The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1862-08-06
Army. C0rre SpOndeRce.

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CAMP OF RIGHT Wing, NEAR CITY PoINr,
s James River Va, July 9th, 1862. "a
DEAR SpIRIT:-Perhaps few lines from
the 62nd by this time would not be unin-
teresting to your readers. However this
may be, / will give you brief history of
our late movements. To do so, I must
go back at least to the 18th of May when
we left New Market for fredericksburg,
at which place we found ourselves safely
landed after a long and dreary march of
10 consecutive days overla mountainous
aud unexplored country, exposedito the
rays Of burning sun by day, and a drench-
ing rain by night, being deprived of9our
tents prior to starting onthe march; and 1T
was often /. o'clock at night, before we
halted, and then in some desert where
wood could not be found within a mile,
and perhaps after ssgoing foro~a fence that
distance find it made Of stone. so back we
would come, but at a much slower gait
than we went deeply realizing the fact-of
going to bed supperless. But, indeed
few Of. us thought Of cooking or eating
either, for as soon as guns were stacked
the gum blanket was spread out without
choice of ground, and the. weary soldier
wrapped in hiCoollesn one, would d lie Dc down wns
he would be awakened at early dawn to
prepare for the next days march. And
what was still worse than all, our rations-
were inferior in both quantity and quality,
this however could not be avoided, for the
roads, were worse than the worst, if pos
sible, and hence transportation very diff
cult. .ass
After resting a couple of days at Fred
ericksburg, we were ordered ION to Rich
mond," but no such good luck was then
IN store, for us. Circumstances alter
eases, for the first we knew the head of
TIE column was turned toward the place
from whence we came, and it soon began
to leak out that we had to return to the,
valley to encounter our old foe 'tStone-
wall jackson, who had. taken advantage
of our absence, and was pressing the feeble.
corps of General Banks, and had already.
driven him across the Potomac. We made
the trip back OH a forced march in Z days
coming via Manassas junction a very
circuitous route This time our power of
endurance was tested thoroughly, but net
a muruur escaped any lip, all were SO ca
ger to, ,,haye another 'sspot'' with jackson,
! At Front Royal we found the enemy in
possession of the town, but cur shot and
shell soon put them to flight. however, not
until 100 Of the lads were taken prisoner.
From thence we psoeeeded up the Luray
valley about go miles, resting Several days
by the way. At Luray the. Bird and 4th
Brigades were detached from the Division
and sent in advance to reeenneiter and
burn bridge near Port Republic, and bE
4 so doing cut off Jackson-s retreat who
was then sskedadeling" before Banks up
the other valley, but Carroll who was in
c ,mmand of the Rrigades in question,
made up his mind he could hold the. bridge
u. til .re-infercements came up and went
to making Preparations, but was everpow-
cred, and jackson crossed the bridge with
I his. whole force and then burnedzit thus
in degree cutting off Banks. s. .7sysla
r. Next day our two feeble. Brigades were
attacked by the combined forces of, John
son, EweH and Jackson, and after 4 hours
1.desperate fighting were repulsed with
fearful slaughter ON both sides, You OF
course heard all about it, therefore T need
| not 90 into detail. I. Suffice it to. say the
I0hio troops did their duty nobly and coy-
cred Ahemaelves with immortal glory
When we, the rest of the Division came
| up and formed in battle line, the enemy
fell back without -mani1esting any dispoc
sition to bring on another. engage meat
Our leaving the valley in, the first place
seems to have, been rather an unfortunate
1 move, and not only attended with opriya
4 ton and sickness the result of forces
marches and constant exposure; dis
aster. There, IS, surely fearful 1respon
fsibility resting on somebody, but Who i
tit? is the question Such is war howeye
I from Port .Repub1ic We Were, ordered bael
to Front Royal, here We had, marches
yEabout 400 miles, and d-wefe promised rest
j but wez had been there oEsly two day
when we got marching orders again, AM
lin three days afterwards we weree at Ma
4 nassas1 Here WEI stayed stwo .elays,safs
itookethe ears for Alexandfias whore W
! tarrived the same EVENING" as Tat sasSE
81 lciAllsweraa in fine Spirits being tickle,
withe thee iieas oflgoing to AArringto
l1Hights toe rest and recruit lip iasmenth g
two. vsBut behold thed Contrasts the mex
!. morning ,broughtaaboutaa At'6sA.sAEath
\ 6znd- was ON board sthes steamer j OH
4 Tucker and after pleasant trip Of Stw
4 days down the Potomac andAC Chesa peak
y Bay to Fortress Monroe, and from theme
| tup the James River we arrived al, IIar
rison's Bar on the evening of the End ins
: That night we enoamped on the farm an
close by the house in which Gen Harriso
was born, The farm contains. 1000 acre
and is principally coyered.by the Army, 9
6 Ft,le Potomac since Mcclellan. changed hi
: base of operations '-',>,'
4 Next morning we were taken to III
u front and pat on picket daty, where an
: in which position We remained two day
skirmishingawithi the enemy's pickets al
the time, many of whom '-bit the dust
while others were captured during on
) Istay i'm the vicinity of the rebel line.
: We are now at the rear on the bank {
, James River, very agreeable change tot
q on, account of water. caa asga Z
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