Camp in the field 26 miles fr RichmondMay 14th 1862My Darling Wife:

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This is a rainy night & I feel not very well. We encamped at Cumberland Landing on the Pamonkey River last night. This morning we came to this camp, still on the Pamonkey, and on the Whitehouse farm, the house where Washington found his wife. The property is now owned by the descendant of her family. It was & is one of the largest estates in Va. The original estate was I think 14000 acres, now divided between two men by the name of Lee. The owner of this farm is an officer in the rebel service. I think it is the finest estate I ever saw. The house is in good condition & most beautifully located. The river navigable for our gun-boats & transports, runs within a few rods of the house and has a good landing. There are fine lawns and gardens about the house, and drives for miles on the plantation - large fields running back from the house perfectly level & in good cultivation - clover in blossom & wheat three feet high in fields of 700 acres. There are

120 servants here and hundreds elsewhere on the plantation. It seems as tho the human heart could scarcely desire anything more than this estate affords. Yet its lordly owner has left it all for a false idea. This is but one illustration of the zeal & earnestness of these people. The mass of our forefathers made no such sacrifices as the mass of these Southerners are making now. How we succeed so well ag’st them is a mystery. Of course the memory of Washington is enough alone to make us guard everything with even a tender care. Not a tree, nor shrub, nor a fence is allowed to be touched about the house. Nor is anyone allowed to enter the grounds about it. I have charge of all property, therefore I went all over the premises. We dont allow the men to mingle with the negroes even, or go into their houses. I believe there is some condition in their bondage. They were to have been freed in a few years had not these troubles arose. The enemy are just in front of us. We expect a large battle soon at the Chickahomony Swamp. It is a place almost unapproachable of itself and with very formidable defenses. I dont know how we can get at them. But it dont seem

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possible we could have anything worse than we have had to go through. This army labors under the great disadvantage of having a greater foe or obstacle in the geography of the country than in the enemy altho he so much outnumbers us. We have to build roads up to the rebel works & then drive them out. We succeed well enough to but we cant have the glory of brilliant achievements. When we have whipped the enemy we have an interminable swamp & blockaded roads be- fore us so we cannot press them with success. And they have certainly conducted their retreat most masterly. They manage to keep their train ahead of their army & seldom have to destroy or lose anything. I hope they will fight in Va & not compel us to follow them all over this wide Southern Country. General McClellan keeps along with us. He has his three favorite divisions, Franklins, Porters, and Smiths & the regulars with him now which makes us think there is mire ahead. His presence would be equivalent to several thousand men in a battle. A victory for us near Richmond would probably end the summer campaign with this army. I think their next line of defences will be more successful to them than any they have adopted. The war has taught them much & they will probably

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adopt a different plan from that which they have practised so far. I should like to have gone into Norfolk & called on yr friends. What do you suppose they think of Yankee valor now? It is amusing to hear these deluded citizens talk. They seem almost disappointed because we dont kill them, but they say it will come when we are driven back, then we shall pillage, burn, & murder. Any officer or soldier caught taking anything, whether abandoned or not is arrested, put in irons & tried by a military commission. I hope it wont rain to-morrow as we want to attack a body of rebels that occupy a stronghold not far in front of us. Its been nearly a week since any of this division have had a brush except to make a dash at their pickets once or twice. The men get very impatient now if several days go by without a fight. The prisoners repot that they regard the Vermont & Massachusetts troops the best in our army. They give the 3rd Vt full credit for their daring at Lees Mills. They say that when they saw those Cos. wading to their necks for 30 rods holding their rifles & cartridges above their heads & their ranks being thinned at every step but no faltering in the line, they concluded it was best to give up the rifle pit at once. The report in the rebel army was that these were a few picked men of our army & made drunk & then sent across. Well my love I have got to the bottom of this now [stale]> sheet pardon me for I dont feel very well, was up at 3 o’clock this morn.

Yr devoted husbandW.G. Veazey