Fort Gillem, Friday, Dec. 2. Slept on boards inside the fort last night, guns outside. A gentle rain fell in the after part of the night, but not enough to penetrate our blankets. All our camp and garrison equipage brought here during the night, and pitched tents this morning. Luckily our stove was saved, and it now gives us comfort. Wet and rainy all day. The fort is garrisoned by 14th Ohio Battery and 10th Tennessee Infantry, a splendid work.
We lay just outside yet. 10th Ohio Battery boys have come back from river, thereby relieving us from their guns. We know nothing definite of Hood and his forces. He is reported to be moving on to Murfreesboro. He has thought it best not to try Nashville, after his signal defeat at Franklin on the 30th. Our foes are fallen back and are now in line of battle about three miles from town. Artillery firing has been distinctly heard this afternoon. Mail received and “Good News from Home”; all well.
After night I walked out and had a splendid view of our camp in the dark, which is always to me a grand and sublime sight. About a mile and a half from us the advance line string from one hill to another as far as we can see on either side, stretching from water to water, with their countless fires. Would that I had the artist’s skill to represent this scene with its seas of glittering starlike fires. And when I think of the thousands of brave boys that gather around them, patiently awaiting the foe, it becomes sacred to me and fills my soul with reverence to the Supreme Being that holds our destiny in His hands.
