Decatur, Alabama

Saturday, August 9^th, 1862

My Dear Wife:-

I wrote a note to you last Saturday and did intend to write to you about the middle of the week, but circumstances have prevented me until now.

On last Sunday I went to our headquarters at Courtland but the bridge was not quite finished that the cars had to return here late in the evening.  I saw Felix W. Arnold still in the guard house.  They have not yet heard his sentence.  The workmen finished the bridge and came down here with us.  While at headquarters the mail came in bringing me two Commercials, thank you.  I also received the Salem Advocate dated 24^th.   Monday morning I again took the cars for Town Creek and landed there at noon.  There is three companies of the 10^th Michigan infantry there and Company “B” and half of Company “M” of our Regiment.  They are guarding a bridge that is about 300 feet long and having rather a warm time of it.  I stayed there till Wednesday morning when I started back but about ten miles from here we found two small bridges burned and the cars had to turn back.

There was about two hundred convalescent soldiers on the cars who had been on sick furloughs and in hospitals.  They all got off and camped close there to get teams from the farmers to bring them here so that they could go on to Huntsville.

Your humble servant brought six dozen newspapers from the agent on the cars and footed it through, selling some papers to the soldiers at the two camps on the road.  Got to camp about 9 at night.  Six others was sent along late in the evening to repair the telegraph and had not gone far till passing through a deep cut, they was fired upon from both banks by about forty rebels, two was wounded and two others taken prisoners by the rebels.  The next morning we heard firing and soon the report came that the convalescents had been attacked.  We soon started for the scene of action, but before we could get there they had gone, taking about 75 prisoners.  We had two men killed and two wounded.  The rebels had one killed but we don’t know whether there was any of them wounded or not.  Our men had but twenty guns and there was about three hundred of the rebels.  We followed them about seven miles but they got into the mountains and we gave up the pursuit.  I think they will be paroled pretty soon as the Ohio troops that was captured at Courtland a couple of weeks ago was paroled in two or three days.  If I had waited till morning for company instead of coming through alone, I would now perhaps be deprived of the privilege of addressing you.  I had my carbine and cartridge box and I expect I should have shot at some of them and of course they would have returned the compliment and now I might have been wounded or a prisoner or worse.  There now, I have blotted my letter and I am too lazy to rewrite it.

Since writing the above the prisoners have returned.  There was 125 of them.  They say that there was about eight hundred of the rebels.  They took them to the mountains and paroled them.  They will be set to work in hospitals, etc till they are exchanged.

Yesterday I received the Salem Advocate of July 31^st.  I think that todays mail will bring me a letter from John Bell and one or two from you.  From Town Creek I sent you Harpers Weekly newspaper.  Yesterday we patrolled the road from here to Fox Creek, twelve miles.  We saw none of the rebels.  At that place we have one Company of the 51^st, Illinois and half of Company “M”.  From there we took wagons and went to the house of a Mr. Mosley and took several loads of corn, some hay, two barrels of molasses, two or three barrels of salt, a lot of planks, one keg of nails and a lot of other property.  Mosely is a Union man but the secesh took away a lot of mules and some Negroes the day before and Mosely requested our troops to go and take everything that they could make use of.  He is rich and will lose a great deal, but what is taken by our troops, he will get pay for; he has a great many slaves, some of them nearly entirely white, one woman in particular was white with nearly smooth hair.  I expect that the secesh will burn his house.  They burned his cotton gin about the time we came here.  He will stay here in town till there is some chance of staying at home in peace.

The boys think that John M. Hamilton will be here in one or two days.  If he is coming I think he will bring me a big letter from you and a lot of postage stamps.

I wish there would be enough of the boys from our neighborhood turnout to fill up our Company full.  It lacks but six of being entirely full.  If any on them comes, they can get horses here as cheap as they will want them.  We captured two yesterday.  They had their riders shot off them.

Asa W. McDonald yesterday received his commission as Captain of our Company.  Sergeant Breeze received a commission as second Lieutenant in place of Lieut. Shoup, resigned.

The health of the Company is very good.  My health is good, but my feet are blistered from my walk on the railroad and my legs are very sore.  The soreness will soon go out of them however.  I hope that you are enjoying good health and that you may all continue to enjoy good health as long as I remain in the army.

I will write to you as soon as I can, giving you a description of the country through here, but I am really getting as nervous that I can hardly write so that it can be read by any one.  I will now bid you good bye.

William A. Smith