Bummers First Person Library

[J. Donaldson]

Re: Bummers First Person Library

I thought this might of interest to pass along. It's from A. M. Greer's memoirs. Greer served in the 20th Illinois, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps. While not a represented unit for this event, I've found his diary entries related to the march very entertaining as well as enlightening.

Geer, Allen Morgan. The Civil War Diary of Allen Morgan Geer, Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. Mary Ann Andersen, editor. New York: Cosmos Press. 1977.

P. 176
“Tues. Nov. 15th 1864. Moved at 7 A. M. toward Macon on four parallel roads. 4 corps; 15th, 17th 20th & 23rd one on each road. Rations 15 days hard tack, 100 days coffee, 50 days sugar. No meat or vegetables issued, 2 rations whiskey.”

“Camp near Jonesboro, Georgia. Wednes Nov 16th. This is rich foraging country. . . . Sweet potatoes and yams are found of all kinds and sizes. Some of the latter weighing from 8 to 15 pounds.”

“Near McDonald, Georgia. Thurs. Nov. 17th 64. Sent out a forage party on the wrong road hence it gets in with no portion of a large stock gathered. We pass through a splendid agricultural region and where the

P. 177
“people have suffered but little from the ravages of a army.”

“Near Hillsboro, Georgia. Sun. Nov. 20th 1864. Got some books & lost them through the agency of Capt. Raymond who is always around on the road.”

“Harris Plantation, Georgia. Mon. Nov. 21st 64. I secured some books, Cogan on the passions, Loomis on the Elements of Geology, & The Devil on two sticks. Moved on slowly again at 11 A. M. traversing a wild uneven region. Fires line each side of the road.”

“Pine Forest, Georgia. Tues. Nov. 22 1864. Forage is found in abundance but transportation is very scarce.”


P. 178
“Near Gordonsville, Georgia. Wednes. Nov 23rd. Moved early through town went 4 miles past and camped at noon. Got Molasses, Fresh Pork, & Sweet Yams. Cooked, ate and read. Moved at 5 P.M. 4 miles and went into camp at 8 P.M. on a large plantation with several thousand bushels of sweet potatoes stored up. Made a good bed of forage and slept well.”

“Sweet Potatoe Plantation, Georgia. Thurs 24th. Sidney forages a spider, etc. today making us independent in the culinary line. Sent out a forage party for horses. [20th is now mounted and in process of procuring horse equipments for its infantrymen.]”

P. 179
“Near the Ogeechee River, Georgia. Wednes. Nov. 30th. It is rumored that some foragers found a large sum of gold buried in a swamp. The people hide many valuables but they are generally found by our Wide a Wakes.”

P. 180
“Bostwick Station, Georgia. Thurs. Dec. 1st 64. Move 7 miles and camp on a vast highly cultivated plantation owned by Judge Jones one of a wealthy family making up the neighborhood and owning all the land in the vicinity. A detail is sent out to take possession of some mills.”

“Judge Jones Plantation, Georgia. Fri. Dec. 2nd.”
Guarding mills and then escorting wagons loaded with meal back to the supply train.
“The Dr. had a superb homestead and extensive library and a mill property romantically situated. Sold American Female Poets. Read Smedenburg’s Heaven & Hell. [Swedenborg]”

“Millin, Georgia. Sat. Dec. 3rd 1864. In foraging we find plenty, we see much, and in fact enjoy the campaign hugely.”

P. 181
“Station 3 ½ Georgia. Thurs. Dec. 8th. Moved early 3d Div. in the advance. I with 6 men went foraging. Got flour bacon pickled pork fresh pork and molasses. Got a splendid dinner at [one word omitted]. Got books at [one word omitted]. The citizens who are wealthy here have turned out to shoot our stragglers their Negroes falling timber across our roads. Went with Andrews and found a large supply of stores in a swamp. Draw five days rations, one pound hard tack to the man.”

P. 182
“Near Savannah, Georgia. Sun. Dec. 11th 1864. Read Richard’s Electron a poem on the power history and uses of electricity. Camped in the woods. Eatables are getting very scarce.”

“Mon. Dec. 12th. The 3d Div. moves at 7 A.M. and the 20th goes out a foraging but the country has been ravaged by the 15th Corps.”

“Tues. Dec. 13th 64. The 20th moves out with a party of foragers at 7 A.M. across King’s Bridge and out on the midway road. Forage is scarce. With Co. G captured a wagon load of corn & potatoes with two yoke of steers and darky. Fuller to drive them this 15 miles from King’s Bridge. Moved back eight miles and camped, got a good supper and slept without a picket. The country is low rice the produce irrigated by tide water through ditches, roads turnpiked.”

“Midway turnpike, Georgia. Wednes. Dec. 14th. Moved at 7 A.M. found our cattle a slow team, wild, weak, and stubborn. The boys pound them severely.

P. 183
“The black steer kicks all hands, a Lt. among them. . . . Had a spicy talk with some ladies at a large plantation.”

[J. Donaldson]

Re: Bummers First Person Library

Again, not representative of a unit impression at the event, but another diary that illustrates the events of the march.

W. B. Emmons Diary
34th Illinois Infantry
Material located in the Special Collections Department of the University of Iowa Libraries.

November 15, 1864
“we got to Atlanta at noon found two thirds of it had been burned and the embers of hundreds of buildings are still smoking a pall of smoke hangs over the ruined town and the great black cloud of smoke and forked tongues of shining flame roll up from many a house that has just caught fire. we mar through the town and camp outside the fortifications. draw rations and clothing.”

