"It was the diptree that took her..."

Saturday, February 25, 1864, yet in the trenches.

Some time ago, I no longer recall if it was last year or the year before, I was the blessed recipient of a flag made by the hands of darling Rose May Talbird, a poor refugee of this war. I sent her a letter of thanks and wondered if ever again I might hear from her.

Today, I am in receipt of a letter, dated the third instant, from her mother. Rose May is dead. It was the diptree that took her from this world to the next. Someday, I shall see her and thank her in person.

We keep a vary eye to our right. We know that the Yankees are massed there, poised to make another strike against the railroad at a time and place of their choosing. They have tried this strategy before and for some time. They have extended their lines further to the south and west. We have extended our lines so that the Yankees cannot get around and behind us. As a result of this, our lines are mighty thin but so are we.

They have managed to tear up some several miles of rail forcing us to bring in supplies by wagon, bypassing the break. It is quite inconvenient to do things this way but the supplies, what few there are, do get through.

Some of the boys in the other companies have gone over to the Yankees, we hear. Good riddance to them. I hope they fill up on Yankee fatback and blow up.

The snow is done for the winter, we think. There are still patches on the ground but none has fallen for some time. We still are affected by sleet and a great deal of rain. It warms us thinking that Spring is not far away.


I Send You These Few Lines


Rose May Talbird was introduced to this blog via the diary entry dated March 30, 1864. While the name is a fiction, the idea of little children doing their part for the war effort is all truth. Diptree is the period common name for diphtheria.

It was no secret, from General Lee on down to the lowest private, that if things were to heat up and get serious, they would happen on the far right of the Confederate lines in the direction of the Southside Railroad. As long as the weather keeps the roads impassable to men, horses, wagons and artillery, not much should be expected to happen. Expected.

What was heard was correct. There have been several since the last reported desertions. There was a mass desertion from K Company of the 12th South Carolina.
Henry N. Flickenschildt, deserted February 23.
Henry Long, deserted  February 23.
Rowland Long, deserted  February 23.
D.P. Mahuffer, deserted  February 23.
J.W. Ramey, deserted  February 23.
George White, deserted February 23.
Doctor B. Whitfield, deserted February 23.

T.A. Murray, F Company, deserted February18.

The other regiments in the brigade were also suffering losses through desertion.

Abraham Potter, Doctor Potter, Madison Alverson, Benjamin Alverson, William Alverson, James Hadden, Michael Hadden, James H. Moseley, Uriah Mullins, J.W. Perry, J.P. Pitts, H.C. Player, Walter Pool, Elijh Pope, William Straton, and Ellison S. Waddell all deserted from the 13th South Carolina in the month of February.

The 1st and 14th South Carolina regiments plus Orr's Rifles, also from South Carolina, had similar problems with desertion.

McGowan's Brigade, comprising the five regiments mentioned above, was inspected in February of 1865. It is the last recorded inspection of the war. The inspection report stated that the brigade numbered 2930 present and absent. Reported present were 1764 but only 1404 were fit for duty. Some 1200 men just were not there. When the war was new, the brigade numbered nearly 4500.

How long until the roads dry?