camp Near Seneca, October 28, 1861.
I wish you could have looked in on our camp this morning.
The stockings came last night. They were spread out under an oak-tree, and the
companies were well supplied. The men were radiant over them. The memory of our
cold, wet week's marching and countermarching was still fresh. The chill of the
October morning had not yet yielded to the glowing brightness of the sun. The
sight of the stockings made us feel warm again. The young officers paid
particular attention to the bundle from Professor Agassiz's school
I had no idea that the stockings were so much needed, but
the fact is, they are so much better than the ones given by government, that
the men are eager for them. The captains all say that there could not be a
better gift. We shall await the coming of the shirts and drawers with pleasure
Collect and keep stockings, if you are willing to do so, against another time
of need. Convey, in some form, to the donors, our high appreciation of their
kindness. It is the thing. And it makes men feel a tingle of grateful
pleasure out here, to think they are remembered and cared for at home. Apart,
even, from their usefulness, the stockings bring a warming and cheering
sensation to the men. That is the moral aspect of the present.
We made a brisk little march yesterday morning, and at noon
were in camp again, on a charming spot, sheltered by a fine wood, within the
edge of which are the field and staff tents, while the regiment extends out
into the open field. We are within a mile of the Potomac. The enemy's pickets
ornament the opposite shore, while we adorn this. The point is near the mouth
of the Seneca, and about opposite Drainsville.
After a week's work, we are again, on this Monday,
apparently as far from any immediate active duty as we were a week ago. I do
not know that I can bring myself now to be so impatient of delay as I have
been. It was the itch for a poor kind of distinction that led to the massacre
at Leesburg.
We find, on our return to our old division, that the
regiment is reassigned to General Abercrombie's brigade; and to-morrow we are
to move into our new position. The General places us first in his, the First
Brigade. That gives us the post of honor, — the right of the whole of
General Banks's Division.
I have not yet commenced my duties as Examiner of Officers.
We have been so locomotory lately that there has been no time for anything. A
pretty low standard of qualifications will have to be adopted, or we shall have
to exclude a great many of the present officers.
William, I suppose, is down on his old ground again,
opposite Aquia Creek, trying to reopen, or keep open, the Potomac. Well, I wish
him luck; but the leaves of autumn are falling, and we seem to be just about in
the same position that we were when I saw the buds first bursting last spring
in Annapolis.
SOURCE: Elizabeth Amelia Dwight, Editor, Life and
Letters of Wilder Dwight: Lieut.-Col. Second Mass. Inf. Vols., p.
131-2
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