Mr. Lincoln's War - - - printer-friendly version
In camp near Stafford Court House Va, March 16th 1863
Respected Friends
...our division of the army lies upon the outer lines, consequently more exposed
to the raids of rebel cavalry & we are obliged to throw out a large pickett
force, but in spite of all our precautions Stewart occasionally gets the start
of us and makes a dash into our lines & makes some captures, as he did
at Fairfax Court House a few days since carying off an acting general &
quite a number of horses, the general could be spared, as thare are a plenty
of them but horses are getting scarce...
...After marching all day & getting about tired out, build a little fire
cook a cup of coffee & little meat with some hard tack for supper &
then crawl into a shelter tent with the ground and air damp and cold is what
tires the constitution more than any thing else, all the way that a soldier
in the field can make his lot endurable is to take no thought of the past
or future, let past scenes be forgotten and tommorrow take care of itself
and make the best of the passing moment and get what enjoyment he can out
of surrounding circumstances, but his mind will at times go back to times
past when enjoying the comforts of home and the pleasure of mingling in the
society of his friends and all that makes life pleasant; and then compare
it with his condition in camp, he finds that contrast not very encouraging,
but we are learning to take things as they come and not fret about that which
we cannot controll the prospect of a speedy termination of the war seems to
be as remote as ever, although the army of the west seems to be making some
progress...
yours Truly
John C. Griswold