Last night the negro regiment which constitutes part of our guard and which had been raiding over in Westmoreland and the adjacent counties returned. Their captives consisted of a hundred head of cattle-principally poor women’s cows-several ploughs, buggies, primeval sulkies, harrows, beds, chairs, and who knows what else they may do and all from twenty to thirty decrepit CITIZENS. Every month and sometimes more frequently, they are sent across the river by their officers on a plundering tour. These raids, usually made in a country entirely devoid of Confederates soldiers, are not reported by the yankees but are used to keep alive the martial ardor and fidelity of the black troops.
...Sgt. Anthony M. Keiley,CSA POW, Pt. Lookout