Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode 404 of our Civil War Podcast.

I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello y'all.

Welcome to the Podcast.

As you guys will recall by the end of the last episode, darkness covered the battlefield

on the evening of Saturday, September 19th, 1863, and Clayburn's night attack had ground

to a halt, which brought an end to the fighting on the second day of the battle.

The hours of darkness after the end of the fighting on the 19th brought no relief from

the suffering for the soldiers of both sides.

The temperature plummeted along with the setting sun.

In fact, frost would cover the landscape come morning.

Along most of the front, the opposing lines remained so close that campfires were strictly

prohibited.

For most men, sleep was impossible.

Sergeant Charles Partridge of the 96th Illinois explained, quote,

A dozen would lie down close together with a command by the right flank, spoon, and three

or four ponchos covered the squad.

For a time everything was alright, but after a while the outside winds began to freeze

out, and by midnight all were up.

Since the Confederates, for the most part, were clothed in homesbun cotton, they suffered

more from the cold.

...