"I have no doubt," begins Barrier, "but there is a great deal of anxiety upon the minds of the friends of my regiment since the fall of Wilmington. I am happy to inform you that we are all safe so far." He writes on the go, sixteen miles south of Magnolia on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. Arrangements have been made, he says, to exchange ten thousand prisoners on the banks of the Northeast River. He reports that Wilmington was evacuated on 23 February and that neither men nor munitions were lost. He says there is no cause for despondency and takes the enemy's willingness to exchange prisoners as a sign of their demoralization. Barrier's own enthusiasm for the war remains undimmed. His slave Henderson was captured in Wilmington, and he lost some clothing with him. He supposes that the people of Wilmington are "frightened on account of Sherman," though he himself thinks that Sherman is nothing to be scared of. He says that they are in good health despite the severe weather and the hardships attendant to their retreat.