Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 8, Number 1, January 1998 Page: 35
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Documents, Letters, Reminiscences, Etc.
ginia next Tuesday; and that the other divisions
of the regiment will follow on as soon thereaf-
ter as practicable. The "Echo" is in the third
division, and will not leave as soon as the first
and second divisions, by some days. The boys
are all getting tired of the suspense of living in
camp life on uncertainty.
The fight at Galveston amounted to
nothing more than showing the blockading ves-
sels that they could not too closely approach
our shores without danger. The ladies of the
city entered into the patriotic feeling prevalent,
and during the engagement stood on shore
watching the fight, and at every shot from our
batteries threw up their bonnets and clapped their
hands for very joy. With such inspiring mani-
festations on the part of the ladies, who could
blame the Southern troops if (as a New York
paper says) "they fought like demons?"
The health of our company is much
improved, and the boys in fine spirits-ready
and anxious to go to Virginia. I shall write you
soon again.
Your Bro. Ben.
5. Benjamin Marshall Baker to James Davis
Baker, September 11, 1861, originally published
in the Colorado Citizen, September 28, 1861
(now lost), this text from the transcription pub-
lished in the Colorado Citizen, November 13,
1908.
Canton, Miss., Sept. 11, 1861
Dear Citizen:
Well, here I am, with the rest of the
"Echo" company, in the great old State of Mis-
sissippi. We arrived in New Orleans on Sun-
day, the 8th inst., and took the cars for Rich-
mond, Virginia, the Tuesday ensuing.
We were treated with great hospitality
in many places; in others, very rudely. No
marvel that the boys occasionally took the lib-
erty of working things to suit themselves. At
New Iberia we were furnished dinner and sup-per the day of our arrival, and the people on
the road leading to the city furnished us with
wagons, carriages, buggies and every other
means of transportation. I can not speak too
much in praise of the French who live on the
route from Niblett's Bluff to New Iberia. They
gave our volunteers milk, potatoes, bread, etc.,
and, in short, seemed to vie with each other in
their efforts to do the agreeable for us. They
are actuated by the most ardent spirit of patrio-
tism, and wished us much good luck in whip-
ping out the Abolitionists. They will long live
in the memory of our company. In New Or-
leans, also, we were treated with some consid-
eration. The people sent us some provisions,
and gave us the use of a room during our stay
in the city for the sick, of whom, I am glad to
say, our company has only a small number.
We encountered a great many hardships
on our march from Niblett's Bluff, Calcasieu
Parish, to New Iberia. We waded in water ev-
ery day-sometimes up'to our neck; were not
provided with sufficient provisions by the Gov-
ernment officer; had wet blankets to sleep on
at night, and were generally in bad luck. Added
to this I may mention the interesting fact that it
rained on us every day from the time we left
Houston till we arrived in New Orleans. The
boys stood it with all cheerfulness, and the most
of the grumbling was when we were delayed,
as we are today, on our "forward march."
Canton is a pretty town, containing
some two thousand inhabitants, situated on the
New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Rail-
road. There are some sixty ladies at work here
making clothing for the soldiers, some three
hundred of whom have gone from this county
to Virginia.
Everywhere we have been the mass of
the people are almost a unit in favor of fighting
the North, and have our independence achieved,
or die in the effort. Want of time prevents me
giving more than this imperfect scrawl. The
first opportunity I shall write again. The boys35
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 8, Number 1, January 1998, periodical, January 1998; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151402/m1/35/?q=nesbitt%20memorial%20library%20journal: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.