Dickson Station, Tuesday, Oct. 27. A fine day. In good spirits. Drill call sounded at 9 A. M. We hitched up and had battery drill for two hours under Lieutenant Clark. The drilling was rather poor, many blunders. Clark is not as good a drill-master as Dillon, not enough vivacity and life. 12th Battery was out also. All quiet in front, men working on the R. R. opposite here. Expect the cars up soon. After dinner E. W. E. B. F. Blake and myself went into the woods after walnuts. Found them in plenty about a mile out, cracked all we could eat and returned with two bags full, with blackened fingers and plenty of fun. ”Special Artillery Order No. 1” from Captain Dillon was read to us at evening roll call by Orderly Sergeant Hood in regard to Confederate clothing, none of which is allowed to be worn.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
October 27th.
Everything remains precisely as it was three days ago. We are not allowed to leave camp, at least beyond bugle call. Our guns must be kept in perfect order, ready for instant use. Artillery horses wear their harness night and day. In fact, we are ready for attack, advance or retreat at a minute’s notice. Each morning the cavalry goes to the front, skirmish with the enemy, watch their movements through the day and return to camp at night. Matters wear a strange aspect; the Rebels seem playing with us; now advancing, now retiring. I know not what to think of the way things are working.
October 27th.—Young Wade Hampton has been here for a few days, a guest of our nearest neighbor and cousin, Phil Stockton. Wade, without being the beauty or the athlete that his brother Preston is, is such a nice boy. We lent him horses, and ended by giving him a small party. What was lacking in company was made up for by the excellence of old Colonel Chesnut’s ancient Madeira and champagne. If everything in the Confederacy were only as truly good as the old Colonel’s wine-cellars! Then we had a salad and a jelly cake.
General Joe Johnston is so careful of his aides that Wade has never yet seen a battle. Says he has always happened to be sent afar off when the fighting came. He does not seem too grateful for this, and means to be transferred to his father’s command. He says, “No man exposes himself more recklessly to danger than General Johnston, and no one strives harder to keep others out of it.” But the business of this war is to save the country, and a commander must risk his men’s lives to do it. There is a French saying that you can’t make an omelet unless you are willing to break eggs.
27th. In the morning, read some late newspapers—month old. Took Davenport over to be mustered. Found no difficulty in examination. Co. detailed for picket, also myself. Took 50 men to Vaul’s Ford on Blountville and J. road. Awkward place for picket, 7 miles from camp. Long ride posting pickets. Two letters from home. Good. No alarm.
Tuesday, 27th—The Eleventh received their pay today, and then went out on picket. Picket exchanges are directed by the aid-de-camp of our brigade, who rides out every morning with the picket relief, and after posting them, brings the retiring picket into camp and disbands them.
27th.—I was surprised this morning by a precious visit from S. S. She went to Petersburg this evening, to join her husband, who is stationed there. She seems to think , that she can never return to her Winchester home, so completely is every thing ruined. It is strange how we go on from month to month, living in the present, without any certain prospect for the future. We had some sweet, sad talk of our dear William. She says he was prepared, and God took him. At his funeral, his pastor took out his last letter from him, but became so overwhelmed with tears that he could not read it. It is right, and we must submit; but it is a bitter trial to give up one we loved so dearly.
October 27th. Had a severe frost, forming ice half an inch thick.
Two unidentified soldiers in Union sergeants’ uniforms
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Sixth-plate ambrotype, hand-colored ; 9.6 x 3.4 cm (case)
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
- cropped for composition and/or to accentuate subject matter
- straighten image
Civil War Portrait 075
by John Beauchamp Jones
OCTOBER 27TH.—Nothing from the North or West to-day. But Beauregard telegraphs that the enemy’s batteries and monitors opened this morning heavily on his forts and batteries, but, as yet, there were no casualties.
The Commissary-General to-day, in a communication to the department, relating to the necessity of impressment to subsist our armies, says “the armies in Virginia muster 150,000 men.” If this be so, then let Meade come! It may be possible that instead of exaggerating, a policy may have been adopted calculated to conceal the actual strength of armies.
Nevertheless, it is understood that one of the cabinet is offering his estates, lands, and negroes for sale. Will he convert the money into European funds? If so, he should not let it be known, else it will engender the terrible idea that our affairs are in a desperate condition. The operations of the next thirty days may be decisive of our fate. Hundreds of thousands of Southern men have yet to die before subjugation can be effected; and quite that number of invaders must fall to accomplish it!
October 27th, 1863.—We went to the salt works today and, though I am tired and dirty and have no good place to write, I am going to try to tell you about it.
A year ago salt began to get scarce but the people only had to economize in its use, but soon there was no salt and then Father got Cousin Joe Bradford to come down from Georgia and take charge of some salt works he was having installed on the coast. He had plenty of hands from the plantation but they had to have an intelligent head and then, too, it is a rather dangerous place to work, for the Yankee gunboats can get very near the coast and they may try shelling the works.
Though they have been in operation quite awhile this is my first visit. Father brought us with him and we will stay three days, so he can see just how they are getting on. We are to sleep in a tent, on a ticking filled with pine straw. It will be a novel experience.
I am so interested in seeing the salt made from the water. The great big sugar kettles are filled full of water and fires made beneath the kettles. They are a long time heating up and then they boil merrily. Ben and Tup and Sam keep the fires going, for they must not cool down the least little bit. A white foam comes at first and then the dirtiest scum you ever saw bubbles and dances over the surface, as the water boils away it seems to get thicker and thicker, at last only a wet mass of what looks like sand remains. This they spread on smooth oaken planks to dry. In bright weather the sun does the rest of the work of evaporation, but if the weather is bad fires are made just outside of a long, low shelter, where the planks are placed on blocks of wood. The shelter keeps off the rain and the fires give out heat enough to carry on the evaporation. The salt finished in fair weather is much whiter and nicer in every way than that dried in bad weather, but this dark salt is used to salt meat or to pickle pork. I think it is fine of Father to do all this. It is very troublesome and it takes nine men to do the work, besides Cousin Joe’s time; and Father does not get any pay whatever for the salt he makes.
We expected to have a grand time swimming and fishing. We are both good swimmers, but Father and Cousin Joe will not allow us to go outside of this little cove. Yankee gun-boats have been sighted once lately and there is no knowing when the salt works may be attacked.
