January 27, 1863. A promotion. Settling accounts.

E. D. Keyes
Capt. Co. H

                                        "Fairfax Station Jan 27, 1863
"Dear Father:

"It has been a long, long time since I wrote you, and it has been long time since I have seen hardly a chance as I have busy most every moment when I have been well. I will try and write more frequently hereafter. I have been well most of the time.

About 3 weeks ago I tryed to have a little sick spell but did not make out much as I was sick only about a week. I had a fever to start with but my good boys came in and took real good care of me.--gave me a sweat --some physic--soaked my feet and everything until they broke it up.

"This was while we were at Fairfax Court-House. We are now 3 miles from there in a Souther direction as you will see by the heading. We moved here last Tuesday morn. I was not well at the time but came through with the rest, put up my tent built my bunk but I was sick all day coughed all the time most. I piled into rest as soon as much and the next morning Mr. Measles had just peppered up my face good.

"I have not got fully over them yet but am doing well. Yesterday was the first day that I sat up any. I had very good cure considering the place we have. ... I hankered after some of that good cider most of anything. I write this letter by odd jobs as I sit up at different times through the day. Guess that you have heard enough about measles.

"I see by the papers that you have been making Sweet again in the winter. What in fury are you all doing there at home. I have written to you Laura and all most and not a letter have I received. I have not heard a word from home since Lettie left there in the fore part of the winter. What is Mrs. Fay doing these days? I should like to see her much. Give my love to her and tell her that big blanket was just the nicest thing in the world to bring out the measles. Kept me warm and comfortable. Have not been cold since I got it.

"I remember that when we were at Windsor you laughed that our Capt would never make much you guessed right the first time. He never was good for anything for a Capt. He and the 2nd Lieut. were called before the Col for examination and was advised to resign and they did. They would have been obliged to if they not accepted his advice so the command fell wholly on me until another should be appointed.

"I worked day & night almost for about a week settling the affairs of the Co with him. Every thing belonging to the Co (which we had to take account stock to find out how much) had to be turned over to me and I receipt for it. You have no idea how much writing I have to do. I had rather keep two sets of books in Fays store than keep the Co. Books here.

"As you no doubt have heard I was fortunate enough to be called to the Col quarters to get my commission as Capt. of the Co. I am doing all I can to make it appear well. The Col said the other day that my Co had improved 100 per cent since I took command. A compliment I thought. More soon Elmer"   ~  E. D. Keyes, Captain, Company H, Sixteenth Regiment, Letter of January 27, 1863




"Fairfax Station, Va. January 27, 1863

"Dear Parents,

"I have somewhat overrun my usual week but still I hope for pardon as I have been quite busy of late. Yesterday and the day before I was in the Capt.'s office helping to fix up accounts preparatory to payday and tonight the Paymaster is in camp and has commenced work. We are to be paid from Aug. 29th, the day we organized, to Nov. 1st, ($27.30). 

"I shall endeavor to send home the quarter part of mine as I shall have enough without it. ... I have been detailed at the quartermaster this afternoon and am to go again tomorrow. Whether the detail will be permanent or not I do not know." ~ Hezron G. Day, pvt., Company C, Sixteenth Regiment, Letter of January 27, 1863

January 20, 1863. "The brigade is now scattered."

On January 20, 1863, Burnside attempts a flanking manoever at Fredericksburg, to become know as his "mud march."  Around 11am, Generals Franklin and Hooker begin their move. Slocom fills their gap, and the Second Vermont Brigade takes Slocum's position. The Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth, with the Second Connecticut battery, march to Fairfax Station, where they occupy, in part, the stockades and barracks which had sheltered Slocum's men. The Station, a military village of sheds and store tents, is the base of supplies for the thousands of troops at Centreville, Fairfax Court House, Union Mills, and other points in the vicinity, and as such needs to be strongly guarded.  The Twelfth and Thirteenth move on seven miles farther to Wolf Run Shoals, where one of the highways leading from Fairfax Court House south to Dumfries crosses the Occoquan. By evening it begins to rain. ~ 2 George Grenville Benedict,  Vermont in the Civil War 424 (Burlington Vt 1888)

Wolf Run Shoals, on the Occoquan River, was an important crossing point for travelers between Alexandria and Richmond dating to colonial times. A history of the ford during the Civil war is found here.


"January 20. For the twelfth time we are in a new camp. Our present one is half a mile south of Fairfax Station. At seven o’clock this morning everything was in readiness to be moved, and the regiment in line. Our Lieut. Colonel gave the command, Battalion! Right Face! Forward March! and arrived here at ten o’clock in the forenoon, five miles from our former encampment.

