Chattanooga, Thursday, March 30. No rest for the wicked, for the present at least. Was on the inevitable detail as usual working on Captain’s house. I and another man sawed out the door hole and corner blocks in the forenoon, roofed it and fixed ready to move into it in the afternoon. Rained till I was wet through before quitting time. Feel tired and somewhat sick from my cold. Dye finally reported from furlough, six days behind time. David Carpenter also joined us, having been relieved from duty at 3rd Division, 15th Army Corps headquarters. He left the good old command at Pocataligo, and came via Savannah and New York. News is splendid all around, would like to have a little from home though.
Monday, March 30, 2015
March 30th.—Raining rapidly, and warm.
Again the sudden change of weather may be an interposition of Providence to defeat the effort of the enemy to destroy Gen. Lee’s communications with his Southern depots of supplies. I hope so, for faith in man is growing weaker.
Our loss in the affair of the 25th instant was heavy, and is now admitted to be a disaster; and Lee himself was there! It amounted, probably, to 3000 men. Grant says over 2000 prisoners were registered by his Provost Marshal. It is believed the President advised the desperate undertaking; be that as it may, many such blows cannot follow in quick succession without producing the most deplorable results. The government would soon make its escape—if it could. Mrs. Davis, however, soonest informed of our condition, got away in time.
Dispatches from Generalissimo Lee inform the Secretary that large expeditions are on foot in Alabama, Mississippi, etc., and that Thomas’s army is rapidly advancing upon Virginia from East Tennessee, while no general has yet been designated to command our troops.
The papers say nothing of the flank movement commenced yesterday by Grant. This reticence cannot be for the purpose of keeping the enemy in ignorance of it!
I am convalescent, but too weak to walk to the department today. The deathly “sick man,” as the Emperor of Russia used to designate the Sultan of Turkey, is our President. His mind has never yet comprehended the magnitude of the crisis.
Custis says letters still flow in asking authority to raise negro troops.
In the North the evacuation of Richmond is looked for between the 1st and 25th of April. They may be fooled. But if we lose the Danville Road, it will only be a question of time. Yet there will remain too great a breadth of territory for subjugation—if the people choose to hold out, and soldiers can be made of negroes.
It is reported (believed) that several determined assaults were made on our lines yesterday evening and last night at Petersburg, and repulsed with slaughter; and that the attack has been renewed to-day. Very heavy firing has been heard in that direction. Gen. Lee announces no result yet.
We have 2,000,000 bread rations in the depots in North Carolina.
Thursday, 30th—It is quite stormy and rainy today. All is quiet in camp, and there is no news of importance.
30th. Rain continued. Lay in the mud till noon, then moved into the woods. Moved out just after getting fixed up comfortably. Moved 4 miles over awful roads and camped 5 miles from Dinwiddie C. H. Building a good deal of corduroy road. Put on picket. Barnitz uneasy all night. Allowed no rest.
March 30th. Nothing special for the past few days. Daily routine is kept up. When off duty tramp through the country, calling at the farms, meeting the old men. The young men are mostly in the army, either in the Union or the Confederate. Religious service is held in the log chapel, conducted by our good Chaplain, Walker, assisted by Chaplains from other regiments and the Christian Commission.
March 30th, 1865.
My curiosity as to what correspondents might say of the battle of the twenty-fifth inst. is partially gratified by a perusal of the Herald’s dispatch. Their account of the affair, after daylight, is in the main correct, that dated at City Point coming nearest the truth. But the facts in regard to the Rebels getting possession of the fort are suppressed or misrepresented. Neither does General Parks’ “official” come nearer the mark.
The fact is, we have one more occasion to thank God for saving us from the stupidity of “men in high places.”
The long-expected movement on our left is under way. Yesterday Army Headquarters moved to Dinwiddie Court House, about four miles beyond Hatcher’s Run. Part of the Twenty-fourth Corps and the Twenty-fifth corps have joined the expedition, which must swell the number to near one hundred thousand infantry.
This force represents the “upper” and Sherman’s the “nether” mill stones that are grinding the Confederacy to powder. Meanwhile the post assigned the Ninth Corps is one of responsibility. We must hold these lines or Grant’s supplies are cut off.
It has rained all day, steadily; a warm, gentle rain that seems so much in keeping with the season, I enjoy it. What a bright, fresh green it gives to vegetation, and how sweetly the new-born flowers look up and smile their thankfulness.
Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.
New Market, March 30.—Cool and rainy. We find these people very friendly. They are very glad to accommodate us. Mrs. Pierce showed us a room in the center of the house that they built on purpose to protect her husband and boys when they come home. Mr. Pierce is home now. He is not well, and the rebels let him alone, but they are bent on getting the boys, because they are Union boys.
Our life is very monotonous. It seems too bad to stay here when the regiment is so near, only about thirty-five miles from here. Mrs. Moulton and I took a long walk over the hills. It is a very pretty country. A little girl brought me a nice bouquet because we are Union people; but this family are very careful about talking, for fear of being heard. They shut the doors if they want to talk.
