Camp Union, Fayetteville, Virginia, January 20, 1862. Monday.— This is the birthday of sister Fanny. Dear, dear sister, so lovely, such a character! She would have been forty-two years old today. Now six years — six years next June — since she left us.
Rained during the night. Warm, and probably more rain today. This is the January thaw. The mud is beaten down by the rain. The thunder roaring now. Very few thunder-storms; not more than three or four since we came to western Virginia.
A pleasant lull in the storm gave me a chance for a parade last evening, or rather the adjutant asked if we should have one. I, supposing him to be joking, said, “Yes, the weather is so favorable.” He ordered it and I was caught. I got a captured Caskie Cavalry sabre, slung it across my shoulder, and went through with [it]. We returned in column by companies closed in mass. The men marched well in the mud and it went off with spirit.
Spent the evening reading the [Cincinnati] Gazette of the 16th, eating peaches with Avery and Gardner, and listening to their tales of life on the plains and in Mexico. Avery’s story of the Navajos running off goats and sheep and his killing an Indian will do to tell Birch.
