Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1862-07-03
Army Correspondence.
ARMY oF THE PoToMAo

We have been favored With the fsI-
lowing letter BY Mr.. N. T. WHErsrosz.
written BY bis son. who was 10 the re-
cent battle before Richmond. ItSill
be interesting to the numerous friends
of the young soldier to hear from him;
CAMP ON FAIR OAKs FIELD,
June 9th. 1861.
Dear Father and Aotker:-l en-
brace the present ito write to you. /
am wen at this time, save fatigue and
loss of sleep. The duties have been
very hard, but are getting easier on rs.
as many more troops have come in
since the battle This, is, 9 lonely, day,
and they are scarce here. 1t has rained
every day since the battle of last Satur-
day, and Sunday. I have not been
able TO find out our loos accurately as
yet, but it is not more than $500 in
killed, wounded and missing. and not
more than 500 or 700 killed and NOR
tally wounded, The enemy's loss is
more than double that. i haze seen
nearly l,3OO Of their dead alone. II
was terrible fight The forces. met
hand to hand. The. bayonet, was in
constant use. Our Brigade, charged
them through piece ofrsEampy woods,
and drove them half . mile across a
wheat field The Brigade lost 3e5 in
killed and wounded. Some go. killed;
many of, the wounded are slightly. In
this regiment we had but two killed
We here hid in field Of wheat till the
enemy came within so yards of US, and
then We poured one Of the most deadly
fires into them. They vayersd, came
back; we gave them another volley,
when they ran in confusion. The ed
New York charged them-they fed in
all Observation-Disclosures back and
we're charged again. and SO it was kept
up till it was so dark you could not see
a man twenty PAGES. rs 4tfs ~I.,...
In the morning it was renewed, they
being reinforced from Richmond, and
we from the other side of the Chicka-
hominy. The battle ragged with des-
peration till a little after II o'clock,
when the, rebels broke all along the line.
and the heavens were then filed with
the cheers and shouts Of the victorious
Federalists. l tell you it was proud
day for the Union soldiers. Gen. Nc
Clellan rode along the line and thanked
us for the bravery displayed. ..rg
The rebel loss is not less than 5000
to 7.oOo-the field presented scene
that il 1 should live hundred years, l
never would forget. The dead lay in
heaps and in all manner of shapes and
positions. One poor fellow lay NOR
tally wounded. In his hand he held a
testament, looking at some text, that
was marked by some loving mother
perhaps. He seemed to look upon us
as barbarians or beathens, and was car
ried to the hospital defying the Yam
KEGS. He said the Confederates would
whip us yet-they were right and must
conquer. He died that night. Some
OF the wounded were sorry they had
ever been in the war; some rejoiced in
it; some think the rebellion played out,
and others that the right must win
Our advance was only four miles from
Richmond on our rightyesterday. We
showed our pickets ahead three -fourths
of a mile, and drove the Secesh back
yesterday.
Our company lost one man three
nights ago on picket. He was shot in
the head. He was a fine fellow, and
liked by ell the company. His name
was Henry Armsdorf.. There viii be
a battle soon if the enemy does not
leave; great preparations for it are be-
ing made. There is fighting all along
the picket lines now as 1 write. One
Of their rife pits was taken last night
aud they are endeavoring to shell our
men out Of it, but they will not sue
Your affectionate Son,
T.. v. MILESTONE.
Correspondence of the GaIlipOlis JOrnal.l
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn,
June Goth, 1862.
Mr.. HARPER:-Haying some spare
time will drop few lines to let you
know our Whereabouts, and what we are
doing down in Tennessee. There are
no troops here at the present time ex-
cept our regiment. the 18th Ohio. Our
brigade is scattered around in the diff
ferent towns of middle Tennessee
Two thousand of our brigade that went