Letter from Corporal John Griffith Jones, from a camp near Vicksburg, to his parents in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, 20 June 1863 [page 1 of 4]

Description

In this letter, John writes that he is resting at the moment and not very busy. He went to look for the lads from Wales yesterday and saw that Richard Owen was well but that Jonah Jones was ill again.

The men received two months pay on the eighteenth of the month but it's not safe to send money home in a letter at the moment. He believes that when they reach Vicksburg, there will be better order.

The batteries opened on the enemy at four o'clock this morning and John has heard that General Logan is intending to attack a key fort today. He tells his parents that there is much noise and if he had been at home listening to this he would have believed that the world was coming to an end.

He also mentions that many of the Welsh lads from the 56th Ohio Infantry were killed or wounded in the battle of Champion Hill and he describes how the Ohios, together with the 29th Wisconsin and the 11th Indiana, attacked the rebels' batteries at Champion and captured the site. However, following a counter attack, the rebels regained the battery, and the three regiments were sent from the field with the rebels chasing them.

'the rebels were still coming forwards like butchers with their sleeves rolled up'.

The Union side had only two lines against seven and the battle was fierce until in the end the rebels yielded their ground. According to John, about two thousand were taken prisoners.

John also says that William Jones died some time ago.