[from the diary of Joseph Addison Waddell, former owner and editor of the Staunton Spectator and civilian employee in the Quarter master dept.]

Tuesday night, April 8, 1862

Gen. Beauregard’s dispatch to the War Depart-
ment was sent up here this morning by telegraph.
He claims a great victory at Corinth, on Sunday,
but confirms the report of Gen. Johnson’s death. No
cars have arrived yet from Richmond (nearly 11 o’-
clock), since last evening. Blackly returned this aftern-
oon from Mason’s Shanty — He says the 12th Georgia
Regiment have gone back to Monterey, a party of the
enemy having appeared there on Sunday. Most of our
army are on the Shenandoah mountain. Many
persons from Highland are in or about town, having
left their homes and families for fear of being captured
and taken to Ohio. Yesterday I met a Kinkead, of
Crab Bottom. Three (3) of his negroes had run off. —
Young Gallaher, of Charlestown, a member of the
4th Va. Regiment, now an invalid in the Army Hospi-
tal, tells me that the Yankees are using the negroes
very hardly down the Valley — working them severely
during the day and hand cuffing them at night to
prevent their escaping. The late battle near Win-
chester seems to grow in importance. The moral ef-
fect is as good as a victory. The North thought
our men were fleeing before theirs like frightened
sheep, when suddenly they a mere handful turned
and dealt a blow to the overwhelming force opposed
to them which has exacted surprise if not consterna
tion. Last week we had reports of several
hundred Union men from Rockingham and other
counties being on the Blue Ridge — Nothing since.
Another wintry day — rain, snow, sleet. Four
hundred recruits for Jackson’s army, arrived to- day
from Washington county. One of them, a plain,
honest- looking young fellow, loitered about my of-
fice for some time. I thought he was suffering from hypo.

[transcription by the Valley of the Shadow project]

MSS 38-258

[from the diary of Eliza Oswald Hill, refugee from Wilmington, N.C.]

Tuesday 8th Liz moved into a room upstairs nearer mine–& has fix
-ed it up very comfortably–I spent the morning in writing to Joe & sew
-ing a little–Mr. Walker Mears who is up here in search of a place
to board his family came in, & chatted with us very pleasantly
tonight–He has not succeeded in obtaining board — & returns
home disappointed–No gentlemen called tonight–It has been
raining very hard–& since Mr. Mason’s last visit they have
made their visits “few and far between”–, feeling assured Eliza
is engaged– She does not care about their dropping off–But I
do as it made the evenings livlier–& pass pleasantly by with the
addition of music–

MSS 6960

[from the diary of William M. Blackford, former diplomat,editor, and bank officer, Lynchburg, Va., with five sons in the Confederate Army]

Tuesday 8 A cold rain most of the day.
Very little to do in Bank but obliged
to be in place. This is irksome. I pre
=fer to be closely engaged. Additional
news of the battle. It was fought at
a place in Tennessee called Shiloh
18 miles N.E. of Corinth on Mississippi
River. It will bear the name of
“Shiloh” I presume. The victory was
complete and the enemy driven
to their transports. Gen Prentis &
several other prisoners generals were and 5000
men were taken prisoners in –Loss hea
-vy on both sides. The President sent
to congress a letter announcing the
victory and the death of Gen John
-son. In the House a letter, from him
to the President, of a private character,
was read, which completely exonerates
him from all blame in the Donnelson
affair. In doing this he carefully avoids
casting blame on Floyd, Pillow or
Buckner. The letter is a noble one in
its time and shows he was a hero.
The Whig gives the important intel
-ligence that the Merrimac went
out yesterday at 12. Nothing has
been heard of what she had done
The weather was foggy and she may
have not operated. The roads are
full of transports–Lewis writes
that 240 had landed troops at
Newport News. He thinks the design
is to throw twenty them and move
on the Nansemond & try to reach
Suffolk. He is very indignant that
the Merrimack[sic] fully ready was there
5 Inst. lying at the wharfside
while such a fleet with soldiers
on board was at Newport News.
He think Com. Tatnall too old &
infirm. I shall want the news with
intense interest– Never was so much
depending on the exploits of a single
vessel. If she destroy, capture or
disable the Monitor she will de-
molish the whole fleet of transports
and may frustrate all McClellans
plans–possibly lead to the capture
of his army, for she could prevent
supplies from reaching him. I must
possess my soul in patience and wait
events. Eugene’s regt and brigade
have certainly gone to the Peninsula.

