September 16.—I arrived at Chattanooga this morning, about 5 o’clock, having left Dalton on the 15th. Mrs. T. arrived there before I left. Her son was much overcome at the sight of her. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were very kind to me, as was also their niece, an interesting young girl, who had just lost a brother in the service. Mr. D. has two sons in the army. I stopped at Ringgold on the way up. Mrs. M. and Mrs. W. had preceded me, and we are now in the Newsom Hospital. It is a very large one, having been enlarged to double the size it was when we visited it before. The part we occupy is opposite to the wards we formerly visited. We have each a ward assigned us. The house our room is in was a large hotel; Mrs. M. takes charge of it. On the south side is another ward—Mrs. W. in charge—formed of two two-story brick stores; on the north corner is a large brick house three stories high—was a private boarding-house — which is to be under my especial care. It is quite a handsome building. I am much pleased with my portion.
We have a good many patients. One man, by the name of Hughes, died in my ward this morning. He was a member of the Sixteenth Louisiana Regiment. I hope this is not ominous.
We have nothing to cook on but one small stove, and that a smoky one. It cooks for the whole of this side of the hospital. We have nothing to give the men to eat but wheat-bread (very nicely made at the government bakery), fresh beef, rice, tea, and coffee.
We have had no reliable news from the army since it went into Kentucky. A report came a week or two ago that it had reached Covington, and was about to shell Cincinnati. This good news we are almost afraid to believe.
