Cooke, Chauncey H
Description
A Badger Boy in Blue: Letters of Chauncey H. Cooke, part 4: This installment of Cooke's letters dates from the summer of 1863, when his unit moved from Columbus, Kentucky, to join in the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. In his letters home, 17-year-old Cooke describes raiding civilians for supplies, the demeaning attitude of most northern soldiers toward blacks, and the tension of constant preparation for attack. He describes a devastating and undisciplined march through Confederate territory on June 10th to reach Vicksburg, which caused the illness or injury of most of his regiment. Camped outside the besieged city, he details his sentry duty, the stench of rotting flesh, and the contributions made by escaped slaves. He also vividly portrays a brief raid into Arkansas to attack guerillas, the first time he was engaged in a battle. Sidelined by illness, he describes the end of the siege from his hospital bed before recounting guarding Confederate prisoners, whose conversations he summa
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