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Regiment: 2nd Michigan Cavalry
Battles Mentioned:
Historical Figures:
Triune Tenn.
June the 15th /63
Dear Friends
you may like to know something
of the daily life of a soldier I will now
try to give you some in site on
this point now to do this correctly is
out of the question entirely for they
change according to the distance
he is from the enmy but I will tell
you how it is with us now and as
it has been all spring as we as near
the enmy all of the time first we get
up at 3 oclock evry morning and
saddle up and get out into line as
this is the most certin time to of an
attack and most likely to be made
if made atall then at sunrise the
role is called then in about ½ an
hour we take the Horses back and
hitch them on the picket line
agane and feed them grain by this
time breakfast is ready then eat it
on saddle and clean the horses
of them we have to go out and and graze
them we then throw on the saddles
and go out into the country all armed
and equipped read for a fight if we
should be attacked whitch is by
no means unlikely let them eat
one how and a half and then return
to camp and if it is not our turn
to go on picket guard then clean
up our quarters and then go of on
a scout and watch the movements
of the enmy til night if they do
not drive us in before whitch is often
the case the cavalry force of the
enmy is for superior to ours and
we have to be verry careful how we
move in consequens of it this is
a synopsis of of our rotene from
day to day as near as it can be got at
for it varies verry much according
to circumstances we do not have any
long scouts this summer as the boys
did last because the enmy being not verry
far of for we can find plenty of them
in an hours ride any time you may
undoubtedly ask what this grait army
of the Cumberland has been doing for
the last six months laying still so
long and doing nothing. I will try to
inform you a little on this point we/ch
occupy a long extent of country whit
is bing extensively fortified Franklin
is our extream right and Murfrees-
boro is the left Triune Is in the Center
all of these places ar fortified in the
best manor possible this is nessessary
not only to hold the position whill
we stay but to hold the country
after we leave
and not let the rebels get back
to the Ohio agane as they did before
at the time I enlisted the cry was
spades and shovels to the rear and
bayonets to the front this will do to
drive an enmy out of a country but
it is a poor way to hold possession of
it afterwards as our experience for the
past year has clearly shown from
the fall of fort Donnolson
till the fal of Corrinth our army
met with all most uninterrupted
success we opened over 2000 miles of
the Missippi too sevral 1000 miles
of teratory from the hands of the rebb
evry thing went on fine till some
and even Gen. Tape himself
decleared the war in the west at an
end but let us look at things as they
wer our troop to be sure held most
all of the south west but they neglected
to fortify it so as to hold it and the result was that when
the enmy got us scatterd over this extent of Country
he concentrated his force and before we arrested his progress
he was in sight of the spires of Cincinnati and Louisville
Tallahoma Shelbyville Collumbia and a good many other
our hands but we neglected to put them in a condi-
tion to hold them and now they ar all in the hands
of the enmy and it may cast 1000 nds of lives before
they ar driven out of them in consequens of this our
government is adopting a new policy in reguard
to the war and that is to go slow and sure so spades
instead of going to the rear have become trump once more
and if you could nly se the fortifications through
here you would not have to ask what we have been doing
all this time and if Old Brag should try to drive us
back whitch I do not think he will he would find it one
of the biggest jobs he ever got into if they ever should try
to drive Old Rosa out of here there will be rivers of blood
spilt before they do it for there is determination on the
part of this army not to be driven one inch back anymore
till the thing is over so all we want of you at the north
is to take care of the copperheads and southern sympe-
thineers of the North and make them kep there mouths
shut and if you cant do it any other way take them
and hang them up by the neck like suckers
on a string till there is not one of them left on
earth there is nothing makes me any madder than
to think of us putting our lives in danger evry hour of
the day and suffering evry thing pertaining to a
camp life to numerous to mention and them to
hear Crokers at home that never smelt powder nor
never wants to
[ ? ] with the south in
there cured rebellion it makes me with evry one do in the
army wish that we had them in our power we woud soon
send them down to Dixie and let them try it on there one
hook for a while and se how like it
the rebble pickets have fell back since I wrote
before we went out 5 miles to day and did not se any
of them I would not wonder if they ar countempla
ting some new move before long eather to get
rond in our rear to cut the rail road ar to leave in-
tirely of our front
We ar all well and enjoying
good helth I have not got any letters
Since before the 1st of the Month
From John Wasson
Pleas write
