Dear Diary,

Well, I've finally "seen the elephant," as the boys say.  I was in 
my first skirmish down around Hodgensville today. 

Really, it wasn't much.  I don't even know for sure if who we was
fighting were actually Reb soldiers.  More likely, they were just 
more of these infernal guerrillas that seem to be all over this 
state.  The actual Reb army is supposed to be down around Bowling 
Green and Columbus - so I expect these guys must have been heading 
down that way to join up.

At any rate, we were marching along a dirt road just outside of 
his little village, when someone took some shots at us from the 
woods to the north.  We didn't really see them, just the smoke.  
We faced about, formed line of battle, and fired two or three 
volleys, then charged with the bayonet.  When we got to where we 
thought they were - there was no one there. What kind of a war is 
this, anyway?  I'll be glad when we finally run up against a real 
Reb unit that'll stand and fight!

Most of the army has gone on to occupy Paducah, KY - they left the 
day before yesterday.  I expect we'll be going to join them before 
long.