Four Years With the Iron Brigade

by Lance Herdegen

  Glad to see it.

  Volume 13

  They Cry “We Surrender!”

  August 27, 1864 to December 31, 1864

  Corp Wm. R. Ray”

  Co. F. 7th Regt, Wis. Vet Vols.

  Camp near Yellow Tavern on Weldon R.R.

  A resident of Cassville, Grant Co, Wisconsin

  August 27, 1864

  And fine day. After the rain of last night we lay in our works or tents rather which are pitched in camp style in rear of our verry strong works. We have a day of comparitive rest today. It being the first since the 18th ult. May lay here sometime. The Boys that didnt reenlist are counting the hours till their time will be out. Pay to go with them. They will be discharged on the 2nd of September.

  There is many rumors what the Rebs have done, doing & going to do & the same of us. But I guess the 2nd corp got drove a little on their left.

  August 28, 1864

  And fine day & we missed the rain last night & today. All day without a sprinkle. We lay in camp same as yesterday. Gen Warren was around today looking through the camp & works &c. There is a well being dug near the camp so we will have plenty of pretty good water & I will send my last Diary home by the same mail. I have not heard from the last one I sent. But I suppose it will be all right at home. But the folks have forgotten to mention it in their letters.

  Well I have at last caught up with my Diary. I was once a week behind when we were so busy & had so much rain & having to write on a sheet of paper so it were unhandy. But now have my new diary I can keep up.197

  August 29, 1864

  And fine day & rain last night again. We lay in camp today. Had general inspection today. It being the first since I came to the Regt, I think. I wrote a letter to Flora Lander in answer to hers I received sometime since, as also answer to one I got from her today. Answered them both in one. And answered Henry letter that I reed yesterday. They all brought news of the folks enjoying the usual health. & Henry has been out on the Milwaukee & Prairie-DuChine [Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien] R.R. & find him a new home which he done. Bought a nice farm of 80 acres near the town of Boscobel & within a quarter of a mile of the R.R. From the description he gives I think it a pretty place. He says he can get land cheaper on that road than on the Road in Iowa, where he was sometime since. My tentmate [Henry] Brinkman went to the Hospital yesterday. He has been unwell for several weeks past and is now quite low. Diheria being the disease.

  Half of our Brigade is out today on fatigue duty working on a large fort near where we had the fight on the 21st. We are strongly fortifying this place. There appears to be a feeling that we must hold this place against old hazard himself.

  August 30, 1864

  And fine day. We have had no rain last night or today. Been a verry pretty day & we were out on fatigue duty today. Working on the fort. We worked 6 hours, there being 2 reliefs. This fort is a verry large one & completely commands the Railroad for several miles. Twill be a formidable work when done. I had command of a squad of 10 men of Co G. They were mostly Indians. They were the best working squad I have been over. We were let off at 6 P.M., came home & got supper &c.

  The orderly & Captain have gone to make out the Muster Rolls & also the papers for those boys that their time will be out on the 2nd of Sept. We have had 2 promotions in our Co. Lately. Albert C. Morse,198 Wm Atkinson to be Corporals.

  August 31, 1864

  And fine day. We lay in camp today. Had muster for pay at 2 P.M. & 5 P.M. We move down into the woods some ½ mile & camped in good order. Ben Bragg [Benjamin F. Branham]199 saying we will stay here sometime if the Rebs didnt drive us out & that we had better fix up camp pretty good. So I & my tentmate made a bunk &c, upon the whole making things quite homelike with plenty of good boughs on the bunk &c. The Boys that are going home are joyous. The news in the papers is good. There has been no battles but some skirmishing &c at different points. There is a rumor in camp that Fort Morgan at Mobile [Alabama] has surrendered and all the Prisnors, munitions of war &c to the Union forces. This is an important capture. Union is victorious all around.200

  We expected some to hear from the Democratic Convention today. It sit on the 29th to nominate a man for President. We will probably hear tomorrow. But through the Press, [Union General George B.] McClellen seems to be the favorite. The Peace men are trying hard for their man. But they will be hard up to beat old Abe [Lincoln] when the election comes off. There is a rumor that the Draft which was to come up on the 5th of next month is put off so it is doubtful if old Abe gets my vote. But we must be patient and try to think all is for the best. At least so I do. I feel in as good spirits as ever.

