Colonel Lyon’s Letters.
Huntsville, Ala., 11 o’clock p. m., Jan. 11, 1865—I write at this late hour because I have had no time to do so before. I am constantly occupied, early and late, and it is with difficulty that I get time to write at all. In addition to my other duties, the command of our brigade is thrown upon me again. Colonel Doolittle is commanding a brigade in the 23d Army Corps. This is Colonel Doolittle of the 18th Michigan.
Everything moves along nicely with me. Our town is full of Generals. Wood, Kemble, Beatty, Elliott, Granger, and others are here. My relations with them are very pleasant indeed. Granger and Elliott called upon me tonight. I knew the latter as Colonel of the 2d Iowa Cavalry, and went up the Tennessee river with him in April, 1862, to Pittsburg Landing.
I am about making an entire change of force on the railroad, and shall probably go to Stevenson in a day or two to superintend the necessary movements. I have received a reinforcement of two regiments, the 84th Illinois and the 18th Michigan, to enable me to increase the strength of garrisons here and on the railroad. When Colonel Doolittle returns I shall be relieved of the command of the brigade, and I hope of the post, so that I can devote my whole time to the railroad and river defenses.
