#10

Near Grand Junction, Tenn.,

November 11, 1862

 

Dear Sister:

                        This morning having a few spare moments I seat myself to answer your last letter, received at Corinth. Nothing especially noteworthy occurred on our march from Corinth here, if I may perhaps except that on the second day we passed the battle field of the Hatchie, and saw the new made graves, and the trees thickly scarred by the bullets and cannon ball of the contending forces. Crowds of buzzards hovering over us also marked the vicinity of the field. Our last day's march was the most severe, we that day marching 20 miles. We this time carried our full load—knapsacks and blankets, and part of us also in addition had overcoats—and but although at the end of the / third days march I felt completely worn out, I succeeded in holding out without aid from the ambulances.

 

            We have now been encamped in the woods here about a week. Our regular rations of hard crackers were exhausted the second day after our arrival here, and for four or five days now we have been living on corn meal and flour. Now let it be known unto you that we left at Corinth the greater part of our cooking utensils, so that immediately upon receiving the meal and flour the question arose how shall we cook it. But give a soldier material to cook and you may be sure he will find a way; and the soldiers of the 39^th are behind none others in ingenuity. It was a sight well worth seeing to go around and view the different methods of cooking. Here one would be frying slapjacks on a shovel; whilst / his neighbor would be baking in a little tin plate, improvised from his cartridge box; one would place his dough upon a piece of board, and inclining it towards the fire thus bake; another would wrap it in a piece of paper and lay it in the ashes; and some would be converting their meal into mush in their little tin coffee cans. But you will ask how did I do. My partner has a little frying pan manufactured from half a canteen; we used this and fried up our rations in cakes, except that we made one dish of mush and baked one cake on a board. We do not find this kind of living very unpalatable, but it takes most of our time cooking, and sometimes the bread doesn't rise very well, and is rather heavy. We think that although this will do for a change, we prefer hard crackers as a steady diet. 

 

We went out on a foraging party the other day and brought in a hogs head of sugar and three barrels of molasses, taken from a man who is quartermaster in the secesh army. The country hereabouts is a rich one. There are many large plantations containing immense fields of cotton and corn, expecially the latter. They seem to a great extent to have followed Jeff Davis' proclamation with regard to raising corn instead of cotton, for certainly corn is much the most abundant, although I have seen some quite large fields of cotton. The niggers are beginning to flock into our lines like sheep. On every road they can be seen, little and big, ol men and women, flocking towards camp. I saw several yesterday who came 15 or 20 miles. They tell me that in their neighborhood they are being run off south, since the approach of our forces. He said that they were told all manner of dreadful stories about the Yankees, but he concluded he would come up and see us any how.

 

            We shall probably move on farther towards Holly Springs as soon as we receive rations, which will be probably to-day or to-morrow. The latest reports are that Price is still there. There are may many troops in advance of us farther on towards Price, and we may possibly be held here as a reserve.

 

            Mr. Rice is expected up to-day.

 

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I am getting anxious to hear from home, not having heard for over a week. My love to the folks at home. Write soon to Your Brother

                                                           

George.

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