Sharing the Dangers of the Battlefield

The entry is from All For The Union, The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, written a few days before the Battle of Mechanicsville.

June 4, 1862  Near Mechanicsville, VA


. . . .General McClellan has issued an order in which he states that he shall share the dangers of the battlefield with us (Why not?) and talks about relying upon the bayonet.  We can see the Rebel guns, and the shells fly over our camp.  They sound like a steam whistle.  We have not tents, and our blankets are wet most of the time.  But is it all for the Union.  May God Help us.

Gen'l Geo. B. McClellan, Library of Congress Collection

Charging the Swamp (Battle of the Wilderness)

From All For the Union, The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes

May 6, 1864 (Battle of the Wilderness)

. . . . Our brigade charged into the swamp six times, and each time were driven out.  Darkness again put an end to the fighting, and we lay down amid the dead and wounded.  During the night the brush caught fire, and many of the wounded burned to death.  . . .

 Wounded escaping from the burning woods of the Wilderness by Alfred R. Waud
From Library of Congress Collection