" Short is dead"

Wednesday, August 24, 1864, Weldon Railroad, south of Petersburg

It is good to be back with the rest of the army. It was shortly after we whipped the Yankees at Fussell's Mills that we we're put back on the road to Petersburg. The citizens cheered us as we marched through the city. The looks on some of the faces in the crowds signaled to us that they knew that Lee's army, is saving Richmond, had saved Petersburg, too. Not all of the faces were happy to greet us. We noticed not a few looked at us with scorn. They must side with the Yankees.

Once we passed through,  we continued until we reached this place. The Petersburg and Weldon Railroad is behind us. We are dividing our time digging new works here and watching for the Yankees to make another try to break these rails.

It is still quite hot and sweet water is difficult to come by. We sometimes use an old shirt and pour dirty water from a bucket through it to try and filter out some of the dirt. Bolton said that we should be saving the dirt as we need it for the works. Since we do not know if we will be here through the winter, we are not keen on building cabins lest others take over this part of the line and the cabins. Besides, it is so hot, there is nary a thought of the coming cold and snow. Many trees have been sacrificed to the alter of our breast works. There is not much shade so lean-tos have to do.

I very much like my new canteen. There are no holes in it. I gave my old one to Castles. I can feel through the covering that this canteen has rings like a bulls-eye. I hope that does not mean anything. My new shoes are doing well. I thank the previous owner for breaking them in for me. It is a certainty that before it snows here, that these shoes will need to be replaced with new ones.

When we are not digging, we are drilling, which all feel is a perfect waste of our valuable time. After being in the army this long, if we do not drill by this time, then wbeing in the army for this long, if we have not mastered drill, we never will. When we are not drilling, we pull picket duty. Last night was our last night to man the picket line for awhile. There was a fire to cook our rations for those of us who had anything to cook. Despite my best efforts to save something from the rations recently donated by the Yankees at Fussell's Mills, all have been consumed. All it took was one meal and my haversack was empty again. I was not the only one in such a plight.

Short is dead.The wounds he suffered in June caught up to him. He passed in Petersburg. We are sad that we could not have seen him one more time as we passed through the city. Terry is gone, away on medical leave. Blackmon is gone to a hospital. He has suffered a wound to his throat. Nelson has been given a medical discharge for disability. Terry is absent on a medical furlough.  Wilson Crenshaw is in a hospital in Richmond or Petersburg. There are so many absent that I cannot account for all of them.

We can hear firing all up and down the lines, whether we are on the picket line or back in our works. Some of the sounds come from quite far away. We suspect that Grant is probing our lines, looking for a weak place to make a push. He may push all he likes. Our Lee will always push back.


I Send You These Few Lines


There are indeed so many of Tooms' pards that are missing. In addition to those absent that are mentioned above are Colonel Bookter, the regimental commander, Medrid Caskey, Sergeant Major Joseph Steele, Julius Porter, James Porter, Ransom Plyer, John McKay, Lieutenant James Williamson,  John Neill, Hugh Steele, Troy Crenshaw and William Marshall. These soldiers, all in the same company as Tooms, are absent sick, absent furlough, absent detailed or just absent. There are others, absent as prisoners of war, such as John Plyer, Jefferson Mathis, and John Howell, all mentioned in previous diary entries. All of this material is sourced from the National Archives.

The Late Unpleasantness saw the first mass use of railroads in wartime. Transportation of men, munitions and material is now critical to the successful conduct of war. The Confederate troops defending Richmond and Petersburg, Atlanta and Wilmington, and all other places held by the Southern soldiery, are being supplied with beans and bullets by way of the railroads.

During the early part of the  the war, Richmond was served by several railroads, bringing supplies and manpower from all over the Confederacy to her defense. By the summer of 1864, the railroads are few and their carrying capacity is shrinking. The Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, often called just the Weldon, mentioned by Tooms, is one of the few railroads keeping Lee's army in the field, allowing him to defy Grant.

The Weldon ran from Petersburg to Weldon, North Carolina. From there, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad ran to Wilmington, North Carolina, one of the few ports left to the Confederacy where supplies can be run through the blockade from overseas.

Tooms has observed that some of the looks of the citizens of Petersburg are less than friendly. Tooms writes that these might be in league with the Yankees. While that might be somewhat true, it might be that those people see in the soldiers the fact that the war will continue. War-weariness has set in to a large part of the Southern populace, civilian and military. This sentiment has been in existence for awhile and, barring a monumental victory over the Yankees, this sentiment will grow. Some Southerners hold out hope for ultimate victory and some just want the war to end, no matter the outcome.

For the moment, things are quiet. Well, at least quieter than it has been for awhile. There's no more shooting. Well, at least no more shooting that is so close that it requires someone to shoot back. Tooms and his pards have been around long enough to know that, no matter how quiet it is now, this is just the time in between one period of chaos and another. There's a war on. It is certain that this time is just the calm before the storm.