  September 1, 1864

  And fine day. The Boys that didnt reenlist started home this evening & a happy set of fellows were they as whiskey could make them. I should have been ashamed to left the Company in the plight they did. Well they are gone & peace & prosperity to go with them. I have no desire to go home to what I thought I should & considering the company I should have had to gone in made me think less of it. They were all good soldiers & all stout men but some of the worst gamblers in the Co. were among them. The Col. went with them. I rec’d a letter from Lu today which I partly answered.

  The Democratic Convention have not decided on a candidate for President yet. But the supposition is that McLellin [McClellan] will be nominated. There has been some change in the affairs in the Co. Sergt [Loren] Parsons & [George] Eustice has gone home. Sergt [Thomas] Alexander is acting orderly now. Boynton being wounded & [Jesse] Roberts201 is on the Pioneer squad. So there is only one Sergt in the Co. & he was lately promoted. I am first Corporal now.

  September 2, 1864

  And fine day. We were awoke at 1 A.M. this morning to pack up & be ready to march at 2. But didnt till three when we set out. Went out to Corps Headquarters & turned to the left. Went down to the left flank of the army & massed outside the works & stoped, it being daybreak now. We lay here till near sunrise when we marched back to Corps Headquarters & turned off to the left & went out to & outside of the works where we had the fight on the 21st, & massed here again. This time there is a division of cavelry ahead of us & some of them gone on a reconnaissance & the remainder near us as a support to those gone out. & we, if need be, a support for the whole. Ours (the 3rd) division being here. After laying here some 1 ½ [hours] the cavelry comes in with a few Prisnors. They having been out some three miles & found the enemy & strongly fortified. So we retraced our steps for camp which we reach about 10 A.M. & verry tired too, to find our turnips, beets & soap &c which we drew yesterday, gone. Some of the Engineers are in camp near us & they must have come & took them while we were gone. They were too heavy to carry on a march. We drew last of rations, sanitary articles &c. There was a detail for fatigue this afternoon for to work on the fort. [We] will be finished tonight, I understand. I finished my letter to Lu today & mailed it. We have lots of whiskey & Quinine furnished us just as much as the Boys will drink. I never tasted it but the Boys say that quinine they think is the main ingredient so bitter is it. Some of the Boys will drink it anyhow even to get drunk. This the Doctors says is to keep off fever &c. Perhaps it is good but I cant see the point. I think the remedy is worse than the disease. I will risk the latter at any rate.

  September 3, 1864

  And fine day. & we are in camp. Nothing unusual transpires. The usual detail of about half of the Co. to work on Fortifications. Good news to chronicle. Fort Morgan surrendered to our forces on the 23rd with all the things pertaining &c. And there is a rumor that Sherman is in Atlanta, that the 20th Army Corps occupies the city & that there has been a hard battle & Shermans Army cut Hoods in twain & that our forces have been victorious in evry instance &c. Big thing if true. We have regular mails that arrives & departs daily and evry thing goes on well.

  September 4, 1864

  And fine day with things the same as yesterday. Perfect quiet in camp. The order is for all to make bunks to sleep upon &c. But as I have mine I am not included in that orde
r. This being Sunday we have inspection &c. I have catched up with my writing, have answered a letter of Amoses today which I got six week since. The news in the papers is good. Still rumors of the capture of Atlanta and Early is retreating down the valley towards Richmond & Sheridan pressing him closely. It is thought if Early gets down here they will try to drive us from our position. But this we think they cant do.202

  The Democrats nominated McLellen [General George B. McClellan] for President & [Congressman George] Pendleton of Ohio for Vice President. I don’t like the nomination much. But if Abe puts the Draft, I will vote for him. Then he will show that he is a friend to the soldiers & is going to make the grumblers at home help us. But if he don’t do it, he must make peace soon for our armies are going down sadly. But trust that all is for the best.

