[from the diary of Frank C. Fitzhugh of Cutshaw’s Battery]

      Tuesday 18
Rained nearly all
day.  Remained quietly
in camp all day.

[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 4448

                                                 Camp near Cedarville
                                                        November 18th 1862

Dear Aunt Mary,
                                   Your kind and affectionate letter
on the 9th was received a day or two ago & I can not tell
you how very glad I was to hear from you, though it
really distresses me to find that so many of my letters
hone & so many coming from home are miscarried.
The package you sent me by Major Howard & the letter
were received some time ago, on October, while we were
encamped at “Bunker Hill,” & immediately sat down
& wrote you a long letter acknowledging the receipt
of the Socks &c, which letter I had hoped to have
been received by you long since & I was certain
when I received your last letter that it was an answer
to the one I wrote.   The said letter has probably not
reached you yet & probably never will, so I must
again thank you for the nice little package sent
me containing articles so essential to a soldier’s
comfort.  I don’t mind thanking you a thousand
times & am delighted always to find an opportunity
of writing to you, but I am afraid you have
thought rather hard of me for not writing before
this, if it so be that you have not received my

[page 2]
other letter.  The letter ought by rights to be addressed
to Papa, but as you probably will never get my
last letter to you, you must have the benefit
of this one.  Your last letter, Aunt Mary, was a
real good long letter, just such an one, as I like
to get from home, & I was delighted to get it.  I am
so glad to know that you have recovered your health
and that you have such a pleasant comfortable
home. It seems to me that in our recent troubles &
afflictions, our friends have been almost too kind
& affectionate towards the family. I am glad to hear
that all the family are so well, but sorry to hear of
the suffering among the poor servants.  I was very
sorry to hear of the deaths of little Cindy & Harriet; the
former was always a great favorite of mine.
There seems to be good deal of Smallpox in different
parts of the state; though I hope its progress will
soon be arrested.  I am in perfectly good health
myself & the army is in fine condition in every
respect & just longing for one more chance of ending
the War this fall. The rebels have all taken up an
idea that the Yankee army has just been furnished
with new Overcoats & Blankets for the winter, & they
want to get a few of them before cold Weather sets in.

[page 3]
It is reported that Longstreet has been fighting two
or three days, east of the Blue Ridge, but we have
learned nothing definite as yet.  Our division has
been busy for the last week being tearing up the Manassas
Gap Rail Road from about Front Royal back towards
Manassas.  What Jackson’s plans are, nobody knows;
some think he intends leaving the valley & some
think that he will remain here all the winter.
I wrote to Nannie about ten days ago & sent her the
measure for a pair of pants for myself, & also for
a pair of boots; I hope the letter has been received.
Nannie sent me an excellent pair of Gloves last
Winter & they are still very substantial Gloves,
but you can send the pair you have for me, when
the other articles are sent.  I am more than very much
obliged to Cousin Nannie Carrington for her kindness
& also to you, aunt Mary.  I told Nannie to let me
know as soon as possible whether the pantaloons
& boots could be had & I would write her word
of some way to send them to me.  I have a plenty
of Socks for the present, Aunt Mary, but will want
more after a while, and you can knit them for me
at your leisure.  I am very glad you wrote me something
about Miss Mitty; I always liked her very much &

[page 4]
have thought of her more than once since being in
the army.  Present my kindest regards to her when
you see her & tell her that a certain young gentleman
in the Howitzers was very anxious to know of me,  not
long ago, whether I had had any tidings from Miss
Mitty recently.  I reckon Millie & Ida Venable
are delighted at getting off to boarding school together
I thought of writing to Millie sometime ago, but I havn’t
much time to write & besides I reckon she has a
plenty of correspondents.  Joe Williams saw both
of them in August & brought several messages from
them to me, the other day; he says, Millie is one of the
finest looking girls he ever saw anywhere.
And so Miss Ellen Clark is married!  Captain Brown
knows Mr Lee very well & our 1st Lt. Plater knows both
the Miss Clarks.  I am very glad to hear that Uncle
George has gone back to Richmond.  I shall write
to him very soon.  I must now really stop, Aunt
Mary for there is nothing more to write about.
Give my best love to Papa & tell him I will
write to him in a few days.
I shall certainly pay you all a visit this
winter, if there be any possible chance. Give
my love to Wattie & to all of my friends.
I must again thank you Aunt Mary for
your kind & affectionate letter & beg of
you to write to me very–very often, for I do
love to get letters from you.  I am very anxious
to get a letter from Pa, though he wrote to me last.
Hoping to hear from you again soon, I remain
as ever–Your Affectionate Nephew
                      James P. Williams