"[P]resent indication warn us that before we can possibly got our tents pitched, [a storm] will be upon us." ~ J. C. Williams, Corporal, Co. B, 14th Regiment, Life in Camp, 73-74 (1864)

"Tuesday 20th. Reveille rather earlier than usual. Reg't broke camp & marched at 7 o'clock. The day was clear & just cold enough to make it good marching. Stood the march to Wolf-run-shoals on the Occoquan river, pretty well; a distance of about 12 miles. 1 mile from our old camp to F.C.H. 3½ to the Station, & about 7½ to our present camp. 

"My feet got a little sore, because I marched in my "gunboats" which have rather thin soles, but I put on boots on the way & so came comparatively comfortable. We made but two halts on our journey & so were pretty tired when we reached here.  

"At Wolf-run-shoals, we found an old camp & shanties, just left by a reg of Gen Slocumb's corps, with fires still burning in the fireplaces. We secured one of these shanties & put our shelter tents over for a roof & were pretty comfortable. C.O. F. was detailed to remain & watch over the company interests in the old camp. Gen Slocumb passed us on our march. Also a part of his wagon train was passed by us. 

"5 weeks & 4 days we have remained in Camp Fairfax. Peace to its beauty." ~ Diary of Horace Barlow, 70-71, Co. C, 12th Regiment


"Jan. 20. "This morning at five ... the beat of the drum. Soon the camps are all lighted; the rolls called; things packed; the mule teams loaded; and we are marching a little after day-light. We have gone but a few rods, when one comes from the brigade hospital to our company: "John Canady is dead," he said: "died at midnight." "died at midnight." "John Canady is dead," passes down the line from mouth to mouth. The next day a soldier goes back to see that his body is sent to his friends.

"None have any regrets at turning their back on this place; for the brigade has four dead men now in the hospital, and a hundred and fifty sick,- some with typhoid fever, but most with the measles.

"We have reached our destination the middle of the afternoon - a high bluff near the Occoquan river, (twelve miles march,) with aching backs and weary legs. ... As soon as it is known that we are to halt here through the night, all are working in great haste. The trees (for we are in a pine forest) fall as if the men were clearing the land. The tents are close behind us; and pitched before dark. We have no stoves; no brick with which we can make fireplaces; and the ground is frozen. ...

"A battery of cannon follows us, and is planted to defend the fords of the river; and the telegraph is strung through the forest.

"The brigade is now scattered; two regiments are here; the other three at Fairfax Station, -eight miles in the rear." ~ Lt. Edwin Palmer, 13th Regiment,  The Second Brigade: or, Camp Life, By a Volunteer (1864).

Harper's Weekly, January 24, 1863

January 19, 1863. "In the afternoon there is a funeral." At evening, Orders for the whole Brigade to move.

Fairfax Courthouse
William Henry Jackson

"Fairfax Court House,

"Jan. 19th, 1863
"Dear Parents,

"Better, much better, in my opinion, is Uncle Joseph and I thought I would pen just a brief note to inform you of it, thinking that it might somewhat allay the anxiety which you and Maria would he likely to feel for him.

"We move in the morning though we don't know certain where. We expect either to go down to the Station or to a place called Woolf Shoals some ten or twelve miles from here. We go at seven. All well as usual except a sore thumb which plagues me some about writing. Slocum's Division which has all along been around the Station have just left, which we suppose to be the occasion for our moving. Nothing more now. H.G.Day"  ~ Hezron G. Day, pvt., Company C, Sixteenth Regiment, Letter of January 19, 1863


"Monday 19th. We, four, were excused & built a splendid stockade for our tent. Were completing it, by the Captains tent & were intending to put our tent upon it to-morrow, when orders came for "Captains to hold their Co's in readiness to march to-morrow Morning at 7 o'clock." We have always said that when we built, we should move in a day or two, & it seems that our prohecy is correct." ~ Diary of Horace Barlow, 70, Co. C, 12th Regiment

"Jan. 19. We start off and work about two hours on the new quarters, (the cold compels us to move briskly,) when orders come from some higher source, and we soon shoulder our spades, return, and exchange them for the rifles, and go to drilling. 

"The old brick tavern in the village is used for the brigade hospital, where are brought, from the regimental hospitals, those who are the most dangerously sick. The bodies of nearly all who have died in our brigade have been embalmed and sent home, at the expense of the companies to which they belonged. 

"In the afternoon there is a funeral. The soldier died last night at the village, and wished to be buried there, saying that his wife could not endure the sight of his dead body.

"The chaplain, musicians, his company, and such as choose to from the regiment, follow him to the grave. His is placed, before leaving the hospital, in a government coffin, made of boards painted black,-with the clothes on that he wore when alive. He is now laid in the ground four feet deep; twelve of his comrades fire their farewell shots; the chaplain speaks consoling words, offers a prayer to God and pronounces a benediction; and we turn away, not as when we came, with a slow and measured tread, - the drummers beating the dead-march, - but with quicker steps, a livelier air, - Yankee Doodle.

