August 23—They have commenced to give furloughs, one to every two companies.
Friday, August 23, 2013
23rd. Boys got started for forage, but orders came to march. Reached London at 9 A. M. Went into camp and boys went for forage. I stayed in. Got some corn and had good dinner. Boys got oats and fed till 5 P. M., then moved on as far as the Laurel River. Camped about 10. Lay down near the road and was bothered by troops passing.
Sunday, 23d—Our expedition broke camp this morning and started for Monroe, Louisiana, on the Washita river, seventy-five miles northwest of Vicksburg. By 1 o’clock we had covered ten miles, in a burning hot sun,[1] without water to drink, and through neglected fields of hemp standing from ten to fifteen feet high. The cavalry went in front to break down the hemp, and were followed by a six-gun battery and our army wagons, after which the hemp was pretty well flattened for the infantry to pass over. The men and animals suffered awfully. Many artillery horses gave out and some of the men were sunstruck. Many of the boys fell out of the ranks during the trip and had to be cared for by the doctor. Finally at the end of the ten-mile journey we reached the banks of the Tensas river, and though the water was stagnant, in mere pools, we threw ourselves down, brushed aside the green scum and drank that hot, sickly water to quench our thirst.
[1] Oh, that hot sun on our heads! It was frightful! There was no air to stir even a leaf; It was like going through a fiery furnace! But stopping in that God-forsaken country to hunt for water would have been a greater punishment than going on without water—so we kept straight on.—A. G. D.
August 23.—Fort Fisher, situated below Wilmington, N. C., was bombarded by the National frigate Minnesota.
Vicksburg, Sunday, Aug. 23. The warmest day of the season, I think. My shirt was wet with sweat while lying on my bunk. Very quiet and one could almost imagine the calm of a Sabbath day was spread around as of times past. Felt rather lonesome, mused away most of the day in a waking dream, thinking of home and by-gone days. Mail arrived—none for me. Wrote to T. L. All looking for the return of the furloughed men. They are six days behind.
Camp White, August 23, 1863.
Dearest: — Very glad to get your good letter from Columbus. I wish I could travel with you a few weeks now. Everybody praises our nephew and his wife. That last phrase means Laura.
You must tell me more particulars about Fanny and Minnie, or do they call her Emily now? If she is growing into a young lady as fast as I suppose she is, Emily is the best name.
I got a letter from Mother at the same time with yours. She is very contented and happy at Fremont. You will be together soon. I hope you will manage to have the boys like her. She is not likely to have much time to enjoy with her grandsons, and I hope the most will be made of it.
I see that our beautiful little lost one is in your thoughts a great deal — much more perhaps than you thought he would be when you left here. If it does not sadden your life, as I think it does not, I am not sorry that you remember him so often. He was too lovely to be forgotten. Your moralizing on your want of dignity and all that doesn’t disturb me. You’ll do for your husband, and I love you so much, darling. Be cheerful and happy. Do as well as you can by the boys, but don’t worry about them. They will come out sometime. — Love to all.
Affectionately yours,
R.
Mrs. Hayes.
Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with Colt Army Model 1860 revolver.
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Sixth-plate tintype, hand-colored ; 12.4 x 11.2 cm (frame)
Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs; Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Record page for image is here.
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Note – This image has been digitally adjusted for one or more of the following:
- fade correction,
- color, contrast, and/or saturation enhancement
- selected spot and/or scratch removal (This particular photo had extreme spotting and scratching. The resultant adjusted image is somewhat degraded at higher resolutions.)
- cropped for composition and/or to accentuate subject matter
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Civil War Portrait 067
by John Beauchamp Jones
AUGUST 23D.—Dispatches from Charleston, yesterday, brought the melancholy intelligence that FortSumter is but little more than a pile of rubbish. The fall of this fort caused my wife a hearty cry—and she cried when Beauregard reduced it in 1861; not because he did it, but because it was the initiation of a terrible war. She hoped that the separation would be permitted to pass without bloodshed.
To-day we have a dispatch from Beauregard, stating the extraordinary fact that the enemy’s batteries, since the demolition of Sumter, have thrown shell, from their Parrott guns, into the city—a distance of five and a half miles! This decides the fate of Charleston for they are making regular approaches to batteries Wagner and Gregg, which, of course, will fall. The other batteries Beauregard provided to render the upper end of the island untenable, cannot withstand, I fear, the enginery of the enemy.
If the government had sent the long-range guns of large caliber when so urgently called for by Beauregard, and if it had not sent away the best troops against the remonstrances of Beauregard, the people are saying, no lodgment could have been made on Norris Island by the enemy, and Sumter and Charleston would have been saved for at least another year.
At all events, it is quite probable, now, that all the forts and cities on the seaboard (Mobile, Savannah, Wilmington, Richmond) must succumb to the mighty engines of the enemy ; and our gunboats, built and in process of completion, will be lost. Richmond, it is apprehended, must fall when the enemy again approaches within four or five miles of it; and Wilmington can be taken from the rear, as well as by water, for no forts can withstand the Parrott guns.
Then there will be an end of blockade-running; and we must flee to the mountains, and such interior fastnesses as will be impracticable for the use of these long-range guns. Man must confront man in the deadly conflict, and the war can be protracted until the government of the North passes out of the hands of the Abolitionists. We shall suffer immensely; but in the end we shall be free.