MSS 4763

[from the diary of James Dinsmore Templeton, musician and private in the 23rd Ohio]

Tuesday, Apr. 8, 1862
Guard mounting this
morning. No Parade
Had my horn repaired
Hear that we will
probably move soon
Hear that the Sutler
had Whiskey brought
here and that the
Adjutant destroyed
considerable of it
Wrote to Phil
rained all day
very disagreeable

MSS 10317

[from the diary of Samuel Johnson, of the First Massachusetts Independent Light Battery]

Were turned out at 4. A.M. This
morning as was expected, we are
having a very severe rain storm.
Harnessed and packed up and
by eight oclock the Cavalry and
Artillery were again in motion.
Forded two deep runs which were much
swollen by the recent rains. Arrived
at Milford Mills on Broad Run Creek
at 10 A.M. but finding the run unford-
-able we were obliged to encamp on
an open and newly plowed field,
with no covering except our
blankets. some of the men slept in
a hog pen which chanced to be
in our corner of the field. Toward
night the rain / which had been
falling all day./ turned to hail, which
fell steadily all night, rendering the
ground and all around, cold and
disabreeable.

[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 8493

[from the diary of Daniel D. Logan, younger brother of General Thomas M. Logan, and a Sgt., Co. B, 1st Special Battalion (Rightor’s), Louisiana Infantry]

Wednesday – Apl 9th 1862
The Enemy opened the day by Killing
Sgt Jenkins of the La Guards – he
was shooting across the creek at
a yankee when another one shot
him in the neck – Killing him
instantly – It rained all day
the firing was very slight today
only seventeen [?] shots from our
Cannon & nine from the Enemy
I am confined to bed today
sick – severe cold, head &
stomach-ache – under treatment
of Dr Gray – taken quinine &c [Surgeon R. A. Gray]
Our boys still in the trenches
with the prospect of another
wet night – We heard today
of our great Victory near Corinth
Miss – Our men seem to be in
fine spirits – & we all
anticipate an equally
brilliant achievement here
before long – I telegraphed
to Mr Gibson today of
Jenkins death – also to Father that all was well
with us – Aby left this morn-
-ing for Head Qus – Felt
very sick this Evening.

[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards; annotation by Robert K. Krick]
MSS 6154

[from the diary of Milton W. Humphries of Bryan’s battery, as recopied and annotated by him in 1893]]

April 8-9 My throat continued very much inflamed and raw. I could neither eat, not drink, nor speak.–This sore throat was very prevalent in our barracks, resulting undoubtedly from the presence of so many men in the same house. the house was crowded at night almost to suffocation. Two deaths occurred about this time, one from typhoid pneumonia, another from some mysterious kind of fever, or as some said, from poison; but as it is uncertain, I think it very unjust to suppose the deceased was actually poisoned intentionally. The names were Steele and Patton. My throat now began to improve rapidly, but my speech still failed me.–

Remarks–1893
Bryan’s Battery was quartered in an old frame house known as the Nesmith House at that time. Mrs. Cary lived across main street on the block below, the N. house being on a corner. The cross-street lead to the old Fair Grounds. When the guns were carried out there, the men still remained in the Nesmith house. The horses, of course, were kept at the Fair Grounds.
Being huddled in so small a space, of course sickness was bound to appear among us. The disease which Killed the men named or at least one, and affected me so seriously, was simply Diphtheria, though I never knew it till the war was over.

