Manuscript soldier's diary of Charles H. Smith, Co. C, 4th Iowa Cavalry. Approx. 70 pages. Requisitioned notebook. Original leather. 

Incredible hand-written diary authored by Charles H. Smith, Co. C, 4th Iowa Cavalry. Smith "repurposed" a pilfered Mississippi fruit grower's notebook for this task, as, on the thin leather cover, is the notation, "1852 Hatch & Co., No. 8, Vicksburg Boat No. 10.” Smith, in the deep south for Grant's Vicksburg campaign, excised several pages containing business information and dated his first entry June 22nd, 1863. Entries continue almost daily through August 18 of that same year. Smith, an educated young man, wrote clearly and with a wry sense of humor. Present in for the fall of Vicksburg, his July 4, 1863 entry reads as follows: 

Saturday, July 4th—The happiest day for America which has dawned since the beginning of the rebellion. Received official news today that Vicksburg had surrendered unconditionally. The result was 33,000 prisoners and 40 pieces of artillery besides a [great] deal of other trumpery. E[  ] shouts—long, loud, and enthusiastic—made the grand old trees of Bear Creek resound & echo with the resistless power & strength of liberty triumphant. Loyal hearts were overflowing with joy...I will write a huge letter home. 

Virtually every entry before and after the North's triumph at Vicksburg contains vivid descriptions of scouting, skirmishing, and fighting Rebel cavalry. Almost constantly on the move, Smith encountered all types of colorful characters on his adventures, particularly on local plantations:

Tuesday, August 11th—Moved out just at daylight. Passed through Mechanicsburg. Encamped at one of Roach’s plantations. Captain sent me down to overseer quarters to look for horses. Went down. Met by n----r who told us that the man Matthews had arms and had always declared he would use them in the first damned Yanks he saw and that his cousin, a soldier, was there also. Matthews met us as placidly as the morning sun and when asked about the arms, acknowledged he had some muskets got off the gunboat DeKalb. We destroyed his arms, took a good horse and rig from the sick soldier, and went back. The n-----s told us that a man living a few miles distance from our camp had six horses, I got permission to go after them but as it was dark before we learned the fact, we could not get through the pickets. We were obliged to defer our intended visit.

What makes this nearly 70-page handwritten diary so remarkable is the conspicuous entry gap that begins on August 18 and ends on September 3. On that August day, Smith and a comrade were on a scout when they were ambushed by Confederate cavalry near Grenada, Mississippi. Taken prisoner and fearing execution, Smith goes on to detail a truly wild two-week escape saga in which he parries with his captors, dines with ornery locals, shimmies around sleeping guards at a school house, steals a "splendid" horse, and spends more than a week trying to sneak his way back to Union lines through very hostile territory by impersonating a southern cavalier on furlough. Along the way, he came face to face with none other than Robert "Black Bob" McCulloch and the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, C.S.A.: 

Col. McCulloch is a man about five feet five inches in height, fair complexion, wire hair, and hazel eyes, remarkably sharp and penetrating. He asked the usual questions—our intentions—how many were killed at Grenada and how many came from below. To the last question I replied that there were between 1500 & 2000. “No, said he, there were but 800.” I told him he must be mistaken—that he had not counted them all. But he was positive and said they had been counted too many times to be mistaken. He showed me a Bear cub and told me that he came very near capturing him. The 2nd Missouri seemed to be a very clever set of fellows—that is, for rebs.

A circuitous journey filled with shifty go-betweens, ornery war widows, leery butternuts, burned-out towns and former slaves took Smith back to Union lines on September 1. During that time he often had to act like a Confederate soldier to acquire food, talking his way onto kitchen tables (or at least some cornbread and milk.) He spent the next few days in safe transport back to his regiment (and this diary). Perhaps out of steam from relaying his epic tale, the diary contains just one more entry, dated October 1. 

We have rarely encountered an original, period Civil War account this genuinely exciting. Smith even took pains to try to sketch the moment he escaped from the schoolhouse, picturing himself emerging from under the bed of a snoozing "Secesh" guard. 

Smith, originally born in Ohio, spent most of his life in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. It was there as a patriotic teenage student that he enlisted in the 4th Iowa Cavalry Regiment. He survived his service and eventually returned to Mt. Pleasant, where he was involved with the construction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He spent the last few years of his life in Aurora, Illinois, dying there in 1910.

Although Smith's escape is documented in two other books, including the 4th Iowa's regimental history by William F. Scott (pp. 141-149) and Anecdotes, Poetry & Incidents…. by Frank Moore (p. 476). However, we can find no evidence this diary was ever published or previously sold at auction.

We are pleased that this incredible firsthand account of his brave service can finally be offered to the public. 

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