Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1862-01-09
FROM COL. ed. COCKS REGIMENT
Mo. ".
Written for the Fayetteville Observer.
Bovine GREEN, KY,
Dec. 18th, 1861.

this opportunity to write you an
ampromptas epistle, that the coed
ireaders of your valuable paper
may know something of our
whereabouts. And as l begin, ]
count the favor Of the Gcddest
Pithe, that her mantle may fall
upon me, while l am attempting
to write this letter amid the noise
and tumult common to an en-.
campment.
We arrived at this place lltl
inst, end moved out about one
mile Northwest of the town
where we pitched our tents, and
remained a few days. We then
received orders to move to the up.
posite side Of the town, where we
are still stationed, The health of
our regiment is very good, when
compared to that of others
There is a great deal of sickness
among some of the regiments, end
the mortality is great.
We lost one in our regiment last
night, Mr.. Harvey, a member of
Capt. Hunnicutt's Co. Our Com
pany, Capt. Tucker's) has been
highly favored SO far, being the
largest in the regiment, and has not
lost member. Our drill field
was adorned 10th inst, with the
presence Of about eight thousand
soldiers, in the expectation of an
address from General Breckin-
ridge, but our hopes were blasted,
when Col. Hodge appeared and
read an apology from him stating
that he had received orders from
headquarters, the duties of which
forbid him the pleasure of ad.
dressing us. The stage was occu-
pied by Generals Johnson, Hardee,
and Buckner, their stats, and 9TH
er distinguished character.
Several eloquent addresses were
delivered. A flag was then pre-
scented by one Of the fairest of the
fair daughters of McMinnville;
Tenn, to Col. 3. T. Hills 9Th
Tenn. Regiment. All hail /! Fair
daughters of Tennessee, to whom
all honor and praise is due, for
the interest you have manifested
in our cause, in ministering to the
many wants of the needy soldier;
rendering him comfortable when
far from home and friends! You
have caused thousands of hearts
to leap for joy by your generosity.
The town of Bowling Green is
completely deserted, or measure
bly, SO, by the citizens, and the va
cant houses are converted into
hospitals for our sick. The town
is being put in complete state of
defence. Nine different hills are
being strongly fortified, and well
mounted with cannon, which COM
mand the town and surrounding
vicinity. This being Christmas
morning, l was aroused from SUM
Der, by the loud peals of our thir-
ty-two Founders; which made me
feel little squeamish, as the
Yankees had promised to dine
with us to-day at noon. But noon
is past, and 10 Yankees yet; if they
had come, we would have received
them warmly. The Yankees will
never get to Bowling Green; if
they do, they will never return.
We have, suppose, eighty thou
sand troops here, and in the vi
cinity. Col. Cooks and Col. Far
quharson's regiments are attached
to General Buckner's division, in
whom the greatest confidence is
placed. If he ever leads us into
an engagement, victory viii be
ours. There has been some heavy
skirmishing at, Or near, Green Riv-
er. The Yankees are reported to
be crossing this river, In this direc-
ton, seventy-fve thousand strong.
We have about forty prisoners
here, besides a number that have
been released. On the 23d inst,
our Colonel ordered each Captain
to report the number of effective
men, under his command, that
would be able to take forced
march. Our company numberingl