him by Aunt Lizzie, the 
 ward nurse. The last one she an- 
 swered for him, telling his father to 
 come and take his boy home. One 
 quiet Sunday morning a week later 
 as the boy lay propped up on his 
 cot, he had just finisbe't his breakj- 
 fast of toast and boiled onions, when 
 his attention was taken by a s^low, 
 measured step coming up the stair- 
 way at the farther end of the ward. 
 Every inmate of that ward knew 
 from experiifice that the step was 
 that of a stranger. 
 
 Nearly every day some father had 
 come up that stairway in quest of a 
 sick boy or wounded. This time it 
 was the father of our soldier boy 
 Slowly he walked down the center 
 of the ward his hands clasped be- 
 hind him searching each wan • face 
 
 on the right and on the left as he 
 l)a6sed while the i)oy whom he 
 sought at the end of the ward was 
 frantically waving his hand at him. 
 
 There are some things graven on 
 niemory which if traced in brass 
 are never erased. The boy of a half 
 century ago, an old man to-day, re- 
 calls father's presence, his attitude, 
 liis look of inquiry, as vividly as tho 
 it were but yesterday. And to think 
 of it: it lacks but a twelve months 
 of a half century. 
 
 Tt is worthy of note that Aunt 
 Lizzie, who was so good to him and 
 who became superintendent of the 
 Adams Hospital, was granted a 
 special i)ens'on of $50 a month. Two 
 vears ago the Chicago Record Her- 
 ald made mention of her death and 
 commented on her noble services :n 
 hospital work during the civil war. 
 In these later years it has been sad 
 reflection to the Soldier Boy that he 
 never knew the address of dear 
 Aunt Lizzie, that he might write to 
 her ar/I thank her for her mother's 
 inty and her mother's care. 
 
 The, next letter will date from Al- 
 abama March 18C^. 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 In our closing letter week before 
 last, we stated that our next would 
 date from Alabama. We have since 
 found one written during our almost 
 two weeks journey en route to Ala- 
 bama, which we give below, besides 
 another written from the r.a.voso 
 Hos)iital, Memphis. This one over- 
 looked from the Hospital, mentions 
 that Henry Morse, of Gilmanton one 
 of my chums and a boy near my age 
 came ui) from Helena a few davs 
 later than my arrival and went into 
 another hospital. He was so much 
 lietter in a few days that he was as 
 signed to duty in the dming room 
 and also acted as nurse. Dan Hadlev 
 came with Henry and was assigned 
 
«1 
 
 to my hospital, but to 
 ward. 
 
 a different 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., April Tth, 1S64. 
 
 Dfettt" SlhtM*'; 
 
 T believe my last was written 
 father from Cairo lllino's. The same 
 day our squad c;ot transportation to 
 r.ouisvllle KentMfky by way of Cen 
 tral lUiuolM which tneanw taking our 
 buck tmck n hnniired and fifty miles 
 f.ook Oh the liifiji aiid yini ean see 
 better than F can tell you. \Ve got 
 into F.ouisville Monday mornins. 
 
 They call Louisville the biggest 
 city In Kentucky atid the nicest. 
 
 It looks jiretty. Jtil I'lght to a coun- 
 try bijy.. I'hev have lots of iron 
 works anil ttl&V iiiake' K-entucky 
 whiskey here in plenty. JsOiiie of th^ 
 boys tried the whiskey and said it 
 wfts better than yankee whiskey. 
 
 Soon an we arrived we were order- 
 ed into quarters and stayed tmtil 
 MPv^n iti the inornhig when we took 
 tlie tt'alfl for Nashville, Tenn. * 
 
 There were seven coadlew alt load- 
 fed Witli returning soldiers, going to 
 I'ejolh tliell' fegiinwnts. In Nash- 
 Viile the entire gquad soniG Hno were 
 sent to barracks in the Zollicoffer 
 billlditife bnilt by the rebel General 
 Zollicoffer. The rebs had to quit the 
 city before it was finished. It's the 
 biggest structure in Nashville. We 
 have been here two days. I went 
 up to see the state capitol and spent 
 n few hours reading the picture of 
 the famous men of the State. Their 
 life sized pictures hang all around 
 the walls. Sam Houston was the 
 onlv one and Davy Crocket that 1 
 knew much about. Then I knew 
 more from what T have heard father 
 sav of them than from books. 
 
 The rapitol stands on a knoll in 
 the center of the town, much like 
 .Madison. The building is not so 
 large nor so pretty. 
 
 T am feling better every day. I 
 have nothing like a chill since I left 
 Chicago. Aunt Lydia gave me some- 
 thing that seems to knock them. 
 Last night the buys sang a lot of 
 
 darkey Hongs more than a hundred 
 voices joining in. and T tell you it 
 made the building tremble. 
 
 This is a nice country along the 
 road much like Buffalo county, or 
 would be if Buffalo county had peach 
 rees Oil the foad side. You can pick 
 he blossoms frofil the windows of 
 'he cars. The farms look neglected. 
 The darkies are free and the whites 
 vvon't or can't work Ifs funny how 
 the darkies show their liking for the 
 soldiers of Lincoln. When thoy- meet 
 in the inftln Streets they hardly no- 
 tice us. but round the corner or on 
 a back street they take off their half* 
 and say, "God bress de Linkum. sol- 
 diers." The poor creatures can't 
 ^'eel very free so long as they ar'^' 
 afraid to «peak to us on the main 
 street.*!. 
 
 I don't fex«ctly like the dijrir.es. 
 but I i)ity thefti iilid what father .-/lid 
 to me when he herd my hai^d a« I 
 got into the wagon at Rr! Fullers 
 I can never forget. You kuov' tliat 
 father thot that .John Brown and Gar- 
 rison and Wendell Philips did n.or'- 
 to free the slaves than all the ini! 
 pits in the land. I won't go back on 
 the black man for father's sake. 
 
 Say sister, you are a bit mist<ti--en 
 1 have no corresi)ondent save yen 
 and mother and father. No, I have 
 not written Myra, nor has she writtm 
 me. You may say to her if you care 
 to. what T told you about the las^ 
 spelling match. T say yet that I 
 would sooner she would spell mi 
 down than any one else. It tickled 
 me to see her so fidgety and so e\- 
 eited that she won the pr'r.e. [ 
 think the teacher rather helped h-r 
 to spell the word just the sime. B i' 
 I don't care. 
 
 Mv onlv bother now is s)me soro 
 toes". Mv big toe nail is .urowing in 
 to mv big toe so 1 limp when 1 v.r.lk. 
 Plague on it I must try and cut them 
 
 out. 
 
 More next time when T get to the 
 regiment. Direct Via Cairo Illinois 
 Your brother. 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
'62 
 
 Stevenson. Ala., April nth, ISf.l. 
 Dear Parents: 
 
 Left Nashville Thursday last 
 for Unntsville. where we expert to 
 find the regiments of as many 
 states. We were piled in box cars 
 on sacked oats and corn. When night 
 ramp we itulled the doors siuit and 
 rolled u|) our l)lan".\.ets. We realized, 
 we were in the enemy's country. 
 Wt' had heard that trains had beeti 
 wrecked and bridges burned and it 
 was talked in Nashville tliat there 
 w:is a KanR of bushwhackers about a 
 hundred miles out on our road in the 
 irouutains that were derailing trains. 
 
 The worn and slivered rails jolted 
 us fearfully. It must have been 
 near twelve o'clock when the whole 
 trnin went off the track and every 
 car between the car I vvas in and the 
 euiiiMie. inoludlnp the enf;ine. turned 
 ever down the bank. A number of 
 the soldiers were smothered under 
 the g-raiu sacks and a good many 
 hrid arm and le.gs broken. It vvas 
 t'piind that one of the rails had been 
 1' I'lf'd up, A man from a farm near 
 1 V t.->M us in the morning that lie 
 b'-nrd potinding on the track but 
 sT'fsed it was the section men at 
 w.ork. Tt took until next afternoon 
 frt fix the track and another train 
 (■■\vio for us. I was not hurt iior was 
 rnv one in out* car. Th« t^ugineer 
 S"-id we Were running 2'> miles an 
 h'^'ir. We arrived at Stevenson. 
 A'alama the next morning. Mur- 
 P'- s' o'irough and Bowling Green are 
 (11 1 1-0 line of this road. We passed 
 f'p'u at night. So much of this 
 (•"•-niry reminds me of Wisconsin. 
 T'l" hillR are cultivated more than 
 w'th us. and they are badly washed. 
 T''p roads are lined with ))«ach troe.«i j 
 r'll in bloom. I 
 
 Thore are several other 2.-.th bovg | 
 Ml fhe crowd on their way to ioin the* 
 rp*!lment. We were ordered into' 
 nuarter.s .soon as we got here, to wait ' 
 HO we were fold, for a train ' 
 
 Sunday the 10th. 
 
 Soon as we finished dinner we 
 boarded the train for Huntsvillo. 
 Arrived just at sunset. Here we 
 found our regiment was in camp 25 
 miles further at Moresville. Wo 
 stayed- in Huntsville two days. 
 
 Say. Injt this is a pretty town. Only 
 •ike all towns in the South, there i« 
 no life nor business. The negroes 
 wear a hajjpy look l)ut the whites* 
 look sullen and don't like to talk. 
 Many of the business houses are 
 '"oarded up an If they had gone out 
 of business. The big court houses 
 uid .^rounds in the center of the 
 .own are fine. A regiment of .Jersey 
 Zouaves are cpmped under the big 
 trees in the court house f quare. Thf* 
 boys claim they are hav'ng a fine 
 time. Light duty, i)lenty to eat and 
 the finest water in the south. The 
 biggest si)ring in all the south flows 
 from a cliff nearly a hundred feet 
 high, within a block of the court 
 houso. There is nearly a-^ nuich 
 water as runs in Beef river. 
 
 Tuesday, the 12th. 
 
 On our way to the depot, this 
 noon to take the train for MofesvUle 
 we sOAv a horrible s:ght. A batter.x 
 of five guns was returning ftotn drilt 
 acro.'-s the railroad track when tht? 
 shells of one of the cassions explod- 
 ed blowing six men almost to atoms. 
 One of them was thrown into the 
 •lir above the tree tops and falling 
 thru limbs his entrails were strung 
 from the liml)s to the ground. The 
 gun carriages were shattered to 
 pieces and the horses killed. T want 
 to tell you it /was a hard sight to 
 see. 
 
 T found the boys at Mor.seville i«ft<l 
 "•as glad to be with them again. 
 
 I was surprised to find Dan Hadley 
 and Henry 3!orse had got back 
 :ihead of me. Tell their folks, if you 
 see them, tluit they are hale and 
 hearty. 
 
 Henry says he never felt so strong. 
 
 J.9VP to (ill. 
 
 CHAUNCEY, 
 
i9 
 
 flead Qnarters 25th Wis.. Vol cam; . 
 Near MoresMille, Alabama. 
 
 Deaf ftiOther: It haK been a week, 
 res and more, since my last letter to 
 you. 1 had hoped to hear from you 
 and yet I am not surprised that no 
 letter from home has reached ni' 
 yet. The mails so far south are very 
 Irregular. The i»o.-^tot!ice people aro 
 watching the movements of the re^- 
 Pis and won't .send out mail over 
 these sOiUherll ro;>d» linleas they are 
 Sure. 
 
 I am idle most of the time and ! 
 thought it a good time to write my 
 mother even if I don't have much to 
 write. Moresville is a sorry, sleepy 
 little place at the foot of some big 
 hills or moun'ains, on the i auk of ;, 
 Clear. prt«tty stream .'-omothing big- 
 ger then Kik (Vet-k at Oilmanton. 
 Our duty here is light. The hoys 
 call It i^oft Snap. That is the name 
 ef the cartil). It h&f* bfen soft enough 
 for me. The Orderly has iieeil kind 
 to me. Me has not luit me on guard 
 01* any t»thef duty sihcfe my return. 
 We Bays 1 hiuSt get Stt*oilg before 
 the big march liegius to CMiatanooga, 
 where Gen. Sherman is collectin;:; 
 a big array to march into Georgia. 
 prck Harvey says. "Take it easy 
 boys while you can. for soon we will 
 get i)lenty of fighthig." T am messing 
 with Diin Hadley and Obcl Hillard. 
 The '1'oys are real good to me and ' 
 am glad to be back with them. T am 
 able to take my regular rations of 
 liard tack iind sow belly ani feel all 
 Tight. 
 
 .\pril 20th. Our regiment has not 
 yet returned from Decatur, a few 
 miles south of the Tennessee rive" 
 for which |)lace they left here Sa 
 turday evening. rjeiiorts sny that 
 they bad a shari) light with the rebs 
 and several of the boys in Co, K 
 were wounded. We had been hear 
 ing cannons all the forenoon. 
 
 r had taken my place in the ranks 
 and expected to march with the boys 
 but the <raiitaln ordered me back to 
 •camp., saying that T was not fit to - 
 
 go. I hated to go back because I 
 knew some of the boy.s would say 1 
 was "solfiiering." "Solfliering/' 
 
 means playing off. There were l^ 
 others of our Co. left be.side me and 
 ;ibout lii«> «ame number in oach of 
 he ten coftli)anie.>. We were busy 
 on police and guard duty till the reg- 
 'ment got back. I am writing this 
 .sitting under a big sycamore tree 
 close to the river. The woods are 
 n full leaf and the mocking bird.^ 
 are singing all round me. It seeniK 
 Strang© that human being.^ should b« 
 rying to kill «acli other when ail 
 the world around iti At peace. 
 
 Ain-il 23. For two d&VM .Ind niRhtsi 
 1 have been on guard without relief. 
 I don't mind it and the boys Hnv T 
 am getting fat. The boys are stil< 
 at Decatur. Some of the band boyr- 
 came uj) from Decatur and report 
 that the rebs are whaling away witii 
 heir 12 pounder bit don't come in 
 reach of mu.sket r.mge. They have 
 n wire stretched fi'om here to I>e 
 catur so we keep in touch wiiU tb;" 
 reg'ment. I don't believe fher« ;>? 
 much rebel force behind these fe' .^1 
 cannon. They are just trying to 
 hold us here for so.me purpose, w^ 
 ■lon't understand. 
 
 April 2ord. I have .iust fome from 
 town, 8b rods, with som(> mi'k an I 
 meal and a mess of doughnut.'^. .Vn 
 in^ommon bill of fnre in this sout'a 
 lan^. 
 
 The aristocracy here are gettiuT 
 a-etly humble and are glfld to ex- 
 '^bange milk and corn meal for tin.i-l 
 tack, pork and coffee. It hn* be" '^ 
 r-n awful come down for .Manor i n * 
 ^I'stus. As Elder Harwood n'; ■ 
 Cha!)lin said, they would sow tb^- 
 wind and now they are reaMng lb 
 whirlwind. The Freedmon fare jk.=s 
 as well as the master and rob.tr'. s.^. 
 The big white mansion on the plan- 
 tations of the south has no more in 
 it to eat or wear than the Freed- 
 man's cabin. Where 1 .sot my m \< 
 and meal to-day. I rang sevoitil tim.es 
 tieforft th^ tloor was openod. .\ pale 
 
64 
 
 laie'l white girl opened the door and 
 wlicn T told her I had l>ecii ringing 
 fcr some time she apologi/.ed liy 
 spying she supposed it was some of 
 "Aunties" nigger friends enme to call 
 on hor. "You know" she said we 
 li!i\(« no future control ovir our ser- 
 \;inta. ."Aunt.iiV as it seems wa'^ 
 awny somewhere, calling without 
 feai- of mistress. We are glad to 
 ; !•( their "f'oegods" as the boys call 
 
 I heir doughnuts, in exchange for 
 <nv telly and hard tack. These 
 
 whites are afraid of the "Yankees" 
 "^ |iu>y call us soldiers. The hoys 
 :;re always singing John Brown'"- 
 ' ndy. and they seem to think all we 
 (are for is to free the slaves. And 
 'o icll tlie truth, that is r.hout all T 
 
 ic lor. 1? ;t the TTnion. the Union 
 ■' c !nion, as father says, lu^lf slave 
 ; '1 ' lialf free. 
 
 !. don't helieve in hating anyl)ody 
 ' I't tiie way these old slave holders 
 ti'c if US. they snul) us every time we 
 
 II <^( t them. 1 don't lilce them, not a 
 Mt,. 
 
 An important message has come 
 ■Mill we are ordered in line by the 
 \ M iiant. Love to all. 
 Your Son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 lid. Quarters. 2i>, Wis., Vol. 
 ,: - ''Apnl 25th. 1S64. 
 (lam)) near Decatjjre, Ala 
 l^^ar Father and Alother: 
 
 I can write you '.just as I can 
 snatch a moment here and there 
 \Ve don't have much drill, nor 
 much active duty at the front, ))ut 
 there is some police duty or other 
 '"ing on all the while. When noth- 
 insr else is in sight we are ordered to 
 clean our guns and see that our am- 
 munition is in order. I have just 
 'een dusting my clothes and polish- 
 inp the buckle on my hat and the 
 1 rass letters on my cartridge l)oxes. 
 
 A fipht seems to be in the air as 
 the rebs are not far from here and 
 their artillery keeps i)egging aw^ay. 
 AVlsh they would come in musket 
 range but they won't. 
 
