CAMP OPPOSITE
FREDERICKSBURG, June 6, 1862.
You will see that Jackson has escaped up the Valley of the
Shenandoah, in spite of the various arrangements made to cut off his retreat.
From all I can learn, the force sent from here under McDowell was not as rapid
in its movements as it might have been. It ought to have pushed on from Front
Royal to Strasburg, and not waited, as it would seem it did, till it had news
that Jackson was falling back from Strasburg. We have had a continuous rain
storm, part of the time very violent; the consequence has been the same here as
with you in Pennsylvania — a great freshet in the Rappahannock, which carried
away all the bridges we had built over the river, including the railroad
bridge. To rebuild this will take some two weeks, during which time we shall be
tied down here. When they were first carried away (day before yesterday) all
communication was cut off with the town, in which were some six hundred of our
people; but as we had intelligence that day that the force in our front had
fallen back to Richmond, we did not feel much concerned about our men. Now we
have a little steam tug that ferries across, and we will throw over a pontoon
bridge as soon as the river subsides. I have been for several days on a court
martial which occupies me from ten in the morning to five in the afternoon.
I am truly sorry to hear that John Markoe has been again
wounded. Do you remember General Palmer? He is reported killed, but I hope it
is a mistake. General Howard you must also remember, at West Point.
SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George
Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 272
