The following letter was written by Sgt. William Buchanan of Monroe Township, Holmes county, Ohio, who served in Co. B, 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Sgt. Buchanan (not to be confused with Capt. William H. Buchanan of Co. F) served until he was discharged for disability on June 19, 1863, having participated in the regiment’s most bloody battles. Buchanan later re-enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in Company A of the 166th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving from May 2 until September 9, 1864.
When he enlisted, William took stock of the professions/trades of those who served in his company. He found the following: 66 Farmers, 13 carpenters, 11 school teachers, 2 blacksmiths, 1 shoemaker, 1 miller, 1 minister, 1 student, 1 potter, 1 surveyor, 1 sawyer and engineer, 1 clerk, 1 saddle & harness-maker, 1 teamster.
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Cumberland Ford, Kentucky
April the 23rd 1862
Cousin Em,
It has been so long since I wrote to you that no doubt you begin to think that something has happened me or that I have got away down Dixie & have forgotten Cousin Em. I often think of you & would like to see you & talk with you & east sugar & have such times as we had in times past & gone. But all this is very different from soldiering away down here.
Well, the reasons why I did not write sooner. I have so many persons to write to and have much to do as I act Orderly Sergeant. Sometimes we could hardly get writing material in this poor, forsaken country, and the troubles, trials, sickness & deaths at home called my anxieties to one place & the sad conclusion has come & home will never be as it was when I left. I take time to write home once a week for I know they must be very lonesome & as it is impossible for me to go home. I try to cheer & encourage them all that I can. I know they are anxious to hear from me often & I am thankful that I can tell them that my health is unusually good & that I have not been on the sick list since I came to camp. I have endured long, tiresome marches through the mud & rain, lay out all night in the rain, snow, and winter winds, lived on unsifted corn meal & old rusty bacon almost as strong as last year’s butter in Cuba, & sometimes half rations of that. But so long as I enjoy good health, I think I can endure these light afflictions cheerfully for the sake of a country & that a free country.
We have been camped here on the Cumberland river since the 12th of February. We have not pushed into Tennessee for two reasons. First, our provisions have to be hauled from Lexington and the roads were almost impassable during the Winter & Spring & sometimes we could hardly get enough this far to eat, and our force was too small to attack so formidable a place as the [Cumberland] Gap. The Gap is 13 miles from the Ford which is at the bend of the river where it approaches nearest the Gap. We have bee three trips to the Gap. The first & last time to reconnoiter & see the enemy’s works.
On the 21st of March, four regiments & two pieces of artillery were sent to take possession of the Gap as we heard that nearly all the rebels had left it & taking 8 of their cannon & had gone to try to capture a regiment of Union soldiers sent from our Brigade to Big Creek Gap, 35 or 40 miles southwest of Cumberland Gap. But when we got there, we found that the rebel force with their cannon & perhaps a reenforcement had come back and were waiting for us.
On the 22nd we concluded to tease them awhile before coming back to camp anyhow, so we marched up within gunshot & firing on both sides was pretty brisk most of the day. They threw shells, solid shot, & grape at us, but in the whole day they did not kill or wound one of our men—although many had hair breadth escapes. We got an 8-inch shell shot from a 64-pounder Columbiad gun which did not explode. But our Parrot guns (cannon) made them hunt their hiding place in double quick—if not quicker.
On the morning of the 23rd (Sunday), we did not fire a gun but prepared to come to camp. The enemy threw a number of shells at us. We since heard that the enemy were about to leave the Gap when we came away & that if we had stuck to them that day, the Gap would have been ours. It looks almost like an impossibility to take it, if the Rebels will fight. We lay out on the mountains both nights in the snow & it was quite cold. The first night I think I’ll not soon forget. I was so chilled that I shook as though I had the ague. I have grown fat and hearty on privations and toils that I used to think would kill me. I will try to get time to sketch an outline now of the Gap which will give you a better idea that I can give in writing. I have drawn a great many of them & some on a large scale, finished & ornamented.
I have so much writing to do in the Orderly Book at present that I cannot spend much time at anything else. I wish you could see the real Gap. It would be the greatest sight of scenery that you ever saw. Such sights are scarce in Hoosierdom. But perhaps you would not prefer to enjoy the sight while the shells and shot are whizzing around like hornets. There is to be a reinforcement of men & cannon here soon & then I think we will be in earnest the next time we pay them our compliments.
Please show this to Uncles. Please write to me and direct to Co. B, 16th O. V. via Louisville. In care of Capt. [Joseph] Edgar. Give my love & good wishes to the rest of the family and relations. Yours soldier cousin, — Wm. Buchanan
Spared & Shared 23 