 We came into Decatur last night 
 It was our first march since 1 re- 
 joined the regiment. The hoys are 
 all busy fixing up tents and arrang- 
 ing things in spite of the fact we are 
 under marching orders to be ready 
 to leave Chatanooga any liour. 
 
 .\t nine o'clock we were ordered to 
 stack arms and be ready to exchange 
 our old Enfield guns n)ade in I5ng- 
 land for new Springfield gnus made 
 in America. 
 
 April 213th. 1 don't like this town 
 as well as Moresville. It is pretty 
 enough too, but tli» whites are all 
 sc:ared away and we have no one to 
 trade hard tack and sow belly with. 
 At Moresville we got corn pones and 
 sweet potatoes for ))ickled pork and 
 liard bread. It's getting warm. The 
 sun burns good and hot. I shall 
 have to cut th« tail off my drets 
 coat and make a jacket of it or draw 
 a blouse. We would like might.v 
 well to get sight of the paymaster 
 and our credit is getting i)oor with 
 the sutler. 
 
 I don't remember if I told you 
 that Henry Morse is back again 
 with the company. He is getting 
 stout again and rough as ever. It's 
 strange Henry don't write to his 
 folks. If you see Elder .Morse give 
 him my regards, and tell him Henry 
 is all right. Eck Harvey has never 
 been the same since Bill Anderson 
 died. They were the two tallest 
 men in the company and always 
 headed the company column. The 
 fact is. I can see a great change in 
 many of the boys since last fall. 
 They- are not so wild as they wer& 
 and T believe they are better. As 1 
 write one of the sergeants came 
 round warning us to be ready any 
 moment to fall in as the enemy is 
 t'^etting louder, and to be ready any 
 moment foi- action, .lust the sam« 
 the boys go on writing letters and 
 playing cards as the case happens, 
 paying no attention to the fattle of 
 the rebels cannon on our riglit. The 
 darkies are coming" into oar camp in 
 
(if) 
 
 droves. They tell all sorts of stories 
 about the reljels, but they are so 
 Jmioraut aad scared I don't think 
 their stories are minded much. The 
 women, and some of them are nearly 
 white, are all looking for washing 
 jol)s. They borrow big coffee kettles 
 of the boys and build fires down by 
 the creek and do their washings. 
 Lots of the boys hang round and 
 tease them. They will do anything 
 on earth for a Linkun soldier, as 
 they call us, and still the boys treat 
 ihera mean. 
 
 An orderly just galloped up to the 
 Colonels tent with a message. It 
 n)ay ho an order to march, 
 l.ove to all, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Decatur, Alabama, May *1,1864. 
 Co. G., 2.5th Wis. 
 Dear parents: — The march toward 
 Chatanooga began this morning. The 
 order came last night after an. all 
 day's rain, to strike tents this morn- 
 ing and 1)6 ready at sun rise to 
 march. This means our entire bri- 
 RjKle. The enemy's guns that had 
 lioen pounding away at us for nearly 
 a week, were silenced by our bat- 
 teries two days ago and since then 
 there has' been no excitement till the 
 marching order came last night. 
 Rations for three days were given 
 each man which about filled our 
 haversacks. Then at roll call we 
 were told what was expected of us. 
 That we were to join a large army 
 that Sherman was collecting at Chat- 
 anooga and that we \vere to begin a 
 hundred and fifty mile march toward 
 Chatanooga the next day. The boys 
 ( lieered and said they were glad to 
 go anywhere for a change. We cross- 
 ed the Tennessee river on pontoons 
 and marched toward Moresville, our 
 old camp. The mud was from three 
 to six inche.s deep and fearful sticky. 
 Marched about 12 miles and came in- 
 to cam]) just" as the" sun went below 
 the mounfnins. Our camp is on the 
 grassy bank of a pretty river I 
 
 don't know it's name. It has been 
 hot and muggy and the hard work of 
 Dlodding thru the mud has tuckered 
 mo a little. I have just come from 
 the river wher I had a good wash. 
 TjOts of the boys threw away blank- 
 ets a.nd winter underwear. Dan 
 Hadley, who is cook for our mess of 
 four, has ^called to supper so I 
 must quit for to-night. 
 
 May 2nd: — The reville roused us 
 tills morning before sunrise and a 
 crowd of negroes that had come in- 
 to camp to look at the Yankee sol- 
 diers, began singing some plantation 
 songs for the boys. They have a 
 banjo and I tell you they can play it 
 and dance too. I have washed in 
 the river this morning and while 
 Dan and Obe build the fire, fry the 
 hard tack and sow belly and boil the 
 coffee I am writing a line or two on 
 this heavy sheet torn from a mer- 
 chants ledger in Decatur. It's hard 
 to get paper to write .on. On the 
 other Slide you will see a list of things 
 sold by the merchant to Bill Park- 
 er's nigger George iback in 18.58. 
 •'Nigger George" was a slave. 
 
 7 o'clock p. m. We made several 
 
 halls to-day to rest but the ground 
 
 was so wet we couldn't lay down 
 
 without our rubl)ers under us. V 
 
 regiment of cavalry passed us as we 
 
 halted this forenoon and all seemed 
 
 to be so jolly I wished for a while I^ 
 
 was ig the cavalry so I wouldn't* 
 
 blister my feet marching. ,Came into 
 
 Huntsville Alabama just at sunset, 
 
 I having marched 18 miles. A lot of 
 
 I the boys are crippling around with 
 
 j sore feet. I am washing mine three 
 
 times a day in cold water which 
 
 helps them. There is a lot of troop.^ 
 
 I gathered here all destined for Chat- 
 
 , anooga. Camp fires are blazing 
 
 '■ everywhere. Fences, boxes. old 
 
 j buildings and every movable thing is 
 
 picked up and jnilled down to make 
 
 ; fires. It looks tough to burn up nice 
 
 \ jiicket fences, but the boys must 
 
 have fires to cook by. 
 
 ' Mav li'd: -Wo are waiting for 
 
GO 
 
 some cause, I suppose for orders. 
 As T have a chance to mail this let- 
 ter this morning 1 will tear my big 
 sheet of paper in two and send what 
 I have written and call it a letter. 
 The orderly is distributing some let- 
 ters which arrived this morning. I 
 hope 1 have one but 1 ,can"t wait to 
 tell you and send this out so goodl)y'^ 
 father and mother. 
 
 Hd. Quarters, SSth Wis. Vol., 
 Huntsville, Alabama, May ?.rd, 1801. 
 Dear Mother: — 
 1 think I sent you my last from 
 this place. I am taking this from 
 some scrawls in my note boolt. I got 
 a letter from home this morning 
 while waiting for orders to march. 
 Am truly glad to hear that you are 
 out of del)t at last. It used to 
 trouble me when 1 went in the field 
 to hoe corn to think that you was in 
 del>t. Tt made my hoe feel heavy. 
 We are on the march again thru pine 
 forests and over mountains enroute 
 for Chattanooga. Troops are coming 
 in and swelling our force from all 
 directions. We are passed every 
 little while by cavalry on good feel- 
 ing, horses, prancing along, and l)y 
 four and ^ix gun batteries, eight l)ig 
 horses to each gun, the cannoneers 
 laughing and talking as they pound 
 along in the cassions. The cannon 
 eers have a snap on the road and to- 
 day as I limped along with a blister- 
 ed foot, I wished I could trade places 
 with one of them. But I would 
 rather be in the ranks when the tug 
 of war begins. When it comes long 
 range shooting the boys that man the 
 big guns catch it first. T guess T am 
 satisfied where 1 am. There is talk 
 that the .Johnnies are bound to give 
 us a fight at Chattanooga. We have 
 had a long tedious march to-day over 
 mountains and thru valleys that were 
 pretty and green and wading creeks 
 over shoe top that didn't really help 
 our sore feet. The streams here are 
 clear and cool and come from 
 
 springs. No danger of fever from 
 drinking Alabama spring water. 
 
 Marched 23 miles to-day. My 
 feet are not so sore as yesterday. 
 Many of the boys are badly crippled 
 and will have to take the aml)ulance 
 tomorrow. I am glad I ain't one of 
 them. Some of them are shamming 
 and it puts every honest soldier that 
 comi)lains under suspicion. 
 
 Not man,y minutes after coming 
 into camp every fence and movable 
 thing in sight is pulled down to 
 make the fires. God pity this south 
 land when we are rfone with it. 
 
 May 4th. Struck camp, not tents, 
 this morning, for we had none. The 
 sky all spangled with stars was our 
 only covering last night. I lay with 
 my Jace to the north and for a long 
 time looking at the only thing I 
 knew — the north star and the big 
 dipper. Tt seems lower down than in 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 At Woodville, 8 miles distant, we 
 took the train for Chatanooga. Our 
 cars were cattle cars. Some of the 
 I'oys said g — d — the cattle cars, and 
 some said God be praised for even 
 cattle cars. At 9 p. m. we got un- 
 der way for Chattanooga. Rushing 
 thru the mountains, rumbling over 
 rivers and gorges that made ones 
 head swim to look down. Some of 
 the tressels were fearful high. 
 
 May ?)th. Woke up this morning 
 just as the train crossed Tennessee 
 river. I must have been jolted round 
 a good deal as T found myself in the 
 corner of the car some four feet 
 from where T lay down. T was awak- 
 ened by a lot of the boys singing 
 "When .Tohnny Comes Marching 
 TTome." Max Brill and a comuany K 
 man who had somehow got into our 
 car. was leading the band. Max 
 made the noise and the Co. K man 
 made the music. 
 
 .\rrived in sight of Chattanoo.ga at 
 11 a. m. The level pliin far as I can 
 see is Utterly covered with troops. 
 Nothing but tents, tents, tents, by 
 the ten thousand. Music by hundreds 
 
07 
 
 of hands is floatinc; and huniniing 
 in the air. IGO thousand ration^ 
 were issued this morning to this 
 vast army. 
 
 And this was hefore our division of 
 ten tliousand men came in. Oot off 
 the cars, cooked our dinner and lay 
 round on our blanket watching the 
 steady trami) of columns goiuK and 
 coming until G o'clock. We were 
 suddenly ordered into ranks and 
 marched out .'> miles and camped for 
 the night at the base of Missionary 
 Ridge» where our brave comrades 
 made that heroic charge in ISGH. 
 Lookout Mountain, whose summit is 
 swathed in a blue cloud, is about 4 
 miles distant from our encampment 
 and al)Out the same from Chattanoo- 
 ga. 
 
 May fith. It was late before we 
 slept last night. There was a con- 
 stant clatter of cavalry passing, of 
 carbines and swords jangling and of 
 the pounding of gun carriages, over 
 • the l)ig rocks that make these roads 
 a terror. The boys think we are close 
 to a fight and there ain't much loud 
 talk. The mail carrier is coming to 
 gather the letters, good bye. Will 
 write again soon. Direct l)y way of 
 Chattanooga. Your boy, 
 
 CHAUNCRY. 
 
 P. S. Direct to IGth Army Corps, 
 via Chatanooga. 
 
 .-^rmy of the Southwest. 
 
 May 1()th, 18G4. 
 Dear folks at home: 1 send you 
 my diary for three days of hard 
 marching and rather hard fare. Your 
 letter of .May 1st, was handed me 
 just as I finislied my notes last 
 evening. Well j am glad a thousand 
 times all is well at home. I am pleas- 
 ed too that father tliinks my letters 
 are better written and better spelled. 
 Father is the hardest critic I have. 
 But it's all right. I hope someday 1 
 May write as perfect a letter as he 
 does, but not now. I tell you we 
 have mighty little time for study 
 
 these days. I send you my notes for 
 three days, so you can juilge. 
 
 May fith. We had hardly time to 
 swallow our coffee when we were 
 ordered to fall in and march this 
 morning before daylight. We march- 
 ed out 12 miles thru the Chickamauga 
 battle ground. For ten miles of the 
 way the woods were scarred and 
 limbed and many trees cut in two by 
 solid shot. All the way little mounds 
 showed where the boys fell and were 
 buried. The battle ground is gen- 
 erally level and covered with timber. 
 The heavy shot have mowed fearful 
 paths on all sides thru the tree 
 toi)s. Camped a little before sunset 
 at GordcTi's Mills. Am sitting with 
 my feet in some spring water writing 
 these notes. Several of the boys are 
 with me bathing their blistered feet. 
 
 May 7th. Broke camp and began 
 our march at sunrise thru a rough 
 mountainous country, expecting the 
 nn(uny to attack any minute. Can- 
 nonading is heard on our left. Met a 
 let of poor whites leaving the coun- 
 try. They are a wretched looking 
 lot. They say w-e are the first Yanks 
 they ever saw. The horses and 
 cattle and pigs, like the peoi)le driv- 
 ing them, are the sorriest things I 
 ever saw. The wagons were driven 
 by the women, and the m.en, with 
 long barreled guns and five to ten 
 children all white haired, followed 
 behind driving the cattle and a shee[i 
 or tw^o and sometimes a pig. These 
 were all mountain people, the clay 
 eaters and liest shots in the rebel 
 army. Some of the boys asked them 
 what they were fighting for, and they 
 answered, " you Yanks w.Tut us to 
 marry our daughters to the nig.gers.'' 
 Poor ignorant devils. Marched IS 
 miles to-day. Went into camp at 
 sunset, and such a sunset. Just such 
 as i have often seen in my Wiscon- 
 sin home, with the bluff tops all 
 warm and yellow just fading into 
 twilight. 
 
 May Sth. Marched but S miles to- 
 day over stony roads and steep 
 
68 
 
 mountain sides and crossed many 
 lieaiitifiil siiring streams, ['"arms, or 
 l)lantations as they call them here, 
 look as if they had been prosperous 
 but they are all deserted. The ne- 
 groes have mostly gone and the 
 whites are in the army. 
 
 May 9th. It was no secret that we 
 were close to the enemy, eighty thou- 
 sand strong. Our forward march l)e- 
 gan early. We made from S to 10 
 miles. The left column of our corps 
 met the enemy and for an hour tlie 
 cannonade was fierce. The am- 
 bulance corps brought back many 
 dead and wounded. The wagon trains 
 several miles in extent, were halted 
 and packed under cover of several 
 batteries of artillery and a big re- 
 serve of infantry. Mounted orderlies 
 were coming and going on fast horses 
 . V long. Nobody knew what the 
 next hour would bring forth. We 
 were ordered to keep our guns in 
 prime condition and our boxes full of 
 bulletB. 
 
 A great army of infantry lay about 
 us, all waiting like ourselves for the 
 order to march. All of a sudden 
 there came a roll of voices in a 
 mighty shout from the rear. While 
 we were wondering what it meant a 
 troo]i of cavalry came galloping along 
 headed by the famous cavalry leader 
 rjen. Kilpatrick. It made the boys 
 feel mighty good to see this daring 
 cavalry leader, who was such a 
 terror to the rebels. He is a little 
 fellow, about 5 feet 5 with brown hair, 
 thin l)eard and mild gray eyes. He 
 kept touching his hat brim as his 
 mare, ^11 foam, went galloi)ing by. 
 
 As the yellow sun went below the 
 Ceorgia mountains last night, the 
 bands from more than twenty regi- 
 ments filled the air with their music. 
 I wondered how it would strike the 
 ear of the rebel i)icket on the moun- 
 tain side in front of us. I rolled in 
 my blanket, with my clothes on. and 
 tried Jo sleep. About midnight 1 was 
 awakened from dreams of home by 
 the rushing cavalry horses and the 
 
 .u;rinding of artillery wagons. We 
 soon learned that the rebel Gen. 
 Wheeler was making a move to 
 capture our supply trains. The 
 wagons were being hurried to the 
 rear and every surrounding regi- 
 ment ordered to get in motion and 
 join in the retreat. With the rest of 
 the army we were soon on the 
 counter march, in the darkness, over 
 I swollen streams and stumbling over 
 i stones we could not see. plunging 
 ! thru the mud and often entangled In 
 the overhanging limbs. God, what 
 ; a night and what a morning. Can I 
 j forget it? No never. The retreat 
 , thru the hills of Georgia, following 
 ; the supi)ly trains of the Union army 
 will long be remembered. 1 am all 
 right and ready for the fray. — Direct 
 via Chattanooga. 
 
 Ever dear parents. 
 
 Yours, CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Sherman's Army, May 10th, 18C4. 
 Dear parents: 
 
 I am writing you again to lay. I 
 wrote you only day before yester- 
 day, but all the boys have the fever, 
 as it looks, of writing letters tonight. 
 Cannons are booming both on the 
 right and on the left, and as our 
 Lieutenant says, things look mighty 
 squally for tomorrow. I can't say 
 that I am a bit nervous, but as the 
 boys say, some of us may be where 
 we can't send letters tomorrow and 
 ibetter send 'em now. 
 
 We were u]) and ready for orders 
 to march early this morning but the 
 order did not come until 9 o'clock. 
 The enemies shells have been 
 screaming and bursting over head, 
 killing and wounding a lot of men in 
 our division. 
 
 Marching out to the front some 
 three miles, and we were nearly all 
 day doing it, so conflicting were the 
 reports of our scouts and couriers as 
 to the location and strength of the 
 enemy. 
 