James Peter Wiliams 1st Regiment Virginia Artilllery

MSS  490

                                                Staunton, Nov 18th/62
Dear Mary
    I have at last seated myself to write you that long promised letter, you must
remember when you were in S that I had a very bad habit of putting off things
that should be done, from one day to another, and although I have tried to
break myself of it, I have not entirely succeeded, and particularly does my
fault show itself in letter writing, though I love both to receive and to answer
letters from my friends.  However, if you will again correspond with me I will try
to follow your rule of answering a letter a soon as it is received.  Let me
congratulate you upon being rid of the Yankees though I am late in doing it,
better late than never, an old proverb says.  Mrs Ide brought me both letters
she received from you, and from you account you must have been very much annoyed
by their presence.  We have been several times alarmed, for feat the Yankees
would get us, but they have not succeeded yet, and I trust Jackson will never
give us up to them.  they have been as near at eighteen miles in several directions.
At one time we had a regular panic, and almost everybody left Staunton, but after
playing “refugee” about a week, they returned and were laughed at a great deal
about it. We have not had school at the Institute since the war began.  Mr
Wheat has had a boy’s school and Mr. Phillips has been manager of a clothing
Factory established for the benefit of the soldiers.  Mrs. Forrest has the best
school in town now, and I walk there, about a mile, every morning to take French
lessons. Mr. Ide teaches music there.  Mrs. Ide spent a day with us not long ago
and said she had either first written to you or was going to do it very soon.   It
does seem so strange that you have never seen either of her children.  They have
grown and improved so much lately.  Ella is very pretty and little Nettie Bell
is as sprightly as she can be.  Bee Taylor is still in Staunton and was over to
see me this morning.  She would send her love if she knew I was writing.  I have
not been well for some time.  I had a slight attack of typhoid fever this summer
and have not gotten entirely over it yet.  As a necessary consequence I have lost
all my beautiful suit of hair, which of course distresses me very much.  How is

your cousin Sue?  And what has become of your Sister Jennie?  I do not know when
I took such a fancy to any body from a description as I did to her.  We have been
having a very pleasant time lately, as the Fauquier Artillery have been stationed
here for the last three weeks but much to our sorrow they were ordered away
yesterday and of course had to go. As Staunton is the central depot for the troops,
and persons going to and coming from the army have to pass through, we necessarily
get acquainted with a good many gentlemen, so not withstanding the war we have
enjoyed ourselves very much.  I heard of a very narrow escape a cousin of mine
had when the laboratory at Jackson, Mississippi, blew up.  He is one of the officers
incharge of it and only happened to be out of the building at the time, because
he was sick.  I am so thankful he was not hurt.  He is one of my favorite cousins.
You may have heard me speak of him, Steve Kinney, he was at West Point when you
were here.  Mr. Ide was here this morning and says he sent you a daguerreotype of
Ella, the other day.  do you ever expect to come back to Staunton?  By the by, I
met Mr. John Bledsoe on the street a day or two ago, with his arm in a sling, I
do not know whether he was wounded or not.  Jakey Points is still in Staunton,
has never been in the Army since the first battle of [?]  We had a wedding
the other day and who do you think was married? Kittie Woodward.  I suppose you
remember her.  She lived at the Lunatic Asylum.  I have written you quite a long
letter and you must answer it very soon.  Ma joins me in love.  Bee went to the
country today with Grandpa and Rob has gone to an uncle’s to stay untill Christmas,
otherwise they would send some message.  Do write soon,
                                                   Yours truly
                                                          Lizzie

[from transcripts given to the library in the 1950s of letters of the Fackler family.  Location of originals unknown]

MSS 4199

[from the diary of Wesley A. Hammond, Co. E, 42nd Virginia “Dixie Greys”]

Tuesday 18 –

Receive a letter from sister E[-]
Read with much pleasure as it
had been a long time since I
heard from Home.

