Augusta County: Jedediah Hotchkiss to Sara A. Hotchkiss, June
22, 1864
Summary:
Hotchkiss describes skirmishing with Union troops, and a cavalry pursuit when the Union
troops retreated.
Sara A. Hotchkiss
June 22 nd 1864
Bottetourt Springs
My Dear Sara:
Capt Sterrett is here & says he is going on & will have a chance to send you
a letter -- so I avail myself of the opportunity, tho' very tired
& wanting rest -- I have not yet heard directly from you, but
generally from the neighborhood & suppose you got along like the rest of the community
& may thank God that it is no worse -- I cannot come to lament the loss of my excellent
friend & neighbor Harvey Bear, one of the most unobtrusively good men I have ever known
-- I do most sincerly condole with his afflicted family -- I saw
poor James & he could only speak of it with the tears welling to his eyes. I wrote to
you from Charlottesville -- we went the next day to Lynchburg on the cars, taking our horses
along -- we found the enemy three miles from there & had a little skirmish with them in
which young Tinsley of Staunton was killed, our loss very small, in numbers & we drove
back the advance of the enemy with considerable loss to them -- our whole corps got up Saturday
& we prepared to attack the enemy on all sides Sunday morning, but during the night the
Vandals ran away -- we followed them as far as Liberty in Bedford Co. Sunday, 25 miles over a
rocky & dusty road
[page 2]
picking up some stragglers & killed a few in a
skirmish -- we kept up the pursuit Monday -- all day -- hot & dusty, an occasional
fight with the enemys rear, to Buford's Gap in the Blue Ridge -- the
enemy plundering & burning as they went stripping every house of all its provisions,
driving off the stock of all kinds & in many cases tearing up the clothes &
plundering the trunks &c of the citizens -- we could not get a chance to fight them --
they moved so rapidly -- we sent our cavary round to Salem, by Buchanan, to cut off the enemys retreat through the Mts. & yesterday our weary &
hungry men pressed on after them & Ransom with the cavalry got to the Gap which they
were passing through & fell on them & captured & brought off 4 pieces
of artillery & 5 caissons 140 artillery horses & some 200 cav. Horses a lot of wagons & some 150 prisoners & made them burn up
some 20 wagons 6 pieces of artillery which we afterwards got -- our cavalry hung on their
flanks & rear all day & did them considerable damage, but our infantry could
not get up until they had all gotten through the Gap -- for many of our men had had no bread
for 3 days -- we had marched so fast &
[page 3]
far that the commissary wagons could
not get up -- The cavalry has gone on after the enemy & we are all in camp today in the
vicinity of Botetourt Springs resting & getting up on our rations & washing My
shirt is if anything a shade darker than the ground -- have not had any clean clothes in 10
days, but William is washing now -- & I hope to be clean once more -- our wagons are up
with us this morning for the first time since we left Charlottesville -- we have been getting
along the best we could & the people have been very kind to us although they have
suffered so terribly from the Yankees -- we spent last night at the Bot. Sps. (Hollins Institute) there is no school here now, a
fever in the Spring took off 6 young ladies & they closed the school -- one of the Miss
Chapmans from [unclear: Lanz] is here & quite anxious to go home --
As I wrote to you from C. I expect to see you all soon -- without rendering any military reason & you need not tell any one either! Though I know we shall both be glad to see
[page 4]
each other -- I cannot
write more now -- so good bye & the Lord bless you all
Your Aff husband
Jed. Hotchkiss
