Civil War Letter - 17th NY Volunteers - July 1861

 Oxford Times, August 7, 1861

Headquarters, 17 N.Y.S. Volunteers, Alexandria, July 20, 1861

After frequent changes, we have arrived into the enemy's country, where the bullets whistle and the cannon roar and also hear the groans of the wounded and dying, with no one to care for them.  These scenes make one often think of home and friends, if he has any. The boys are enjoying good health and excellent spirits.  Last night two companies of us went out skirmishing.  We have a Fort here which can be used to burn Alexandria with if necessary.  We are fully armed against the enemy and can destroy Alexandria in three hours so effectively that you could not tell whether it was a city or not.

Virginia is all hills and woods, and the houses are very few and scattering.  The houses being now mostly deserted, the soldiers find every comfortable place to camp in.  Our company watch these houses for six or eight miles around which we enjoy, for we can generally find all the food and drink we need.  We are encamped in a piece of woods about a mile and a half west of Alexandria, where we can look down upon Alexandria and see the dome of the Capitol at Washington. The Potomac river runs within half a mile of us, and the cars are constantly moving along the bank of the river  There are 1500 Indians encamped a short distance from us, and they will make the rebels tremble some day.  These Indians are dressed in the Zouave uniform and are as nice a looking Regiment as I have yet seen.   The water here is impregnated strongly with Sulphur.  At camp Mansfield the water tasted of Magnesia, so you can see the changes we are subject to in the water, thirty miles apart.  It would astonish some of the Chenango people to come here and see us lying around on the ground and in the dirt.  They would wonder how we can live so.  But we have become use to it, and can stand more than most people can imagine.  The first night we landed in the land of Cotton, we lay on a large pile of coal, with our rubber blankets under us, our knapsacks under our heads and our muskets by our side, and then drew our woolen blankets over us and went to sleep until 4 o'clock in the morning we have to shoulder our knapsacks and travel through the day.

The Ellsworth Zouaves made a pretty good haul last night at a jewelry store near Fairfax where they entered and secured fifty-one gold watches and afterwards went to a hardware store and took seventy-five revolvers.  These fellows have taken two trains of cars from Alexandria, and they now run them daily from Fairfax Court House to Alexandria conveying soldiers back and forth.  They also secured 10,000 cords of wood, so you will see they are an independent set of fellows, and take whatever they wish.  The inhabitants of Alexandria say they are not afraid of any common soldiers, but when these Zouaves show themselves, they give up.    G.