Augusta County: Tony Pastor to Annie Harris,
December 24, 1861
Summary:
Pastor writes that his Company, without him because of an illness, traveled
to destroy a dam but was unsuccessful. He says that he and his fellow
soldiers are considering joining the regular army so that they can have
furloughs.
December 24th 1861
Dear Annie,
[picture of a cannon firing beside a "Stars and Bars" flag with 10
stars]
Bright banner of freedom with pride I unfold thee;
Fair
flag of my country with love I behold thee,
Gleaming above us in
freshness and youth;
Emblem of liberty, symbol of truth;
For the
flag of my country in triumph shall wave,
O'er the Southerner's home
and the Southerner's grave.
Confederate States of America
I am again seated by the same old fire place, where I was when I last wrote
you. We have just returned from one of the severest marches we have had
since we came into the service - namely a trip to the Potomac. [deleted: 2] Two weeks ago yesterday there
was a detachment of 4 companies from our Regiment sent to [illeg.]
so 4 on the Potomac, for the purpose of
breaking up the dam. I was unwell at the time, consequently was left behind
to take care of the baggage in company with three or four others who were
in a like condition. Our company was one of the 4. they took the cars at
Stephenson's Depot which is within a few hundred yards of our camp. from
thence they went to Charlestown, where they stayed a day. from thence they
marched through Shepards Town on to the dam
[page 2]
which was for the
time to be the scene of action. They had two pieces of the Rockbridge
Artillery with them for the purpose of scaling the walls. But owing to the fact of there being so many Yankees on the opposite shore, & the
almost impossibility of breaking the dam, they returned to martinsburg
(bring[added: ing] with [added: them] 8 prisoners - Consisting of 1 Captain, 2 Sargeants
& 5 Privates. They had been sent out as a scout &
unfortunately for themselves were discovered by our galant & brave
Colonel Ashby who with a detachment of his
Cavalry soon surrounded them & in a few moments they were our
prisoners. They fought like heroes till the very last, & even after
our men had taken them, one of them attempted to shoot, but it was no use.)
Our men remained in Martinsburg until the 16th at which time the rest of the Regiment joined
them in Company with the whole of the Brigade. We then went to [unclear: sam
so]
[illeg.] - which is still higher up the river. For the purpose of
breaking
[page 3]
it, in which we succeeded nobly, losing but one man. he was a member of the
Rockbridge Rifles by the name of Parks. It would be useless for me to
attempt to give you a full description of
all that we saw & heard, whilst on the aforesaid
expedition. suffice it to say that we had the
pleasure of seeing a goodly number of Yankees. [unclear: paid] the
compliments of the day by throwing bomb shells at
each other & many other attractive scenes too
numerous to narrate at present I must hasten on to
a conclusion as it is very cold this morning so
much so that I can scarcly write. I recognize a letter from Tom B. last
night, was glad to hear that he was enjoying himself so much with the
ladies. Hope he may [added: be] successful in
winning the affections of some fair maid.
I wish I could be with you all tomorrow to get something good at eat for
dinner, but alas; it can't be so. How great the
contrast will be with
[page 4]
many of us this
Christmas to what it was last. But I hope this will not be your lot. May
you have a merry time in the [unclear: prayers] of us all.
A great many of us have almost come to the conclusion to join the regular army, as there is no prospect of us ever getting home any other way. If we join the regular service we will be allowed [unclear: 60] days furlough & [illeg.] of 50 [illeg.] which is considerable [illeg.] to many - Well I must stop for the present & make some arrangements for dinner. Give my best respects to Miss Jenni & Mollie & all the rest of my lady acquaintances.
Yours in haste
Tony P
P.S.
Let me hear from you after the holiday, & give me a full history.
I had forgotten to say that I had received your last, the perusal of
which was a source of much
pleasure I assure you
Tony P
Mc sends his love to you all with a desire
to hear from you soon. If [illeg.] out any [illeg.]
old [illeg.] send Mc &
soldier
[illeg.] want to make sure [illeg.]
[illeg.]
[illeg.]
[illeg.] much like getting in a big bust
