October 29, 1863---"It is thought by some that we will have a fight soon, but I hardly think so. ..."

OCTOBER 29, 1863:            

Marion Hill Fitzpatrick, a Georgian serving with the Army of Northern Virginia, writes to his wife about his nearly bucolic conditions in camp. His tone is very different than his Army of Tennessee comrade’s:

"...I wrote to you a week ago and gave you a rough sketch of our late tramp. We have been resting quietly here since I wrote and it has been pleasant most of the time. We have had one rain and it has faired off pretty cold. We were on pickett last night and yesterday. This morning was ice and a large frost. We went on pickett on the Rappahannock about 1 1/2 miles from here. There was some excitement with those that were on post. Our Co. was not on post. The Yankee cavalry came in sight on the other side several times and our picketts fired on them pretty rapidly. I do not know if they killed any. The Yanks would retreat when our men would fire in them. There was also canonadeing going on at intervals some distance off, the result of which is unknown to me. It is thought by some that we will have a fight soon, but I hardly think so. ..."

October 28, 1863---The Battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee

OCTOBER 28, 1863:            

The Battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee. Confederate troops attempt to break the “Cracker Line,” the Union’s Main Supply Route into Chattanooga. In one of the few night actions of the Civil War, the Confederates are soundly defeated, in part because they mistake a line of mules for cavalry at the advance. After the battle, Union troopers insist that the mules “be breveted as horses.” Each side is said to have lost 450 men; however, one report states that the Confederates lost nearly one thousand. The Gray troops retreat back to Lookout Mountain. They never attack the “Cracker Line” again.