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[Fort of Sweetwater, Tennessee]

GLC02739.101

to Nancy E. Jones [incomplete]

God has carried him through the war thus far. She is going back home. He contemplates the effects of war: "In peace: children bury their parents; in war: parents bury their children."

GLC02739.102

to Nancy E. Jones

He was detailed as a Provo guard and sent to protect the Roberts, a slaveholding Confederate family, from being robbed. The women there do no work and he credits their intelligence to the luxury of time to study. He has a room to himself but has...

GLC02739.103

to Nancy E. Jones

William Hickenbothem from his regiment will visit her while on a furlough. She should feel free to spend money on supplies that they need. He will write to those who have found fault with her. He will not reenlist: "one hundred thousand dollars...

GLC02739.104

to Nancy E. Jones

He is sorry to hear that things at home are so difficult for her. He is pleased that she received his diary, as "for future use and practice…it is more precious than gold."

GLC02739.105

to Nancy E. Jones

He is studying arithmetic. He thought she "was religious enough not to go to any party." The soldiers had a pretend battle with snowballs.

GLC02739.106

to Nancy E. Jones

They may join their old brigade, Wilder's, at Huntsville, Alabama. They are on detached duty with another cavalry brigade. A man was severely wounded on picket duty.

GLC02739.107

to Joseph Jones and family.

"Our country is Getting very Bad Some Will Steel and Some Will take the Bankrupt law and too lasy to Work."

GLC02739.108

to Nancy E. Jones

He expects a forward movement soon. He gives news of friends. He offers to send her papers.

GLC02739.109

to Nancy E. Jones

He is sorry that she didn't see Hickenbothem. He hopes to get a furlough this summer and would like her to buy silk dresses for herself and the children.

GLC02739.110

to Nancy E. Jones

They marched to Athens, then Charlestown, and then to Cleveland. They are headed toward Dalton, Georgia where the Confederates are stationed and expect to encounter a Confederate garrison soon.

GLC02739.111

to Nancy E. Jones

They have come within 12 miles of the Confederates without firing but there will be a battle soon if the Confederates do not fall back. They awaited the Confederates on a ridge but they did not appear so his regiment moved to a higher ridge and...

GLC02739.112

to Nancy E. Jones

They have been fighting since they arrived. They tried to storm the Confederate works but were repulsed with many losses including their colonel.

GLC02739.113

to Nancy E. Jones

They fought hard at Rocky Face north of Dalton on the 9th and he was wounded slightly in the neck. They drove the Confederates to Resaca and defeated them there. A musket ball passed through his hat and grazed his head. The Confederates retreated...

GLC02739.114

to Nancy E. Jones

They have fought two battles in this campaign and skirmished with the enemy every day from the 7th to the 19th. His company of 20 has lost half its men.

GLC02739.115

to Nancy E. Jones

Engaged in fighting for 3 days; anticipating a decisive battle tomorrow.

GLC02739.116

to Nancy E. Jones

Daily skirmishing and sharp-shooting; establishing battle lines; dangers of picket duty; mentions battles at Rocky Face and Resaca; asks her not to send the children to school unless he dies.

GLC02739.117

to Nancy E. Jones

Nine days' engagement with the enemy; continuous fighting in Tennessee from 4 May to 7 June; discomfort from "filth and durty clothes and loss of sleep;" hopes for a furlough.

GLC02739.118

to Nancy E. Jones

Movement towards Atlanta; recounts various hardships of army life; tallies the lost men from the regiment over the course of two years.

GLC02739.119

to Nancy E. Jones

Concern for his sick daughter Elizabeth; expressions of faith; sleeping outside in the rain.

GLC02739.120

to Nancy E. Jones

Almost daily engagements with the enemy; list of corps commanders, citing Gen. "Howart" (Oliver Otis Howard) as his favorite; relates a story about Gen. Howard's exchange with a soldier about removing the body of a wounded man from the field.

GLC02739.121

to Nancy E. Jones

Charge on June 27th ("I never saw a grater [sic] slaughter in as little [sic] time").

GLC02739.122

to Nancy E. Jones

More description of the charge on June 27th, with 800 killed or wounded; assisting the wounded on the field and in the hospital; safekeeping his diary.

GLC02739.123

to Nancy E. Jones

Reconnaissance mission up the river; lack of paper.

GLC02739.124

to Nancy E. Jones

No end of the campaign in sight; lack of paper, envelopes, and steel points.

GLC02739.125