did not know 7th Tennessee cav was inside siege line at Vicksburg

Dan White
3 hrs
Late May, 1863, Siege of Vicksburg. Letter from Lt. Charles O. Rice, Co. M - 7th Tennessee Calvary.
“Rations for man and beast are scarce. We are so hungry. I had a meal of corn bread and peas mixed. When cooked, the meal was done, but the peas were still undone. Meat is almost a thing of the past. Some of the boys indulged in a rare dish of rodent, well cooked in a hollow log and that without taking off his epidermis. I did not indulge. In a few days, we had better meat. One of our mules was killed and we cut a bucket full of steaks, and we all joined in. We made jerked meat from what was left over. We fed our horses on mulberry leaves and the long moss which hung from trees.” - from “A Composite Diary of 1863 in the Confederacy”