JAN. 18. We were up early and had our things packed at 8 o’clock, fell into ranks and marched down to the wharf and on board the “Superior,” a fine river boat. The 11th Ill., 17th Ill., and part of the 16th Wisconsin regiments are on our boat. It took all day to load and at night we went up to the coal yard just above town to coal up. Abe and I made our bed down on the top of the hurricane deck. About midnight it began to sleet and rain, and before morning our blankets were completely soaked. It was about as disagreeable a night as I ever spent. JAN. 19. Cold, rainy and windy. We lay here all day coaling up, and suffered with the cold. Most of the boys kept warm by drinking whisky. Nearly all have their canteens full. We have details patrolling the town, picking up the stragglers. Still rainy and disagreeable. At 1:30 the boats backed off and started down the river. We stopped a few minutes at the forts, two or three miles below the town. There are fifteen boats in the fleet, among the principal ones are the “Nettie Dean,” “Silver Moon,” “Minnehaha,” “Platte Valley,” “Superior,” “Maria Denning,” “Sunnyside,” “St. Louis,” “Gate City,” “Mary Forsythe,” “City of Madison,” “Arago,” and “Belle Reora.” Our regiment lost about fifty men at Memphis, three from our company. At dark we tied up to the Arkansas shore. It was dreary and cold but I went on shore on purpose to put my foot on Arkansas soil. We set our pickets and stayed all night. Abe Van Auken and I slept under Jim Mitchell’s bunk, the same as the night before and slept fine. JAN. 21. The boat shoved off at daylight and started down at 10 o’clock. We arrived at Helena, a small town, where we stopped about three hours, and then went on down the river. It is thickly timbered on both sides most of the way. There are a few farm houses scattered along. At sundown we tied up to the Arkansas shore just forty miles above Napoleon, at the mouth of the Arkansas river. As soon as we halted the “Silver Moon” played several tunes on her calliope. I went back to a little town of Nig quarters just over the levee, about one-half a mile from the river and tried to get something to eat, but they had nothing to sell or give. Everything was eaten up and the levees were all breaking away and they could not repair them as the able bodied had run away. Most of the Whites that are not in the Rebel service have left. One of our boats was fired on today. We passed Napoleon about 9 o’clock. At sundown we tied up at the Mississippi shore, eighty miles above the mouth of the Yazoo, and opposite the state of Mississippi.