The tables were turned on Saturday, as we succeeded in
driving a good many of them into the Potomac. Ten thousand Yankees crossed at
Shepherdstown, but unfortunately for them, they found the glorious Stonewall
there. A fight ensued at Boteler's Mill, in which General Jackson totally
routed General Pleasanton and his command. The account of the Yankee slaughter
is fearful. As they were re-crossing the river our cannon was suddenly turned
upon them. They were fording. The river is represented as being blocked up with
the dead and dying, and crimsoned with blood. Horrible to think of 1 But why
will they have it so? At any time they might stop fighting, and return to their
own homes. We do not want their blood, but only to be separated from them as a
people, eternally and everlastingly. Mr. —, Mrs. D., and myself, went to church
this evening, and after an address from Mr. K. we took a delightful ride.
A letter from B. H. M., the first she has been able to write
for six months, except by “underground railroad,” with every danger of having
them read, and perhaps published by the enemy. How, in the still beautiful but
much injured Valley, they do rejoice in their freedom! Their captivity — for
surrounded as they were by implacable enemies, it is captivity of the most trying
kind — has been very oppressive to them. Their cattle, grain, and every thing
else, have been taken from them. The gentlemen are actually keeping their
horses in their cellars to protect them. Now they are rejoicing in having their
own Southern soldiers around them; they are busily engaged nursing the wounded;
hospitals are established in Winchester, Berryville, and other places.
Letters from my nephews, W. B. N. and W. N. The first
describes the fights of Boonesborough, Sharpsburg, and Shepherdstown. He says
the first of these was the severest hand-to-hand cavalry fight of the war. All
were terrific. W. speaks of his feelings the day of the surrender of Harper's
Ferry. As they were about to charge the enemy's intrenchments, he felt as if he
were marching into the jaws of death, with scarcely a hope of escape. The
position was very strong, and the charge would be up a tremendous hill over
felled timber, which lay thickly upon it — the enemy's guns, supported by
infantry in intrenchments, playing upon them all the while. What was their
relief, therefore, to descry the white flag waving from the battlements!
He thinks that, in the hands of resolute men, the position would have been
impregnable. Thank God, the Yankees thought differently, and surrendered, thus saving
many valuable lives, and giving us a grand success. May they ever be thus
minded!
SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern
Refugee, During the War, p. 157-8
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