April    1862

Pittsburg. Landing. Tennisee March the 12

 

Dear Sister

                        This is a very wet and disagreeable morning. And I shall a gan attempt to write to you and inform you I am well and our present place of encampment. I have written several times but have not yet had an opportunity of sending any letters to you owing to the consequence of this battle that I suppose you have herd of before this General Grant issued an order a fiew days after we arrived here that no mail should go from this camp until after the battle that we have just passed through or you should have herd from me long before this. I wrote to you before we left Ohio that we had marching orders for St Louis and left immediately for that point. left there on the 20^th and took the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad for said place we arrived there on the 23^ird and expected to go into camp Burton, but immediately after we arrived we received marching orders for Savannah Tennisee. Of which we wer immediately ordered board the Steamer Danl G. Taylor for Savannah 

 

I have not time to give you the full details of our trip here however we started down the Mississippi River and did not stop until we arrived at Cairo we landed there a short time and from there we struck the Ohio River and went up to Fort henry. Remained there but a short time however there we began to see the fruits of Sesess as it had bin but a short time after the battle and every thing was torn to atoms. Fort Donilson is but 12 miles from there and that is the only escape they had we then struck the Tennissee Rivver and went to Paduca. There we found a bout 10 thousand soldiers in camp Several Regiments from Ohio. I did not see but one man there I new and that was Dock Stiles he was happy to meet us and he got on bord the boat, and went a long up to Savannah with us. We arrived at Savannah on the 27^th in the evening. remained there until next morning when General Grant ordered us to camp 8 miles above the town at which point we are now in camp but not in the same place. Since the battle we have moved out towards the lines some 4 miles I am happy to inform you that I have just passed through one of the bloodiest and most hard fought battles that was ever fought in America with out the least wound / while many thousands a round me fell, never more to meet there friends and loved ones at home Never did I witness such a scene nor do I ever agan wish to while I live as there was here during this battle, and to pass over the battle ground after they had ceased fiering was one of the most horible scenes that any ey could gaze on. John Krug and myself hiched up 4 mules to a baggage waggon after the enimy was whipped and hauled the wounded and dead off the field. there was lots of the Rebbels that would just beg for us to take them a long, but John told them he would not take a damed one of them until our men was attended to first.

 

The Rebbels attacted us on last Sabbath morning the 6^th just at daylight when we wer not expecting an attact at all, but was making preparations to attact them this week at Corrinth and Decatur But to our surprise we found them right in to our camp with 60 thousand strong 3 of our Regiments was throwen out immediately in to a line of battle. But what fiew of them wer not killed wer compelled to retreat back before they could be reinforced. The first fireing aroused all the soldiers in camp and immediately prepared themselves for battle and wer all / ordered out in a short time. Our men wer so supprised and skaired at the sudden attact so that they would not fight. at the first of the engagement our men retreated back 4 miles before they made a stand and I can assure you both sides fought like tigars until almost dark when the Rebbels wer compelled to retreat back. Our battery was in the fight when they made one of there heviest charges on Sunday afternoon BuryGard was in command at that time himself. there was 3 Regiments came up with in 3 hundred yds of our battery. we wer on top of a hill and we just poured the shells and canonballs in to them with out the loss of any of our men and drove them back. The battle lasted nearly 3 days before we whipped them But we have nothing to brag of I have not time to give you the full details of it but shall in the future if live

 

The weather down here is now a bout like the month of May in the north we are a bout 30 miles from Alibamma.

 

I am sorry to denounce the bravery of our commissioned Officers in the battle

 

Give mi love to all the folks and write as soon as possible and dont for get to send a lot of postage stamps when you write for we can not get any here union families pay the soldiers $1.00 a pint for salt we have to pay 25^cts for a newspaper and every thing else in proportion 

 

When you write direct your letter to Jacob. Porter. Pittsburg. Landing Tennessee in care of Capt Markgraff 8^th Ohio Battery General Wallaces Division

Frank Cover James Putnam and Leonard Ulery are all well When you write give me all the news and try and have your minature taken on paper and send it to me tell Dock and Fred to write to me we can receive letters any time but not send them. We expect to have an other little battle here in a short time a bout 20 miles from where we are now encamped I believe I did not give you the number of men we had here when the attact was made there was a bout one hundred thousand but before it closed there was near 2 hundred thousand Capt Hubers company is in the same Division we are him and his men fought well here little Wise was not in the fight on account of being sick. We killed General Brag here in this battle I cut several buttons off his coat and a piece of his shirt we also killed Jonson and took his son prisinor The agitants reports to day Killed and wounded on the rebbels side 11 thousand on our side killed and wounded 7 thousand 

 

I have not time to write any more at present

 

But remain your Affectionate Brother

 

So good By                

Jacob. M. Porter

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