MSS 5526

Union Grove. Nov. 18, 1862

My dear Charlie,  [Charles M. Ellet]
I intended
to write to you, yesterday, but
was prevented by a visit from
Aunt Lydia and Lily, lasting
all day and night and until
late this morning–I really feel
called upon, in this connection, to
let you know how uniformly kind
and considerate to me this lady
has been–none of the great defects
of character, of which I have heard,
have come under my observation–
and her forbearance with Grandma,
often under peculiarly irritating
circumstances is really very great–
she makes no professions of regard,
but I have invariably found her
pleasant in manner, obliging & kind

[page 2]
I have received your letter of the
15th and cordially thank you for
it.  Before this, Uncle Alfred is
doubtless at the Fleet and all you
uncertainties are satisfactorily set at
rest.  We were rendered, as my
letters to you indicated, most
uneasy by the same reports that
disturbed you; indeed, though
Uncle Alfred’s letters are cheerful
and well-satisfied in tone, in
on one of them has he yet said in
distinct terms “the Ram Fleet is ours.”
We look for him at Bunker Hill
very shortly–will not his coming
be equivalent to your departure down
the river?  Eddie is very unwell
to-day–the chills have returned,
in spite of quinine and he looks
most wretchedly, unfit I think for
any active service.  This cold rainy
weather will, I fear, stand in
the way of his recovery–one can

[page 3]
hardly look out of the window
without a shiver.  The rest of both
households are quite well.  aunt Sarah
a little the worse in conse-
quence of a drive to town, to-day,
through all the wind and rain.
Miss Abbie Robarts has gone to
Alton for a visit of two or three
weeks—I liked her very much
and miss her exceedingly.  Ellie
has left school and studies regularly
with me now–Little Will still
trudges off every morning and
comes home in a sad plight–but
he likes it and keeps in vigorous
health–he studies, I am convinced,
very little.  I sent you a hurried
note on Sunday and am anxious
to know that you received it-I
wish, too, to hear distinctly from
you in regard to the money due
to Mr. King–pray do not overlook
this.    Have you heard from

[page 4]
Annie Crandall?  she and Miss
Robarts wrote Aunt Sarah a clever,
nonsensical letter in behalf of
Uncle Alfred’s preferment–
  It may be a source of no
surprise to you, but I am
convinced that Uncle Edward’s
residence in Bunker Hill has
become a temporary one–Two
years will not find him out
of Philadelphia, and he may go
very much sooner.  You will not
allude to this, even to Uncle Alfred,
though he is no doubt cognizant
of the scheme–I am particularly
unwilling that any items of family
interest should be supposed to fall
through my letters.  Of course all
this may vanish into thin air
-but I believe otherwise—
   I was much interested in your
sketch of the duties and acquire-
ments of a Colonel–Like most

[page 5]
professional men, universal
information is simply what you
claim for your chosen pursuit.
You are probably right.  Knowledge,
while assuredly not power, is some-
thing akin to it-one of the many
attributes of that most compound
and variable quality-success–
Your plan of drilling with the
men appears to me a good one-at
least Peter the Great has endowed
it with his royal sanction. Unnecess-
ary as a minute knowledge of military
discipline may be to true military
success-there might occur times
when, in the eyes of common place
people (-three -fourths of the world)
a lack of just such details as you
can now acquire would be an
unpardonable deficiency.  In any
event, you act wisely in providing
for all contingencies–If you are
pit under the order of Admiral Porter

