"The paymaster has been with us to-day, and I am sending you six hundred dollars. I want you to be at perfect liberty in using the money. Make your house and family comfortable, live well and enjoy yourself. Consult father about the rent of the house, respecting which you wrote me. Don't let these business affairs worry you. Take the world easy."
At last the grand march on the rebel stronghold of Corinth was over. My letter of June 1 says:—
"I suppose there was at least one anxious heart relieved by the news which ought to have reached home yesterday that the rebels had evacuated Corinth, and concluded not to give us battle. So you, and the thousands of wives and relatives of our soldiers, can rest quiet for some time. After the long preparations and constant and watchful readiness we had maintained for battle, it was and is now a great relief for us to relax and take some comfort. For weeks men have been sleeping with all their accouterments on and their arms by their sides, and were ordered out in line of battle sometimes at midnight, or any other hour; but always at early daylight. It is a great relief to us all to lie down quietly now and sleep without being disturbed by the 'long roll' or hasty orders from the generals. I have enjoyed the luxury of the good morning naps, waiting for the rays of the sun to waken me. Until last night I have slept with all my clothes on and in utmost readiness for a prompt turnout. I am thankful for good sleep now, and you are thankful that we had no battle.
"None of our regiment has been killed, but several were wounded on picket and in the recent skirmishes. I have passed through several narrow escapes, but then 'a miss is as good as a mile.' In the last skirmish three days ago, Dr. Walker and I were talking together, on horseback, discussing the close range the enemy had upon us with their cannon, while the shot would occasionally rattle through the trees, when an unwelcome visitor in the shape of a shell came whizzing along, and went into the ground right between our horses, tearing up the dirt at a fearful rate. The boys dug it out, and it was found that the rebels in their hurry had forgot to gouge the fuse, and fortunately it did not explode.
"I rode into Corinth yesterday. The fearful ravages of war are visible on all sides, in the charred walls, solitary chimneys, smoking ruins, and waste all around. The rebels burned all their storehouses full of supplies, their magazines, armories, etc. In peaceful times the town was a very attractive place.
"General Hurlbut is said to be anxious to get the position of commandant of Memphis, and to march our division over immediately and occupy. It is uncertain whether he will succeed. My health, also Zan's, is good now."
The escape of the Confederate army from Corinth, and the subsequent breaking up of Halleck's great army was a disappointment to the people of the North. Halleck's generalship has been severely criticized by both Grant and Sherman in their "Memoirs." Grant describes the movement upon Corinth as "a siege from the start to the close" and says, "I am satisfied that Corinth could have been captured in a two days' campaign commenced promptly on the arrival of reinforcements after the battle of Shiloh." Sherman laments that "the advance on Corinth had occupied all of the month of May, the most beautiful and valuable month of the year for campaigning in this latitude"; and he adds that "by the time we had reached Corinth I believe that army was the best then on this continent, and could have gone where it pleased."
While Buell's army was sent toward the east, Sherman and Hurlbut were sent west toward Memphis. Our regiment was destined to have no rest, as the day after we entered Corinth, June 1:—
"We received orders to support Sherman's division which had gone forward on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad toward Memphis. In half an hour we were in line of march, with two days' rations and no tents. We had a heavy rain that evening. The men marched two hours into the night, and then lay right down by the roadside on the wet ground and slept till morning. In the morning we went to work cleaning out and chopping the fallen timber from the railroad, and then went into camp, and here we are now, five miles out west from Corinth. Our camp baggage was not all up for five days.
"We have a very pleasant camp in a shady forest, everything to make us comfortable in camp but the wood-ticks, which are multitudinous, pestiferous, and unescapable; they have almost worried the life out of me by their biting. This country abounds in snakes, lizards, and all kinds of troublesome insects.