Weston, Virginia, Tuesday Morning, July 30, 1861.
Dear Uncle: — If you look
on the map you can find this town about twenty-five miles south of Clarksburg,
which is about one hundred miles east of Parkersburg on the Northwest Virginia
Railroad. So much for the general location; and if you were here, you would see
on a pretty sidehill facing towards and overlooking a fine large village,
surrounded by lovely hills, almost mountains, covered with forest or rich
greensward, a picturesque encampment, and on the summit of the hill overlooking
all, the line of field officers' tents. Sitting in one of them, as [Henry] Ward
Beecher sat in the barn at Lenox, I am writing you this letter.
I have seen Conger,
acting assistant quartermaster of [the] Tenth Regiment. He wishes a place. I
ventured to suggest that he could perhaps raise a company in your region by
getting an appointment from the governor. All here praise him both as a
business man and as a soldier. He must, I think, get some place. His reputation
is so good with those he is associated with.
Dr. Rice also called
to see me; he looks well and is no doubt an efficient man. Dr. Joe has had a
consultation with him and thinks him a good officer.
We enjoy this life
very much. So healthy and so pretty a country is rarely seen. After a month's
campaign here the Tenth has lost no man by sickness and has but seven sick.
General Rosecrans takes immediate command of us and will have us with him in
his operations against Wise. We shall have mountain marches enough no doubt. So
far I stand it as well as the best. . . .
This is the land of
blackberries. We are a great grown-up armed blackberry party and we gather
untold quantities.
Here there are
nearly as many Secessionists as Union men; the women avow it openly because
they are safe in doing so, but the men are merely sour and suspicious and
silent. . . .
Men are at work
ditching around my tent preparatory to a thunder-shower which is hanging over
the mountain west of us. One of them I hear saying to his comrade: “This is the
first time I ever used a spade and I don't like it too well.”
But you have had
enough of this incoherent talk. Colonel Scammon and Matthews have both been
absent and left me in command, so that I have been exposed to numberless
interruptions.
Good-bye. Direct to
me by my title "Twenty-third Regiment, Ohio troops, Clarksburg,
Virginia," and it will be sent me.
R. B. Hayes.
Send this to Lucy.
SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and
Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 48-9
No comments:
Post a Comment