Between sunrise and noon of the 15th we marched fourteen miles, and encamped at Barboursville, on the Cumberland river. Before marching this morning, a detail of three officers (Captain Holmes, Lieutenants Hodgkins and Davis), and six men left us, for the purpose of returning to Massachusetts, and bringing out the conscripts assigned to the Thirty-sixth Regiment, according to orders received at Nicholasville.
September 16th the regular order for some days had been reveillé at half-past three and move at five A.M., and this day was no exception to the rule. The march was slow and quite easy,—only ten miles. The regiment was in camp by ten o'clock A.M., and had a good long day to rest.
There is very little level ground in Eastern Kentucky, and the luck of the regiment seemed to be to camp on side-hills, where some care had to be exercised to avoid rolling off. To prevent sliding down hill endwise, a log or rail was laid at the foot of the tent and secured. This proved a very good foot-board. We remained at this place until the 19th, and the paymaster arrived. No person was more welcome in camp, or received such general attention. The adjutant gave checks, on the city banks of Worcester, for the large sum of $3,917.50. This fact is very creditable, and a good index of the solid, frugal character of the men, who, though their wants were numerous and our popular sutler was present with a good stock, did not forget the little family of loved ones at home; but in many cases, to the writer's knowledge, sent home their hard-earned pay to the last dollar.
September 18th it rained in torrents all day, and seemed very much like the equinoctial storm. The order to march at six this morning was countermanded, though the regiment was up at half-past four o'clock, and all ready.
September 19th, on the march at six A.M. The roads were badly washed by the storm, or rather the places where the roads were; for they could be called little better than cow-paths. We crossed the Cumberland river at Cumberland ford, and encamped at noon. The weather began to be cold and raw as we approached the high region of the Cumberland mountains.
Sunday, September 20th, as usual we were in line at six A.M., and marched until noon, much of the distance up hill, a rather toilsome march of nine miles. Passed through Cumberland Gap at half-past eleven A.M., and encamped in Tennessee at noon. The march was relieved of much of its tediousness by the grandeur of the scenery. As the regiment moved from one height to another of the ranges of hills the scene in every direction was magnificent; and when, at length, the Gap was reached, there was an universal expression of admiration. Standing in the Gap is a large, square, white stone, of the native limestone, which marks the corner boundaries of three States, and at this point the view is grand; the ranges of hills and the valleys of Tennessee stretching away as far as the eye could reach, the great Smoky range of North Carolina bounding the southern horizon. It seemed incredible to all that this place, a perfect Gibraltar, should have been surrendered as it was. Fortified extensively with bomb-proofs, having only a narrow, winding approach on either side, it seemed as if a few resolute men could hold it against an army. And so they could; but, alas for the South, Frazer was no Leonidas!
Between five A.M. and five P.M. of the 21st, with a rest of two hours at noon, the regiment marched nineteen miles, and camped near the Clinch river. We passed through Tazewell, a considerable town, but showing signs of its recent occupation by the rebel and Union troops alternately. The absence of the top rails in this region was especially remarked, now that the season for evening camp-fires had arrived.
A long march of twenty-two miles was made on the 22d (a mile for every day of the month), and during the day the Clinch and Holston rivers were forded. This was a very interesting sight, especially to those who had got safely over and looked back to see some luckless wader lose his footing and take an involuntary bath, which, the water being shallow, was attended with no great peril. The bare-legged "Highlanders" seemed to enjoy the temporary necessity for their native costume. The line of march this day was through the most attractive part of East Tennessee. No State in the Union can boast of more beautiful scenery, and the regiment must have been inspired by it; for though one of the longest day's marches on its record, up hill and down and across broad rivers, there was no straggling, and the entire command stacked arms at sunset at Morristown, Tennessee, on the line of the Virginia and East Tennessee Railroad.
On the 23d and 24th the regiment made an unnecessary march of twenty miles, owing to the blunder of a telegraph operator, and at ten A.M. of the 24th reëntered Morristown, where it was found that the division had gone to Knoxville, and the Thirty-sixth was ordered to remain and garrison the town in company with the Twelfth Michigan Battery, which it did until the afternoon of the 26th, when it was relieved by the Twelfth Kentucky.
At ten o'clock P.M. the regiment embarked in the cars, and, riding all night, arrived at Knoxville, marched a half mile, and encamped in a wood in the suburbs, where we remained until October 3d. Captain Smith, of Company K, rejoined the regiment here on the 28th of September, and was warmly received. Rumors prevailed of a severe battle at or near Chattanooga, and the defeat of Rosecrans; and it was also reported that a large force of rebels was concentrating at Greenville for an attack upon Burnside. The few days of rest here were enjoyed by all, and the men improved them in repairing their wardrobes and preparations for more hard work.