Feb. 2, 1864—Meet Chaplains. Prayer meeting at Bro. Booker’s chapel. Write to Henry and his mother. Eight years old today! Feb. 4—Walk to Battle’s Brigade and see Bros. Currin and Rutledge, Chaplains. Walk to saw mill and thence to 12th North Carolina. Bro. Evans spends night with me. Feb. 5—Preach in Bro. Booker’s chapel in [...]
Sunday, Jan. 10—Cold. Prayer meetings in Company quarters. Jan 11—Get a few poles for my chapel. Jan 12—Meet Chaplains at Pisgah. Get poles all cut for chapel. Jan. 13—Haul poles and begin my chapel. Jan. 14—Still at work on chapel. Chaplains of this division met in my tent yesterday. Jan. 16—Get roof and chimneys finished. [...]
Jan. 8—Ride to Orange with Bro. Anderson. Ten Chaplains there. No regular meeting. Postoffice clerks offended. Some time before I had found a large amount of printed matter at the Post Office for my Regiment, which the clerks had neglected to send us from day to day. I wrote a note to the Postmaster and [...]
Jan. 1, 1864—Turns exceedingly cold in p. m. Write for “Recorder” till midnight. Sunday, Jan. 3—I go to Regiment on picket. Prayer in Co. C. Jan. 4—Snows all day. In snow getting boards to cover my church. Jan. 5—Get three wagons to take my boards to camp. Rev. J. J. Hines, sent by Bishop Pierce [...]
Dec. 1—Go to Hillsboro. Call on Aunt Martha Utley. The Lord is with her. Reach Greensboro and stop with Bro. Wm. E. Edwards, near depot. Dec. 2—Conference meets in M. E. Church. Dec. 3—Army Commission reports. Dec. 4—Dr. Deems preaches funeral of Rev. J. C. Brent. Wife comes on night train. Dec. 5—Wife and I [...]
Nov. 8—Pass on and get to Rapidan Station and spend night. Sorry I could not find Col. Sillers last night Brigade crosses at Raccoon Ford late at night. Nov. 9—Ride down the river to the camp we left a month ago to-day. Find Brigade there. Snows a little. Prayers at night. Nov. 10—Anxious to hear [...]
Saturday, Nov. 7—Hear Dr. Rosser preach to 4th and 14th Regiments. Get bottle of sacramental wine. While reading a letter from wife, a fierce cannonade begins at Kelly’s Ford, where the 2nd and 3rd suffer sadly. Lieut. Col. Sillers is mortally wounded. Some are wounded and many captured. Army falls back. I tear down my [...]
Nov. 1, 1863—Fine day. Rev. Anderson, Chaplain 4th Regiment, preaches his first sermon at my chapel. Why don’t I hear from wife? Thirteen days ago she was not well. May be in heaven! God’s will be done! Get letter. All well. Prayer meeting at night. Nov. 2—Pastoral work in Regiment. Prayer in Co. “G” at [...]
October 16—Rain a. m. Bury Ruffin. Send sick and wounded to Rappahannock Station by Dr. W. Leave and follow Regiment, and sleep in vacant house at Greenwich. Visit Mr. Green, a British subject. Supper and breakfast with W. T. Hall, of the oldest M. E. Church in Prince William County. October 17—Ride on with Bro. [...]
October 15—Ten years ago God converted my soul. C. H. Ruffin, of Nash Co., wounded yesterday. Dies in my arms—in perfect peace. Charlie enlisted at 17, and perhaps, was the wildest boy in his Regiment. He was very respectful to me, but showed no signs of any care for his soul till April last. About [...]
October 8—Corps moving. October 9—Leave at 5 a. m. Pass Orange Courthouse. October 10—Pass Madison Courthouse. October 11—Pass Bethlehem Church. Meet Mrs. Griffin, 86 years old, has never joined any church. Says her husband kept her out 36 years ago. Camp four and a half miles from Courthouse. Rev. Dr. Boyce preaches at night. October [...]
October 7—While we stood by the train at the depot we saw in the ladies’ coach a nurse with a little child. I asked her to hold him up that I might see him. I said, “Nurse, please pinch him, I want to hear a baby cry.” The ladies looked out to see a crazy [...]
