1862 February 6 steamer Glenwood on the Kanawha River

[from the diary of Charles Hay of the 23rd Ohio returning from furlough]


      Steamer “Glenwood,” Kanawha River, Feb. 6th.
At 8 this morning precisely we left Gallipolis.  A
late breakfast very near detained me, for I was
obliged to run at “double quick” some 20 or 30 rods
for fear of being left, and this I done, regardless of
the mud, of which there was plenty, floundering
through and succeeding in smearing my clothes most
beautifully; but never mind, it’s Ohio soil, and
God knows when I will again see or tread it
again. ~~ Having to “stem the current,” we
make rather slow progress, insomuch that at
this time, 7 P.M. we are no farther than Charleston,
64 miles from Gallipolis. ~~ The difference between
Ohio and Western Virginia is so wide that it is not
hard to institute a contrast.  Instead of pretty farms,
well cultivated, we see a rough, broken, almost uncultivated
country, log hovels, instead of pretty, comfortable dwellings,
&c.&c. and so we might enumerate, the difference being
as wide throughout.
Our boat stops 10 miles further up, at Camp Piatt,
and as I have a good long walk before me tomorrow,
I shall “turn in” for the night, and prepare for it
accordingly.


[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 13925