  We are fixing up camp nice & digging a well so we will have nice cool water &c. We have a creek nearby which we wash in. I got a kettle from the Pioneer yesterday & washed & boiled all my clothing except coat & will now be rid of lice &c which we all have a plenty of. We drew clothing today. I got a pair of drawers, that being all I have need of at present. I picked up one of the many good shirts that the Boys throw away because they are dirty, and washed & boiled it & thereby saved $1.50. Nothing like economizing in these times.

  September 5, 1864

  And fine day & warmer than usual of late. & I am on detail for fatigue duty. We have been chopping timber down so the guns from a large fort can command a field which it hid. The hot sun rather gets me down. I give out coming home & had to rest. My head trubles me a great deal now in hot weather. I fear I shall have to give up soldiering, some of those hot days at least go on the list of invalids. The papers today being the official report of Ian Slocum [Union General Henry Slocum] stating that he with his Corps occupies the city of Atlanta & that there had been a big battle & our troops had been victorious. But stated no particulars of the affair. The spirits of the army is good & we get plenty of rations. & those of the Boys that will drink quinine & whiskey get all they want & evrything goes well. I guess the officers expect an attack as the order is this evening for us all to have 50 rounds of ammunition for the teams was going to the rear. & evry man must stay in camp & be ready to slip on his accoutriments in a moment.

  The 7th Ind [Indiana] Regt of our Brigade starts home tomorrow & they are making speeches &c, having a pretty joyous & noisy time. I say let them be joyous. Our Brigade is verry small now. But I hope it will soon be recruited up. There has been no recruits from our state got on the last call for this army. The most of those going into the army to go to the army in the Southwest. But the Regts from other [states] especially the eastern states are being filled. The N.York papers says there is a 1000 men going through that city evry day for Grants army & it is estimated that there 1000 landed at City Point daily. But none for our Regt as yet except convalescents.

  September 6, 1864

  And fine day & cool, cloudy & rather pleasant. Nothing unusual transpires except that there is no detail for fatigue today. We are having a pretty good time now. Something like we used to have when we thought soldiering a hard buisness. The Boys are in good spirits over the good news from the southwest & the papers as yet gives no account of the Draft being put off, which we fear will be done yet for I think it would be a deadness to the Army. I wrote a letter to Lu today.

  We have plenty of Sutlers about us now. Our sutler has come up, but the Boys don’t trade with him much for he don’t trust & the Boys don’t have money & those that have money go to other places to trade. We want to get rid of him because he wont come up as other Sutlers do, but comes when payday comes near.

  September 7, 1864

  And fine day & cool. We lay in camp & no detail today but Guard. There is one out of each Co for guard to see to the cleanliness &c of the camp. I got shaved today. My tentmate is the Barber. He shaves for the Regt or all that he can. He charges 10 cents each. Makes considerable money. I sent for a new pen to N.Y. City. Twill cost me $1.40 & the certificate calls for a pen worth $6.00.

  September 8, 1864

  And fine day with nothing unusual transpiring. Except that the Rebs took 50 of our pickets at daybreak this morning. This happened not far from here.

  September 9, 1864

  And fine day. I am on guard today. I with 3 men is all. I have to attend posting them, there being only one post. It is just a nice job for at tattoo, I take the guard off & put it on again at reville in the morning.

  September 10, 1864

  And fine day. The cars come up to within half mile of camp today. They will be up to Corps Headquarters in a day or two & the corderoy roads will soon be done. And the telegraph wire is up so we will be in town soon. This morning about daylight our men away down on the right charged and took about 100 of the Reb Pickets in. This is to pay them for what they got from us a day or two since.

