Huntersville, August 4,
1861
I reached here yesterday to visit this portion of the army.
The points from which we can be attacked are numerous, and the enemy's means
unlimited, so we must always be on the alert; it is so difficult to get our
people, unaccustomed to the necessities of war, to comprehend and promptly
execute the measures required for the occasion. General Jackson, of Georgia,
commands on the Monterey line, General Loring on this line, and General Wise,
supported by General Floyd, on the Kanawha line. The soldiers everywhere are
sick. The measles are prevalent throughout the whole army. You know that
disease leaves unpleasant results and attacks the lungs, etc., especially in
camp, where the accommodations for the sick are poor. I traveled from Staunton
on horseback. A part of the road I traveled over in the summer of 1840 on my
return to St. Louis after bringing you home. If any one had told me that the
next time I traveled that road would have been my present errand, I should have
supposed him insane. I enjoyed the mountains as I rode along. The views were
magnificent. The valleys so peaceful, the scenery so beautiful! What a glorious
world Almighty God has given us! How thankless and ungrateful we are!
SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of
Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 145
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