October 20, 1864, Near Richmond

General Longstreet returned to duty yesterday, at last.  It has been a
trial in all these months since he was shot in the throat and arm at the
Wilderness.  We all feared he would die, and some of us saw the heavy 
hand of God in his wounding.  It was just a year before, and just a mile 
or two down the same road, where General Jackson was shot down.  Is the 
Almighty telling us something about that horrible ground? about our cause? 
about our future?
   
General Longstreet is well enough, and is learning to use his left hand to
write. His right arm is useless, and is  likely to be useless for the rest 
of his life.

This man Grant!  He now commands ALL the Yankee armies, and has his
headquarters with the two armies facing us around Richmond.  General Lee 
gave him a pounding at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and we 
are holding him off now in front of Richmond and Petersburg.  But unlike 
any of his predecessors, he just keeps coming. Constantly moving around 
us, side stepping, and digging in.  In the months of May and June, Grant's 
army lost more casualties than ALL the men we had in our Army.  But his 
source of new recruits and conscripts and food and guns and supplies is 
endless.  We shoot or capture scores of thousands, while scores of 
thousands more appear in our front like ghosts.

And there are no more soldiers for us, except a few scrapings here and
there, or a broken down brigade from someplace farther south.   All of us
know that there is an end coming, and though we remain hopeful for a 
miracle, and pray for God's protection, we each know that we are losing 
the war.  Mary Jane has had to go deeply into our savings, and has had to 
sell off some land, just to make ends meet at home.  And our fortune is 
in Confederate money, which is worth less and less each day.

And here there is no room to move. We are dug in like moles in muddy 
holes. General Lee is straining at his bit, because he wants to maneuver 
and attack.  But we can't. If our few forces tried anything of that sort, 
Grant and his huge armies would simply take Richmond and that would likely 
mean the end of the war.

I am a prayerful man, but nowadays it seems that everyone is taking to
prayer.  It may be our only source of help.