B. F. Batchelor to his father- January 5, 1862

Camp Terry near Woodburn Ky
Jany 5th 1862

My Dear Father

You have several times sent us a few lines enclosed in Julias letters to me & thus added double interest to them. I have written very few letters from camp except to my wife for lack of time & writing material, but I answered your first letter & suppose it miscarried as no mention was ever made of its receipt. I hope you will continue to send us a few lines every letter for it is almost like having a chat with you. I recd a letter from George last night; he is still at Nashville & stubborn as old Jackson about never going home without me; he says he is in fine quarters & treated like a King, of which there is no doubt. Our Company is so much reduced that Capt Evans says he will send me to Texas next spring to recruit it; I fear that but little recruiting could be done there, still shall improve the opportunity and George will get a Furlough & come with me; to tell the plain truth to an old Colonel I am almost crazy to see my little family; the only thing that keeps me up is the prospect of a pseedy fight at Bowling Green; excitement of this kind (rendered doubly exciting by the magnitude of the stake) will almost infuse life into a dead man, you know. Troops are daily crowding into Bowling Green from Mo and Virginia. McCulloch is here Genl Floyd & others--with troops already tried on the field. It is said we have already 110,000 here. The Federal force is still larger & also rapidly increasing. By glancing at the papers you perceive that the troops on both sides lately taken from Mo & Va are pushing with all speed to this portion of Kentucky & it is evident this place is to be the scen of their bloody struggles & that speedily. Meantime the fortifications around Bowling Green have been completed, properly tested, & Genl Johnson says he is now "ready." Nearly every hill is fortified and it makes one feel strong & defiant to look up at those towers of strength with their long iron arms pointint ominously out upon every approach into the city. Such sights are enough to infuse marshal spirit inot a stone, & riding along I could not resiste the temptation of giving loose rein to imagination. All around was busy preparation--on the fortificaitons the gunners were drilling in "load & fire"--with wonderful ceerity those huge cannon were thrown back, loaded, thrust out, sighted & fired; on the sides & fields Infantry Artillery & Cavalry were performing their various maneuvers--bands of music, bugles & the roar of cannon filled the air, while banners & flags, gay uniforms & the ever changing positions of soldiers made up a moving Panorama of the grandest description. I could not help speculating on the result of the great Tragedy soon there to be enacted when those hills & fiels will be lighted with the torch of death--death to the Yankey invader. All on our side is confidence, and so it is with the enemy, who are clamerous for an "onward to Bowling Green." We have already here Genls Johnston, Hardee, Buckner, Hindman, Preston, McCulloch & Floyd & J. C. Breckenridge, embracing fine military talent as there is in the world. The enemy have also their best Generals & soldiers: Both sides are aware of the immense importance of victory & the crushing effects of defeat; hence the prowess & valor of both armies will be fully brough out. In the middle of my reflections I could not help saying "Let hte Hessians come--" for I feel that our God will give us victory! If we whip them we have force enough to push on to Louisville & drive the last Lincolnite in arms from the state, & this will be such a reverse that newspapers cannot conceal, nor the Federal government bear up under. All Europe will clamor and force our recognition. But on the other hand should they prevail, Nashville is gone & Tennessee becomes the battlefield, & the war must, I suppose, go on--I have seen enough to know we are not fighting children, but men; and men worthy of any foeman's steel. In our fight at Munsonville I saw them stand withing 14 or 20 [feet?] of us till the wounded & dead thribbled the standing, & ytet they fired till we rode up & almost pushed them from the fence; some loaded their guns after they were shot down & fired at us. So the stake being great and either side brave & determined to win it, the fight will be desperate & it behooves all Christians to wrestle in prayer for the success of our army. This dear Pa I know you have done and will continue to do till the war is over, indeed I have on more than one trying occasion felt that the prayers of relatives was ascending for me. We are beginning to canvass a little for Colonel & Lt Colonel of this Regiment. Genls Johnston & Hardee were in favor of permitting the system of regular promotion take place, but our boys didn't like the idea of being cheated out of the right of voting & by sending up a strong delegation of captains to protest against it they yielded & we are to hold an election on the 8th Jany. Candidates most prominent are J. A. Wharton for Lt Col; Lubbock for Colonel--Harrison for Major--Lubbock has been very low for 2 months and will not in all probability be able to take the field this winter, but he is a favorite and will have no opposition I think--Wharton on account of his wealth & political standing will probably be elected. Our Adjutant was quite sick some time ago & expected to resign and I am told Col Terry often spoke of me in connection with that office, but the poor fellow now "lies wrapped in his mantle of Glory" and I dont know how the incoming Col. may stand. Wharton & Royston who are the most popular for the Lt Colonelcy have both given me encouragement but I count on nothing till it is secured. The three Lieutenants of our Company [A. M. Shannon, James M. Dunn, John W. Baylor] are sick & have been some time, but this makes no difference to the men as the only officers they have known is Captain & orderly sergt. The Lts. between you & me if thrown together & mixed would come out Cipher. One (Baylor) made an application for a discharge a few days ago; but the Doctor would not give him a certificate had he only understood the case I am sure the M.D. would have willingly certified that he was "unfit for service" & let him slide. But one of our Lts was in the fight; he has been sick ever since & if the other two get into one I think they will withdraw satisified with Military Glory. I shoudl not have made these remarks had you not seen the men lest they might be construed uncharitable & of course it goes no further. I presume George writes you regularly as he is a punctual correspondent generall--With kind regards to friend Midgely & love to Ma & my dear wife & kiss ofr Chunky I remain

Affectionately
Frank

Rugeley, H. J. H. ed. Batchelor-Turner Letters, 1861-1864. The Steck Company, Austin, TX 1961.