June 1.—Have been to Dr. Thornton’s funeral. He was buried from the Presbyterian Church. A large concourse was in attendance.
There has been a desperate battle at Port Hudson. It is said that our forces were attacked by negro troops, and the slaughter of the latter was terrible.
I have a young cousin, Edwin Lessel, there in our army, who I am anxious to hoar from, he is a native of Nova Scotia, and when the war broke out, as he had only been a short time in this country, I told him he had better go home, as he could not have the same feeling toward the enemy as the southerners. He answered me, that was all a mistake; that from the time he was a little boy his highest ambition was to have a shot at them; and now the chance had come, he had no idea of throwing it away. He enlisted as a private in the “Scotch Guards,” which is now in the Second Alabama Regiment.
