Friday, July 9, 2021

Soldier's Letter, Civil War - December 1862

 Oxford Times, December 17, 1862

Letter from the 10th N.Y. Cavalry

Camp in the Wilderness, near Brook's Station, Dec. 7, '62

Dear Times:  As we have made an advance with our Oxford Boys, I thought it would perhaps interest many of our friends to know some of the adventures thus far.  We left Alexandria on the 2d inst., with 350 mounted men under the command of Major A.G. Falls, of Gen. Bayard's staff. The first day we marched only about 8 miles from Alexandria, but we traveled some 12 or 15 miles by a round about road to get there, when we encamped on the side of a fine creek, on a Virginia flat, picketing our horses to one fence, using other fences for fuel.  At daylight on the 3d we were on the move again, about 10 o'clock we passed the celebrated Bull Run river, and passed the fortifications erected by the rebels to defend the ford, and then passed southwest to a creek that empties into the Potomac at Shipping Point.  Just before we got there, we found a rank secessionist, whom the officer thought had more hay and oats than he ought to have, and so we relieved him of two stacks of hay and one of oats, then on looking around, we found he had more stock than he could well keep after losing his hay and oats, so we relieved him of three fine cows, just to accommodate him, then marched about two miles to the place of encampment. The next day we moved on at daylight, about 2 o'clock, we passed Aquia Creek and on by Warwick Court house and about 10 o'clock P.M., we arrived at Brook's Station,.  We are now about a mile from the station in the wilderness. We had a hair breath's escape from Stuart's Cavalry, near Stafford's Court House, and there was much anxiety about us on that account. We are now only four miles from Fredericksburg.    F.

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