Wednesday, 16th—This is a beautiful day. I left for home on my thirty-day furlough. I embarked with the Fifteenth Iowa and the Thirty-second Illinois, on board the “Olive Branch.” We left for Cairo, Illinois, at 3 p. m. We say adieu to thee, Vicksburg, the Gibraltar of the West! We leave thee with some pleasant memories, notwithstanding the many hardships we had to endure while with thee! Before we left Vicksburg the railroad station caught fire and was completely consumed with two thousand bushels of oats stored there.
Downing’s Civil War Diary.–Alexander G. Downing
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