Diary of Orrin Brown, Savannah, Georgia
Monday–Jan. 16th
The weather is cold and cloudy this morning, the boys were all out in good season at work on their tents, we had orders last evening to prepair for general inspection tomorrow at 2 PM. We were all doing the best we know how this morning to get our tents fixed up comfortable when the orders came that we need not fix up our tents much for we had got orders to move wednesday morning so we stoped work on our tents, cleaned up our guns and accoutrements for inspection and then I went to writing. Rhumor sayes that we are going into Florida to make a raid of 10 days or two weeks and then come back here, and another report is that we are going to Charleston, and another sayes that we are going out to cut off the Augusta and Richmond railroad but I can tell better where we are going when we get there. We had a generall inspection of Arms, Knapsacks, Haversacks, Canteens and everything this afternoon by Col. Smith Comanding 14th Regt. Mich. Inft. and he is a fine old man too I say old for he is quite gray and his face is wrinkled, he is a tall Portly man but mild and gentle in his manor. We had a very pleasant day but it is cool again this evening. I wrote a letter to Ellen this evening.
Col. Robert F. Smith of the 16th Regiment Illinois Infantry was commanding the 1st Brigade, of with the 14th Michigan was part, in Brig. Gen. James D. Morgan’s 2nd Division, XIV Corps under Bvt. Maj. Gen. J.C. Davis, on the March through Georgia. Col. Smith was born in 1806 in Philadelphia, and moved to Hancock County, Illinois in 1833, where he farmed and was an officer in the militia. Early in the war, Smith was posted to the St. Joseph, Missouri, frontier at a time of significant Rebel guerrilla activity. He was breveted Brigadier General 13 March 1865. He died 25 April 1893, at Hamilton, Illinois.
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