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Letters, Diaries, and Memoirs
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Alex Cressler, letter
June 10, 1861
“Sabbath approached finding our citizens in a state of uproar & confusion, cars were running an [sic] screaming – men were working wagons were moving through our streets from morning till night and citizens [were] on a continual parade. [T]ruly such scenes, such sabbaths, and such times, were never before ours to behold.”
Robert Cruikshank, letter
October 1, 1861
“This is a beautiful city and a fine surrounding country. We came in open freight cars and had a good view of the country. We passed over the Monocacy Creek Bridge which has been rebuilt since Jackson burnt it three weeks ago… The country here is most beautiful with good water. The enemy destroyed a great deal of property here.”
Robert Cruikshank, letter
October 3, 1862
“I am very well but have hard fare now. The rations are very bad and we have cold nights and do not have clothing enough as our knapsacks were left at Washington with nearly all our clothing. We hope to get them soon.”
Robert Cruikshank, letter
October 3, 1862
“We were only two days in Camp at Frederick City when we went back to the depot, took the cars to Sandy Hook and then marched here. The cars stopped at the Point of Rocks which is an abrupt cliff extending a mile or more. Some of the rocks overhang the track. The country here is very mountainous and has narrow valleys. The Shenandoah River empties into the Potomac at the Ferry. Maryland Heights is on one side of the Shenandoah and Bolivar Heights on the other, and London Heights are on the other side of the Potomac. Bolivar Heights and London Heights are in Virginia.”
Robert Cruikshank, letter
October 19, 1862
“It was of these Heights [Maryland Heights] that Jackson said if he could gain them he could defy the world and one would think so as they are all rocks, abrupt cliffs and precipices. I could see in every direction and they are of great advantage to the army holding them as it can telegraph by signal from one station to another. As far as the eye could see, there were tents in every direction,- thousands upon thousand... When I got t…he Ferry there I saw train after train coming and going continuously and the streets filled with wagons so that one could hardly pass. I crossed the Potomac on a Pontoon Bridge… Pontoons are small boats anchored in the river about ten feet apart with timbers laid from one to the other and plank laid on these timbers and then another timber laid on these planks and lashed by ropes to the lower timbers holding all fast together from one side of the river to the other. These bridges are moved with the army.”
Robert Cruikshank, letter
October 12, 1862
“I do not like this Sabbath work. We do not have to drill but have to be inspected every Sabbath morning,-that is, every man's person, clothing, tent, gun and accoutrements must be looked to and kept clean. This is necessary for the health of the men and to keep everything in order.”
Charles Engle, letter
July 18, 1863
“I have got so I can stand eney [sic - any] thing. It has ben [sic] quite wet and rainy for some time. I can lay down eney [sic] where and sleep in the rain. We cant [sic] put up our tents much of the time as we are moveing [sic] every little while and all times at knight [sic]. You musent [sic] wory [sic] about me.”
Josiah Marshall Favill, memoir
September 13, 1862
“…this morning [we] marched for Frederick City… As we entered the main street the drums sounded attention, and the troops marched in regular order, with bands playing and colors flying. We were received by open arms by the inhabitants, who crowded the streets and sidewalks, waving handkerchiefs, and showing every manifestation of delight. Women and girls ran into the ranks handing out water, pies, bouquets and handkerchiefs, and were beside themselves with joy. The crowd, indeed, was so great; that we had all we could do to keep our horses from stepping on them.”
Josiah Marshall Favill, memoir
September 14, 1862
“… we marched out towards the South Mountains in which direction we heard the sullen sound of an occasional gun. We passed through Boonsboro, and began the ascent of the mountain, forming line of battle as we neared the gap, expecting to find the enemy in possession… we soon came upon several dead rebels, and as we approached the gap the ground was liberally strewn with them, lying behind rocks and boulders…We met with no opposition and descended the western slope, marching through Keedysville. As in Frederick City, here too, we were received with tumultuous cheering. All the inhabitants apparently, being in the streets, who showed their patriotism by serving out water, handkerchiefs, etc. They told us the rebels had been there and had taken all their provisions and horses and were now only a short distance in front of us.”
Josiah Marshall Favill, memoir
September 21, 1862
“This morning the Second corps fell in at an early hour and marched to Harper’s Ferry, encamping on Bolivar Heights. The march was very pleasant, the roads being good and the weather superb. The whole army is in camp in the vicinity, and every hill and valley within sight is dotted over with canvas villages. Harper’s Ferry is one of the picturesque spots in America, delightfully situated in the gap of the Blue Ridge Mountains…The town lays in the hollow, at the foot of the heights, and is now of no importance, except as the place where the celebrated John Brown and his followers immortalized themselves. The old blackened walls of the government arsenals, destroyed at the very beginning of the war, stand like grim skeletons in their hideousness, and with the exception of a few straggling huts, is all there is of the place.”