[page 6]
you will have time, probably, fully
to perfect your military education.
   Dearest Charlie, I write lightly,
but my heart is heavy enough.
I m thoroughly wearied from
my efforts to take Miss Abbie’s
place in some measure, and relieve
Aunt Sarah of some portion of the
sweeping, dusting, bread -making
etc of the household.  the cold
winds whistle “flannel”! into my
ears–are you well provided?
I am very glad you have written
to Grandma–she was much pleased-
I am told, but have not seen her
yet.  I like your idea of marking
private passages in your letters–Often
what I have carefully guarded for
you is read aloud, family council,
from Uncle Alfred’s letters.  This one
I particularly desire to have burnt–
Good-night-You are very busy & have
much to interest you but always
remember the loving hearts in which
you claim the first & warmest interest
                           Your Sister

                         [Mary Virginia Ellet]

Mary Virginia Ellet [later Cabell] to her brother Colonel Charles Ellet, a Union hero of the battle for Memphis in which their father was mortally wounded

MSS 276

[from the dispatch book of General Alfred Pleasonton]

Hd. Qrs. Cavalry Division
one mile east of Bealton
Nov 18. 3.30 P.M.
To Lieut Colonel Dickinson
Asst: Adjt Gen’l
Centre Grand Division

Colonel-
                 On my arrival at
Bealton, Gen. Bayard informed
me I was to relieve his command
at Rappahannock Station
in guarding the fords in that vi=
cinity-I accordingly sent one
regiment the 8th New York to
do that duty & cover the river
road as far as Morrisville–
              My pickets at the different
fords report the enemy’s pickets
on the opposite side of the river but
in rear none of the enemy have
been seen since the skirmish
yesterday at Waterloo & on the
road to Orleans–
                            I have directed
General Averill to cover the
5th Corps with his brigade, on

[page 2]
both the roads it was to follow
as far as Hartwood–
         My command is very
much in need of forage–
None having been furnished by
the Government for several days
& the country we are passing
thro’ is pretty well cleaned
out–
           I am Colonel, very respectfully
             Your Obt. Servt:
                    A. Pleasonton
                     Brig: General
                      Comdg. Cav: Division

MSS 495

[from the diary of Captain William F. Hunter, Co. B., 97th Ohio]

     Nov. 18th, ’62.
Started at 6, to
guard train to &
from Mitchellville.
Still raining;
ceased about 7, A.M.
Great difficulty
in getting the
mules up the
north side of the
Cumberland river,
the bank being very
steep. Reached

Gallatin about 3,
P.M. Heard heavy
firing again this
morning to the
South; cannon only,
this time. Owing
to the fact that the
wagon in which I
was, was unable to
climb the hill, & was
left behind, I was
compelled to walk
from the river – a-
bout 10 miles, – fre-
quently on double
quick. We were im-
mediately thrown

 
out as pickets, in
an old corn field,
& it raining all night,
we got no sleep.
I dozed a little
standing by the fence
with my head on
the corner, & the rain
pelting one most
mercilessly.

[from the diary of John Ward of the 102nd Pennsylvania]

Nov 18th
March at 6 am
and march to With
in 2 miles of
Stafford C House
And camp for
2 Day   the camp
3 miles from the
Rail Road crose
auck quer creek
to Day   march
12 miles to Day

[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 12913

[from the diary of the Rev. Franics Butler, chaplain of the 25th Ohio]

Tues 18.  Cloudy. Not well – diarrhea, didn’t go out much
     Made up & settled mess a/c.  It costs us about $3. pr week

[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 12935

[from the diary of James Dinsmore Templeton, former musician and private in the 23rd Ohio]

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 1862
 Passed the night
with Herb   [?]
agreeably to appointment
Jennie came in in
time to leave on the
morning train &
through the kindness
& aid of an Omnibus
agt at Clev made
connection with
the Pits morning
train
arrived here about
4 1/2 P.M. are now
stopping at the
St. Clair Could not
get room as H[?] Hs

Good night Dear cousin
I hope that you may have
pleasant dreams. do not for
-get the night that we stayed
at the St Clair
mostly clear and raining
slightly

MSS 10317