MSS 1578

[letter of Hiram Cash of the 7th of April continues]

April 8. It has been a hard snow storm here since last night
and the men in camp had a hard time to keep warm I was
not relieved this morning and was very glad of it for I have
good quarters and enough to eat I think I shall stop here
untill the regt. leaves. Last night this slaves husband came
home to see his wife he run away from his master and is
free he now works for the Q.M. department for $26.00 per
month, I tell you it was an affectin scene when they
met. I have but a little time to write so I must be
short

[letter of Cash, of the 5th Maine, will continue on the 9th]

MSS 12916

Wilmington April 8 1862

My Dear Mother

I embrace this opportunity, the
first spare moment we have had for many a long
weary day, to write you. we are one Operator short
here & tho not worked probably as hard as at Manassas
Yet its now constant & we never get off at night till
11 or 12, very often 2 or 3 A.M. I have one of
my old Manassas Friends in the office with me now
Joe Dornin[?], of whom you have heard me speak & we
get along nicely tho I’d much rather be home, I
had calculated so certainly upon being in Old
Lynchburg in a very short time, when we fell back
from Manassas, that the disappointment is very
keenly felt–
There is in reality nothing to write here–
It[s] a hum-drum quiet sort of place. Most
of the young men having gone to the war & there
dont seem to be many young ladies, a great many
of the citizens have left town, fearing to wake
up some fine morning, with old Burnsides after
them. The Old lady with whom I board makes
herself absolutely miserable about it, she has
two very pretty grand-daughters, orphans. they three
are alone in the world & her boarders are her only
dependance, & I feel quite sorry for them, but I
do not anticipate an attack here, at least for some
time, I think most vigorous preperations are made
& making to give them a warm reception. the town
is nearly surrounded by water & could be defended

[page 2]
against heavy odds, with skillful commanders
which seems to have been the one thing lacking in
North Carolina. But Genls Holmes & French from the
Grand Old Army of the Potomac are here now and it
is realy surprizing to see how suddenly fear has given
place to confidence. about 30000 troops are in striking
distance of this place and Goldsboro. So nut much
alarm is felt by the sensible portion of the people.
The movements of our armies is the only them[e] on every
ones tongue. A great [many] seem to be puzzling their
brains about old Joe Johnstons command, & expressing
foolish fears of his being flanked &c. Its a gratuitous
service entirely, Let him alone & he take care of
himself & fight when he’s ready & not one moment
before, tho every Journal in the south were to open
on him. Events are crowding in such succession that
it seems in this balmy summer air, once can almost
smell the sulphurous vapors of war and hear the clash
of contending arms. As I write a battle is momently
expected on the Peninsula, & it is the opinion of
of[sic] our political sages, if whipped at Yorktown the
enemy will abandon the war–God grant it. Down
here we hear every day of vessels running the blockade–
its a common occurrence at this post, & I verily
believe some of these same vessels were loaded &
fitted out in Yankeedom About 9/1/th of the merchants
here are dutch Yankees & German Jews.
Of course, the all exciting topic now is
the great victory of shiloh, still indefinite enough
is know to satisfy us that again have we driven
the invader wounded & cowed before our avenging arms–
& that another great coil of McClellans anaconda
has been broken, & its strength departed. It is very
generally believed that Buels forces & those on the Penin-
sula would decide the war, tho victory has changed

