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 26th. – Ten o'clock a.m. – This is another beautiful Sabbath morning although quite warm in the sun. I have retreated to my regular shade and feel quite comfortable so far as heat is concerned. I went over to the hospital and saw the sick and found them all on the mend. I then gave the chaplain a call and found him as sociable and clever as usual. He informs me that there will be preaching at 4:00 o'clock this p.m., under the shade I am now writing under. We are getting no news of any consequence from below now from some cause. I feel some better this morning in body than I have for a week or more, but I have a gloomy, moody feeling that has been hanging around me from some cause for weeks past. They say that the reason that I don't partake in their gambols and sports is because the chaplain and me are so familiar, and I am under conviction, but I know better for I know that any man of a meditative mind separated from family and home will have gloomy spells attack him. I will lay down my pencil and read in a book I have been reading for some time entitled "Life and Death of David Copperfield," until dinner is called and will probably write some ore after dinner. It is 4 o'clock p.m.

Our mail boat just passed camp and all are waiting for our chaplain to bring up the mail. I have hopes that I will get a letter tonight for I have not had one for some time. I just went over the chaplain's but got no mail and we will have no more mail until Tuesday. This is another one of those calm, serene evenings that will bring all of the old and pleasant associations back to a man's mind that ever attended his life and then as to taunt him will harrow up all of the missteps and blunders of his life, all rushing with an overwhelming mass on his mind to make him upbraid himself. Our chaplain has made a grand disappointment this evening, it is now six o'clock and he has not preached which proposed to do at four. I don't know whether he lied or not; I think he did.

Monday, July 27th. – Seven o'clock a.m. – We have just came out of company drill and waiting for breakfast. I will write for a few moments again. I had an invitation by our chaplain last night to go to darky church. We got there and the black women come in such a rush that we thought we would be under-trodden. We kept giving up our seats and finally I concluded to leave the house, so out we went. By the way, the man that was in the pulpit requested the chaplain to stop with him and chaplain requested me to stop also, but I refused and went out to get fresh air and stopped at the window.

The man in the pulpit was a captain in the 32d Iowa regiment quartered at this place. He delivered a sermon or something of the kind from Second Corinthians 21st chapter, 1st verse, and after the sermon commenced I heard some one reading a text around the door of the house and it attracted my attention for it read as follows (although at a suppressed tone) "you d—n black s-n of a b—h." I thought I would step around the corner and them comment on it which was soon done by cuffy No. 2 bringing a stunning blow down on top of his head that sounded like striking a rock with a club, and it was briskly returned by cuffy No. 1 and so on until No. 2 thought he had argued long enough in that way and would try some other and said: "John don't you strike me again" and so on and were finally parted by other darkies after a good deal of disturbance out doors and but little inside. Finally the sermon was over and a spirited exortation from our chaplain, Mr. Kiner. He finally got out and we came back to camp all right except a cold I took by going to sleep naked after going to bed very warm, and I have a bad headache this morning and think that I am satisfied with darky meetings.

I understand from our chaplain that there is a probability of us getting our pay in a few days. I trust this may be true. By the way it is a very pleasant day, beautiful and clear and not so warm as usual. I think that this afternoon I will take a stroll out of the fort for the purpose of getting some brush to put on my bedstead, which would be quite a curiosity to some old fogy that never slept without his feather-bed. It is constructed by driving four forks in the ground and putting two poles on them, answering to the side rails of your bedstead. You then take short poles and lay them across close together. If you don't push them too close together at the end of a week you will wish you had done so. You then take one blanket, lay it on the poles, lay yourself on the blanket and take your other blanket and lay over you.

Eight o'clock p.m. – The day is past and gone. The evening shades appear, and they appear most beautifully calm and lovely. We had nice dress parade this evening. The brass band belonging to the 31st regiment Wisconsin volunteers was reduced to the ranks this evening for refusing to play at the funeral of one of their regiment that was buried today. There was young man recovered this morning that was drowned day before yesterday; he raised when the morning gun fired. There is one commanding officer and ten men to be detailed out of our regiment to guard a company of deserters that is in the prison of this place. The deserters belong to an Illinois regiment. They are to start them down to Island No. 10 sometime tonight, the guards are to take four days rations with them.