 Finally we came to a halt for the 
 night just as the rain was pouring 
 
6» 
 
 down in torrents. Everything got 
 soaking wet but our powder. We 
 kei)t our i)owder dry. I am afraid 
 you can't read this, my paper is so 
 wet and greasy. In my hurry this 
 morning I put my writing paper in 
 my liaversack along with my plate 
 and sow belly. 
 
 Night came on at last and with it 
 the hardest storm I ever saw. Our 
 little fly tents let the water thru like 
 sieves. We didn't have any time to 
 pick up brush for a bed and so lay 
 on the ground. Some of the boys said 
 they were laying in the water two 
 inches deep, when the sentinels came 
 rushing into camp shouting, "to arms 
 to arms, the rebs are coming." Our 
 camp was in a forest of great pine 
 trees, and I had gone to sleep, as no 
 doubt had the others, while the 
 thunder was cra-shing around us and 
 th*! wind and rain was pouring thru 
 the pine toi)s with an awful roar. 
 
 We were already wet as drowned 
 rats when we sprang out into the 
 open storm, slinging on our car- 
 tridge boxes and knapsacks and 
 fastening our dripping blankets to 
 our belts, and pulling down our flim- 
 sey fly tents and tying them like 
 belts around us and falling into the 
 retreating column fast as we could. 
 No questions were asked, not a word 
 was said, every fellow for the time 
 was willing to obey orders. The 
 brave boys, who generally knew a 
 lot more than Sherman, didn't say 
 a word last night. 
 
 We turned our backs to the enemy 
 and retraced our steps over terrible 
 roads, sometimes in mud and water 
 to our middle. It was jiitch dark 
 only as flashes of lightning lit up the 
 struggling mass about us. Stum- 
 bling over rocks and roots, many fell 
 full length in the muddy water of 
 the overflowing streams and in the 
 muddy track of the plunging column. 
 W^e made about four miles and halt- 
 ed near a big corral of supply trains. 
 We were ordered to build fires and 
 dry our blankets. It's pretty hard to 
 
 tell what Sherman is trying to do. 
 The report is that the rebs are 
 making feints at different iioints 
 along our lines trying to break thru, 
 and that Sherman is planning to bag 
 their army. 
 
 Our retreat last night looked as if 
 we were the party nearest bagged. 
 But you can't tell. Sherman has an 
 awful army. The line is three col- 
 umns deep and twenty miles long. 
 That the armies are close together, 
 there is no doubt, as we can hear 
 guns going all night long. 
 
 We are hearing good news from 
 the Potomac. The sun is fearfully 
 hot this morning and all hands are 
 trying to dry their soaked clothes. 
 
 It is ten o'clock and no orders yet 
 to march. The five or six hundred 
 supiily wagons along side us in a big 
 corn field, with their four and six 
 mule teams all plastered with mud. 
 show no signs of moving. 
 
 Word has Just come to be ready to 
 march in fifty minutes. Couriers are 
 galloping up and down the line and 
 the ofllcers are calling out orders to 
 pick up and pack up. 
 
 Send me some stamps and direct 
 iby way of Chattanooga. In haste. 
 Love to mother, sister and the boys. 
 Will write again first chance. 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Camp in the Pine Woods. near 
 Resaca, Georgia, May 17th, 1864. 
 
 Dear Parents: I have something to 
 tell you this time. Wc have been in 
 a big fight and lost near three hun- 
 dred men, killed, wounded and iiris- 
 oners. These figures are not correct 
 by oflicial returns as shown later. T 
 am mighty glad to tell you that 1 am 
 all right. I had several close calls as 
 did all the boys for that matter. We 
 have been under fire and losing men 
 right along for three days. Many of 
 our boys were killed and wounded at 
 long range firing from the Reliel fort 
 by shot and shell so far that we could 
 not return it and had to take it. A 
 good part of the time we were sup- 
 
70 
 
 porting batteries that were trying to 
 silence or dismount the big guns on 
 the rebel fort. I want to tell you the 
 Johnnies were all fixed for us. Think 
 of two hundred guns on our side, 12 
 aiyl 11 pounders, pouring shot and 
 shell fast as men could load and fire 
 into the enemies fort while two, and 
 in some places throe, lines , of infant- 
 ry were comi^elled to stand or lay in 
 front of these batteries, exposed to 
 shot and bursting shell and no 
 chance to shoot back. I don't know 
 where to begin to tell you, nor how 
 to tell you, of the last four days, be- 
 sides we are under marching orders 
 to be ready to go at a moment's 
 notice, just as we have been night 
 and day for several days. As T write 
 this, cannons are roaring on our left 
 toward Buzzard Roost and no soldier 
 knows what the next hour may bring. 
 T can scarcely keep my eyes open to 
 write, altho it is but ten o'clock in 
 the morning. We have had so little 
 sleep for a week, night or day. On 
 the 12th, word was passed that the 
 rebs had made a stand at Resaca and 
 that the place was fortified and 
 mounted with big cannons and mor- 
 tars. During the night of the 12th, 
 Sherman planted his batteries on 
 every hill and ridge overlooking the 
 town, and in the morning of the 13th, 
 at day break, both the rebel fort and 
 our ibrass batteries oiiened a terrific 
 fire. Our regiment was ordered to 
 take a position on advance of a 
 string of batteries, while another col- 
 umn of infanlry filed in front of us. 
 It was a sipht never to be forgot- 
 ten, to see, as we could from the 
 ridge, column after column of 
 troons, two and three lines deep, 
 forming in 1 attle line away on our 
 left for a mi^o and a hnlf. Here and 
 there a bursting shell from the fort 
 would throw the lines into confusion 
 killin.g and Avounding scores of men 
 By the time the smnke cleared up 
 the lines would reform, the dead and 
 wounded would be carried back by 
 the aml)ulance corps. All that day 
 
 until night, the big guns on the fort 
 thundered at our liatteries on every 
 hill and ridge, on the north and west 
 side. I don't know what our lo>3 
 was. A shell burst just over us, kill- 
 ing and wounding a number in Co. 
 K., next our Co. A shell burst direct- 
 ly over me, cutting a hole in my 
 blanket and the piece making a hole 
 in the ground within a few inches of 
 my body. The battery, just in our 
 rear, was put out of 'business for a 
 time by a bursting shell from the 
 fort, dismounting three guns, killing 
 and wounding the gunners, and 
 smashing the gun carriages to spin- 
 ters. It was a horrible siglu to see 
 the poor fellows wounded and mnn- 
 gled. Long before night the valley 
 of the Coosa was thick with smoke 
 so that we could no longer see the 
 belching clouds of smoke sent out 
 from the fort. I see a courier gallop- 
 ing to head quarters. I suppose it 
 means an order to fall in. ^^M11 fin- 
 ish my story of the battle Resaca if 
 I live, first chance. 
 
 The mail carrier is calling for let- 
 ters so good bye. Am feeling fine. 
 Your boy, CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Camp in the Pines, Georgia 
 Hith Army Corps, May 18th, 1S64. 
 
 Dear parents: After we finished 
 breakfast and had stranped on our 
 cartridge belt, our haversack and our 
 kna'isaick and ^cleaned and primed 
 muskets and fallen in. an order came 
 to be at ease for an hour or so until 
 a long column of cavalry and artill- 
 ery, which, wanted all the road, could 
 get by. Our foxy old General Sher- 
 man was coming another flank move 
 to the right, and the cavalry and 
 artillery were ordered ahead. 
 
 There is heavy firing five or s x 
 miles on our left and word has just 
 been passing down the line that the 
 rel)s at Palton have made a fierce 
 sortie on our lines at that point. It 
 looks strange to see our troops 
 marching quietly to the right with 
 all this rumpus on the left. But our 
 
71. 
 
 bully old General knows his busiiiesa 
 a»id wo I'col easy. 
 
 r have something more to tell you 
 about Resaca, .while we arc resting. 
 Tile evening of the 11th, undercover 
 of the smoke that filled the valley 
 just l)efore sundown, the lines of in- 
 fantry were advanced nearly a mile 
 toward the town. Our regiment was 
 put on the extreme front. We cross- 
 ed the Coosa creek or river, about as 
 big as the Elk at Gilmanton, and took 
 ui) a position in the edge of the 
 woods with a big open plantation or 
 clearing betweer- us and the rebel 
 infantry, lined up in a strip of woods 
 ;it the edge of this clearing a quarter 
 of a mile from us. The rebels dis- 
 covered us first and began a terifflc 
 fire on us from their cover of brush 
 and logs. Then the order came for us 
 to open fire. There is no use to try 
 to tell you of the excitement, of the 
 cries of the officers, of the whistling 
 of bullets and shells and above all 
 el:;e the roar of guns. Every fellow 
 loaded and fired fast as he could. 
 We were ordered to rest on our knees 
 instead of standing where we could, 
 as at short range firing most of the 
 bullets went high. We had not emp- 
 tied our boxes before it got dark 
 and we had to aim at the line of 
 fire from the guns of the enemy. Af- 
 ter it got quite dark the firing stop- 
 ped and we went 1 ack to the fianic 
 of the Coosa and made our coffee, and 
 spreading our pouches or rubbers on 
 the wet earth, lay down on our 
 stomachs with all our l)elts and be- 
 longings fastened to us, and tried 
 to sleep. It was poor sleeping. We 
 thot of the poor fellows who were 
 taking their last sleej) and of the 
 numy who were suffering from 
 wounds and broken limbs. l>ong be- 
 fore daylight we were ordered to dig 
 trenches and i)ile up log barricades 
 on the edge of tiie open clearing 
 still nearer to the rebel line of de- 
 fence Tiiore was no warm coffee 
 the morning of the I'lth. iWe lunch- 
 ed on hard tack and some smoked 
 
 bacon and ham that our cavalry boys 
 had captured the night before and ra- 
 tioned out during the night. 
 
 10 o'clock a. m. We have just had 
 a bugle call to fall in, but after 
 standing in the ranks a half hour, 
 we were ordered again to "gral) a 
 root," meaning to rest standing or 
 lying down. I take my pencil and 
 here goes for the rest of my story. 
 
 All night long some of the wake- 
 ful l)oys heard ofllicers on the fort 
 swearing and giving orders. Some 
 tliot it meant they were moving their 
 big guns or they were planting more 
 big guns. Anyway when Jhe first 
 streak of daylight came, both sides * 
 oi)ened a hot musketry fire. Both sides 
 were protected behind baricades. 
 We thot it strange that there were 
 so few big guns 'being used at the 
 fort. 
 
 Our batteries, a naif mile at our 
 rear, opened up their thunder ui)on 
 the town with very little reply. By 
 midday the smoke in the valley of 
 the Coosa became so thick we had to 
 shoot by guess. I emjHied my cart- 
 ridge 1 ox many times during the day 
 as did the others. I saw men often 
 drop after shooting, but don't know 
 that it was my bullet that did the 
 work and really hope it was not 
 But you know that I am a good 
 shot. 
 
 During the day we took turns 
 sleeping behind our log barricades. 
 1 could sleep, but. many could not 
 with ten thousand guns roaring in 
 their ears. 
 
 Say, do you know it was my iSlh 
 birthday? Shortly after noon one of 
 our cannon shot away the rebel fiag 
 on the fort. There must have been 
 twenty thousand I^nion soldiers see 
 it fall, from the shout that was 'sent 
 up along our lines. Such a day and 
 such a night. When night vet in not 
 a gun replied from the fort. The 
 firing ceased on our side. The night 
 of the Ifith we lay upon the bare 
 earth, eating cold scraps such as we 
 had, and listening to sounds at the 
 
n 
 
 fort we could not understand. In 
 the niorn'jig our pickets reported 
 that the high brid.^'e across the 
 Coosa had been I'.uirned and the 
 rebel army liad retreated. Not a 
 gun was fired in the morning. The 
 fort was silent as the grave. There 
 was a hasty gathering of regiments 
 /ind forming into column,. But , I 
 have no more time for details. 
 
 There is a roar of big guns on our 
 right and the cavalry and liatteries 
 that have 1)eeni stringing leiisurely 
 along, are whipping their horses into 
 a trot. They have orders to hurry 
 up. Good bye. Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Near Lost Mountain, Georgia. 2nd 
 Brigade, 4th Division, 16th Army 
 Corps. May 20th, 1864. 
 
 Dear Parents: 1 have been too 
 busy to think of writing for some 
 days, and if not busy have been sleep- 
 ing or trying to sleep. We have had 
 ten days and nights of fearful cim- 
 paigning. The doctors are sending 
 ' ack thousands of men who s.re sick 
 and dying for want of sleep. There 
 hasn't been a minute of time, night 
 or day, that guns are not heard or 
 that our regiment has not been losing 
 men, and yesterday it all wound up 
 with a most terrible fight at Dallas 
 or Lost Mountain. 
 
 I am writing this by the light of a 
 rail fire laying on- my stoni?ch about 
 1 o'clock in the morning. Have been 
 on special duty digging trenches and 
 piling up log breast wcrks in ex- 
 P'^ctatirn of an attack. This sort of 
 thing has been going on for eight 
 days. One day we would march to 
 the right and the next day to the left. 
 Lnst*" week we dug trenches during 
 the day and marched by night, this 
 week we are march'ng by day and 
 digging nights. The rebel generals 
 keep Sherman guessing most of the 
 time. If we did not have a mxich 
 bigger army, we would stand a poor 
 show in these mountains. For a 
 week we have been winding round 
 
 mountains, wading mountain streams 
 and twisting about in great pine 
 woods, falling ^sleep as we marched 
 and stumbling over roots and stones. 
 Then we would come to a halt to let 
 some cavalry troops get by or some 
 batteries that were badly wanted at 
 the front. Then we would drop down 
 on our. faces where we stood and 
 snatch a few minutes sleep, only to 
 be routed iby that awful bugle call lo 
 roure up and march. The fact is, 
 the buggle terrifies us more than reb- 
 el bullets. In manj' places the val- 
 leys or gorges in these mountains are 
 so narrow that we have to wade for a 
 long way in the streams that run 
 down them. Of course our'feet arc 
 always wet, but this water is good to 
 drink and we thank God that we 
 don't suffer from thirst as we did. 
 
 L-eutenant McKay has just come 
 round, as he is on duty to-night, and 
 warns me that I better quit my writ- 
 ing and go to bed, ?o T must leave oEf 
 telling yon of the baUle of . Lost 
 Moutain until next letter. 1 took two 
 or three naps while scribbling this 
 nnd maybe you can't read it. I am 
 feeling fine. Have had no letter from 
 home lately. Tell Dora to see Miss 
 A. and ask her to write. Direct to 
 Cl'attanooga, 16t,h Army Corps. 
 
 Goodbye mother and father. Your 
 loving CHAUNCEY. 
 
 40 miles from Dallas. Georgia, 
 Tn the great pine woods, 
 June 1st, 18G4. 
 Dear . Parents: For three days we 
 have been on si)eKial detail duty 
 guarding a supply ira'n of several 
 liundred wagons of hard tack and 
 ammunition. We came into camp 
 kite last night, and while the wagon 
 train has inilled out this morning we 
 are told to be at ease until future 
 orders. I am in the shade of somv-^ 
 great pines this morning and I am 
 glad, for the heat of the sun is fear- 
 ful. With m.y back against a great 
 yellow pine T am seated to tell you 
 of the fight at Dallas or Lost Moun- 
 
73 
 
 (;iin. Dallas is a little, sorrowful,! blanket for a shade and lay down as 
 humble village of some 600 souIb close together as we could. They got 
 about two miles from a great black our range and presently the bullets 
 forest covered mounds called Lost | began to whistle past us, striking the 
 Mountain. ground but a few feet from us. I 
 
 If I live a hundred years I shall said to John, "Lets get out of this." 
 never forget the fearful night of the "'^^'ait" he said, "until they come 
 29th of May, 1864, when all the earth' f^'oser." The next moment two shots 
 and sky semed on fire and in a' riPPed thru the rubber above us, one 
 struggle for life or death. In the' of them grazing .John's breast and 
 space of thirty minutes 2,000 men' tearing a hole in the ground between 
 were killed and three times as many "«• ^^'^ rolled out of that in a hurry- 
 wounded, many of them to die. | grabbed our blankets and took a posi- 
 
 nefore we reached Dallas on the tion lower down the hill. .John 
 27th. we had been told by the natives Christian is a dandy boy. He isn't 
 along the way that a big army of a^'raid of anything. In the afternoon 
 40,000 men was waiting for us Yanks at)Out 4 o'clock, we were relieved to 
 on Lost Mountain. On account of ^^^^ a sleep. 
 
 the heavy timber we were within six As soon as it got dark we were 
 or seven miles of the mountain be- ordered to build breast works of logs 
 fore we saw it. It looked to us like not more than fifty rods of the rebel 
 a great big mound two or three miles lines just across a deep gulch from 
 long covered with a dense forest. We the foot of the mountain. About ten 
 tbonght of Resaca and of course kept at night we were ordered back to 
 our eyes on the mountain- at every camp for a few hours sleep, and the 
 opening. We didn't make more than next morning at three o'clock before 
 five or six miles that day. A halt daylight, we were in these trenches 
 would be called every few minutes facing the rebel lines, which were 
 to let a cavalry regiment cross, go- protected like ours. All day long we 
 ing to the right or the left, or a bat- shot wherever we saw a hand, a head 
 tery, sometimes two or three, would or puff of smoke, and the rebels did 
 come tearing by, when we would take the same. Some times our side would 
 to the si(*e of the road and drop call out to the rebs, asking them to 
 down on our bellies for a nap till hold up and talk things over. "All 
 they got by. We camped on the out- right," they would say, and for some 
 skirts of Dallas on the night of the time both sides would talk over 
 27th between the town and the moun- things about the war, and about 
 tain. There were only a few people their girls, and about exchanging 
 left in town and they were packing hard tack for ham and whiskey for 
 up and hurrying away in expectation tobacco. Then some voice would 
 that the town would be burned. | call out look out for your life, and 
 
 On the morning of the 2Sth, .John the shooting would begin. Several 
 W. Christian and 1 were detailed to times during the day both sides 
 go on picket duty. Our beat layj would agree to a truce for ten minutes 
 within SO rods of the rebel breast or twenty minutes, and some of the 
 works on the side of Lost Mountain, j more daring on both sides would 
 Sharp shooters in the tops of the meet half way and exchange tobacco 
 trees kept pegging away at us for for whiskey and sometimes news- 
 
 four hours. \V"e changed our position 
 several times but they keitt their eyes 
 on us. We were in a corn field full 
 of rotten stumps. We got behind 
 one of these stumps put up a rubber 
 
 papers, sometimes to shake hands 
 merely. Soon as the first fellow got 
 back to his barricade he would call 
 out, "Say pard are you ready"' If 
 the answer came back all ready, at 
 
74 
 
 once a dozen guns, perhaps a hundrcdi (cannon) had taken a position Justin 
 would answer back the challenge. | our rear. Leather Breeches had the 
 About the middle of the afternoon best l)attery in the army and every 
 the canteen of my squad, some '0 soldier knew that when the old Dutch 
 men were empty. The orderly in captain's war dogs barked it meant 
 cornmand called for volunteers to' business. Before the smoke had 
 take the canteens and carry ihem cleared away, that sent a shell into 
 
 the rebel ranks, the boys would run 
 up and hug the guns and call them 
 dear girlie. 
 