  September 11, 1864

  And fine day. This being Sunday we have Co. Inspection at 10 A.M. And half an hour later we have church. The Chaplain gave us a good sermon. The day passes off quietly in camp. But the details that are working on the corderoy road near our camp make considerable noise. This evening the cars got up to Corps Headquarter & on reaching there they whistled loud & shrill a number of times. As much, I suppose, to chagrin the Johnys as anything else I suppose. The whistle fairly said, we defy you Johny to come & take us. I guess it rather surprised the rebs. Things are going nice.

  We can still hear the Picket firing in front of Petersburg. The rumor is that Mobile is taken & so say the Rebel Pickets. & now I think they must own our superiority, now that we have both Mobile & Atlanta in our possession & Sheridan still keeps the Rebs south of the Potomac. The Rebel Press tries hard to stave off the loss as an insignificant thing but still other papers own it & I guess they will have hard work to ram it down their soldiers that it isnt much &c. I wrote a letter to Mother today.

  September 12, 1864

  And a fine day & the Regt is out working on the corderoy road. We do up considerable. The cars are running up constantly now with supplies &c. The rumor is that Deserters coming in says that Lee has changed his headquarters to Reams Station & a good part of his army has gone with him & that they expect to strike us a hard blow one of these days. And the papers of today say that the rebs have ordered all the Gurrilla Bands in Virginia to report to Lee to help him in his next Battle & it is surmised that part of [John Bell] Hoods Army is coming up here & if all this be true & they should draw [Jubal] Early out of the Valley pretty sudden & bring his force with all the others combined, Lee might truble us some before Grant could get the 6th & 19th Corps back here. But we must trust in the good Lord and to Providence some and be patient for we certainly have good reason to be thankful for past victories.

  The draft is ordered forthwith in those Districts where they have not showed a willingness to volunteer. But in many parts of the country they have filled their quota already.

  I got a letter from R Lander. He with his Regt is now at St. Charles on White River, Arkansas. He is well & hearty &c. But the letter brings sad sadness from cousin (Amos Eubanks). He is about to loose his eyesight. At least he is nearly blind at times. He is 1st Lieut of the Co now.

  One of our officers, our 2nd Lieutant Alphonse A. Kidd is leaving, mustered out of the services today and is going back home. He has in my opinion rather deceived the boys and the Company some by not staying as he promised when we reenlisted. But I say, let him go home if he wants to. We can do as well with his room as his company. I never thought much of him anyway. He is governed entirely by the Almighty Dollar.

  September 13, 1864

  And fine with nothing unusual. The rumor that Mobile in Alabama is taken needs confirmation yet before I will believe it. I wrote a letter to Miss Ryan of Oldham Co. Kentucky soliciting a correspondence with her & also one to Henry & one to Lu. We give the camp a general police today. The whole Regt turning out for the purpose. We have a verry nice camp now.

  There is still heavy det
ails working on the roads. They are making a double wagon road here opposite our camp where there is some low ground. Cap Young is talking of going home and if he does I say the same as I said by the 2nd Lieut. But at the same time I dislike to see Cap to go. He is a warm friend of mine. I would rather see him stay.

  September 14, 1864

  And fine day. We lay in camp today with nothing unusual except that we move camp about ¼ of a mile & got a better camp. There was a guard left at the old camp till we could to go back & get what things we wanted. For other troops was coming in there. Ben & I brought our bunk & table over & set them up here & by night we had all things fixed up as before except that Ben hasnt his Barber chair set up. This is a much nicer camp than the other. We will soon clean it up & there is a well nearby which will furnish us plenty of good water but not so good as the other. The rumor is that all that belonged to the Old first corps is drawed away from the front. Some say they are reorganised & going off to some other Department. & others contradict it & say that we are formed into two Div’s & still belong to the fifth Corps. & I think the last is most likely of any of them.