Tuesday, July 28th. – Seven o'clock a.m. – This is a beautiful morning, cool and pleasant. There were seven companies detailed from this post last night to start this morning to different points in the country for some purpose, I don't know what nor don't know how long they will remain. The lieutenant of the picket was shot through the arm last night when on duty by some one in ambush, but his wound is not dangerous I think. The dastardly act was committed about midnight. Just now as I was writing I heard the boys hallowing like made saying: "It is coming right here." I looked out of my tent and saw a furious whirlwind, it was right above my tent some three rods (that is the height of it). The second tent above me was stripped of papers, loose clothes and everything almost, late newspapers and all. They sent some men out to pick up papers, letters, etc. There was a funeral this evening. He was a member of the 31st regiment Wisconsin volunteers and five minutes before his death got up, ate and thought he was better.

Wednesday, July 29th. – Seven o'clock a.m. – This morning is quite cool. We have had very cool nights here for sometime past. There was another death in the 31st Wisconsin hospital, they seem to be unlucky. We have but few men in our hospital and they are apparently all on the mend, but a poor fellow that get into their hospital (which is always full) if he get out he most generally goes in a box, feet first.

Teamster F. Smith was over to my quarters this morning and I went over with him to his quarters a half mile outside the fort and took dinner, had a good time singing and came back see a mammoth pole raised. The post cost $150, that is, the work. They got it nearly up and the rope broke and down went the pole and mashed all to pieces, for it was very heavy. It was two and one-half feet at the butt and worked out to eight inches square at the top and eighty feet long, being only one section or one half as they were raising it in two pieces. They are going to work in the morning to get another one. This evening there was another death in the 31st hospital.

Thursday, July 30th. – This forenoon was a little cloudy, but quite warm. It is now 10 o'clock and we are signing the pay roll and this evening or tomorrow we will get our money, than I will feel better about my family when they get the money. It is now five o'clock p.m. we had a very heavy shower of rain this evening and it has just stopped raining, but still thunders heavy and I think we may get some more rain tonight.

We got some pay today for the first time as a regular pay day since we have been in the service. I see a good many soldiers have obtained passes and others have went without them and gone to town.

We had a very disagreeable sight this evening, the troops of this place were all called out in three battalions forming two long lines of two ranks each at about thirty paces from each other and there was man by the name of Raney from some Indiana regiment marched through that was apprehended as a deserted down in Arkansas. He had a large placard fastened on his back with "Deserter" printed on it. He had to march to the tune of the "Rogue's March" played by our regimental band. He was quite lame having been shot through the leg before they captured him. He also was sentenced to forfeit all pay due or hereafter due and put in prison at Alton during war.

Friday, July 31st. – This has been a very warm day. This morning I went to town and expressed $60 home to my wife, this afternoon I got my likeness taken and sent it to my wife, also this afternoon there was two companies from our regiment, ours included, and two companies from the 31st Wisconsin regiment ordered to go out to Union City with one day's rations, distance twenty-five or thirty miles. They got about half way and heard there was a considerable force of rebels at Union City and they turned around and came back it two or three hours for they went on the cars. I could not get to go seeing the regimental colors did not go, for I am a member of the color guards.

Saturday, August 1st. – This morning I took a trip to town to see what might be seen. There was a boat loaded with soldiers that were mustered out of the service and they fired a blank cartridge to call her to. She refused to come, or at least went ahead, and we fired again and brought her to and in a short time there was a gun boat came towing a wreck that had been riddled all to pieces and probably taken from the rebels. They say they are fighting down at Hickman, fifteen miles from here. There had been some fighting in that direction and this morning at two o'clock there were some infantry and some cavalry started down there, we will probably get word from there tonight. I understand that our colors have got back, they have been off to St. Louis for the purpose of having painted on them the names of the State, regiment and battles they have been through which are Donaldson and Shiloh."

Transcribed and submitted by greatgrandson

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