 We were in the edge of a corn field 
 littered with stumps and stubs. In 
 
 '^ack to the branch some 00 rods and 
 refill them. 
 
 I was the first man to Kten out and 
 Jake Bolunger of Alnui followed me. 
 (I dared a certain r^omrade whose 
 name I will not give hero t6 go with 
 me. It was a dangerous (hity and' the three lines laying just in advance 
 just as I expected he -efuse'l.) I of some fifty big guns on the ridge 
 
 .Take aand T made the trip all right we could see all of our division and 
 ' n!h romin.u a'll goin-? over a -idge Part of another. We ate our hard 
 m plain view ;v>",d range of «• arp tack and drank cold water for supper 
 shooters who i eltod us with a shower and we lay down for a little rest with 
 of bullets boih \va:;i. .aire fell down all our belts and blankets strapi)ed 
 nn his way out not twenty rods from on. Everything had grown quiet 
 the trenches. I had got to a stump along our front save a few shots from 
 and made a halt to get my second the sharp shooters. On our left there 
 wind, I called to him. He answered was an occasional boom of cannon 
 baf'k I am all right. The rebel sharp some miles off. Yes, and now and 
 shooters, thinking they had killed then a burst of spiteful musketry 
 him stopped shooting at him when close on both our right and left. We 
 be jumped up and ran over the ridge were finally lulled into a broken 
 out of sight. We got back with our sleep by the music of many regimen- 
 canteens of water all safe. i tal bands, which our General had 
 
 (This letter be'ng too long for a ordered to keep playing. We lay 
 single publication we will complete down on the bare earth with every- 
 it in the next week's issue. Editor.) thing strapiied to us but our guns 
 
 Continued from last week's issue.) and the air of "Home Sweet Home" 
 
 Farly in the evening of May 29th in our ears. It was near 1 o'clock at 
 after a day of incessant musket firing night. There was no threUcning 
 we were ordered back to camp along sound save the steady tram|) of the 
 with the rest of our division. There Kith army Corps with its infantry and 
 had been a rumor that the .Johnnies cavalry and batteries moving steadilv 
 frebels) were evacuating and still 1o the left without any voice of com- 
 ano^her storv that they were con- mand. Our cat uaps were yiven 
 cenfra^ing all their cannon along the away to sound sleep when, from the 
 line of our front and were planning forest height of Lost Mountain, there 
 an assault. There was a mystery came a chorus of Dugle notes that 
 about it that kept our officers guess- cau!:ed 50,000 Union soldiers tired 
 inp. The thing ;that looked sus-' and weary, to spring to their ice'. 
 picious to us, if we were to make a We knew too well 1h;it it meant an 
 flnnk move, was the Tncreased number onslaught of the re'' el army. In an 
 of batteries that were lined up along instant we were on our feet. The 
 the crest of the ridge just above and next moment came the command: 
 behind us. Word was passed along "I'ie down until the enemy shows 
 the line that old Leather Breeches, itself aliovc the crest of the hill." I 
 with his eight big brass bull dogs have no pen to tell you of the awful 
 
79 
 
 scenes and sounds uf the next three with all its scenes, are pretty well 
 quarters of an hour. How near the preijared for any event this side 
 re' el infantry c;ime to our lines that eternity. Full of whiskey and gun- 
 nislit wo do not know. The heavens powder the rebel ranks charRed again 
 al ove ts seemed to boil with lieryj a"d again the Union lines, only to be 
 red smoke from ours and the rebelj repulsed again and again with fear- 
 ranuons. It must bo we were too f'll slaughter. They charged with 
 well |)repare(l. Not a half mile from their hats pulled down over their 
 our right a thousand men were killed^ eyes like men who cared only to 
 in ;;o minutes and three thousand | throw away their lives. With every 
 were wounded, perhaps most of themi repulse of the rebels, a cheer of 
 irorlally. O God, whiit a night was! victory came up the Union lines and 
 the night of May the 29th for Sher-I was borne away in a mighty roar by 
 man's army. It fwas a night of' fifty thousand eager voicen on our 
 dazzling, glaring, shrieking sounds.' 'eft. For the rest of the night we 
 The earth seems crashing into ten. slept upon our arms within ear shot 
 thousand atoms. The sky but aa' of the cries of the wounded and 
 hour ago so pitchy l)l;ick. seems ])oil-j dying, every house in Dallas being 
 ing with smoke and flame. And the pressed into service as a hospital, 
 horrid shrieking shot, and bursting The cries of the wounded and dying 
 shells, then the shouting of com- murdered all sleep for me that night 
 manners and cheering of men, and I thot many many times of 
 mingled with the sputter of muskets father's saying: "That every life 
 and the roar of batteries, made the taken ^by Union or Rebel bullets was 
 world about us seem like a very hell, a sacrifice to the crime of slavery." 
 Just beliind our division alone was a You may have to pay some extra 
 solid line of cannon for near a half postage on this heavy paper. T am 
 mile, vomiting fiery streams of shot w^riting on ]iaper torn from some 
 and shell that came screaming close merchant's ledger, picked up in the 
 above our heads. Many of tliem were streets of Pains. The boys have run 
 so 'badly timed that they burst al)OTe out of letter paper and are using any 
 our lines, killing and wounding our sort of paper. 
 
 own men. And for every broad side Orders have been passed along the 
 from our big guns there came an line to be prepared for a night's 
 answering roar from the rebel lines, march. 
 
 The real death struggle at short I have not had a letter for some 
 range musket firing was a quarter of days. The report is the railroad in 
 a mile on the right of our division. o''r rear has been cut by a raidins: 
 The forest there was dense and un- party. If this is so you may not get 
 broken. There most of the 4.000 this letter very soon, 
 men, who were killed and wounded, There is a rumor that the rebel 
 fell, and all in less than an hour. We nrmy is making another stand at a 
 talked it all over with the fellows place called nig Shanty, 
 who were in the thick of it next morn- Am feeling all right. Love to all. 
 ing. How they were under marching CHAl^NCEY. 
 
 orders to move to the left, how they 
 
 had quit the trenches under the be- Ifead Quarters First Rattallion 2nd 
 lief that the rebel army was retreat- Brigade Ifith Army Corps, Camp in 
 ing. Then came those itugle notes the Georgia Pine Woods, 
 which meant a rebel charge and a .lune 2nd. 1Sfi4. 
 
 fight to the finish. They may tell of| Dear Mother: >i awaki^ned this 
 hell and its awful fires, but the boys morning with my face and feet both 
 who went tlu'U the fight of Dallas^ outalde my rubber 'blanket, washed 
 
7i 
 
 by the falling rain. I was on duty 
 until 1 o'clock digging trenches and 
 building breastworks. Our division 
 of six regiments is on special duty 
 guarding supply trains of wagons 
 loaded with ammunition and pro- 
 Tisions for a hundred thousand men. 
 Since I wrote you last our brigade 
 has moved twice, but not more than 
 two miles each time. The fact is, we 
 move as the rebel army moves. We 
 are on the extreme right of Gen. 
 Sherman's big army, and we have to 
 be wide awake and on the alert for 
 the flankers. Most of us have been 
 wet to the skin night and day for 
 several days. Our worry is to keep 
 our powder dry. for our lives we are 
 ordered to do this. We like the wet 
 better than breathing the thick dust 
 that Alls the air from the tramp of 
 so many thousand feet. We don't 
 fear any sudden attack from the 
 rebel's general Hood or Polk en- 
 masse, but the bodies of rebel cavalry 
 are hovering round ready to pounce 
 on our provision trains and on their 
 guards any hour of the day or night. 
 This compels us to be always on the 
 move, changing our position. Yes- 
 terday a reconnoitering force of the 
 enemy, supported by a battery of 
 artillery, came out on a hill a mile 
 and a quarter distant and opened 
 fire upon our lines just in our front. 
 For some moments the sputtering 
 musketry and bursting shells sound- 
 ed like a general engagement. But 
 soon, Jo our delight. Leather Breech- 
 es, with his war dogs and their cas- 
 sions drawn by 128 big horses, gal- 
 loped jnto position just behind us and 
 with eight big guns opened fire with 
 their ear splitting roar on the rebel 
 battery. It seemed nip and tuck 
 to us fellows, who were waiting with 
 our muskets, as to which would quit 
 first in this duel of big guns. The 
 rebels had fewer cannon, but they 
 were fighting, as their smart leaders 
 told them, for their wives and child- 
 ren. A heavy jain began falling ajbout 
 this time and the rebel cannon ceas-! 
 
 ed firing altogether. As some of the 
 boys say when they run against 
 "Leather Breeches," they are "sure 
 up against it." The next morning 
 early a body of our cavalry, sent out 
 to reconnoitre, surprised a company 
 of them playing cards in a log house 
 and captured 40 of them. The boys 
 sent up a wild hurrah when they 
 heard of this. We cannot forget the 
 boast of the south that it would take 
 four "Yanks" to match one southern- 
 er. And do you know mother. I 
 somehow had the feeling that the 
 south was more than our match man 
 for man, they did so much bragging. 
 But that's their way, besides if they 
 were not fighting to keep us away 
 from their homes we could tell bet- 
 ter. The prisioners we talk with, 
 and we see them every day, say we 
 "Yankees" are fighting to free the 
 niggers so they can marry white wo- 
 men. What miserable stories they 
 tell. 
 
 It is raining to-day a slow, drizz- 
 ling rain. Have just come in from a 
 two hours stunt on the trenches. The 
 boys who have taken our places are 
 working in a pouring rain and are 
 wet to the hide. They are deepening 
 trenches and piling up musket proof 
 breast works, which as Col. Mont- 
 gomery says: "We may leave the 
 next hour or possibly not for a week." 
 The boys make a joke of their dig- 
 ging by saying there is silver in 
 Georgia and they are mining for it. 
 And then it is taken as a good sign 
 that we are soon to leave entrench- 
 ments which it takes a day and a 
 night to build. 
 
 I sent you a letter day before yes- 
 terday giving an account of our late 
 movementij, so J am 'keeping you 
 well posted. 
 
 George Ide, of Mondovi, died yes- 
 terday. He had been sick but tw) 
 days. Poor fellow, what will his 
 parents think? Chet Ide, his uncle, 
 felt very bad. Hq had been withth* 
 company but a short time but the 
 
77 
 
 boys will miss him because he was show that we will outflank Hood and 
 such good company. get into Atlanta ^before long^ Uet 
 
 ^t goo. many o. the boys are break- - the / ^e^^U'we S't pr^s 
 jng down for waiU os^eep^ The I fault a^^^^^^ Great Heavens. think 
 
 ing uuwii lui """>. -• - ■ faster Great Heavens, iniun 
 
 ?,?r°^,ra to^-Sr-eoS '' X."r.ave to .o. ■ use.., won- 
 
 Am feeling all right. Hope to ge 
 a letter tonight from home. 
 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 der why the Potomac army did not 
 move faster. Then I knew nothing of 
 marching in armies of one or two 
 hundred thousand men. Let people 
 stop and think about these things, 
 then they will be more patient. Let 
 In the Pine Woods, Georgia, me tell you something about it. 
 IC.th Army Corps, .June 6th, 1864.' Sherman has five army corps of from 
 Dear Parents: 1 am off duty and 15 to 25 thousand men in each corps, 
 have had six hours of refreshing nap. Each corps is following in the same 
 Henry Morse has just il.een to see me direction on parellel roads from 3 to 
 and asked me to say nothing that 5 ^iles apart. Each corps means a 
 will get to his folks about his health.' string of men, four abreast, of from 
 He is bad off with bowel trouble, but eight to ten miles long. There is an 
 he doesn't want his people to know army of rebels posted on every one 
 of it. Thev have cut our rations in of these roads with cannon at every 
 half and. every fellow is hungry.' cross road, cavalry dashing in upon 
 Every few davs our cavalry raiders our flaaks and sharp shooters pick- 
 captiire a lot of smoked meat and jng our men off at every oP^ninS 
 corn i)ones, and lots of the boys over where the pine forests come within 
 eat because it's good, and they are a half or quarter of a mile of tne 
 down sick. Henrv is one of them. road. You can see the time we are 
 The trouble is, we can't eat here like having. If one of the corps is atoppea 
 we can in Wisconsin. If we eat a by trees fallen across the road so 
 good fill we are off our feed for a day the cannon or the cavalry cannot 
 or two. W^ien our rations are short pass, couriers are sent to stop au 
 the bovs go to the Quartermaster's the other corps until the way is clear 
 and If" they have a dime, fill up on ed. All the bridges are burned by 
 pie and cake, and Its regular poison the retreating rebels and have to oe 
 to them. I dreamed last night about rebuilt, which causes a delay. Some 
 the cheese which you wrote about times we use pontoons, boats made 
 in the letter I got three days ago. of canvas anchored In the rivers witn 
 Sure I would like a taste of it. but planks stretched from one to tne 
 mother I wish vou would stop mak- other. Where the roads are OD- 
 ing clioose with all vour other work, structed they fall timber on botn 
 its too much. Mother, I don't re- sides for miles and sharpen the 
 member that I helped you very much limibs so we can't get thru. A QO^en 
 in Mich work, but it seems to me if I times every day we come to a halt, 
 was home again I could help you in for what we don't know. It s a sate 
 so manv ways that I never tho't of guess that its a broken wagon axel, 
 liofore "and I will be home again a crippled cannon or a played oui 
 somediiv 1 am sure we soldiers will icassion truck. No questions are 
 have good times again to pay for asked. We are only too glad to jau 
 this This war will not last always, down on our faces and snatch a rew 
 Gen Grant is flaxing them in Vir- minutes sleep. There are more de- 
 giniu and 1 saw the other day in an lays from ammunition and sow 
 Atlauta ;paper that Gen. She(rman belly" wagons breaking down than 
 could "outflank Hell," so there is a from any other one cause. Ihen 
 
78 
 
 the gorillas are forever attacking 
 our rear guard, and sometimes bodies | 
 of men and batteries have to be sentj 
 back to help them out. All this, 
 means a delay. 
 
 Sister Dora wrote that father ex- 
 pected to buy a couple of cows of 
 Mr. Harvey. I think it a good deal as 
 I shall want a lot of milk, butter and 
 cheese when I come home, if T do, 
 this winter. Every body thinks the 
 rebellion on its last legs, and that 
 means the end of it when we get in- 
 to its strongest and last defense At- 
 lanta. 
 
 An Orderly has just ridden up to 
 Brigade Headquarters and, as it may 
 mean something serious, will close 
 for this time. Please send stamps in 
 your next. Your son 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 In the Pine Woods of Georgia, 
 16th Corps, 25th Wis. Regt 
 June 9th, 1864 
 Dear Folks at Home: It is only 
 two or three days ago that I wrote 
 you, but I have the time and it seems 
 like being with you to be writing to 
 you. Your last letter of June 2nd 
 came last night. I am surprised that 
 Mrs. G. W. Gilkey has gone back to 
 teaching school, and I don't know 
 why I am surprised either. Both she 
 and Gilkey are natural born teachers 
 and then teaching is just as much 
 needed as soldiering. I would like 
 to be at home where the roar of can- 
 non and the sputter of musketry 
 night and day would not disturb me, 
 but half sick and tired as I some- 
 times feel, I want to see this war 
 ended right before I give up. A good 
 many of the boys are swearing about 
 it every day and wishing they were 
 out of it. It keeps my courage up 
 when I think of what father said to 
 me in Ruf Fuller's grove just as I got 
 into the wagon for Alma. He said: 
 ■'This is a war for human rights and 
 human liberty, my boy, don't giet dis- 
 couraged." I suppose he was think- 
 ing of the slaves in the south. As 
 
 I never saw tears in his eyes l)efore, 
 it gave me a strange feeling at the 
 time that I can't forget. As much as 
 I long to get home I would rather 
 serve out another year than to quit 
 before the South is whipped to a 
 finish. I have just been down to the 
 creek, or the branch, as they say 
 here, and had a good wash. The rain 
 which has kept us wet for nearly a 
 week, has passed and the wind is 
 cool, something like Wisconsin. 
 
