Item No. 7050198

The rebels fired a volley over among the 57 [Ohio] who were in front. They broke and ran square over our regiment. We didn’t know, but it was the rebels and they had charged upon us. There was quick moves made by us that night if ever there was any. That’s the only time I have been nervous, although I don’t care about going into another fight.

January 2, 1863, letter by Nicholas Miller, a private in the 127th Illinois Volunteers, to his wife in Hampshire, written from “the hurricane deck of a steamer” on the Mississippi River. “I have seen the Elephant,” he writes, the regiment having had its first fight the previous week at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, in which Union forces under General William T. Sherman attempted to approach the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg from the north. Miller writes:

Since I wrote you last I have been in a battle. Last Sunday we fought about all day, crawling among logs and brush, sometimes lying flat upon the ground when shells came among us. The rebels were across a little creek or bayou too deep to ford. On their side was a levee, behind which they lay. Farther back were high hills, at the base of which they had their cannon planted. Whenever they showed their head over the levee we popped at them, and they at us on our side of the creek. They had cut down trees to bother us about getting at them, giving them a great advantage over us.

“Our division,” he adds, “was about the centre,” noting that General David Stuart now commanded the division, General Morgan L. Smith “being wounded early in the day, the command falling upon Stuart.” He continues:

Well, you will probably ask if I was scared. Saturday night we were marched to the front, ordered to load, counted off. The regiment, numbed a little over 400 men, marched to within 15 rods of where there was pretty sharp fighting, ordered to lie flat upon the ground and be ready any time called upon. The 57 Ohio was a little in front of us. We were so tired that we went to sleep in the night. The rebels fired a volley over among the 57 who were in front. They broke and ran square over our regiment. We didn’t know, but it was the rebels and they had charged upon us. There was quick moves made by us that night if ever there was any. That’s the only time I have been nervous, although I don’t care about going into another fight.

Miller then notes the cost of the battle, mentioning specifically Colonel John B. Wyman of the 13th Illinois. He also witnesses the death of a captain in the 83rd Indiana, who was likely Second Lieut. Benjamin Bridges. He writes:

Our company didn’t lose a man. In Sunday’s battle our whole loss is estimated at 900 killed and wounded. It’s an awful sight to see men cut up as some were. I saw a captain in the 83 Indiana with his head shot off by a cannonball. He was the worst looking man I saw. Col. Wyman of the 13 Ill. was killed a little off to our right. Blair’s division suffered the most. The 13th Ill. lost 160 killed and wounded.

In the letter’s closing paragraph, Miller further discusses the horrible night of December 29, regrets that his company commander had only been “nearly struck by a cannonball,” and is hopeful that events “will be all right in the end”:

Last Monday night was the hardest night I ever saw. We lay all day in a little ravine, the balls flying just over our heads. At night it commenced raining and rained all night, making a perfect mud hole and expecting to be attacked every minute. Next morning I was about dead and am not right yet. Henry is with us, though not very stout. But Capt. [John S.] Riddle is determined he shall go as long as he can go. Capt came nearly struck by a cannonball. Pity he hadn’t. Why we are in the Miss. river going upstream, or where we are going, is a great mystery to most of us. But in the meantime don’t worry. Maybe it will be all right in the end.

Tragically, Miller would be mortally wounded just nine days later at the Battle of Arkansas Post, succumbing to his wounds January 16, 1863.

The letter was written on four pages of a 4 3/4” x 8” letter sheet. Includes the original stamped cover with Memphis postmark dated January 6, 1863. The letter’s full transcript appears below:

Friday evening Jan. 2nd, 63

My dear wife, I take this, the first opportunity, to write you. It is about two weeks since I wrote you last. Since then I have seen the Elephant. I write this on our way up the Miss. river. It rains like the deuce. A perfect thundershower, and our company quartered upon the hurricane deck of a steamer. Shall have to stand or sit up tonight, but that’s nothing after getting used to it. Since I wrote you last I have been in a battle. Last Sunday we fought about all day, crawling among logs and brush, sometimes lying flat upon the ground when shells came among us. The rebels were across a little creek or bayou too deep to ford. On their side was a levee, behind which they lay. Farther back were high hills, at the base of which they had their cannon planted. Whenever they showed their head over the levee we popped at them, and they at us on our side of the creek. They had cut down trees to bother us about getting at them, giving them a great advantage over us. We were in a swamp 15 feet below the Yazoo river, 5 miles from Vicksburg & about 2 miles north of the Yazoo river, our right resting upon the Miss. river, our left upon the Yazoo river. Our division was about the centre. General Stuart’s, Smith being wounded early in the day, the command falling upon Stuart.

Well, you will probably ask if I was scared. Saturday night we were marched to the front, ordered to load, counted off. The regiment, numbed a little over 400 men, marched to within 15 rods of where there was pretty sharp fighting, ordered to lie flat upon the ground and be ready any time called upon. The 57 Ohio was a little in front of us. We were so tired that we went to sleep in the night. The rebels fired a volley over among the 57 who were in front. They broke and ran square over our regiment. We didn’t know, but it was the rebels and they had charged upon us. There was quick moves made by us that night if ever there was any. That’s the only time I have been nervous, although I don’t care about going into another fight. Our company didn’t lose a man. In Sunday’s battle our whole loss is estimated at 900 killed and wounded. It’s an awful sight to see men cut up as some were. I saw a captain in the 83 Indiana with his head shot off by a cannonball. He was the worst looking man I saw. Col. Wyman of the 13 Ill. was killed a little off to our right. Blair’s division suffered the most. The 13th Ill. lost 160 killed and wounded.

Last Monday night was the hardest night I ever saw. We lay all day in a little ravine, the balls flying just over our heads. At night it commenced raining and rained all night, making a perfect mud hole and expecting to be attacked every minute. Next morning I was about dead and am not right yet. Henry is with us, though not very stout. But Capt. Riddle is determined he shall go as long as he can go. Capt came nearly struck by a cannonball. Pity he hadn’t. Why we are in the Miss. river going upstream, or where we are going, is a great mystery to most of us. But in the meantime don’t worry. Maybe it will be all right in the end. Tell Wallace I shall write to him as soon as I can, that he must write.
N. Miller