December 23, 1863
---Alexander
Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry Regiment, records the soldier’s
frustration with the lack of foraging in the picked-over farm area around
Vicksburg, in winter:
Wednesday. 23d—The weather continues quite
pleasant. There is no news. All is quiet here. There has been no foraging for
two months now, for the reason that there is nothing left to forage. I often
wonder what the farmers in this section live on; whatever they have certainly
cannot be in abundance. The citizens of Vicksburg are a little more fortunate;
that is, if they have the greenbacks, for since July 4th, last. Confederate
scrip is no longer legal tender. Some people still have a little gold and
silver, which comes from its hiding place when their larders run low.
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