"We will fight Grant on the Mississippi."

Saturday, June 4, 1864, Turkey Hill, Virginia

Our shoes are shot. We have done so much marching of late that those who did not pick up a spare pair or two from the Yankees at Spotsylvania are suffering for not having  done so. My own shoes that I wore into the battle were tossed along the side of the road. I do believe that I saw them later on a new pair of feet.

My new shoes, on my old feet, are not all that new. I should have taken two or three pair when I had the chance. Once these have served their purpose, I do not know what I will do for brogans. At the moment, we have stopped and are dug in at this place. We can easily see the Chickahominy to the south of us. A rock, well-thrown, would reach it.

We had been on the far left of the line. Now,we are on the far right. There is nothing any further to the right except the river. I suppose there could be some of our horse-soldiers somewhere south of the river. If so, Fitz Lee had better not be one of them or we might forget which side he is on and shoot him after what happened on the North Anna. The entire regiment numbers no more than one hundred. We had been half again as much when we marched into those woods to scatter some cavalry which he told us would be easily pushed aside. General Stuart would not have done that.

When we came to this hill, there were some Yankee cavalry already here. They were so few that it was no trouble to drive them off. I saw one tumble from his saddle but I do not think that I was responsible. 

Yesterday, while behind our works on the hill, we could hear quite heavy firing to the north. We strained to see what was happening but could see little detail. As best as we could make out, a large blue mass advanced upon our works in that area. It rapidly disappeared in the smoke. What we did not see was the blue wave advance beyond our works. We supposed that this represented another victory for General Lee.

What with the wounding of General McGowan and the capture of Colonel Brown, General Conner now commands the brigade. He is from Charleston. I remember seeing him there during the bombardment of Fort Sumter when we struck our first blow for Southern freedom. He was a gallant-looking captain of militia, commanding the Montgomery Guards. Now, he is a general. I was a private when I first saw him and am still a private some three years later. I do not mind.

In a flurry of feathers, General Conner and his new brigade were directed to prepare for an assault by those Yankees in front of our own selves. If the attack to our north had failed, might not the Yankees try their luck in some other place such as here? We checked our cartridge boxes and prepared to fix bayonets upon command.

Nothing happened. O, an occasional round or two was thrown our way but no damage was done. We did not observe any blue mass forming in our front. We think that if they will not move against us, they will try to move around us. It is what Grant has done since just before the battle in the Wilderness last month. We began this spring's campaign along the Rapidan. Not so many days ago, we were along the North Anna. Today, we are against the Chickahominy. Where will we be be tomorrow, the James? No matter. We will fight Grant on the Mississippi.


I Send You These Few Lines


The heavy firing Tooms and his pards observed was the slaughter at Cold Harbor. Grant thought that by mounting a massive frontal assault, he could break through Lee's lines. It didn't work. The fortifications Lee's troops had built were too strong to be stormed. Grant's forces bled themselves outing the attempt to break Lee and win the war.

Tooms and his pards were largely uninvolved in this battle. The regiment was very far on the right of the Confederate lines. Close to Fitzhugh Lee, as a matter of fact.

It is just another installment on the butcher's bill. Experts differ on how many casualties there were but 18,000 seems a safe number 65% of which were Union. Grant wrote in his memoirs after the war, "I have always regretted that the last assault was ever made." One dead Union soldier was found with his diary after the battle. It's last entry was, "June 3. Cold Harbor. I was killed."