Monday. June 22, 1863. Some were minus legs and arms.

"Monday 22nd Co. Drill in A.M. Then getting excused from Noon roll-call, C. Thacher & I departed for "Sally Davis'". Stayed to dinner, which was very fair, had a good visit & returned to camp about 3 P.M. Battalion drill in P.M. & Dress Parade in eve. It is vastly more pleasant here, than it was in the Winter, when the mud was so deep & everything so drear." ~ Diary of Horace Barlow (UVM), 132, Horace Barlow, Pvt., Co. C, 12th Regiment

"Camp of the 12th Regt. About one mile from Wolf run 

June 22nd 1863

"Dear Parents:   I now seat Myself to write you a few lines to let you know that I am yet alive and well and hope this will find you the same.   it is pleasant and warm to day ... yesterday there was very heavy Canonading off Towards Thorifare(?) Gap but dont know where it was.   James w. Taylor is here in my tent he is pretty poor and Weak, but is in pretty good Spirits ... we are in Camp about 3/4 of a mile from where we was last Winter. We Expect to have to go out on picket tomorrow but do not know. 

"to day there has been a paper to see if the boys will vote to stay six months more but I Think that Capt will vote to go home Just as Soon as Uncle Samuel will let us go and then we can Talk about Enlisting and that is that ... Well I think that I will put by this Writing a little While. 

"half past five P.M. I will now try and finish this letter. there has been pretty heavy fireing this afternoon. We have been out on Battalion drill Just for a Change...." ~ Ulysses Haller Hammond, West Windsor,  Co. A, 12th Regt Letter No. 44, June 22, 1863

"Camp Carusi 

June 22th 1863

"Dear Mother, I rec’d your last letter some days ago but have been so busy that I have not had time to answer it till now. My health is good at this time and the rest of our boys seem to be feeling well now days. We remain on our old ground (no, I am mistaken we have moved just swung the Regt. round so we are within ten rods of where we have been all the time). 

"We have not had anything to disturb us as yet, although we are on the very front here. There are no troops between us and the Rebels. One wing of Hooker’s army is within eight miles of here and are the only guard they have, so we occupy a very important position. If we allow ourselves to be surprised without giving them the alarm, serious consequences might be the result but we shant. Our pickets are vigilant. No force can approach without their being aware of it.

"... It does not seem that nine months have past since I left home (or nearly that). It has been the shortest nine months that ever I saw and the time now passes off very fast. I suppose the reason is that we are kept too busy. We are on duty three days in a week but it is not hard. The nights are so short that it does not seem as bad as it did last winter and we can lay down and sleep anywhere without a blanket and not be cold.

"There has been fighting above here for three days, mostly artillery and cavalry. I went to the station yesterday as one of the guards (we have to guard the teams since the others were taken) and I saw some of the wounded and some prisoners. They said our men were driving the Rebels and after I came away. There were some more passed. Some were minus legs and arms. They were hit in every place that it don’t seem possible that they could live so long."~ James Willson, 13th Regt., pvt, Co. B., Letter #52, June 22, 1863 (VHS)

"Camp Carusi, 

"June 22, 1863.

"My Dear Sister, -Everybody moves but us. This picket line is still kept up. The boys were going to move long before, and fight the enemy; but not a rebel has been seen yet. The oft repeated question is, "Where is Lee?" Some say he is in the Shenandoah valley; others think that he is just south of the Bull Run battle-field. Gen. Hooker's army corps are within supporting distance of each other in the vicinity of Centreville and Fairfax Court House. 

"It is reported that a few of the enemy have reached Pennsylvania, and that Harrisburg is in danger. We do not know what to think of these things, or how this great move will finally turn out. 

"The soldiers are in good health and spirits. None expect a large force this way; but in case of a great battle near where the armies have met twice before, this brigade will doubtless take part in the bloody drama. The excitement is just enough for some, operating like wine on them." ~ Lt. Edwin Palmer, 13th Regiment, The Second Brigade: or, Camp Life, By a Volunteer (1864)