Oxford, Monday, Dec. 22. Awakened by Sergeant Hamilton, while the stars were yet bright, with orders to feed. I, unsatisfied with the short sleep, again laid down till daylight, until the orders to water aroused me. Hitched up, drank a cup of coffee, ate hard bread. The blankets were ordered off the guns and put in the wagon. Expectations of a fight somewhere, but I know not where. The troops were moving out all night.
Evening. At 9 A. M. the troops that had been called out in the night returned to their old camp with the intelligence that it was a false alarm of the enemy advancing upon Oxford. 12 M. we unhitched, unharnessed and pitched our tents.