Strasburgh Va.. June 21st 1862
Affectionate Wife
As I have leisure
to write once more I will improve
the opportunity. I am enjoying good
health as usual, and I trust this
may reach you in due time and
find you enjoying health ad happi-
-ness, we arrived here last evening,
we left Mt. Jackson on the 19th and
marched to ,,Woodstock,, we arrived there
about 8 oclock at night and picketed
our horses and cut wheat (with our pocket
knives) for them we lay down without
pitching our tents as we expected to start
again at two oclock in the morning
but did not start till about noon the next
day. we marched through to this place
12 miles farther, the road was very dusty
and so many horsees and men on the
road made the dust fly so it would almost
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smother us, our Regts wer rear guard
Ashbys Cavalry was so close as was
comfortable for the extreme rear but
they did not attack us,, Our Regt has
not yet been attached to any brigade
they use us for scouting and picket
duty we we have it all to do for the
whol divishion our men and horsees
will not stand it to scout all day and do
picket duty all night very long they
show ther effects of service now and
that very plainly,, But there is a
cause for it all. Col. misrepresent
to Freemont this Regt. he told him
we wer well drilled,, boath horsees
and men,, And when we wer sent
on in to danger our Brave Field
Officer wer not,, one, of, them,, with,, no
Capt Bingham was in Command of
the Battallion,, finley there was a
dutch Major took command of us
and our horsees not being drilled would
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not stand fire, and the men could not
understand him half the time so
we made a sorry old mess of it,, this being
reported to the Gen. and his staff has
injured the credit of the Regt. among
the dam dutch, But I dont care a dam
for the whole divishion I would like
to see it glourious licked and all the
damed dutch killed if Freemonts
worshipers wer here and could see
his staff, his dutch officers, and men,
they would sease to bow down their
heads in humble worship to the leader
of such a damed low lifed insignificant
set of beings, the have been twise detailed
to charge on Rebel Batterys but did not
because they pulled up stakes and left
before we got to them if there is any
post of danger that requires men of
will and energy it appers that they
call on us to go forward, but they will
find that we will do our duty
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when they will give us a chance what
few men we have left are of the right
stripe to fight, Our company now
cannot number over thirty men able
for duty, And if they put us through
as they have done for the last 4
weeks we will fall far short of that
The Fowler boys hold out faithfull
yet and are all well that are here
Cale I cannot answer for any longer
I suppose he is at Richmond or a,,
way down in Dixie land,, he will
have some of ways of sesh in their
wild state,, but we know not the ways
of the divine ruler of Providence and
we cannot tell how soon some of the
rest of us may go down to see the
boys and tell them how we get a
long,, but if we should we haved guarded
prisoners long enough to know
something about being a prisoner of war