"Zan arrived at the river night before last, but did not get out here till this morning. I sent a recommendation to Governor Morton this morning for his appointment, and he will go at once to work.
"We are now fourteen miles from Pittsburg Landing, and six miles from Corinth. We are getting forward gradually; moved one mile to the front yesterday."
The letter of May 12 says:—
"We have been moving out slowly and by degrees from Pittsburg. We are now about eighteen miles from the river, and six miles from Corinth. Our pickets are within three or four miles of Corinth, and can hear very plainly the locomotives whistle and the drums beat. We have various rumors of its evacuation, but can tell nothing of their truth. I think the enemy are still there.
"I have come very near being quite ill for the last few days with fever, but fortunately have escaped and am nearly well again. We were called out in line of battle the other day by a false alarm, and I thought I must go out with my men, though I had a high fever; and standing out in the hot sun for two hours (and we have hot sun now) nearly laid me up permanently. It is the nearest I have come to being real sick since I have been in the service; but I am pretty well over it now, thanks to my strong resolution and Dr. Walker's good treatment. Dr. Walker says I have barely escaped typhoid fever. I have taken medicine quite freely. I cannot afford to be sick now; the enemy must first be driven out of Corinth."
On the 16th I write:—
"We move up slowly, and as we go we fortify our camps by a continuous line of breastworks of logs, brush, and earthwork. The newspaper reporters have kept you unnecessarily alarmed about the battle 'which could not be delayed a day longer,' and yet it has been delayed for a month. When it is to come off I do not know, or whether it is at all. We have for more than a week past been right in the face of the enemy's pickets, the men of our regiment fighting them all the time; and whenever it becomes necessary for us to move our camp forward, our pickets make a push on them and drive them back the required distance, rather obstinately however. The pickets are now about a mile in advance, and almost any time we can hear the rifles crack, and frequently they go by volleys. If the enemy are going to fight we can't go much farther.
"Zan is in good health and doing well. He is the most anxious man in the regiment for a fight."
In a previous letter I noted that Colonel Veatch had received his commission as brigadier-general, and that Governor Morton was on a visit to the camps and we might expect our promotions soon. I had also reported Governor Morton's visit to Fort Donelson after the battle there. He was one of the most distinguished civilians which the Civil War brought into public notice, and was especially esteemed for his services toward the soldiers. Many years after the war one of our Presidents, in a public address, said: "When history definitely awards the credit for what was done in the Civil War, she will put the services of no other civilian, save alone those of Lincoln, ahead of the services of Governor Morton."
I reported May 19:—