 We are bivoaced on the bank of a 
 lazy stream. There is something 
 about the droo])ing branches that re- 
 calls that old melody of the south, 
 "Dearest May." Sitting on the bank 
 in the dense shade all about, which 
 makes the day almost like twlight, I 
 could sleep were it not for the con- 
 stant roar of cannon hotit on the right 
 and the left. A lot of boys like my- 
 self just off picket duty have lop'ped 
 down on the bank, some writing, 
 some sleeping, some with clothes olf 
 hunting grey backs (bodylice,) others 
 trying to write, as I am, to their 
 homes. It is being talked that we 
 are soon to move. This talk of 
 march to the right or the left is fear- 
 ful trying. We hear it talked about 
 all day long and dream about it of 
 nights. 
 
 June Sth — ^Came off guard duty 
 last night at 9 a. ni., marched until 
 eleven o'clock at night with scarcely 
 a rest and fell down several times, as 
 did my comrades, over stones and 
 ruts and roots. We had marched 
 some 10 miles and halted at the rail- 
 road. W^ent into camp and lay down 
 with little or no rations. The boys 
 are hungry and there is a lot of loud 
 cursing. Many of them are singing 
 the hard tack song. I tell yos it 's 
 pretty hard to tramp night and day 
 on half rations. Have been digging 
 trenches four hours to-d!ay. It is 
 getting dusk and must close. The 
 rebel General Hood is fixing things 
 for us away on the right and Sher- 
 man has ordered the oulk of his army 
 
that way to thrash him. Remember a railroad running direct to Marrietta 
 
 and write often. some S miles out. Gen Hooker is on 
 
 Your son, the right flank and Thomas on the 
 
 CHAIINCEY. I left, and ])oth are closing in toward 
 
 the center. Kennasaw Mountain 
 
 fortified with a hundred cannon and 
 
 P. S. Have unsealed this letter to 
 
 tween us and Marrietta. We are so 
 close to Kennasaw on our front that 
 
 have vou tell Henry Morse s folks , . , » ^ k^ 
 
 1 \ u • 11 • 1* /\ 1 • '♦ «,i., looming down upon us, stands be 
 ihat he is all right, out he am t, only 
 
 he doesn't want his folks to know it 
 
 he is to be sent back to Field hos^- ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 pita, near Dalas. in the morning. ( ^^^j,^ .^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 He IS looking bad^ ^ ^,^^y ^^^ ^^,^.^^ .^ ^.^^^ ^j, ^^^^^ 
 
 ' might. 1 am sure there are thousands 
 
 2;ith Wis. Vol. Tnft., 10th .\rmy of boys like myself, half asleep and 
 
 Corps, "Ith Division, June lUh to 14th. half awake, who are taking their 
 
 Dear Mother: I am no baby but chance of beiing blown to pieces. The 
 
 your letters bring tears to my eyes fellows who are well are passing the 
 
 snive times. You tell me of so many time away playing cards in the 
 
 things about home and what you are ditches behind trenches. Now and 
 
 (loiirr, what Elder Morse and the then a bursting shell spoils the game, 
 
 neighl)ors at Gilmanton are saying, mixes the count and starts a row. 
 
 and al out the cows, the pigs and the By and by peace is declared and the 
 
 <'lii( Uer.s, that I can see them almost .game goes on. 
 
 as well as tho T was there. It is the it's a strange life we are leading, 
 
 same old story here. All of the past ^Yhile it rains most of the time, there 
 four days have found us on the line , ,. , . * - n 
 
 of battie with skimishers close in ^^^^^s a day ot sunshine so fearfully 
 
 front iJoping away at each other night hot we keep moving our blankets to 
 
 :ind day, never stoi)ping for the awful keep in the shade of the trees. With 
 
 rain that has been falling day and the naked eye we are so close to the 
 
 nisht for two weeks. For days, es- rebel lines on the top of the mountain 
 
 pecially, it has been a steady down that we can see them moving about. 
 
 pour of cold rain. We have no tents W'e are too far to use our muskets 
 
 that will turn anything but the dew, and they are too high to use their 
 
 and everything we have, but our cannon on us. Once in awhile a shell 
 
 l)owder, is soaking wet. We are in a drops amongst us and then every 
 
 great flat field and all about us is fellow playing cards or taking a nap 
 
 flooded with water. We have to lay gets a move on himself. We don't 
 
 on rails and brush and logs to keep mind the musket shots ripping thru 
 
 off the wet ground. The rebels are the tree toi)s and killing a man now 
 
 liostrd on a hill or mountain four and then, but those shells, when they 
 
 miles in front of us. Their signal strike, dig a hole big enough for a 
 
 flafrs, with which they talk from one cellar and they make the dirt fly. 
 
 army head quarters to another, are When they fly over your head they 
 
 itlainly seen by us thru the day tho make a scream that is terrible to 
 
 we don't read their signals. By night hear. 
 
 on the distant mountain tops they There was a bunch of us called for 
 
 build flres by which they talk to each ^ drink the other day at a house 
 
 other. where an old lady met us. She look- 
 
 Our corjis, Ihat is the Kith corps, ed cross enough when some of the 
 
 is about the renter of the advancing boys sat down in her easy chairs, 
 
 column, which means a strip of coun- She said we would get a good licking 
 
 trv about 30 miles wide. We are on If we ever met the rebel Gen. John- 
 
80 
 
 son. One of the boys asked her why 
 he did not whale us at Dalton, or 
 Tunnel Hill or Resaca. "He would," 
 she said, "'if Gen. Sherman and an 
 other regiment hadn't outflinked 
 him." There is a fearful roar of 
 cannon on our left at this minute. It 
 must come from our side. I don't 
 understand it because we are at the 
 extreme left of the line of fortifica- 
 tions on Kennasaw. Thank heaven 
 the rebels are not in it with us when 
 it comes to cannon. We have the 
 big guns and can hammer down their 
 lines of defense, and we need them 
 because it's one line of defense after 
 another. 
 
 But enough for this time. No 
 letter for some days. Dan Hadley is 
 calling for coffee, but I don't care 
 for any. Have been a bit off my feed 
 for some days. The war will be over 
 some day. Goodbye. 
 
 Your Son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Camp near Acquorth, Georgia, 
 • June 19th, 1864, 16th Army Corps. 
 
 Dear father: I am writing some 
 of you nearly every day. I don't ex- 
 actly know why either. One thing 
 that set me to thinking of home was 
 when Henry Morse came and bid me 
 good bye. He had been ordered to 
 report to the field hospital. Henry 
 was feeling ibad and he looked bad. 
 Say as little about it as you can to 
 his folks. Henry was never tough, 
 he had no endurance. I was sorry to 
 see him go because I don't believe I 
 shall ever see him again. (Henry 
 never returned to the regiment. He 
 died in a field hospital and was bur- 
 ied in a plain board box under the 
 solemn pine trees in whose branches 
 every south wind' chants a sad re- 
 quiem above his grave.) 
 
 1 have something else to tell you. 
 Yesterday was a mighty eventful day 
 to our Brigade. In the morning or- 
 ders came for three companies of 
 each regiment to get In position and 
 
 be prepared to charge the rebel lines 
 on the farther side of the plantation, 
 bounded on that side as on ours by a 
 heavy forest. In a short time fifteen 
 companies of our brigade were in line 
 and under cover of a bit of rising 
 ground, we advanced to within sixty 
 rods of the rebel earth works and 
 took a parellel position to them along 
 a washout or gully with a big peacli 
 orchard between us and the rebel 
 lines. Here we waited for nearly an 
 hour while sharpshooters in the tree 
 tops beyond the peach orchard kopt 
 picking off our men. Our orders 
 were to save our amunition and not 
 to fire a shot. Then came the com- 
 mand to fix bayonets and charge the 
 rebel lines. Then we climed out of 
 our ditch and made a wild rash for 
 the rebel lines. The air was alive 
 with whizzing bullets and the wild 
 shooting of the enemy tore up the 
 sand and filled our eyes with dirt. 
 We reached the rebel lines without 
 firing a shot, and strange enough we 
 lost but a few men killed and wound- 
 ed on our side. The retreat of the 
 rebels was complete. Soon after our 
 occupation of the rebel lines, some 
 darkies, who had deserted the rebel 
 army, came to us and told us how 
 the rebel General Polk had been kill- 
 ed in a log house near our lines. 
 They pointed out the holes made by 
 the twelve pound shot of our cannon 
 and showed us the blood stains on the 
 logs of the hut. 
 
 We can see Kennesaw Mountain in 
 the distance and the rumor is that 
 the rebel army will make a big fight 
 at that point. There is a railroad 
 I)assing near us that runs into Mar- 
 rietta just 'beyond Kennesaw Mount- 
 ain and for some reason Gen. Sher- 
 man keeps an engine armored with 
 steel plat es,running back and forth * 
 as near the mountain as he dare. I 
 wouldn't like to be the engineer. 
 
 As I write T can hear cannons eight 
 or ten miles on our right and the 
 They know him by the rattle of his 
 
81 
 
 boys say it's "Leather Breeches." initil I came off duty In the morning, 
 cannon. We had not been an hour The next relief that went on kept up 
 in our new camp liefore we were un- a constant fire all day long. It rained 
 der marching orders for Kennesaw so hard all the forenoon the boys 
 Mountain. were in the water over their shoe 
 
 Almost forgot to tell you I got your loi)s in the trenches. This is just 
 letter of .June 10th with stamps and about the 9nth time it has rained 
 a dollar enclosed. We have full ra- s'nre this campaign commenced, and 
 lions now and I don't need the dollar it's no drizzel drozzel like we have 
 but I may later. Tell mother not in Wisconsin, but a regular down- 
 to worry. It takes tons of lead to pour, 
 kill a man. If I can escape desea; e I June SSth. 
 
 am not afraid of bullets, and Sher- When the i)ickets came in off the 
 
 man Is far more careful of his men I'ne this morning they had quite a 
 
 than Grant. iiretty story to tell of how they 
 
 Will writo again soon. chummed it with some Louisiana 
 
 Your son, debs. A company of our Indiana boys 
 
 OHAUNCEY. met a compan|y of Louisiana reb- 
 
 els half way between the two lines. 
 
 Hd. Quarters, 25th Wis. Vol. '^^ey stacked arms, shook hands, ex- 
 Camp near Kennesaw Mountain, Ga. changed papers, swapped tobacco, 
 June 24th, 1S64. ^'^^^ each other a lot of things about 
 Dear Parents: Had just nicely their feelings and how they wished 
 finished my notes for yesterday in ''^f* ^'^^ would end so they might go 
 my diary when we Avere ordered to '^^^^ to their homes and be good 
 fail in for picket duty on the skirmish ^r'en-ls again, shook hands once more 
 line. There was no hesitation on the ^^'ith tears in their eyes as they bid 
 part of any of the boys. They knew ''ach other goodbye forever, and 
 well enough what it meant. It was •''fter calling to each other to be sure 
 ju?t as if the southern army was in- ♦^''at both sides were ready, commenc- 
 vading Buffalo county, not a man of '-d ^ furious fire on each other, 
 them knowing a foot of the country, Arain the reports of Gen. Polks 
 yet they were exuected by their offi- death is confirmed. He was cut in 
 cers to hold their own against the two by a cannon shot not 50 rods 
 native inhabitants, wiio knew every from whore we charged the rebel 
 read and bye i)ath and hill and val- lines at Big Shanty. The death of 
 ley. The rebels had their lines al- Gen. Polk means that the rebel army 
 ready made. Under cover of the is now in command of Gen. Hardee, 
 night our lines were pushed close to Th's means more fighting. Hardee 
 theirs. We made a bargain with is a hrt head and will force the fight- 
 them that we woula not fire on them ing. 
 
 if they would not fire on us, and tboy The valley between us and Kenno- 
 were as good as their word. It y^ems saw Mountain is full of smoke from 
 loo bad that we have to fight men cannon that have been vomiting their 
 that we like. Now these so'itbern awful fire all day long. We are so 
 soldiers seem just like our own boys, close under the mountain they do us 
 only they are on the other side. They very little damage. Our batteries, 
 talk about their people at home, their j';st in our rear, have been paying 
 mothers and fathers and their sweet- them back with interest, 
 hearts just as we do among ourselves. .\n order has just come that some 
 Both sides done a lot of talking back twenty of our company is to .so on 
 and forth, but there was no shooting picket duty tonight, and I am in that 
 
62 
 
 list. I had just put asldie tny note you can't eat strawberry short cake, 
 book when the captain called to me Why mother, you ought to have eaten 
 and said I would be excused. I hate your share and about four more 
 to own it, but 1 am very close to the shares for me. Now that you are out 
 sick list. I am not scared a bit, 1 am of debt, for goodne^s sake enjoy life 
 sure 1 shall be all right soon. It is while you can. I wonder now, when 
 the diarrhoea that has been going for I think of it, when we husked corn to- 
 me for some days, but 1 am careful gether and you talked about our 
 and I am setting better. Will write debts and was so troubled about it, 
 in a day or two again. that I didn't think more of it than I 
 
 Your boy, did. 1 am glad, yes I am happy. 
 
 CHAUNCEV. away off here in Georgia, that Uar- 
 
 P. S. Dora's explanation is satis- wood has got the last dollar due him. 
 factory. Dora is a wise sister I must I know that he has been the cause of 
 own. many tears to you and father that I 
 
 never .saw and he was good and would 
 
 Head Quarters, 25th Regiment Wis. ^'^7, saved you the tears too if he 
 
 Vol. rn Dark Yellow Pine Forest, ^""l^- ^o^l^^"-^ please don t worry 
 Ga., June 27th. 1861. ^"^ "^"''^ about me. We are on full 
 
 rations now and have plenty to eat 
 
 My Dear Ones at home: I got ^^d good enough, 
 your last letter, written the 19th of q,,^ Brigade still holds the same 
 this montix, yesterday. It was the poj,i,,iou as when I wrote you last 
 best medicine for what ailed mo ^he rebels are holdmg the mountain 
 nave talien for some time, and li I j^ f^ont of us in easy range of their 
 must tell tales out of school, 1 have ^eavv guns. This morning when the 
 had several doctor's prescriptions of 5,,,^ ^^^^ ^p ^,p ^^^i^j ^^^ ^j^^ ^1^^^^ 
 late, which I am suppsed to take as ..^ ^^^ cannon up against the blue 
 a dutiful soldier, but I haven't done ^^j, j^^^ i^gf^^e our guns opened on 
 It. I think every day of the jibes t^^j^ ^^^^ g^eat clouds of smoke from 
 father used to make about the doc- ^y^^^j. ,^^y^^^^ jj^^j.^i^ ^^^^^ pourim; 
 tors and their pills and 1 just put the ^p,^.„ ^,10 mountain side. They would 
 powders the doc gives me in my poc- j^g^p ^^^^^^ jj ^g ^.^yj^j j^^ ^^era alone, 
 ket and the first time I go out back ,^1,^ (,„r gj^e begins the assault and 
 I throw them away. They give a ^^e most alwavs fire the last round, 
 sight of astringent stuff for bowel pay after day it is a duel of cannon., 
 trouble, which is the most common ^^^,^ ^^^^^ (jn^gj, th^ roar of big guns 
 It is just horrible to take and 1 throw j^ deafning and the smoke hides the 
 nearly all of mine away. If I am mountain from us. Last evening 
 doing wrong tell me so. l,ot,h sides stopped Bring about the 
 
 Your letter came thru in si.K days, same time and heavy firing was heard 
 I am glad for the $1.2.5 it brought me. away beyond iVIarrletta some miles 
 tlio we are on full rations again of on our left front. This Kennesaw 
 bard tack and sow belly. I can use mountain is a bad one, for Sherman, 
 the money to buy eggs of the sutler, and be is trying to come a flank 
 tho mo^t of them are spoiled. movement both on the right and the 
 
 Mother, why do you worry so much loft to cut them off from communica- 
 about me? I am all right and your tinn with Atlanta, twenty miles away, 
 letters hurt me worse than aiythinc: My company went on picket line 
 else. To think that you don't enjoy duty this iflorning. A lot of the boys 
 your meals thinking of me hurts ter- got off because they were sick, or 
 ribly, and the worst of all to think claimed to be. Your son was among 
 
Si 
 
 the number. Without my asking, the a mile from our front and kept get- 
 doctor had checked me as unfit for ting heavier as it sounded farther 
 picket duty. I was glad of it and away. We had just finished supper, 
 in a way I hated it. Every coward and many of the boys had comraenc- 
 in the army tries to get off picket ed their card games. Then the boys 
 duty because it is dangerous. Every began to yell, that's Hardee, the 
 soldier that gets e«cnsed has to stand fighting rebel general." The card 
 a lot of guying about being a coward, games stopped and every man was 
 The boys have let me alone since the listening. The musketry grew loud- 
 Resaca fight and the Dallas fight. er until it was one continuous roar. 
 
