October 21st. Broke camp before daybreak, and was on the march before sunrise. The day proved to be a horrible one, the wind blowing a perfect hurricane; the black dust of the burnt prairie filling and blinding our eyes, the lashes on which the dust accumulated creating a cutting, grinding pain, causing us to suffer much pain. Being near our journey's end, we moved forward as fast as it was possible under the circumstances, and arrived at Camp Release at 4 p.m., where we joined our comrades, who were very glad to see us. But our arrival did not improve matters so far as we were concerned, for the camp was a perfect wreck,--tents ripped up and chimneys blown down. There was not much news at the camp, the most important event during our absence having been the arrival of the sutler, on which occasion nearly all hands got tight, with the result that one colonel, six captains, and any quantity of lieutenants were put under arrest.
With all our forced marches, cold nights, windy days, and fasting, the trip was a most successful one; for, besides those who voluntarily surrendered themselves, we captured 39 men and 100 women and children, not to mention the horses, cattle, wagons, and plunder, which were also brought in.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Company E of the Sixth Minnesota Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, by Alfred J. Hill and Charles J. Stees