October 6—Meet Chaplains at Pisgah Church. Go with Bro. Rumple toward Orange courthouse. Spend night at Mr. Grymes’. Noble family. Man and wife and several daughters seem so glad to entertain us. Some officers there, too. Two armies had been for a long time using the food of that section. We saw no servant in [...]
October 1, 1863—Visit Hoke’s Brigade. Bro. Rumple preaches for us. October 2—Rain, get wet. October 3—Dr. Rosser preaches for us twice. October 4—Bro. Kilpatrick preaches a. m. end Bro. Rumple p. m. Fifty or more conscripts arrive for our Regiment. October 5—Preach for Battle’s Brigade at night.
Saturday, August 1—Division moves toward Orange Court House. I go with Bro. Stradley into Gordonville with sick. Moon-light night on the road. Pray with Dr. Adams and his drivers. Get to Regiment one mile beyond Orange Court House before sunrise. August 2—Bro. Power preaches in a. m. and I in p. m. August 4—Moved camp. [...]
July 18—Ride by Mr. Silver’s at White Hall. Night in camp. Peter P. Scales, my class-mate at University, dies. Sunday, July 19—Bros. Stradley, Power and F. H. Wood, preach to our Brigade. I have prayers with my Regiment and with Dr. Sprunt, Chaplain of 20th Regiment sick. July 22—Carry many papers to Regiment. July 25—Heavy [...]
July 17—Rain, rain. Ask leave to go to Winchester to see Dr. Deems. Colonel approves. Brigade and division commanders say there is no need for me to go! They offer to send my written statement! I meet Bro. B. T. Lacy in camp. He asks me if I have a “pass at will” from the [...]
July 16—Very unwell. Army moves on. I stop and rest at Dr. Burkhart’s in Darkville. Night in tent with Bro. Stradley. Heard from Mary. She and children are “prayerful, hopeful and happy.” Got letter from Bro. Deems, inquiring after his son, Lieut. T. D. Deems, and asking me to come to see him. Dr. Deems [...]
July 14—Ride in rain to Martinsburg, and stop with Mr. Doll. His son Dick is in 2d Va. Regiment. Meet Dr. Hoge. Dr. Witherspoon extracts a tooth for me. July 15—Spend a. m. as yesterday with sick and wounded. Army passing all day. Fever in p. m. and night. Night in field near Martinsburg.
July 13—Visit Regiment. Rain. Late in the afternoon start for Virginia, at twilight. Ride down through rain and mud to pontoon bridge at Falling Water. Cross at 10:30 and pass on in rain and mud to within one mile of Martinsburg. Sleep a little on two rails under a wagon. God bring our soldiers over [...]
July 6—Division moves slowly on through Fountain Dale Gap. July 7—Move on and camp one-and-a-half miles from Hagerstown. July 8—Rain and wind for five days. July 9—Ride to Williamsport to see our wounded. July 10—Day among wounded. July 11—Go out to Regiment in line of battle. Pray with them in the afternoon. July 12—Preach to [...]
July 4—Move corps hospital early to a barn three miles towards Fairfield. Bury Lieut. Connell and a man of the 4th N. C. Regiment. I wrote to the young man’s father, near Statesville, and told him I had buried his son. (At a Conference in Statesville, Dec. 1868, a lady called for me and told [...]
July 3—Move hospital early. Brother Stradley and I were riding over the fields from one hospital to another, when I fell from my horse at noon, not knowing I had fallen, and remaining unconscious for an hour. Loss of sleep and excitement may have led to the vertigo. God could take a man out of [...]
July 2—Part of the day among wounded men. Visited Brigade in town. A fearful fight from 3 till 9 p. m.
July 1—Division moves six miles by Middle Town and six and a half to Gettysburg and drive the enemy two miles. Col. Parker, Capt. C. N. Allen, Lieut. Brown and many others are wounded. Among the killed are: G. L. Swain, S. M. Hewitt, John C. Goodwin, John H. Mason and J. B. Whitley. Col. [...]