Scott,

Your question about Mississippi jogged my memory about one account of parts of the 3rd Ark Infantry traveling on a train. The following is an excerpt from one of my relative's memiors concerning the trip from Eldorado to Lynchburg. He was Lorenzo Miears of Union County, Ar.:

"The company which was from all over the county, met in El Dorado, with their guns, pistols & butcher knives they had made at the shop out of files from 15 to 20 inches long hanging at their sides. O how we was going to kill yanks. What an idea we had of war. We had no use for them, for we hardly ever got close enough to them to use them. We threw them away or sent them home.

What parting of friends. My sweetheart, Miss Bettie Agee of Camden, was there. How it tore my heart strings to grip her sweet little hands, maybe the last time, but such is war and we marched away to Monroe, La.

We was to take the cars (railroad cars) next morning, the first I had seen since I was 8 years old. They put us on old flats. When she started off so slow and easy and began to get faster and faster that I thought the thing had got loose and was running away and they could not stop it. I stuck to my seat like a leach till I saw some of the soldiers standing up. I thought I was as good a soldier as any of them and rose to my feet, when off went my nice cap that sooted me so well. We had not got our uniforms yet.

On to Vixburg we rode without any trouble, crossed the Miss. River on a steam ferry boat. There in Vixburg, I saw my first fight. A man by the name of Alford, knocked a man by the name of Martin down at the well where we was getting water, for some trivial offence. I do not remember what. Here I saw the first cannon. We mounted another car and started to Jackson, Miss. We ran a mile a minute, they said. From Jackson, we went to Chattanooga, Tenn. From there to Bristol, Tenn.

Here we lay over and elected Co. officers to wit: Randolph Long, Captain; Paul Covington, first Lieutenant. Dr. Ponder, 2nd Lt., I can't remember 3rd Lt. but I remember they honored me with 2nd Sargents office. My business was to take charge of men on picket duty, making breast works, changing the guards and in the first Sergeants absence, to call the roll, draw rations’ for the Co. and c. With a salary of 18 dollars per mo, while privates got but eleven. There is also first, 2nd, 3rd and 4th corporal in each company with a salary of 13 and 14 dollars per mo., whose duty it is to take charge of fatigue parties and c.
From Bristol we started to Lynchville, Va. I was on top of the cars when it looked like the track ahead ran up to a mountain and stopped. When I called Lt. Covington's attention to it, who with others were on top with me, he said,” You see that little hole at the end of the track, we are going in under that mountain and come out on the other side." I began to get down in the car. He told me to stay up there, I could. I thought if he could stay up there I could. In a few moments, into the ground we went. When we had got midway of the tunnel, the train stopped for 5 or 10 minutes and of all the dismal places I was ever in that beat them all. Dark, the water dropping on us, the soldiers hollowing and shooting their pistols. If I had saw any fire, I would thought I was in H, or at least in the suburbs. Of all the yelling, when we passed out on the other side. I had heard no talk of any tunnel which made it the more surprising to me.

We ran on to Lynchburg without any more excitement and passed right on to Richmond. Went into camps in a pine grove in edge of town to awate for our autillery. We went in as an artillery Co. While here one member of the Co. took sick and Paul Carington sent him to one of his relations or acquaintance, till he got well or died. He told me if I would go and wate on him, I would have a good time. He told me what No. and St. to go to, but I missed it somehow and got lost and walked 10 miles to find to find the camps. Paul sent Ed Anderson, a neighbor boy of mine to stay with him and he was away from the Co. 3 months. I do not remember if the patient died or who he was, though he did belong to the Company. From Richmond we went to Fredricksburg and right on to Brooks Station. Here we went into camp again."

Cheers,

John