Excerpts from my Great Grandfather Valentine L. Spawr's Civil War Diary

Company C, 14th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Valentine L. Spawr
Born 1835, Died 1882.

The diary is entitled "A Record of Passing Events Kept By Me and Recorded Each Day as They Transpired." In transcribing the diary, I will replicate all spellings exactly as printed in the diary.

Sunday, July 19th. – Today we have company inspection. It is now 8 o'clock a.m. The guards are falling in now before my tent and there are also a couple of regiments falling in a few rods from here for the purpose of going out on a scout. 10 o'clock a.m., inspection is over and we have got back to our respective tents and the officers are going around seeing how many rounds of cartridges each man has. It think they are preparing for another battle, probably the same as the one we just passed through. It is cloudy today but quite warm, occasionally sprinkling rain. All quiet today in regard to fighting.

5:00 o'clock p.m., I have just returned from hearing a sermon by our chaplin. He preached a very good sermon of about one hour. The text was as follows: "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." I have forgotten where you can find it. There was a death in our hospital today, the deceased was a German belonging to company H 14th regiment, his name I have forgotten. This evening is warm but cloudy and looks as though we would get rain before morning. We have one man in the hospital with a gathering on the side of his neck and it will go pretty hard with him I think. We have been to supper and a very plain one it was as usual. The mail has come and I had some hopes of getting a letter from my family – but only hoped – and was disappointed. I now stop writing today for the gun will fire in a minute or two and it is within a few rods of our tent and it deafens me every evening if I am standing stiff and careless. It just fired, clouding the air with smoke and sending its murderous echo for miles along the river and timber. I will state here for the edification of the reader that every morning at sunrise and every evening at sundown they fire a large sized gun that stands a few rods from my tent.

Monday, July 20th – All quiet this morning at 7 p.m. A good deal of quarreling about guard duty, all think that they are doing more than their share. I got a pass and went out to the teamster's quarters which are about a half mile outside the fortifications. Nine o'clock a.m., the procession has just started to bury the man that died yesterday, and the roll of the muffled drums as they beat the dead march sounds rather desolate, and the soldiers as they file pass at reverse arms all with their heads down marching to the slow time of the music. All in all it is a rather solemn sight.

12 o'clock m., all is quiet in camp at this hour. The ambulance and procession have returned from the funeral. There is a heavy detail for fatigue duty today. They are to work on our breastworks. Dress parade was ordered this evening for the first time for some two weeks, but was postponed on account of the Lieut.-Col., being ordered to move his headquarters away from the breastworks which are thought by the commanders would be an obstruction in time of an engagement. 6 o'clock p.m. – There is a very heavy cloud in the north this evening and it looks as though we would have a very heavy storm. It is the first time that we have had the appearance of a wind and rain storm. It thunders quite heavy. I will now close up my day's writing for it is getting quite dark and the storm will be on us in a short time. It is all preparation through camp, fixing their tents for the approaching storm.

Tuesday, July 21st. – Last night at dark it commenced raining quite slow and steady and kept it up for one-half or three-quarters of an hour, when the storm came and it blowed and rained in a most terrific manner for an hour and a half or two hours. I think I never saw it blow or rain harder. One company from our regiment and one or two companies from the 31st Wisconsin regiment went out on a scout this morning, how far or in what direction I don't know. I was over to headquarters and the field battery there was filling up their caisons with shell ready for an attack which I think they will wait for some time before they see, for I cannot fix it up in my mind that the enemy are in any force in this part of the country.

I went over to the chaplain's quarters by his request and he presented me with two nice little books and one paper. I saw two men swim across the river and back. It is said to be one mile in width at this place. It is now night – cool and pleasant – and the boys are enjoying a free wrestle three or four rods from my tent. I went over to the 31st Wisconsin Regiment this morning to make visit to Major Gibson, major of that regiment. I saw him on the Fourth of July and recognized him as an old acquaintance from Black River, Wisconsin.

Wednesday, July 22nd. – This day has passed quietly. Quite cool last night and this morning, but very warm later in the day. We had battalion drill this evening, rather short but spirited. Our company was ordered to town tonight as company guards, two companies go every night. The sun set beautiful and the weather was pleasant.

Thursday, July 23d. – 2:00 o'clock p.m. – It is very warm to-day. Last night after our boys went out on guard and the few of us that were left at camp had gone to bed, the tents and napsacks of those who were out on guard were nearly all overhauled by someone and a great many articles of clothing taken. I was over to the hospital today to see the sick and found them all in tolerable good fix except Graves, whom I have before spoken of as being very sick at the hospital. He, I think, has but a few hours or days at most to live. He is turning purple all over his stomach and bowels. Today the surgeon was called in to see him while I was there, but I did not hear what the doctor said of him. There was one man who went to the hospital from our company, L. H. Winchell, from Shellnock.