"As we reach camp it is noised about that we are going on a march to-morrow."  ~ Lt. Edwin Palmer, 13th Regiment,  The Second Brigade: or, Camp Life, By a Volunteer (1864) 

"January 19. I have just received a box of delicacies from home, and fear that I shall be very much indisposed to do duty if I indulge in eating much of it, for such a sudden transition from "hard tack” and coffee to the luxuries of home will not be beneficial.

"Marching orders have been received by the brigade to-day, to be ready to march in the morning to Fairfax Station, to take the place of Slocum’s division, which has been ordered on to Fredericksburg to join Burnside. And thus another week of hard industrious labor has been in vain, for we are not to enjoy its benefits." ~ J. C. Williams, Corporal, Co. B, 14th Regiment, Life in Camp, 71 (1864)

"I cant stop to write you a very long letter as I have been hard at work all day and it is late & we move at 7 o clock to-morrow morn -- not far down at the Rail Road Station. I have my camp in splendid condition. The winter is very different from last winter. No rain scarcely and most of the time quite clear & cold. My Regt have been healthy I think generally but are badly off now with measles. My health is excellent. . . ." ~ Wheelock G. Veazey to Julia A. Veazey, January 19, 1863 UVM

Sunday, January 16, 1863. Measles are in Camp

"Camp near Fairfax Courthouse Courthouse

"January 16, 1863 

"Rain again and it rained again all last night but did not wet the roof of our house through so as to leak. I would not wonder if the rainy season had fairly commenced and that we are a permanent fixture here until after mud time. 

"The measles are in camp. There have been twenty or thirty cases of them but they say that they run light. ...I have seen Uncle Joseph again this morning. He thinks he is a little better though not much. He says he has just had such turns at home so I suppose Aunt M. will understand his case better than I can describe it. His tent mates will take good care of him as possible, I guess. He wanted me to say that he had written three letters since January 1st and understood that Aunt had not received any of them. He says he will write again as soon as he feels able. I am well enough myself, have not got the measles yet, though I may have if they take a thorough run through camp.

"In regard to discipline and punishment, I presume you do not think we are all natural fools to be here three months and not know what is allowable and what not. Besides, our officers are not of that class that they take any extra pains to have the boys get into trouble. Our 2nd Lt. Peabody has been promoted to 1st Lt., and we are to have the Sergeant Major for our new 2nd Lt. He is a smart officer and I think we shall like him very well, but what is really wonderful is the fact that Jason Freeman has been appointed 2nd Lt. of the Co. "H" (the Felchville Co.) He was the Colonel's waiter. The boys all hate him so, even though they like Peabody first rate.

"...You ask particularly about our living...so I will tell you what we have had today: in the morning, tea, which I have got so I won't drink, boiled fresh beef and our day's ration of bread, - eleven hard tacks. At noon, all the beans we could eat, which we always season with cayenne; at night, coffee and boiled bacon. Good enough for anybody, wasn't it? And enough of it surely. We have beans about twice a week and rice soup or potatoes the rest of the time. And speaking of soup: our cooks make better soups than you ever did or ever can see unless you have the hard tacks to put in for dumplings. We have some hard and some soft bread, and I had as least have the hard as the soft, although the soft is very good, better a great deal than we got at Brattleboro. And our beef is first rate also. I wish I could send home half a bushel of hard tack as curiosities. John Knights has got so that he sends home recipes for cooking to his wife, and she tries them and calls the result good, yea very good! We are not having as hard a time of it as you imagine, indeed we get along very comfortably and hope that you at home manage to do the same.

"Orlo Fullam has just been detailed to go to the ambulance corps, a good chance for him as he had some difficulty with his feet, which troubled him much about marching.

"The wind is blowing in a style that would not disgrace Vermont, though there is no snow on the ground to sing and whistle about our ears. And the ground was not frozen this afternoon, though it may be before morning. But no more for now." ~ Hezron G. Day, pvt., Company C, Sixteenth Regiment, Letter of January 15, 1863

[ Harland Orlando Peabody,  Andover, VT, age 23, 1SGT, Co. C, 16th VT , comn 2LT, Co. C, 10/23/62 , promoted 1LT, Co. H, 12/31/62 (1/7/63), promoted Adjutant, 4/1/63 (4/23/63)..  Abram Rowell, private in Co. C ,wrote home January16: "We have lost our best officer. That is Lieutenant Peabody. He has been promoted to First Lieutenant in Co. H. We miss him very much. The boys all wish he might be our captain, most all instead the one we now have."]