Friday, 29th.—Notified to-day that we were marching to Richmond, Kentucky. Camped at Big Laurel Bridge. Lieutenant D. U. Fox, R. F. Anderson, Brothers Tom and Lon Magill and myself went out to Uncle Newton Magill’s; very strong for the Union. Said he could not understand how children of his brother could be fighting against the Union. We explained to him that where we lived it was either fight or be conscripted, and made to fight, and so we only had “Hobson’s choice,” no matter which end of the dilemma we took, it was to land in the army. The whole family treated us so nicely that we enjoyed our stay for the night. We trusted them so implicitly that we stacked our guns in the corner down-stairs, and left and went up-stairs to sleep, leaving ammunition and everything down there. It has always been a pleasure to me to think back of how nicely they all treated us.
Robert M. Magill—Personal Reminiscences of a Confederate Soldier Boy.
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