Following the American Civil War Sesquicentennial with day by day writings of the time, currently 1863.

Post image for Downing’s Civil War Diary.–Alexander G. Downing.

Downing’s Civil War Diary.–Alexander G. Downing.

February 24, 2014

Diary of Alexander G. Downing; Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry

Wednesday, 24th—The army left the Hillsborough bivouac over different roads. Our brigade went in advance of the Sixteenth Corps to assist the engineers in laying the pontoons across the Pearl river. This is a good section of the country for forage. We selected twelve men from our entire headquarters’ guard of twenty-eight to go out on forage, and they brought in six hundred pounds of bacon, twenty-five live chickens, one hundred pounds of honey and other articles. Several of us are up tonight cooking the chickens, which with the other things will fill our haversacks. We shall live well now. We are camping on a large plantation.

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