Rector's X Road, June 18th, 1863.
Dear Mama,
I have written L. twice in the last two weeks and the reason
I did not write you after the fight (Brandy Station) was that you were so close
(Orange C. H.) I did not think you would feel uneasy at not hearing from me.
The best proof you can have of my safety, except hearing so positively, is by
hearing nothing. Moving with the Cavalry here to-day and there to-morrow, it is
impossible to keep up a regular correspondence.
The wounded are always sent to the rear and if I am ever
unfortunate enough to be placed in that category I shall certainly let you
know. So till you hear positively to the contrary make your mind easy on my account.
We marched from Starke's Ford the day your letter is dated (14th) and came up
by Amisville, Gaines' X Roads, Flint Hill, Orleans, Piedmont on the Manassas
Gap R.R., Paris, Upperville and Middleburg to Dover Mills, which we reached
yesterday afternoon and where we engaged the Yankee Cavalry and Artillery. I
was detached from the battery in command of the Whitworth gun of my section.
This piece lost none. The other piece of my section and one of Johnston's three
pieces each lost one man killed. These were the only men of the battery lost.
The drivers of the Whitworth in trotting through a gate ran against one of the
posts and snapped the pole short off. . . .We were falling back at the time so
there was no chance to repair it. The enemy was flanking us so we were forced
to fall back, making a circuitous route and striking the turnpike between
Upperville and Middleburg late last night. The battery is about to move now, so
good-bye. You must not expect to hear from me regularly but write yourself
frequently.
SOURCE: Louise Wigfall Wright, A Southern Girl in
’61, p. 138-9
No comments:
Post a Comment