Colonel Lyons.
Stevenson, Ala., Wed., Sept. 23, 1863.—I write often to you, for I know how anxious you are to hear from me, situated as we are so near the scene of the terrible battles that are raging day after day at the front. I am well, but have a great deal of work to do. This is the nearest post to the front, and everything going to or from the army passes through here. Tonight 1,400 prisoners and several hundred of our wounded came in, all bound farther North. All this adds to my labors. I see no reason to believe that we shall be sent forward unless the emergency is very great. None of our division are in the fights. Those who came in from the front all feel confident that General Rosecrans can hold his own, but he is doubtless largely outnumbered and we can but feel the greatest solicitude for the result.
The carnage has been fearful. We all feel ready to go whenever we may be ordered and to do our duty in this time of peril, although the fate of war may terminate our earthly career. Let us trust all these things to our Heavenly Father, who will order everything wisely and well. You can have no idea of the suffering of the people here. Absolute starvation stares them in the face; and what makes it more painful is the fact that a majority of them are loyal. It would make your blood run cold to hear of the outrages that have been committed upon them by the rebels before our army came here. Oh, my dear, how sincerely do I thank God that you do not feel this war—only in my absence; that I can bear all the suffering and peril of it without your being compelled to share them with me. Colonel Heg is dead and his body is on the way home. He was mortally wounded on Saturday last. [He was killed at the battle of Chicamauga.] He was a noble-hearted, true man, and a brave and useful officer. His loss is a calamity.