 The diarrhoea has got a bit of a ^'-^'hile we were wondering and listen- 
 grip on me again tho it is getting iiig- suddenly couriers from division 
 better. I got it in this way: I went and corps head quarters mounted on 
 down to Division headquarters some foaming horses, came galloping by. 
 two weeks ago to get some hard tack (arrying orders to Brigade and Regi- 
 and pork. While waiting for my mental commanders. Then from the 
 turn I noticed an open barrel of white left to th^ right came the rush of 
 sugar. Watching my chance, while cavalry regiments pell mell. many of 
 the guards back was to me, I dipped the boys without their hats or ca|)s, 
 my hands twice full in my blouse trying to keep up. Then cam© the 
 pocket. I ate the sugar soon as I word that the fighting Gen. Hardee, 
 came away and ever since I have with a picked army was assaulting 
 been paying the i)rice. T am sure our lines on the right. While we 
 that I shall soon be all right again were rapidly forming in rank leaving 
 This staying so quiet in camp for everything but our guns and ammu- 
 days without marching cr any kind uitioii. battery after battery came 
 of exercise is bad for our health. pounding by, the drivers on the lead 
 
 Tho orderly has just been around near horse of every pair whipping 
 
 warning us to have our g'.ms in i)er- with all his might. For nearly an 
 
 feet order and be roady to nurcli at 'lour we waited and listened to the 
 
 a moments notice. swe'ling and receding roar of Muske- 
 
 Tell sister D -her e.vplanation is try. There was little or no report of 
 
 satisfactory. Love to all, cannt^n. Both sides were afraid that 
 
 Your son. lh( y might kill their own men. In 
 
 CHAUNCEY. the course of an hour, as twilight 
 
 camc^ on, the roar of musketry grew 
 
 Head Quarters, 2nd Brigade, KUb v^i'i'dually less and finally ceased. 
 
 .\rmy Cori)s, Near Kennesaw Moun- The next morning we learned that 
 
 tain. Georgia, .July 4th, 1864. the rebel general Hardee had been 
 
 Dear Folks at home: Many things ••^*'"'f 7'^"";f ^"^^ ^'^^'^^ •"^'"f: 
 
 have happened in this war cursed "T'^' ^^j? thousand men m killed 
 
 and wounded, our side captured near. 
 
 ly a thousand prisoners. 
 
 land since my last letter to you. On- 
 ly the next day after my last letter 
 
 of .June 2Sth, the rebel army under Wo are under marching orders to 
 
 Gen. Hardee made a fierce attack on start at any minute. I^ike myself 
 
 our lines on the right. It was unex- many iiov-'s around me are writing 
 
 pected by us. The day had been fear- perhaps the last message to father or 
 
 fully hot when just i)efore sunset, mother or sweetheart. It's a fearful 
 
 when the big guns had stopped their strain to live such a life and yet the 
 
 terrible booming, all at on^e there fear of bullets don't bother me half 
 
 came up from the right wing a spite- as much as the fear of disease. But 
 
 ful burst of musketry. It started not strange to think, soldiers never think 
 
84 
 
 of dying of disease. Just the same moment to be ordered into ranks. For 
 not ten minutes passes during our the rest of tlie niglit we lay upon 
 long encampments, but we Ivear the our fares and slept. Many times the 
 muffled funeral drum and the hlailk rattling of the sabers of passing cav- 
 musket disfharges, above some sol- airy vr the rumbling of artillery with 
 dier"s grave, who died a victim of their heavy guns would awaken me. 
 southern fever I must close. Hardee We knew from this that there was a 
 has been thrashed and the order's general movement of Sherman's army 
 are that we are to move to the right, to the right. Early on the morning 
 The hi" black cannon on Kennesaw of the :!rd of July we became aware 
 in fron*! of us are strangely silent, from the unusual silence of the reb^l 
 It looks as if the rebel army had re- guns on Kennesaw, that something; 
 treated Oxen. Sherman has outflank- new was in the wind. Very soon 
 ed them again. Good bye, word was passed along the Ime that 
 
 Your son ^^^^ rebel army had fallen back and 
 
 CHAUNCBY. was retreating toward Atlanta. Our 
 
 . • Gen. r,o.^^an with his l-".th corps, who 
 
 __ had been on the alert for just this 
 
 . move, made a sudden dash upon the 
 
 Head Quarters. 2nd Brigade. In ,.gijgjg retreating lines and captured 
 ten miles of Atlanta. 25th Regt.. Wis- ., f^^^^, prisoners. 
 
 consin Vol. July Sth, 1S64. On the evening of the third our 
 
 Dear father: I have just finishrtd Brigade, after advancing some miles 
 a breakfast of sowbelly, hard tac.i ^^ j|^p right in the direction of heavy 
 and black coffee, yes, and blackber- cannomding, went into camp for the 
 ries. all the time waiting and e^^ect- ^^^-^^f ^pt far in the rear of the 
 ing to hear the bugle call to fall in \)^^^■^Q jine, the smoke filling the val- 
 and march to the suport of our boys ^^y ]|,^g ^ f^g 
 
 on the extreme right, which the m q^ ^.j^^ morning of the 4th of July, 
 cessant boom of cannon tells us there gfj^r drawing our allotment of ra- 
 is a fight on to the death. tions of hard tack, sowbelly and cof- 
 
 We have been hearing for days fp^ p^,r regiment marched out to the 
 that the rebs are concentrating their j-j,pj,j. ^^ jjje support of a battery of 
 forces at Nick a Jack, a creek on our fQ,,^ pieces that were tossing shell 
 extreme right, where they are plan- j^to the woods just in front of us. 
 ning to make a big fight against very soon the order came to erect 
 Sherman's forces. temporary breastworks of rails and 
 
 1 don't know what to say about the j^gg along the edge of the woods, 
 way we passed the 4th of July in vvhere we stood to shield us from the 
 Georgia. T put in a part of the time bullets that kept us dodging behind 
 reading your old letters, and dream- fi,g trees. Here we were ordered to 
 ing in a way of home. Rumors a ij^ down, if need be. to keep out of 
 * plenty for two or three days had been t^e vviy of the bullets aimed at the 
 talked that Sherman had outflanked ,i oyg on the front line some 40 rods 
 Hardee and would soon move the in our front. It was terrible to be 
 entire army ui)cn Atlanta 20 mi'es i'> sitting and lying down out of the 
 the south. way of the bullets with no chance to 
 
 On the evening of the 2nd of July shoot back, and we knew that the 
 there came an order to be in readi- hoys in front of us were being mow- 
 ness to march at a moment's notice, ed down like grass. We could see 
 We packed up all our belonging.^, the wounded being (.arried back on 
 tents and all else, and sat around or stretchers and we knew that the dead 
 lay upon the ground expecting every were left where they fell. While the 
 
ss 
 
 ™ont wpTffli7 ""''"' r.- '" "'"■ '■*'"°^- "« '^^^ stretched out on his 
 tront ue lay flat on our bellies while back, both arms extending straight 
 
 Tr ZT^orrJr' ^^^.' ='"' ^'' °"^ ^^'^"^ ^^- body. 'lir was Kined^,?; 
 n imUean a,^; t /^P^^^'^^, ^very a bayonet or minnie ball thrust thru 
 V tie firing , ° f'^''"'"^; S"dden- his heart. His comrades had torn 
 
 i^rJSi3£^ -- - i^vri3"Lt^: rs- 
 
 rushed over to the firing mieU tas face ' ""' '"'"'"' '^'^ 
 
 something to see the dead and Th p i . , 
 
 wounded. Many of the boyg were Colonel has just called the 
 
 crying like ichildren, running back ''^"^^'"^ ^^ his tent and of course it 
 
 and forth without hats or guns and '"^j^"'^ ^ "^o^^. An orderly from bri- 
 
 cursing the rebels for killing their f ^^ division commander has just 
 
 comrades. The whole army seemed "^"^f '^ ^ '^it of paper to the colonel. 
 
 to be turned into a mob. I never y, ^^ 10th— 12 o'clock noon. We 
 
 saw such a mix up. If the rebels had ^^® marched 7 miles this forenoon 
 
 known it they could have slaughter- ^^"^^^^ the left wing. Fearful hot 
 
 ed us like sheep. No time to sey ^^^ ^^ ^ ^'°"^ °^ ^"st that near 
 
 more. Love to all. strangles one. Just as I am writing, 
 
 Your son ^'■^^ as I can see up and down the 
 
 CHAUNCEY. ^^^'^' thousands of men are lying flat 
 
 i . on their faces in fence corners under 
 
 Camp near Rossville, Ga Head -V'^ ^■^^'^^'' ?^ ^''^^^' ^'"'"'"'^ buildings 
 Quarters. 20th Regiment Wisconsin ''"".'" orchards; gome sleeping, all 
 Vol.. .July 13th 1864 ^^'sconsin nesting or trying to rest. The road 
 
 Dear Folks at Home: I enclose a clvalrv'^'* ^'"' ^^^^'""^ batteries or 
 lot of leaves torn from mv water / 
 
 soaked diary written morning, noon ,, '^* ^^ the bugle blew for the noon 
 and night, just as I happened to have ^'* ^ ^'^"t to a near plantation for 
 time. The pencil marks Sjiread out ^^'"^^^^ "'' '"''^- ^^^""^^ ^^'^re a lot of 
 so much on the damp pai)er you ^^^'"^'^ a"'* children, but no men 
 can't make it all out ^^^'^ ""^ ^^^y old man. The women 
 
 July- 9th~ -After the rebel army re- f '' .^^^^'"ed to have Dabies. I suppose 
 treated last night, and we got into I, ''" '"^" ^^^'"^ '" the rebel arm v. 
 their trenches, we found that the- /, manner of the t)oys were a lit- 
 had suffered a bigger loss than our '^/'""Sh and some of the women 
 side. Blood stains along the breast ? scared. They threw them- 
 
 works. the barked trees and plowed 1^^^^'^ "" the big broad porch 
 earth works showed the work V , ^^ ^^ '^' they meant to cam|i 
 of the eraue ;md n.nni.K.., ...• „!... f"'" the night. Wlien some of the 
 
 said it was y miles. She had 
 
86 
 
 "hearn tell 'twas a good road but she 
 had never been there." tho she was 
 born in that neighborhood. Just to 
 be saying something the boys asked 
 a lot of questions a': out the rebel 
 army. She said we would find out 
 all about it 'fore we got across the 
 Chatahooche river. 
 
 July 11th — Yesterday afternoon our 
 march to Marrietta was a fearful hot 
 one. Many of the boys were sun 
 struck and were picked up by the am- 
 bulances. Soon as we got in town 
 all made a rush that could, to the 
 bakeries, and bought everything in 
 sight. This morning a lot of the fel- 
 lows have got the Kentucky quick 
 step to pay for it. Marietta has been 
 a nice town, but is all torn ^to pieces 
 by the rebel army quartered here 
 during the siege of Kennesaw moun- 
 tain, only three miles away. Nobody 
 in sight but women and children and 
 they keep in hiding most of the time. 
 The boys are packing for another hot 
 day's march. Love to all, 
 
 Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCEY. 
 
 Marrietta Georgia July, 20, 1864. 
 Division Hospitals 16 Army Corps. 
 Dear Parents: 
 
 You must not be scared at the head 
 ing of this letter. I am in a field Hos- 
 pital to be sure, but am feeling all 
 right only a little weak. I was sent 
 back down here last Friday witli 
 three hundred others from Roswell. 
 
 14 miles from here on our right wins, 
 There is round a thousand young fel 
 lows mostly like myself sent here to 
 mend up. Sherman is massing the 
 army around Atlanta and he don't 
 want any soldiers in the ranks that 
 are under the docter's care. 
 
 The day after I wrote you the last 
 letter we had a killing march in dust 
 and heat that was terrible- We made 
 
 15 miles and then forded the Chata- 
 hootche river on a deep rapid. The 
 current was so swift and the water so 
 deep and rocky that lots of the boys 
 fell flat on their bellies and almost 
 
 drowned before their comrades could 
 help them out. The bridges on the 
 right for 50 miles had been burned by 
 the retreating rebels and the right 
 wing of our army was using all oir 
 pontoon bridges, so we had to wade. 
 
 I had no thot that I was to be sent 
 back until the doctor told me Friday 
 morning to report to Ambulance 
 Head Quarters. There was about 40 
 Ambulance and army wagons detailed 
 to carry us back to this place. 
 
 The night before we came there 
 was a frightful storm and the light- 
 ening struck a big oak tree about a 
 hundred feet from where I lay killing 
 10 boys of a Missouri regiment and 
 shocking 8 others so badly that they 
 were sent back along with the other 
 sick to hospital tents with the rest of 
 us at this place. 
 
 Mother don't worry. I am not real 
 sick, but more tired than anything 
 else. My bowel trouble is the ailment 
 again but in a few days as Menkes 
 Bump says who is here, we will be 
 better of that. I had got where my 
 stomach turned against Hard Tack 
 and pickled pork, the only stuff we 
 bad to eat, so the doctor sent me 
 back, as he told me with a smile, to 
 get a rest- 
 
 I ain't taking but mighty little medi- 
 cine. The doctors come round every 
 morning, feel of our pulse look at the 
 tongue, and go on their way. After 
 awhile the Steward happens along, 
 asks our name, hands us a lot of 
 |)owders which I tlirow away when 
 I go out 1 ack, and this thing goes on 
 every day. 
 
 If I was real sick and helpless 1 
 would have to take those powders 
 just as the Doc directed, but being 
 able to get about and wait on myself, 
 like others in ray cl&ss, I am supposed 
 to take them without the help of the 
 nurse. I think every day of what 
 father says about doctors and their 
 pills doing as much harm as good and 
 so 1 throw most of mine away. 
 
 The doctor says I will be able to 
 return to my regiment in a few days. 
 
8t 
 
 Now, mother I have told you all just 
 as it Is without any coloring. I have 
 no cough from lungs as you feared- 
 They are all right. Ain't anxious 
 about anything but a letter from 
 home. Our Chaplin Elder Harwood 
 l>romlsed to see that my letters were 
 forwarded to me. But I hear that our 
 regiment and the corps have moved 
 some 15 miles, so I can't expect very 
 prompt returns from the regiment. 
 
 The sun Is dreadfully hot but we 
 are in the shade and don't mind it. 
 There are a lot of refuges coming Into 
 camp. They all tell the same story. 
 They all are trying to get north as 
 fast as the government can give them 
 transportation. 
 
 Well, father and mother, I sincerely 
 hope all is well with you. I suppose 
 Dora is with you. I imagine if I could 
 be there in the flesh as I am In the 
 spirit, and look down from one of 
 the west hills, the bear mountain for 
 instance, I should see father and Kit 
 in the wheat field, mother perhaps In 
 the garden digging potatoes for sup- 
 per. Eva would be playing in the dirt 
 close by or calling for a piece of pie, 
 gazing by turns down the valley and 
 ffhile Dora would be seen in the nortb 
 room thru the glass door reading and 
 sighing that it was so lonesome. 
 
 Only 12 months more in the service 
 of Uncle Sam, Hurrah, I am glad. 
 Reports are in camp that -Atlanta is 
 taken, nobody believes it. 
 
 An old lady of the town visiting the 
 hospital has just Invited me out to 
 dinner tomorrow. Will tell you about 
 it next letter. 
 Love to all. Your son, 
 
 CHAUNCRY. 
 
 Marrletta Georgia 9th Div. Hos- 
 pital July 29th, 1S64. 
 Dear folks at Home: 
 I have been waiting hoping to hear 
 from home before writing you again. 
 Not a line have 1 nad since coniinj^ 
 here which kind of puts a fellow a 
 long way from home and a bit oft" 
 his feed, in the dumps. 
 
 Mensus Bump and his brother Johi 
 of iMondovi are here from my com 
 pany with me and we get togethe: 
 and talk things over when time drags 
 There is mighty little in this hospita 
 lie to speak of. Its the same drear} 
 thing day after day. The doctoi 
 comes round every morning to »ei 
 those too sick to walk, looks at thei] 
 tongue, leaves some blue mass pili£ 
 or a lot of powders. Those like my 
 self able to wait on ourselves go tc 
 his tent, he looks us over and gives 
 us a lot of dope, then we go to our 
 tents and lay round and sleep or tai;< 
 about the folks at home or read over 
 for the fifth or sixth time the last let- 
 ters. 
 
 The wounded and sick are coming 
 in daily and there must be five or 
 six thousand here. Our commander 
 has taken all the public halls and a 
 lot of the finest dwellings for hospi- 
 tals. 
 
 So many people from the country 
 wh.te and black are coming into town 
 and they are all women, to sell fruits 
 and melons and pies and cakes, that 
 the commander in charge has thrown 
 a picket line round the town to keep 
 them out. They won't take Confeder- 
 ate money for their stuff. They seem 
 to think the yankee shin plaster 
 (government change) is safer than 
 their own paper. 
 