November 18, 1864
“we are still living on full government rations; we drew one day’s hard bread tonight which is to last us three. we get what we can from the Country to eat.”

November 23, 1864
“Camped near Milledgeville in the best Country we have seen in the Confederacy”

November 27, 1864
“there is great deal of swamp Country in this part of the state and as our large Army subsists three fourths or more off the Country we pass through. the citizens carry their provisions corn, wheat &ct horses and mules into the swamps to hide from us but the inevitable darkie will always tell the yankee where the stuff is hid we are allowed to take anything to eat that we can find outside the houses but we are forbidden to go into a private dwelling. we live on sweet potatoes! turnips! flour! meal! beef! pork! mutton! chicken! &ct that we get at the citizens houses. hundreds of slaves leaver their masters now and join our Column and hundreds of our men are mounted. each Co. is allowed one mule to pack the woolen blankets for the men and servants of mounted officers have horses or mules which when we are on the march go in the rear of the Regiment. there are a lot of men detailed to forage for the Brigade, many of them are mounted there is strict orders for soldiers in ranks to do no private foraging but there is scarcely a private that does not forage from morn till night if he can get a chance and it is absolutely necessary to our circumstances for the Quartermasters do not issue to us enough rations to keep us from starvation[.] . . . the health of the Army is splendid and we are in fine spirits. . . . the Country from Milledgeville to the Atlantic is a pinery. the soil is sandy and each river and creek is bordered by swamps. Shermans Army is destroying all the central rail roads in this state burning millions of dollars worth of property eating up the produce that the Rebel Army stands[?] so much in need of.”

November 28, 1864
“we marched past one field that was white with cotton.”

November 30, 1864
“the weather is lovely like the very choicest days of late April and early May in Illinois we spoil ourselves (almost) on perscimmons which are now ripe as they have had a dozen frosts to sweeten them. I went through the Town of Lousiville saw in a negro house several books that our straggling soldiers had handled as they pleased one of them Milton’s Paradice I took to the old lady that seemed to be mistress of the premises I found her in one of the negro houses parching corn there was two woman slaves in the room with the old dame. I told the old lady that as our soldiers were helping themselves to any thing that they wanted on her grounds that I wanted the book Milton but would not take it without her free consent. She gave it to me. She told me that our men had taken her set of china dishes that had been in the family for over 60 years. She said she wished we would all go home and let them alone. Well I said you know the war is for the restoration of the Union and until that is accomplished it will go on. She said that there could never be such union as there used to be. I thought there could. She then came down on our government. Oh I replied we have a better government now than we had when the South went out of the Union. the old lady sighed and said, Well it may suit you better but it would never suit us! I said the war will soon be over and all will be well. she said (despondingly) that it could not be over till all the Southern men were killed and crippled up. she went on parching corn poor Old Saul. She had been wealthy by all appearances but now the fortune of war forces her to parch corn. I suppose our straggling soldiers had taken all the provisions from her. it is outrageous and against Gen Shermans orders but it is an evil that can hardly be stopped even by our Gen for we are living off the country. we do not draw enough from our Quartermasters to keep us going and if we do not do some private foraging we would soon be reduced to starvation. But there are hundreds of men in the Army that because they have a chance to look about for something to eat go it like a pack of thieves take money! watches! silver ware! finery! silk dresses! ribbons! womans and childrens clothing, insult white women! and go far beyond the bounds of human decency.”

December 6, 1864
“A citizen shot one of our soldiers today the man was not caught but his home burned and his family turned out of house and home. we got forage today. Our men burn all cotton gins and presses that have cotton in them day after day as the Column marches along the road we see the smoke and flames from the burning buildings we started. Oftimes we can feel the heat of the fires as we march past, the buildings are so close to the road. the citizens hide their effects in the swamps or bury them to keep the hated Yanks from getting them out the negroes will generally tell all about many of the people here say that the Confederacy is played out that it must come down. they feel gloomy over it. in going from Milledgeville to Savannah we see no town as large as Stirling Ills and with the exception of Atlanta and Milledgeville nor as large from Chattanooga to Savannah. the South is a wilderness and all the land East of Milledgeville is such [hog?] pen if any men from the North could be [bribed?] to take the best farm and be obliged to live on it though there is some splendid Country between Atlanta and the state capital”

December 7, 1864
“the country is sandy land swamp with pine timber we see palms growing in the swamps”

December 9, 1864
“we use water from the swamp which is very bad stuff. not more than one fourth of the land in this Country was tilled this year we are in rice growing land now. we are out of rations we have nothing but beef and rice to eat”

December 14, 1864
“our fare today is rice with the hull on and all the beef we can eat coffee made from the swamp water we put the rice in socs and beat it with sticks to get the hulls off it takes about one half our time and then we dont get it clean . . . we hope to soon draw army rations again as we are now for the first time since we left Cartersville where we can communicate with home there are thousands of negroes and mulattoes with our army that left their masters while we were on the march. it appears that the slave women are more anxious to get free of their masters than the males are and many a slave mother has carried her little child in her arms, endured the hunger and hardship of the march to be free . . . the country all swampy so that we need to dig but three feet deep to get water and thousands of acres are under water. the timber is pretty much all pitchpine though the cypress grows in the swamps and there is considerable live oak here. the land sandy farms are few and far between. Some of our foragers have been over in South Carolina they report it a low rice field as far as they went or could see on the Carolina side.”