[page 3]
the appearance of everything, that has been
won & if Magruder whips them in Virginia
peace cannot be very far off–
It would be hard to say whether the public
here are more elated at the victory or depressed at
the death of the Gallant Sydney Johnston, he
died just in the first flush of victory with the cries
of a flying foe ringing in his ears, he lived
long enough to know that we had won the battle
& to a spirit such as his, the knowledge must
have been as sweet as the same cry of the flying
was French was to the dying senses of Wolff on the
Plains of Quebec. Hounded on by press & taunted
with want of courage & ability he has nobly died
to prove the one & won the greatest battle of this
continent to establish the other–
Cant you send me some Virginians occasion-
ally? I do want to see something home-like–
I have not recd my trunk yet, indeed there
has not been time. It is very warm here & most
every one is clad in Summer clothing–I have
nothing in the world but a uniform coat & pants
of thick heavy grey stuff–. I was compelled to
purchase underclothing & a vest–. Let me know
if you have heard from Ned, or if he has left
Tell Miss Jeanie I received her letter & will answer
soon. I have not heard from John Tyree. My love
to her & Mis Anna. Tell Fred I shall write soon
but not to wait for me but pitch in & write me
a good – long – old-fashioned letter–My love to all
Aunt Susans family & tell Aunt Sue not to trouble
herself about those things, she has five dollars which
I sent Humphrey from Manassas to get me some collars
& Handker chiefs. You had better get it, I reckon
as I will be very apt to write home for something

[page 4]

or other I cant get here. My respects to
Miss Paulina Reid, & all my friends. If
we have a big fight down here, which I do not
in the least look for, I’ll write all the particulars
if we whip, but if they whip us ‘spect we’ll all
have to cut & run for it.

I drove out sunday to the different fortifications
around the city & also to a beautiful flower garden
& regular old-fashioned English Inn kept by a
genuine John Bull. The place looks like some
scene of fairy enchantment, Evergreens, vies & flowers
twisted & turned into every conceivable shape & design.
It is a great resort for both ladies & gentlemen–
for 50 cts I got a magnificent bouquet as big as a
bushel measure–more or less–

I have around the harbour considerably, been
on board one of our privateers which ran the block-
ade a short time, she goes out shortly with a load
of Cotton–The Kane–a beautiful ocean
steamer & the flag ship of Dr Kane in his
great Arctic expedition is here & considerable
degree of interest attaches to the simple white
hull, for she has been razed & is being fitted
for an iron clad gun boat, her sides are
about 30 inches thick, the interior between the
inner & out work being filled with cork–
Other gun boats are being rapidly built. This
a queer little town & I will have a good deal
to talk of when I get home. Kiss little Eva
I think I have received all you telegrams &
letters——
Your Devoted Son
Chas. F. Barnes

Private, Co. G, 11th Virginia

MSS 4444

C. S. Naval Hospital
April 8th 1862

My Dear Mother
I have been anxiously expecting
a letter from you, but as yet none has come, it is
now almost two weeks since I have heard from
you, and you have no idea how a letter from
home cheers up a wounded man. Have you
heard from Mr Page lately, if so write me
all about him, for I am very anxious about
him. I sincerely hope he may be so lucky as
to pass through the war unhurt. Give my
best love to him when you write. Old Abe’s
nightmare, the “Virginia” goes down to day to
give the Yankies another round, success to her!
It makes me feel so bad to see the fleet going
down, and I , poor cripple not able to go down
with them, but better times are coming I hope
My health is excellent, and I am improving
every day, my arm will be healed sufficient
for me to come up, and spend a week or so
with you in May. The Confederates are still
victorious but A.S. Johnson is dead. Hood is
nearly well and all send their kindest regards
to you. I am looking every day for the box
also, you can send it easy enough by the
express company, please send it, if it is not
too much trouble to you. Dick is as attentive
as ever. I go about everywhere now and have
fattened up considerably. Kiss the children
for me, and tell the servants howday, and
now Dear Mother–Goodbye–Your Son R. H. C.

Robert A. Camm, 1842-1892, was a midshipman in the U.S. Navy before resigning his position to become a midshipman on the CSS Ellis. He lost his left arm in action at Roanoke Island in February 1862, but returned to service. He resided in Lynchburg, Virginia, after the war. His mother was Olivia Alexander Camm Page and the Mr. Page to whom he refers would be his step-father Edwin R. Page.

MSS 8937