April 15, 1863. Waiting. Rained hard all day

Sentry at
Railroad Bridge, Union Mills April 1863
((US National Archives))

"Wednesday 15th. Find myself with a cold & very sore throat. Reg't quiet as ever. Everything quiet, in fact, everywhere, apparently. Nothing going on; Everybody seems to be waiting for our order to move. Commenced to rain this morning about 2 o'clock & rained hard all day & till 9 at night. Shelter tents are a slightly questionable shelter when pitched so low as we have them on our old A. tent stockade."  ~ Diary of Horace Barlow, 105, Pvt., Co. C, 12th Regiment

"April 15. No move yet, but speedy preparations are being made for a move of some kind. Our A tents are to be taken away from us, and orders from the quartermaster that no more clothing will be issued for thirty days. Officers are to be left with nothing but fly tents, so they will fare no better than their men."  ~ J. C. Williams, Corporal, Co. B, 14th Regiment, Life in Camp,109 (1864).

"Union Mills, VA

April 16th [1863]

"Dear Addie,

"In my last letter I wrote we were going to move the next morning but that night and the next day it rained hard all the while so we did not move. The stream was so high it carried away the railroad bridge across Bull Run stream. They had some fifty hands to work repairing it. They had just got it finished so we were going to cross the next morning if it had not rained . . ." ~ Abram Rowell, Co. C, 16th Regiment to Adaline (Way) Rowell letter 15