"...Yankee cavalry hard by."

Thursday, June 16, 1864, near Malvern Hill.

Should I march another mile, I feel as if my feet will surrender. My brogans are just misshapen pieces of leather. Rocks and small sticks easily find their way through the openings in my soles to visit my feet. I dare not complain too loudly as there are many of us, perhaps the most of us, who are in the same way.When I had the opportunity to do so some weeks ago, I should have helped my self to three or four pair of Yankee brogans.

All this started this Monday past. While the brigade was in place, being watchful behind earthworks, we were hastily ordered to fall in and march south to a then unknown destination. We all thought that Grant had again moved away from our front and was trying to flank our Lee again. We crossed the Chickahominy and the York Railroad. Someone said at one place that we were marching through Frayser's Farm. If true, we were going through one of the battlefields where two years ago, McClellan had tried to wrest Richmond from our Lee.

There seemed to be a sense or urgency in this march. The further south we went the more we felt that indeed, Grant was trying to turn our flank. This was a bad time to be marching rapidly. Many men fell out due to the heat. We trusted that they would catch up to the main column by nightfall. I had two Yankee canteens. Castles offered me forty dollars, Confederate, for one. Duncan heard this and offered sixty dollars, Confederate, of course. I gave Castles one of my canteens and did not take any of his money as it was empty.

Later that same Monday, we were ordered into line of battle. Someone called out that there was Yankee cavalry hard by. There was some skirmishing but it was not heavy. I did not fire my musket even once. After some short time, the Yankees left us to the field. I am not aware that we suffered any casualties. That night, before getting any sleep, we fortified our position. We still did not know where we were going.

On Tuesday, we marched, always to the south. In the far distance to our right, and somewhat behind us, we could see the spires of Richmond. The day was just as hot as the day before. This was not a good land to get much water. What little water we came across was poor. Our rations were scant, insufficient to keep a body from wasting away under these exertions. There was still that same urgency of movement and the same lack of an understanding of where we were going. I heard some wag joke that Grant had embarked his whole army on transports and landed then in North Carolina.
Grant is somewhere and I suspect that Lee is looking for him. When our Lee finds him, there will be fighting.


I Send You These Few Lines


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Grant has moved. After the grisly costly defeat at Cold Harbor, Grant decided to do another flanking run around Lee's right. Lee waited for some few days, not knowing what Grant was up to. When Lee determined that Grant was moving south, he had his army leave their works and rapidly march to some place where Grant might be caught in the open and a piece of his army may be bitten off and chewed up.

The cavalry-infantry skirmish that did not amount to much was one of several small encounters that occurred at this time. Union cavalry is looking to see where Lee is and every so often, they find him.

The hard marching, short rations and bad water were all reported on by those who were there. Indeed, there are places in Virginia that are rather dry. This is one of them. I am speculating that during the winter, there is good water in abundance. This is not winter, the temperatures are torrid and only bad water is easily found.

Frayser's Farm and Malvern Hill were two battles fought in 1862 during the Seven Day's Battles, right after Lee had assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee turned on the Union Major General George McClellan and drove him away from the gates of Richmond. Two years later, Lee finds himself now keeping Grant away from the Confederate capitol.

This diary entry opened with Tooms lamenting the state of his shoes (brogans). He opened the last entry in the same manner. Keeping Confederates in proper footwear has been a problem since the beginning of the war and it's getting worse.

A last word about Grant and his strategy. Yes, Grant has embarked on a grand flanking move around Lee. The entire Army of the Potomac is on the move but it is not Richmond that Grant is after.