Etowah Bridge, Thursday, Nov. 3. Another very cold raw, day. 12th Battery took six more horses. Lieutenant Jenawein detailed on duty with the 12th Battery. Boxes made to pack up the harness.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Friday, 4th.—Four or five Yankees floated down river last night, and undertook to cut pontoon loose, but were captured before doing any damage. Remained about Florence until 21st, having some little skirmishing, digging ditches here and there, and marching hither and thither.
Five miles northwest of Villa Rica, Ga.,
Novembebr 3, 1864, 6 p.m.
Forty-eight hours’ rain without a stop and a good prospect for as much more. We left Van Wirt and Dallas to the left, and by 16 miles hard marching have got near enough over this barren ridge, I think, to find a few marks of civilization. Rumor says we are going to Atlanta to relieve the 20th Corps, and will then be paid. Passed to-day a one-horse wagon, a large ox in the shafts and four women in the wagon dressed for a party.
Thursday, November 3. — Rain-storm continued, making it cold and gloomy. Wrote Mother. Nothing new. This evening during the storm the officers upstairs had a plank run out from the window on to the roof of the adjoining house. It remained there an hour and a half before the sentry discovered it. He fired five or six times at it. The officers were luckily afraid to try it. Sergeant White was on as officer of the day.
Thursday, 3d—Still raining. Our march today covered sixteen miles and the troops are very much fatigued. We camped for the night in Dallas, Georgia, one division, the Fourth, going into vacant houses and buildings in the town. The citizens all left the place upon our approach. There had been a cotton mill here, but it was closed down last summer when the Yankees were besieging Atlanta.
Colonel Lyon’s Letters.
Nov. 3, 1864.—To give you an idea of the way business runs with me, I will give you my experiences after tea Sunday evening. I sat down in my room thinking that everything was quiet and promising myself a comfortable night’s sleep, when a messenger galloped up with a dispatch saying that the rebels had opened with a battery on our troops at Whitesburg, which you know is in my command. I immediately went down to post headquarters, sent couriers to Whitesburg with orders, and was making other dispositions to prevent the enemy from crossing the Tennessee river there, when a man rushed into the office pale and almost breathless, announcing that the rebels were near the city on the New Market road in heavy force, and that they were burning every combustible thing as they advanced. Looking in that direction, sure enough the flames of several burning buildings corroborated the story.
I immediately strengthened my picket lines and sent out scouts to ascertain what was there, gave directions for the disposition of public property, assigned their positions to what few troops I had, went to the fort and made the necessary arrangements there, and returned to headquarters to await further developments.
In due time the scouts returned with the information that the force was only a raiding party of guerillas and citizens, who had burned some houses occupied by colored people connected with the contraband camp here—and the excitement was over. But all of this took from one until two o’clock in the morning. In the meantime I received information that two gunboats had arrived at Whitesburg, so I went to bed feeling easy. There were no further demonstrations there.
The next evening (Monday) I felt sure that all was quiet; when just as I was leaving the office to go to bed, a dispatch from the commanding officer at Larkinsville came, saying that he was attacked. It turned out to be nothing serious, but to find out that, and to make preparations to meet it should it prove serious, took half the night.
Tuesday night we were moving some troops and had to wait for trains, so the Adjutant remained up all night and I got a good, undisturbed night’s rest. Last night for the first time since the rebel army approached us we both slept all night. Yet, for all this, I keep perfectly well. How long our quiet will last I can not even guess. Hood moved down the river from Decatur, but I have no idea where he is. We have had reports that he crossed the Tennessee river to the north side of Florence, but these reports are not reliable.
Large numbers of troops have gone forward to Decatur and Athens within the last three days, and I feel quite confident that the tide of war has rolled by us once more without striking us. The General has given me more troops here on the river and on the railroad, and I am feeling quite stout. The non-veterans will leave in about a week for Nashville to be mustered out.
November 3d.—Cold rain; rained all night.
Gen. Lee, urging that his regiments from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, etc. etc. be recruited from their respective States, concludes a recent letter thus: “I hope immediate action will be taken upon this subject, as I think our success depends much upon a speedy increase of our armies in every possible way.”
This dismal weather casts a deeper gloom upon the spirits of the croakers. They fear Richmond cannot be long defended.
Plymouth, N. C., has been retaken by the enemy.
During this damp weather the deep and sullen sounds of cannon can be heard at all hours, day and night. The firing is mostly from our iron-clads.
The market was well supplied this morning with abundance of good meat, vegetables, fruit, etc.; and I was glad to see but few making purchases. The reason may have been that the extortionate prices repelled the people; or it may have been the rain. I passed on.
3rd. Thursday. A rainy day. Read and wrote on papers. Was at Brig. Hdqrs.
November 3rd, 1864.—We have grown so expert in sewing and knitting and materials are getting so scarce that we have gone into a new business. The Bradford neighborhood has inaugurated a Toy Shop. At Uncle Tom’s there are ten children, four of Cousin Mary’s and six of Cousin Tom’s; at Cousin William’s there are two; at Dr. Holland’s, little George is to be looked after and Sister Mag has two, so we are making toys and it taxes the inventive powers to the utmost.
We have made rag dolls of all sizes. Some are dressed as babies, some are nurses, some are dressed in Confederate uniforms and some are fine ladies in hoop-skirts. We have made many kinds of animals of scraps of dark goods and a mock snow man of ginned cotton but Cousin Sallie has surpassed all the workers in the neighborhood by making a rooster a foot high, of watermelon seed. The natural color of the seed lent themselves beautifully to the breast and sides and she stained some of the seed to give the needed touch of red and to furnish the black tail which all common fowls seem to possess. It is such a success we are all envious.
We have a maker of books also and our Christmas tree will surprise the children who have been told that Santa Claus cannot run the blockade. We, ourselves„ have gotten a lot of pleasure out of these preparations and I am sure the soldiers in camp will read with interest of these efforts to make their little ones happy. Of course we only work at this when other duties have been disposed of but we have several weeks still ahead of us and much more can be accomplished; we keep thinking of other children who must not be forgotten.
