May 6. We hear that McClernand’s troops are advancing. One hundred and twenty-eight prisoners came in this morning. We are having a very cold snap for this time of the year.
May 7. Thursday. Very cold again today. Had to stand around the fire to keep warm. Seventy-four more prisoners came in today. A good many of our boys found old friends or acquaintances among them. They have been very poorly dressed and fed. There is general activity today, Steele’s division is crossing over—also Tuttle’s. Gunboats and transports are engaged in the work.
May 8. Friday. All quiet. Sherman’s corps moved out this morning. An exorbitant price is demanded for everything. A sheet of paper and envelope are five cents each. Twenty-five cents for a lemon; six dollars for a canteen of whisky; milk costs a dollar a quart, and other things in proportion. At 5 o’clock we boarded the “Empire City� for the lower landing, fifteen miles below, to protect the hospital and bring off the wounded.
May 9. Saturday. We disembarked early this morning and went back in the country three miles where we found about three hundred of our wounded in a splendid country mansion. The books show that the house cost over one hundred thousand dollars. We lay here in the shade during the day while the ambulances were carrying the wounded down to the river.
May 10. Sunday. We were awakened last night at 11 o’clock and ordered to fall in with all possible speed. We hurried back to the river and returned to Grand Gulf, which was supposed to be in danger of an attack. Flats and transports brought down shipping teams which sent food to the front. Cumbersworth, Hagan and Hunt each got a barrel of flour last night when they were on extra duty, burying a soldier.
May 11. Monday. Made out muster rolls this forenoon. Blair’s division came down this afternoon.
May 12. Tuesday. On brigade guard. Jim Chester and I went outside the pickets and picked dewberries and mulberries, all we could eat.
May 13. Wednesday. I made a raise on commissary last night. Boggs, Schultz and I ran the pickets and got some mulberries this morning, and brought back four quarts of which we made pies this afternoon. McArthur’s division is coming in. Hooker is fighting a great battle in the East. We cannot get the particulars.
May 14. Thursday. We got orders this morning to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. We hear that Grant has had another battle. The “Gen. Price� came up this morning from Red River. We were ordered on the march at 8 o’clock. It rained just enough to lay the dust and make good marching. We marched ten miles and camped on a small stream. The country is rough and hilly. The roads follow the ranges of hills, so there are few to climb. Every patch of ground that is tillable is tilled and planted to corn.
May 15. Friday. Marched twenty miles, saw some fine fields of wheat that are just turning. We heard the cheering news today that Richmond, the Rebel capital, is captured, and also that Jackson, Miss., is taken. The country is the same as yesterday—rough and hilly.