DIY History | Transcribe | Civil War Diaries and Letters | Andrew F. Davis papers, 1862

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14_1862-06-29-Page 02

hundred acres of cotton although evry plantation has it cotton Gin and Press on it but there will be little or no work for them this season.  The town of Decatur is situated on the South bank of the Tennessee River and is about the size of Liberty but like most other southern towns it looks old and dilapidated.  Gen Mitchel made a dash on the place some 2 months since and drove what few Secesh Soldiers there were there away in a hurry, but he was too far in the enemys country to sustain himself at that time so he burned the Rail Road buildings which the rebels had filled with provisions and also the R.R. Bridge across the Tennessee river and then fell back to Huntsville where he has since made his Head Quarters.  The bridge was a fine structure being 18.00 feet long and was a pity to destroy it but it was a military necesity therefore it had to be done.  There are large numbers of Slaves here but none of them ever come to us to take them away and it would do them but little good if they did for I do not think there is ten men in the Regt. that would help them away if their chances were ever so good.  I see a great difference in the slaves here and in Kentucky and Tennessee.  In the latter states they as a general thing were well clothed well feed and ware in a large number of cases quite intelligent but here a more greasy raged indolent and ignorant set as a general thing I do not wish to see.  
We have had no mail for about 10 or 12 days consequently I have had no letters from you since I last wrote, neither have we had any papers for over 8 weeks therefore we know but little of what is going in the outer world as you might call it.  We hear it rumored that Gen McClelland still holds his position at Richmond and is awaiting reinforcements and that Gen Curtis has had fight with the rebels in Arkansas and whipped them but the particulars we know nothing of.  We thought until we arrived here that our forces had possession of Chatanooga but here we find that they had to abandon it again and that the rebels are now concentrating a heavy force there but how true it is we do not know but in

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hundred acres of cotton although evry plantation has it cotton Gin and Press on it but there will be little or no work for them this season. The town of Decatur is situated on the South bank of the Tennessee River and is about the size of Liberty but like most other southern towns it looks old and dilapidated. Gen Mitchel made a dash on the place some 2 months since and drove what few Secesh Soldiers there were there away in a hurry, but he was too far in the enemys country to sustain himself at that time so he burned the Rail Road buildings which the rebels had filled with provisions and also the R.R. Bridge across the Tennessee river and then fell back to Huntsville where he has since made his Head Quarters. The bridge was a fine structure being 18.00 feet long and was a pity to destroy it but it was a military necesity therefore it had to be done. There are large numbers of Slaves here but none of them ever come to us to take them away and it would do them but little good if they did for I do not think there is ten men in the Regt. that would help them away if their chances were ever so good. I see a great difference in the slaves here and in Kentucky and Tennessee. In the latter states they as a general thing were well clothed well feed and ware in a large number of cases quite intelligent but here a more greasy raged indolent and ignorant set as a general thing I do not wish to see. We have had no mail for about 10 or 12 days consequently I have had no letters from you since I last wrote, neither have we had any papers for over 8 weeks therefore we know but little of what is going in the outer world as you might call it. We hear it rumored that Gen McClelland still holds his position at Richmond and is awaiting reinforcements and that Gen Curtis has had fight with the rebels in Arkansas and whipped them but the particulars we know nothing of. We thought until we arrived here that our forces had possession of Chatanooga but here we find that they had to abandon it again and that the rebels are now concentrating a heavy force there but how true it is we do not know but in