 One of my tent mates had an over 
 feed of melon yesterday and had the 
 cramps so bad they took him by the 
 arms and legs and rolled him back 
 and forth on a barrel to cure him. 
 
 My new chum, an Iowa bov near 
 my age, and 1 took dinner with a 
 widow woman the other day. Her 
 husband and son and daughter went 
 away to Atlanta when the rebel army 
 retreated two weeks ago from Ken- 
 nesaw mountain thru here. She 
 seemed to feel sorry for us and I am 
 sure we felt sorry for her. She told 
 us her daughter was engaged to mir- 
 ry a lieutenant in the rebel armv, and 
 ao she went with him. 
 
88 
 
 We had a nice chicken dinner, and 
 when we went away she told us if 
 the soldiers did not steal them she 
 had three others under the house she 
 intended to kill, and she would havo 
 us come and help her eat them. 
 
 The cook was a very hlack mamma 
 as she called her, who also waited on 
 the tahle. There was no stove in the 
 house and the cooking was done in 
 a .l3ig fire place in black kettles and 
 skillets. 
 
 T^e (black miamma's baby 'girl 
 three years old wearing nothing but 
 a short skirt scarcely reaching to its 
 middle, played with some kittens in 
 the next room. Two or three times 
 she came to the half open door to 
 gaze at the strangers and would 
 reach out her little hand toward her 
 mother without saying a word, as if 
 begging for something. My frienl 
 declared he never saw a white baby 
 with half the good manners of that 
 "nigger" baby. 
 
 Yesterday when passing a rather 
 pretty place a woman who was sit- 
 ting on the porch along with two 
 others, invited me to come un and 
 sit down. They asked me a lot of 
 questions about home and about 
 northern people. Her little g'rl who 
 was eating an orange went to her 
 mother and whispered something to 
 her. "yes" said the mother, "yoii 
 may give the sick soldier some of 
 your oranse if you want to." The lU- 
 tle girl came to me with half ?n or- 
 ange of course I took a part of it. 
 
 It seems strange that you see none 
 but women here- And it don't do a 
 fellow any good if Tie is in a home- 
 sick mood to talk with them 
 
 Most of them not all of them hive 
 got hearts. They have, all of them, 
 lovers and fathers in the southern 
 army and unless they have been 
 made bitter, by loss of slaves or de- 
 struction of property they feel a sort 
 of svmpathy for us boys in blue. 
 
 The steward is roming with our 
 milk punch, I'll finish this to-morrow. 
 
 July oOth. — Last night came the 
 particulars of the battle of Decatur. 
 It was something fierce. Our army 
 was surprised- It came near being a 
 complete route. Cannot write more 
 this time, particulars next letter. 
 Love to all, 
 
 CHAUNCSY. 
 
 Field Hcspital 16th., corps, Mar- 
 rietta, Ga., Aug. 4th, 1864. 
 
 Dear father: Your awful good 
 
 wise letter at hand, and one from 
 Dora received to-day. I am writing 
 this to you and Dora both, 1 am so 
 glad things are all right in my dear 
 old Wisconsin home. Oh, if you 
 could but see the world as . it is 
 going on about us here, how thank- 
 ful you would be. 
 
 This pretty little village and all 
 the country round about has been 
 overrun by both the rebel and the 
 Union armies. Only the old men and 
 children and the women are left of 
 the people who live here. .411 the 
 public buildings have been turned in- 
 to Hospitals for our sick and wounded 
 and some of the fields nearby are 
 covered with tents which are fast 
 filling up. 
 
 I am glad you are done with your 
 harvest. Talk about soldiers bein? 
 heroes. If all mothers of soldiers 
 have done as much work in the har- 
 vest field as you say mother has done 
 then the mothers are deserving o'. 
 more praise than the sons, I wish 
 she would not work so hard- She 
 worries so much about me and never 
 thinks of herself. If mother wants 
 to save me from shedding tears she 
 must save herself more. 
 
 I am glad you saved the puppy 
 from poison of the rattle snake. It 
 is a wonder as you say that little 
 Eva has not teen bitten. You can't 
 be too careful. Yes tell Dora I would 
 like well enough if I could be there 
 to help eat sweet corn and speckled 
 trout, and seems I can almost taste 
 them away down here. It is pretty 
 
89 
 
 tough, but if our patience holds out 
 we shall see better days when this 
 campaign ends. If we can take At- 
 lanta, which is 20 miles from here, 
 now the strtngest fortified city in the 
 South, we can march to the sea, and 
 then good bye to the rebellion. 
 
 Shall I tell you what is going 
 on at the front, and in hearing dis- 
 tance of six or seven thousand poor 
 devils like myself mostly on their 
 backs, and listening to the boom up- 
 on bcom of cannon and wondering if 
 it may mean a victory or a defeat for 
 Sherman- 
 Bast night I heard such news that 
 I could not sleep, and with the fiap of 
 my tent thrown back so my three 
 companions who lay near me could 
 see we watched the flashes of light 
 from our besieging cannon around 
 At'.anta that lit up the darkened sky 
 unt:l after nidnight before we went 
 to sleep. 
 
 The news that came to me last 
 night made me shed bitter tears. My 
 ch;im ar.d my next roll companion, 
 and always my next beat comrade. 
 both on picket and guard duty was 
 killed in the fight at Becateur. He 
 v/as shot ard killed instantly .ly a 
 volley of rebel shots from the far 
 side of the street during the sur- 
 prise ani retreat of our forces, near 
 vrhere McPherson our best General 
 was killed. 
 
 John was one of the best and 
 bravest boys that ever lived. I thot 
 t':.at I had inherited your courage 
 ("ather, all that any man s'^ou'd hav;\ 
 not to be fcolhardA", but John Chris- 
 ten wer.t beyond me. I wrote to you 
 of his daring at K.ennesaw Mountain. 
 Peer fellow he did not need to die 
 there, he might have retreated, but 
 he would not and a minne ball went 
 crusbiixg thru his brain. 
 
 (John W. Christen Post. Mondovil 
 was named in Memory of him.) 
 
 The fghting around Atlanta if we 
 can believe unofficial reports is of 
 the f.ercest kind. And it seems my 
 regiment is in the midst of it rough 
 
 and tumble. To-day we are getting 
 repor's of heavy losses. Our Colonel 
 was badly wounded and Lieutenant 
 Colonel taken prisoner. We hear 
 that Colonel Rusk killed two of his 
 captors before surrendering. Several 
 other officers of the 25th were killed 
 and made prisoners, so the report is, 
 but there is nothing as yet official. 
 It seems our brigade repulsed every 
 rebel charge- Our batteries were 
 taken and again retaken. The re'bel 
 soldiers it seems were crazed with 
 g-:nrowder and whiskey given them 
 to make them brave. They drew 
 the?'r caps down over their eyes and 
 rushed nron our batteries, to be mow- 
 ed down with grape and cannister. 
 The rebels were simply crazed. The 
 rebel General Hardee was wounded 
 Rnl taken prisoner and died in our 
 hospital. 
 
 Our splendid Gen. McPhersen was 
 killed by a scouting party of rebels 
 his body taken, and later taken by 
 our boys. I hope what is left of our 
 corps after this fight may be sent back 
 to the Mississippi River, and join the 
 main body, as only two divisions of 
 our corps are here, and they are get- 
 ting whittled down to brigades- 
 Father. I suppose you are still in 
 the haying business, and your hands 
 are full. Did you cut the b.lue joint 
 yet round the bear thicket? The 
 grass there must be fine. Say I have 
 just been telling that same old bear 
 story to the boys, how I was treed 
 by the biggest bear in Wisconsin 
 how I fell from, the tree and would 
 have been torn to pieces but for dear 
 old Perick. who jumped into the 
 bear's haunches and turned him 
 away from eating me into fighting 
 her. Father take good care of ths 
 dear old slut, for I remember you 
 said she saved my life. 
 
 I suipose Kit and Sam make one 
 whole hand in haying and maybe 
 two at the ta;ble. How does grand- 
 father prosper this hot weather" 
 Does he still think Kit would be a 
 better bov if he had more hickory 
 
oil put on his back. Grandfather is Gilmanton I don't think you knew 
 
 severe Ijut he is pretty wise. him. He was a careless sort of a 
 
 W.on't we have a picnic when I fellow in camp but as brave a l>oy as 
 
 come home? My God how happy we ever drew a liead on a butternut 
 
 boys are when we get to talkinf4- of We touched elaows in the fights at 
 
 liome- Tell mother to shut her llosaca and Lost Mountain and I 
 
 chickens up tight when she hears of know it took all the nerve I had to 
 
 our coming. O, how hungry we are stand by his side, 
 
 for mother's cooking. It makes my ^ is reuorted that the rebels lost 
 
 mouth water when I remember that seventeen thousand men and our side 
 
 Dora caught fifty three trout in two ^^^^^ thousand. Our boys claim 
 
 hours hshmg. ^^^^ themselves buried three thous- 
 
 I must quit writing. My nurse ^nd. (The official report later showed 
 
 brot my dmner some time ago and il ^,,^3^ figures to overstate tlie real 
 
 ^^ :}.,l ^ loss of men by about half.) A hard 
 
 \\ord has just come that our boys ^ 1,^ jg ^^ ^^ ^he moment of this 
 
 are being driven back trom their ^.^.^ ^^ ^.^.^ 1,^^, ^he guns, and 
 
 mes round .\tlanta. Nobody be- ^..^^^^^ ^^^ gathered round all the 
 
 lieves it ^ ^ 
 
 ., ■ ^, . ^. ,,. , bead quarter tents to get the latest 
 
 No more tins time Kiss my dear ^- -'orts 
 
 mother for her boy CHAUNCEY. v- '^ * , > a * ^ 
 
 2l_ '^^^>^^^^^>-'i- You bet I was glad yesterday to 
 
 find on my bunk, two letters from 
 
 Marrietta, Georgia, 4tb, IDiv. Hos. home- One had $2.00 in it for which 
 
 Kith Army Corps, .Tuly ;]lst IStH 1 am mighty glad. One of the letters 
 
 Dear Father: It was only day be- was dated .Inne :^Oth the other 
 
 fore yesterday 1 sent my last letter, j^iy ytb. 
 
 You see we don't have anything to i must give Warren and Kit the 
 
 do but to listen to the roar of can- praise of writing first rate letters. I 
 
 non about Atlanta, and write letters am sure thev do ibetter than I did at 
 
 to friends at home. their age. 
 
 The railroad bridge across tho Sorrv that father is discouraged 
 
 Chatahoochee lias been rebuilt and about the crop. ,But never mind. If 
 
 trains are passing thru here every you could but see this war cursed 
 
 hour with troops for the front and jand, torn and raveged by fire and 
 
 going back with wounded and sick, sword you would thank God with 
 
 All the side tracks In this place have tears in your eyes that you lived in 
 
 been loaded with cars of pork am- Wisconsin. 
 
 munition and hard tack, waiting for When I think that my home is in a 
 
 them to rebuild this bridge so as to land of peace and plenty. | can shut 
 
 reach the main army. ,i,y eyes and go to sleep with a feel- 
 
 Our regiment lost 2.5 men killed, ihg of comfort. But maybe it is not 
 
 wounded and missing. Our company right with so much of suffering and 
 
 lost the fewest of any. The entire horror going on about us. 
 
 regiment was on picket duty an'! Father, vou are iierhaps acquainted 
 
 were taken by surprise. The rebs with Gus Hensel of Trempealeau 
 
 came suddenly upon them in big force County. He Is a recruit and a mem- 
 
 and our boys fell back in disorder, ber of Co. F. of our regiment. He 
 
 thru a piece of timber which served was wounded in the arm and is going 
 
 as a cover for their retreat. home. 1 have asked him to see you. 
 
 I can't forget that i>oor .Tohn Chris- The carrier has just thrown me a 
 
 tian had to die. | know ibetter than 'ofer frcm 1 ora. It has just a few 
 
 any other man in the company how lines but O. how good they read 
 
 brave he was. Tho he enlisted from Every word she wrote is just like a 
 
91 
 
 picture- The way she can tell things 
 makes me recall what I used to hear 
 you say that Dora was your girl. 
 
 >So you have been berry ng after 
 hucklberries over at Cripps'. I never 
 can forget the last time mother an'l 
 I went over there after berries. 
 Mother slept with Mrs. Cripps and I 
 slept with Mr. Crrpps and Shub3 
 Breed on the floor of their log house. 
 It was in harvest and the mosquitoes 
 were bad. Both Shube and Mr. 
 Crips were in their shirt tails with- 
 out any cover and they had a fearful 
 time ■ smacking mosquitoes on each 
 other- Then they would jump up 
 and chase each other round the house 
 like two great boys. Shube tried to 
 clim'b a bur oak tree several times 
 and Cripps would catch him by the 
 leg and pull him down. It makes me 
 laugh to this day to think of their 
 monkey shines- Ah but weren't those 
 days haiipy ones? 
 
 The government owes me $200.00 
 and if pay doy ever comes I will send 
 you quite a sum. I don't need it 
 here. Don't think for a minute we 
 are in Atlanta yet. Every train from 
 the north brings more big guns to 
 use in battering the forts round At- 
 lanta. Our hospital tents are to 
 move nearer the mountain in the 
 morning- Love to all and Wooster 
 and Henry Amidon if you see them 
 and to tell them to write. 
 
 lOHAUNCEY. 
 
 Marietta, Georgia, 4th Div. hos. 
 August 20th, 1864. 
 Dear ones at Home: I have been 
 waiting all this time for something 
 to write aibout. That is something 
 new to write about. I could tell you 
 of the red sky over Atlanta every 
 night which we boys look at until we 
 tall asleei). It is the light from burn 
 ing l)nildings, set on fire by our cui- 
 iion. 
 
 And the rain'bow streams of tire 
 that follow the shells from forty or 
 fifty big morters, night after night. 
 It's the same thing. They say that 
 
 most of the city is burned and the 
 people are living in holes in the 
 ground. 
 
 \ e hear every day that the City is 
 about to surrender. The City is still 
 lisb'ng- its newspaT^ers and making 
 brags about how they are going to 
 trap the Yankees. We don't know 
 how they do it but we find papers 
 from Atlanta laying around every 
 morning. 
 
 I went out on the picket line yester- 
 day to get some berries of the Freed- 
 men who come as iar as the guards 
 and sell their garden stuffs to the 
 Union soldiers. They are stopped 
 from coming within the lines. The 
 regroes are grinning and happy, but 
 the whites who are all women are a 
 sorry ioking lot. They have lost all 
 they hpd and they never had any 
 slaves. 
 
 n their heart they hate the Yankee 
 soldier and they don't know why 
 either. The most they can say when 
 you ask them why their men aro 
 fighting the north is that Lincoln 
 wants them to marry the niggers 
 when they are set free. 
 
 Most of the whites are just as ig- 
 norant as the slaves. You shut your 
 eyes and you cannot tell by their 
 talk which are the ^blacks. 
 
 T have not seen a school house out- 
 side the towns in all the south. The 
 women we have seen in the towns 
 seem to know more. The good wid- 
 ow who has been giving the Iowa boy 
 and myself dinners twice a week is 
 a wise woman and a good one. Of 
 course her heart ts with the south 
 but she is so good to us I never think 
 of her be'ng a rebel. My Iowa chum. 
 Geo. Benning, won't go with me any 
 more for dinner, because he says he 
 is so sorry for the woman when she 
 cries as she does when she speaks 
 cf her daughter going away with the 
 rebel Lieutenant. (Forty years after 
 the civil war the "Soldier Boy" visit- 
 ed Marietta on iiurpose to look up 
 the kind hearted southern woman 
 who had so touched his heart by her 
 
92 
 
 motherly pity, but no trace of her She sat in a ibig arm chair on the 
 
 could he find. The house remained broad porch knitting some stockings, 
 
 but its occupant Dr. Tennant, a I sat down on the steps. When F 
 
 most Intelligent man too, could give looked up after reading the letter she 
 
 the "Soldier Boy" no information of was crying. She said "you must 
 
 the hopeless widow woman of civil have a good sister and how good it 
 
 war times.) is that you lioys from the north can 
 
 My health is still on the gain tho get letters from home while our poor 
 
 1 am doing no duty as yet. If when I boys cannot write letters to their 
 
 get my pay I get my furlough, would people at home nor receive any " 
 
 you like to see me come home? 1 She said, "1 have not heard a word 
 
 sometimes think I would not ake a from my daugliter who went to .\t- 
 
 fUrlough if it was offered. Those lanta with her sweetheart, nor from 
 
 shirts came in good play. They don't my husband for two months. I don't 
 
 scratch a bit, and they are soft and know if they are living or dead." 
 
 nice. Glad was I to hear the erops i suppose there are a thousand wo- 
 
 are all secure. The horrible wrecks men in this town who feel just as 
 
 of homes I see about here makes me she does. There seems to be three 
 
 happy that all is well in Wisconsin, or more in nearly every house. 
 
