Reminiscences of the Civil War, William and Adelia Lyon

Letters from Colonel Lyon.

Fort Donelson, April 9, 1863.—At present there seems to be no considerable force of rebels in our vicinity, and we are resting very quietly.

We held an election on Tuesday for Chief Justice.

Our nine companies have cast 385 votes, of which Dixon received 357 and Cothren 28; majority for Dixon, 329. Our other company is at Hickman, Ky.

We are doing much work upon the fortifications here and will soon have a strong fort in a strong position.

A few days ago, April 3d, some gunboats were fired upon with artillery above here, under circumstances that led us to apprehend an attack here. We sent off our sick, and all our women packed up ready to start, but no enemy came.

Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.

Fort Donelson, April 5, 1863.—The scare is over. Van Dorn has proven to be Woodward. We are still quiet and safe and do not expect an attack from him.

Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.

Fort Donelson, April 3, 1863.—Great excitement in camp. We were awakened this morning at three o’clock with the news that Van Dorn has a force at Palmyra. They attacked a fleet that was going to Nashville and disabled a gunboat. The orders are to move the sick on the boat and the ladies to pack ready for a move to the boat if attacked.

Letter from Colonel Lyon.

Fort Donelson, April 2, 1863.—You have heard, no doubt, that the balance of the 22d Regiment (Colonel Utley), is ‘gobbled’. What a poor, unfortunate regiment it has been and is! There is, however, no stain of dishonor upon it. When it passed up the Cumberland in February last the men appeared dejected, and the regiment was not, for some cause or other, in a good shape. Now it is ruined. I would go down to a bloody grave, oh, so cheerfully, rather than live to see the 13th in the condition that the 22d is in.

Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.

April 1, 1863.—We all went on an excursion on the Nevada, up to the rolling mills, a beautiful spot. We got some interesting specimens of slag. Colonel Lowe accompanied us. We had a very pleasant trip.

Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.

Fort Donelson, March 31, 1863.—There is a house over in Dover with 650 bullet holes in it, and one corner of the cornice, or corner of the house roof, was taken off entirely by a shell at the time of the fight. The rebels got into that house and shot from it. The 83d did not like this and ordered them to surrender. They held out for some time, but at last surrendered. Captain Morril (afterward Governor of Kansas) lives in this house now.

Letter from Colonel Lyon to Isaac Lyon.

March 25,1863.—We live in a house now and have a large room with a fireplace. We have partitioned off a bedroom in one corner, and are building a kitchen near by for our colored folks. We live mostly on the usual rations, with eggs and butter added. We pay twenty cents for eggs. Have bought no butter yet. We live in constant expectation of a paymaster. The Government owes me now over $1,000. I only expect to get about $450 at the next payment.

At present we are not menaced with an attack here, and we have the means with which to make a stout defense should we be attacked; but a movement of the rebels against the right flank of General Rosecrans’ army would be very apt to strike us. If, as is now reported, the rebels are evacuating Vicksburg and reinforcing Bragg, we shall have stirring times in this vicinity before spring is gone.

I suppose you have heard the report that Fort Donelson was taken and the 13th had gone the way of the 22d. The story was made out of whole cloth by some lying telegraph operator.

Letter from Colonel Lyon.

Fort Donelson, March 24, 1863.—I suppose you have heard lots of rumors about the 13th having surrendered Fort Donelson. The rebels have not been here in force since they were so awfully whipped. There are guerilla parties, but they dare not attack a place so well fortified.

We are getting to be quite aristocratic, we live in a large house with Brigadier-General Harding, formerly Colonel of the 83d Illinois, the regiment that fought the late battle here.

Yours of the 1st of March came to hand in due time. We were a little curious to know how you knew at that time that we were coming here, when we did not know it ourselves. The first intimation we had of it was a telegram from General Rosecrans to me, March 4th, ordering the force at Fort Henry over here. We had, however, expected orders to go to some other point, for some time, as Fort Henry was all under water and there was no earthly use in keeping troops there any longer.

Fort Heiman, opposite Fort Henry across the Tennessee river, is a commanding point. That fort was also evacuated, but has since been occupied by troops from General Grant’s department. There is no prospect of an immediate fight here, but this is a sort of key position and any little change of program on either side may make it the scene of heavy conflict. This post will doubtless be occupied by considerable of a force for some time, or at least until there is some decisive change of affairs in this region.

Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.

March 21, 1863.—The concert was grand. They varied the program by once in a while dancing a cotillion. The music was charming. We all enjoyed it immensely.

We found three rebel graves in our dooryard. The bodies were buried about six inches deep. They were buried as they retreated, we suppose. Poor fellows, it will never be known!