Things generally are rather quiet here to-day, no excitement at all for some days now. Our news from the war still remains flattering. I am sitting in what I call the sheol house, a large shade made of brush and poles for the purpose of we uncommissioned officers, reciting our less to the colonel every day. At 3:00 o'clock p.m., it is very cool under here, but our cloth tents are the warmest things when the sun shines that I ever saw for a man to stay in. It is now quite dark. We had battalion drill this evening after which I eat supper and came out to the same shade that I wrote in today and have been reading ever since until it got too dark to see. Some of the boys are pitching horse shoes, some playing cards, but I have not pitched a shoe or played a card since I have been at this place nor don't expect to. 12 o'clock p.m. – I resume my task of writing. I have been reading by a candle until my eyes ache and I will retire now for the night. Tomorrow we have got to go to studying and reciting tactics, that is we uncommissioned officers. I feel very unwell tonight and have felt so for several days, but am trying to wear it out without taking medication.

Friday, July 24th. – It is now morning and very nice and cool, although it is going to be very warm today. We had company drill before breakfast this morning of about an hour. At 9 o'clock I have repaired to my shade. It is quite warm already this morning, but has the appearance of clouding up. The white fleecy clouds are floating between us and the clear blue sky and makes a beautiful and picturesque scene such as we don't see every day. The air is sweet, soft and balmy. The adjutant was telling me this morning that the rebels were conscripting men only five miles from this place, and I see they are getting up another scare, for it is ordered that no man shall go outside the picket guard without a pass from the provost marshal and they have got a cavalry patrol out all of the time to pick up the boys that run the guard.

I received a visit this morning from Jacob Hickle, Austin Wilcox and George Sonash, and they have just left me and gone back to their regiment. Our boys are getting very impatient about their money which they should have had on July 1st. I still feel quite unwell and as though I would be sick if I would give up. It is now 3 o'clock p.m. I see a group of men starting from the 31st Wisconsin regiment hospital at a reverse arms marching to the slow time of the dead march, which too plainly tells a sad story, for they were accompanied by an ambulance with the American flag thrown over a box that says: "In here is the remains of a poor soldier that could not even have the pleasure of expiring on the field of battle mid the din and roar of cannon and small arms."

It was announced this morning that this afternoon we would have inspection which done away with battalion drill and all hands have been cleaning up their clothes and guns and quarters for this event. At this time it looks as though we would have rain tonight. From the tent where I now sit I can see some six or eight miles down the river and can see a steamer coming up that I hope may have some news from the South. Boats are very plentiful here and some very large ones. We have expectations of peace now quite soon. God send it. It is now dark and I have lighted the candle. We had inspection this evening and everything passed off satisfactory I think.

Saturday, July25. – Eight o'clock a.m. – Quite cool this morning, but muddy on account of a heavy rain we had last night. It came up about ten or twelve o'clock with a vengeance and oh, horrors! but it did blow and rain. I got wet which left me with a very sore throat and am feeling very uncomfortable on account of the same. I think I will confine myself principally to writing today. I would say I went over to the hospital this morning as usual to see how the sick are getting along for our company has but two men in the hospital – neither one dangerous though, I think. I found them all in tolerable good fix except poor Graves, of whom I have before spoken as being incurable, I thought, and sure enough there lay his inanimate clay, as he departed this life last night. Today he will be buried. Deaths are becoming more frequent here now. Two o'clock p.m. – Graves was buried this afternoon. I was out reading under my regular shade that I have spoken of and heard the dead march played on a band, and I went to the breastworks which are close by and looked over to the grave yard which is in plain view and only about a half mile distant. There I see them consigning another soldier to the tomb according to order by the honors of war. It must be quite a help to a man's feelings to know that if he dies in the army that he will be escorted to the grave by a martial band and sixteen soldiers at reverse arms – which is not used on any other occasion – and then have thirty-two guns fired over his grave. The funeral that is just going out, I suppose to belong to the 32d regiment, as it did not go out of the fort.

Things are generally pretty quiet today about camp. I have just got word that our quarters will be inspected this evening. Four o'clock p. m. – For want of pastime I will take my pencil and write a few words again. At about this time in the evening if there is any time when the mind of a man will soar back to its native home and there greet and converse with those loved ones that are far far away, it is in the evening, especially in camp where he will hear and see all kinds of foolery, and I must say hear all kinds of wickedness and vulgar language. But I do believe that it will be a school of moralization to me or almost any other man that ever calculates to be anything after they leave the service, for they will become disgusted with wickedness, blasphemy and vulgarity. It looks as though it would rain again tonight but I hope it may not.

Transcribed and submitted by greatgrandson

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