 Tell me how does Theodore Lock- i wrote father last week about the 
 
 wood and his pretty sisters pros- surrender of Atlanta. Since then we 
 
 per? I am sorry mother has to work have had further particulars. The 
 
 so hard. Well I hope it is the last night before our shells blew up two 
 
 time she has to work like a man in of their magazines and set fire to 
 
 harvest. It is not right. the big depot and burned a lot of 
 
 I am writing this by lamp light, their cars. For several days before 
 
 Most of my chums are asleep and the surrender and even now we can 
 
 snoring. The sky is very red over At- gee clouds of smoke hanging over the 
 
 lanta 20 miles away, with burning city. Nearly the entire place is a 
 
 buildings and the big morters, when burning ruin. 
 
 a lot of them go off together, make it is just two years to-day since 
 
 the ground tremble. , our regiment was mustered into the 
 
 Give my regards to Uncle Ed. service. One more year will let us 
 
 Cartwright, and love to all at home, out and less if the talk we hear of 
 
 Your boy, OHAUNCEY. the confederacy having its back broke 
 
 proves true, 
 
 Marrietta Georgia, 4th Div. Hos. Day after tomorrow will be two 
 
 September 10th, ISGl. months 1 am in this darned hospital. 
 
 Dear sister: Your thrice welcome Expect to go to my regiment in a 
 
 letter, so long looked for came last few days. A lot of the time here 1 
 
 night, and the promised $2 came in have had the blues and still T am 
 
 it. I was really needing the money among the lucky ones to get away at 
 
 for little wants. )When you offer all. On the hill the other side the 
 
 these Georgians their money they rail road hundreds of poor fellow^i 
 
 smile sadly and shake their head, lay under little mounds newly made. 
 
 Now that Atlanta has fallen into our They will never answer to bugal call 
 
 hands they feel that the South will anymore and to them all troubles in 
 
 be whipped and their money will be this world are over, 
 
 worthless. Don't send any more money as we 
 
 Your letter had a lot of good news are soon to draw pay and 1 shall 
 
 and I went over to read it to my fos- have a sum to send home. Every- 
 
 ter mother, that is the woman who body that can is going to Atlanta to 
 
 has given me so many good meals, see the ruins. 
 
99 
 
 The natives are in hopes of finding East Point Georgia. 2'5 Wis. Regf. 
 out something about their men who Sept. 13th, 1.'>B4. 
 
 were in the rebel army. Some of the T3ear Folks at Home: 
 women arn nearly craz\. Everybody Here I am at last, with (he denr 
 
 rides in box cars or .attle " cars. °^'^ ''"^^ °"^« "^"''^- ^"^'" V^'" '"°"Ji'' 
 
 „,, , ,, , away. I came yesterday alous with 
 
 When the cars are full thty ol^mb on ,0^ ^f others on top of a stock car of 
 
 top. mules. I put in the afternoon shak- 
 
 Mv stomach is off (o •lav on a'^- ^^" hands with the boys and read- 
 count of eating some sour milk. 1 '"g some of their letters and letting 
 bot it last night of a tolorec! aunty Hiem read mine. 
 
 on the picket line. This morning it 0"r regiment d'd not lose so many 
 
 was sour. 1 scalded it but it upset '"en after all the reports we had 
 
 me. of killed and woundert at Peach Tree 
 
 A colored woman just came to the creek. The most of a change I see 
 
 tent with my colthes she has been is in their dirty uniforms or no uni- 
 
 washinir. She had a two bushel bask- forms. Many of them are wearing 
 
 et full of clothes and carried it on rebel jackets and rebel hats some 
 
 her head. She was a vellow woman wth no rims, some bareheaded, lots 
 
 and the mother of six children. The of them with bandaged legs or arms, 
 
 three oldest two girls and one boy and all feeling gooa. They say we 
 
 had been sold to a coton planter in h?ve got the confederacy on the run 
 
 Alabama . ^^ow sure and next spring will see 
 
 One of the bovs asked her if she tbe war over. B't you can't tell, 
 
 cared and she replied "shua honey ! The report cam.e to-day that a big 
 
 loves my chilen just likes you mam- force had cut the railroad at Bu2- 
 
 mv loves vou." T am sure the 1 oor ^.ard Roost and stopped our supply 
 
 woman's heart was full, for her eye? trains, tut it may be a fake, we hear 
 
 filled with tears. I thank God along so much. 
 
 with father and Elder Morse that The railroad from. 'Marrietta to 
 
 Lincoln has made them free. Sh'.' this place is lined with wrecks of 
 
 said her children was nearly as cars and broken boxes and barrels, 
 
 white as we. and that three of them and carcasses of cattle and horses, 
 had a white father. To think tha» The road beds are worn out and 
 
 these slave holders 'buy and sell eacli trains run slow. The south is badly 
 
 others bastard children is horrible vr^^ked. At'anta was a fine city of 
 
 She took us by the hand and bi I s'lre thirty thousand people, a great 
 
 each of us good bye and aske 1 God rrV center. I don't think 1 saw fifty 
 
 to bless us and our mothers. T see Ivndings standing when we came 
 
 and hear things every day (hat make ii.ru to this i)lace yesterday. The 
 
 me think of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Klmbal Hotel, said to be one of the 
 
 Word has come that we are to b<.' lest in the state, stood by itself, no 
 
 ready to go to Atlanta tomorrow ov b''ildiug near it. Strpnge that t was 
 
 next day. The boys are making a not b"rned like all the rest. It is 
 
 rgeat hurrah about it. ' eing used for general headquarters. 
 
 Direct to 20th regiment Wis. Voi. ?nd w?..s swarnvns RMth shoulder 
 
 .\tlanta Go. Good ttye dear sister, straps. The big Cepot and great 
 
 and as the wretched slave mother cotten warehouses covering acres of 
 
 said to me. I say to you. God bless ground, are still b irning and smoiil- 
 
 you and all the rest. . dering. 
 
 Your brother. Thousands of Freed men are com- 
 
 •CHAUNCEY, ing into our lines to go Chatanoo- 
 
94 
 
 g:a where they are being enlisted 
 for the army. Lots of the boys that 
 naturally dislike the blacks, treat 
 them better now since they are to 
 help us fight. 
 
 I feel sorry for the poor humble 
 creatures that bow and scrape and 
 take off their hats every time you 
 liass them. They are thankful to 
 have even a kind look. They say 
 "since Lincoln Mancipat'on, ol mas- 
 snr and mistus is dreadful unkine." 
 They are Utterly in rags for clothing. 
 Many of them wear cast off uniforms 
 from the rebels. T asked them where 
 tbey got their clothes, and they said, 
 "master and mistus done give um to 
 us, but day done got so hard up da 
 haint noffun fo dem selves no moa." 
 
 We are cami)ed on a little branch, 
 a creek, six miles from Atlanta. Tn 
 a pine grove. We are on a pretty 
 high bank and can look over quit a 
 scope of country. The spring water 
 is good and the air is fine to recruit 
 in. It is a healthy i)lace for the big 
 army to clean up and straighten up 
 in for the big campaign that is ahead. 
 Sherman says the next stop will be 
 Savannah or Charleston on the sea. 
 The army is being increased by 
 recruits from the north, and every- 
 day we have maneuvers to give the 
 new fellows some practice. 
 
 The doc says the boys many of 
 them have a touch of scurvey and 
 BO we get rations of sour kraut and 
 boiled onions every day. I tell you 
 sour kraut is good. .And T like on- 
 ions. I am taking no more drugs, 
 in fact 1 have never taken a quarte 
 that was given me, and I sleep fine. 
 We see no more fires along the hori- 
 zon at night, no more blazing shells 
 making rainbows against the sky, 
 and the cannon which for three 
 monlhs has not l)een still, night or 
 day, are taking a rest. 
 
 I am getting less anxious to go 
 home as I get better. Hundreds, ye:; 
 thousands are being furloughed home 
 who are wounded or sick, and it may 
 be I shall go too, I kind of like to 
 
 think of it, and yet I hate to leave 
 the boys until the campaign is over. 
 
 There has not been a minute since 
 getting here except at night that 
 the air is not full of the music of 
 fifes, drums or bugles. As I write 
 the sun is just setting and I can hear 
 a do'en liands from as ?nany brigade 
 headquarters. 
 
 I hope to get a letter in the morn- 
 ing. By the way we are to have 
 r no her i)ayment in a day or two, a 
 small one and will send you some ol 
 it if T don't come home with it. 
 
 Best regards to all enquiring 
 friends. Your boy 
 
 OHAUNCBY. 
 
 East Point Georgia, Hd. Quar. 
 16th, Army Corps Sept. 16, 1861 
 
 Dear Sister: Yours of Sept. 8th at 
 hand. Bress de Lord for such good 
 tidings from home. If father don't 
 quit taking such chances with old 
 mother bears with cubs, he will not 
 come out so good, T am afraid. My 
 liord how I would like to have seen 
 old Prince in his battle with the 
 cubs. Give the dear old dog a good 
 hug for me and whisper something 
 in his ear about the coons and beav- 
 ers we used to catch. T hope the 
 bear did not crush his jaw so bad 
 after all, but it must be very bad if 
 you have to feed him on mush and 
 gruel. Feather must have felt that ' 
 he was in close quarters or he would 
 not have urged old Prince on so hard. 
 Well father will have another good 
 story to write that man wlio came 
 ail the way from i>uinique to see 
 fatbnr's bear dog. 
 
 I am glad you enjoyed eating the 
 cub, laltho the weather soon spoiled 
 it. I would like mightily to have 
 helped mother eat some of her new 
 potatoes and squash. .lust tell her 
 to eat my share and maybe it will do 
 me as much good. 
 
 No, I have not heard from cousin 
 Ben and don't know wliere his regi- 
 ment is located. He is in the caTa'ry 
 
95 
 
 and don't stay long in a place. They 
 are always on the scout. Don't be 
 too sure that I can come home as 
 there seems to he a let up to fur- 
 loughs for the time. At times I feel 
 So strong when my pliaugy guts don't 
 hother me for some days I feel like 
 staying to the end. Then I have a 
 pull back and I get to looking at t\x<^ 
 north star of evenings and the thot 
 of home away off there seems kind 
 of good. 
 
 Give my love to 'Mrs. Hulbert and 
 tell her I thank her with all my 
 heart for good advice about caring 
 for myself. She is right I some- 
 times eat things the good colored 
 aunties bring to ui every dny r oi ■ 
 not to eat. The doctors tell us sick 
 boys we are nothing but suicides, 
 because we eat melons and fruits 30 
 much. 
 
 t had a letter from .\unt Caroline 
 ttarber the other day. Uncle .Toe is 
 with (len. Smith as aide near Mem- 
 phis, Tenn. 
 
 He is sound as a bullet, she says. 
 Nashville is being threatened by the 
 rebels and Gen Thomas is collecting 
 an army to stand them off. There is 
 some talk that Sherman will send 
 him a force, before we go farther 
 south. 
 
 1 had to stop writing this letter to 
 pull off my under clothes to give to 
 i\ colored woman who called for them 
 to wiish. She went outside while mv 
 chum and I stripiied off. T have a 
 lot of gray backs on me. (body iicc 
 since I left .Marrictta, and I told the 
 old lady to scald them good. When 
 1 told her this she sa'd. "Par now 
 you hush honey, done you s|)oo/,e yu 
 ole mammy kno/.e what ter du." Its 
 the fashion for the whites down 
 here to call the old ncgresses, mam- 
 ray. This woman told us she was 
 nurse for all hor missus and mas- 
 sers chilen. 
 
 The boys are making a great hur- 
 rah a mile away. There must he 
 f^ome good news. Will write again 
 
 soon as something turns up. 
 
 Love to all except that young fel- 
 low ever the ridge. 
 
 Your brother, 
 
 CHAUNCEV. 
 
 Fast Point Georgia Se|)t. 23, 18tjl 
 16th Army Corps. 
 
 Dear mother: 
 
 I have delayed writing you expect- 
 ing every day to get a furlough. 
 The boys have been going in squads 
 of from ten to fifty every day. There 
 is a great hurrah sending messages 
 to fathers and mothers and sweet- 
 hearts. Those tliat are able have to 
 walk to Atlanta, »:x miles; mosi 
 of them catch a ride in army wag- 
 ons, that are coming and going with 
 supplies. Fast as the trains are un- 
 loaded of their provisions and mules 
 from the north, the boys that are 
 troing home pile into the empties un- 
 til there is no more room and lots 
 of them have to rirte on top far as 
 Nashville, Tennessee, where the 
 government furnshes coaches. 
 
 I lielieve I am feeling tip top this 
 morning. If 1 could be sure of my- 
 self I should rather hate to go home, 
 than otherwise. And with the Con- 
 federacy just ready to give up. 
 They are not putting up much fight 
 just now, only talking big in their 
 papers. There are a lot of rebel de- 
 serters and stragglers coming into 
 our lines, giving tliemselves up as 
 prisoners ji:st to get iKiroled so they 
 ran so home. They tell sorry tales 
 of their hardships and of being 
 starved, and they look it. Most of 
 t''cm rane in. at the last call nearly 
 all of them old men and young boys. 
 
 I lielieve that Sherman is fearful 
 that the rebels are gonig to attack 
 our rear near Nashville. It is their 
 only hope of stopping bis march to 
 the sea. Severel l)flMadr8 are under 
 order to march on sbort notice and 
 the wise ones think it a goo<l guess 
 that it will be a counter march to- 
 ward Nashville. Every mail brings 
 
96 
 
 newte that scattering forces from messages for friends at home a .. 
 Ala'ania, Mississippi and Georgia and ^-cis.erous fiarewells we started on 
 ure centering toward Nasliville. Let ">'f three hundred mile journey to 
 them do their liest we ain't much Nashville Tennessee, 
 scared. It would please the boys ^ • li some hundred others it fell 
 all right to get orders to go back to my lot to ride on the roof. As I 
 north as far as Nashville, tho the ro:ail that trip, thru the Cumberland 
 summer heat is over and we have mountains ail that long uight caain- 
 less fear of sickness. I must lay 'i-fe at tae toot board, v, hen i fo ind 
 aside this letter and go down to the myself failing asieep to save slipping 
 creek helow our camp and take a tff and losing my blanket, visions of 
 bath. The negro women some forty Llioss dsep canyons v.hose sheer 
 or fifty who are doing the washing v. ^..s of jagged rock came to the 
 for our brigade on the creek are .-w.. i am glad for the iumdreih tim^^ 
 gone and its the only time, that is that i did not fal o.f with uiy 
 in the evening, that we get la chance blanket. 
 
 to bathe. The creek for miles is Many of the boys who had tied 
 lined wtih tubs and kettles and tLe r arms to the foot boards no 
 pounding blocks. The women begin doabt saving their l.ves thereby. The 
 early m the morning so the clothes ^ext morning several of the boys 
 can be washed and dried the same ,,ere reyorted missing, and that is 
 
 ^^' t 9d.th ^^^ ^® ®^^^ heard ui them. Coming 
 
 ep . ^ tn. Irom a handred regiments we were 
 
 My papers came this morning and strangers to each other, and their 
 you can just guesg that I am gLad. ,^,,^3 ^^ ^^j^' ^^^ l,„o^. 
 nord has come also that rebel cav- ., - , , , 
 
 elry has torn un the track and a ""^-" "^ ^°^^^ ^^^^ '^'^ reached 
 force 'of our trco'ps are- on their way ^"^^shvule and . cilmDing down from 
 to clean the rebels out and replace ^"^ ^°P °^ °"^ ^°^ ^^^' "^® '^'^^^ ^^^'^ 
 the rails. As I may not be ab^e to ^° exchange Its discomforts for a 
 get thru for a few days I win mail ^^®^^ ^°^^^ i^ ^^^ ZoLicoifer build- 
 thls letter anyway, nd it wall reach -^°' ^ t>Ji.dii:g his.:ric in its uses by 
 you rerl-aps before I do. the national goverumen;. Here we 
 
 I shall come from Lia Crosse by rested under the ministering kind- 
 toat to Alma, and I wish I could tell "^-^3 of w^omen nurses for 24 hours, 
 the time so ycu could meet me there, --aking another step of a day in Chi- 
 1 may write you again. Have no ^^^° ^"i^h an uncle, we reached Alma 
 fear but I'll manage. '^y '^cat from La Crosse, thence to 
 Your son in haste, Gilmaiiton to the home of Grandfath- 
 OHAUNOEY. Gr Iv.arn who insisted on keep ng us 
 P. S. When I reach Chicago, if I i^ l-cd for two days, with the prom- 
 feel like it, I may stop a day or two is® to father that he would deliver 
 wtih Uncle George. i^is without notice to or.r home six 
 miles alove at the end of two days. 
 
 As noted in the last letter our pasK- Our stay at hom.e was prolonged 
 port or furlough, had been given us to three months, when we reported 
 and three days after we were ordered at Madison Wis., for duty. In the 
 by the captain to pack our knapsack irean time the linal battle In the 
 and in company with several hundred Southwest had been fought and w^on 
 others, some wounded, most of them t ear Nashville by General Pap 
 like myself convalescent, we boarded The mas as he was aaectionately call- 
 a train of box cars and with many ed, and Sherman had reached the 
 
97 
 
 sea with little or no resistance. The den. Lee on the banks of Apiiomattox 
 
 war was rapidly hastening to a close and the war was over. 
 
 Disorganized and fugitive, the rebel We were mustered out of service 
 
 forces in North and South Carolina at Madison May 15, our nineteenth 
 
 fled before Sherman's host like quails birthday, having served two years and 
 
 before the storm. Then came the nine mlnths. 
 
 master stroke of Gen. Grant against CHAUNCEY H. COOKE.