September 15.

The ground was covered with dead. I should think there were five hundred on and around the woods and field where we slept. I went with Capt. Niles to look at them. Saw where two of them had fought hand to hand in a log hut, but they were both killed in the conflict. They had torn each other to pieces with their bayonets and both fell over backward and died.

We had no breakfast, dinner or supper today. Began to feel the want of it some. About noon it was very hot and we started to march after the retreating enemy, toward Sharpsburg. Before we got started Burnside came through the camp with his bodyguard of cavalry, with artillery following. We followed later. When Burnside was announced as coming the roads were cleared of dead. There was hardly room on the banks on each side to lay them there were so many.

We marched to-day as far as the “Russell Farm” near Keedyville and stopped to camp for the night, so we supposed. We built our fires and had just got to boiling our coffee [which was all we had to eat or drink] when we had orders to move our camp to another place. We thought we were not going far so left one of our men to tend our coffee until we could come back after it, but we kept on going for over a mile. The man we left in charge of our dippers came along and left them so we lost coffee and dippers. The coffee was the last many of us had.

Went to bed to-night without supper, very cold and damp with ploughed ground for a bed. A good many sat up by the fires to keep warm, having no blankets. The rebels had cleared from this place but a few hours before, and many of their campfires were still burning.