Camp Near Winchester, March 15, 1862.
I never thought to head a letter as this is headed until
after a hard fight, but so it is. I will give you a short journal of things as
they happened to us since I wrote mother last Sunday.
Monday morning about two thirty, we were again awakened by
C. Wheaton, Jr., with the orders, “Wake your cooks; cook three days' rations;
reveille at five; breakfast immediately after; march at seven.”
Reveille and breakfast took place per order, but marching
orders did not arrive until past eleven, when they came post haste, ordering us
to leave tents and baggage and march at once, as General Gorman, who had gone
on with his brigade, was threatened with an attack. Start we did and marched
eleven miles to Berryville, but saw no enemy. Our brigade was marched into a
wood to bivouac; we stacked arms in line of battle and then allowed the men to
get straw from a neighboring stack to make themselves comfortable with. With
the help of rails borrowed from fences, various styles of shelter were
rigged up. We made one to accommodate four of us, that was quite
comfortable, although the night was cold and windy, with occasional rain
squalls. Hogan and Tom (Captain Williams' servant), built us a fire, and then
went foraging for a supper; they succeeded in getting two or three slices of
raw bacon, some hard boiled eggs and a canteen of milk. With these, we made a
good supper, toasting the bacon to a delicate brown and making some good tea in
my faithful tea pot. I have got to be a pretty good campaigner, now, and never
start on any kind of a march without my rubber blanket, my thick woollen one
and a haversack containing a little bag of tea, coffee and sugar, some hard bread,
a piece of salt pork and my aforementioned tea and coffee pot. With these
articles, I can make myself and several others happy, no matter where we bring
up.
Rolled up in our blankets, with a fire at our feet, we
enjoyed a good night's sleep. The next morning was very pleasant, although
cool; breakfast was a repetition of supper; in fact, almost every meal up to
date has been, varying bacon with pork and tea with coffee. We passed the day
lazity; four or five regiments and as many batteries came up in the morning and
camped near us. Wednesday was a beautiful, warm day with us; our company was
detailed for “Grand Guard.”
About five o'clock that afternoon, we received orders to
draw in our vedettes and report with the company at the camp as soon as
possible, as the brigade had received marching orders. We joined the regiment
on the Winchester road. It was a fine, clear moonlight night and we had a very
good road. We marched until nearly half past twelve, to within a mile of
Winchester, and bivouacked in a very thick pine wood. The trees were so thick
that we officers all lost each other, each one, on finding a comfortable place,
settling himself for the rest of the night. I was lucky enough to stumble
across Hogan and got my blanket; after a good cup of coffee, I rolled up under
a pine tree and slept soundly until morning. Looking around me at daylight, I
saw Captain Williams not twenty yards from me, alongside of Charley Horton,
Captain Savage and several other officers. George Bangs and Captain Goodwin
presented a lamentable appearance, not having brought any blankets. Our wagons
came up in good season for the men to get their breakfasts, and at ten, or
thereabouts, we pitched our camp in a neighboring field. Yesterday, Bob Shaw
and I walked into Winchester to see the sights. It is a rather decayed-looking
town, larger than Frederick; some fine houses, not many. We saw Mason's house,
now used by the field officers of the Fifth Connecticut; the shops and stores
are almost empty, but will probably revive rapidly. We took dinner at Taylor's
Hotel, a pretty large house; a great many officers there. While we were in
town, a skirmish took place on the Strasburg road four or five miles from town,
resulting in our capturing between twenty and thirty prisoners; we saw them
marched into town, some in uniform, some not.
SOURCE: Charles Fessenden Morse, Letters Written
During the Civil War, 1861-1865, p. 41-3
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