Scope and Contents Note From the Collection: Marching 130 to 140 miles in ten days is the pace which John Laird’s company sustained in order to arrive within two miles of Knoxville, Tennessee by December 8th, 1863. John writes to his mother concerning the war and how the soldiers took chickens, sheep, cattle, flour and more from those who had seceded. In his letter, he refers to these traitors as Secesh. From Marietta, Georgia, John Laird tells his mother that the Union has driven the Confederates to this place and they...