Camp near Moss Neck, Va.,
May 9, 1863.
On Saturday morning
(the 2d inst.) I received an order to ship the wounded to Richmond, store our
medical supplies and follow the wagon train to Chancellorsville. I carried the
chest of supplies to a large house, which Stonewall Jackson had for his
headquarters, and was met at the door by a young lady who was whistling. She
appeared to be quite aristocratic and was very courteous to us.
We started late in
the afternoon, and I marched with the wagon train all night. It was carrying
rations and did not stop once. Most of the road was through woods, but we could
see well enough to march all night, and in some places there was mud, but no
wagon stalled.
Just before daylight
I saw a dead Yankee lying close to the right of the road. I did not know until
then that there had been any fighting. I knew our command left that morning,
but had heard no firing and knew nothing of what had taken place. Just as it
was getting light the Yankees threw shells, which burst about the wagons, and
the teamsters became excited and began whipping their horses and hurrying to
get away; but a quartermaster at once commanded them to keep quiet and get away
in good order, and the excitement ceased. The fighting then began just as soon
as they could see.
I went on hunting
for the field infirmary, and when I found it our wounded were coming back and a
few had been brought back before I got there, and I at once went to work
assisting in amputations, and continued at it all day and until late at night.
Jackson's men came
in from the rear on Saturday night and drove the Yankees from their breastworks
and occupied them that morning (Sunday, May 3). The Yankees came back early and
tried to retake them, and I could hear them fighting furiously for several
hours. We knew nothing of Stonewall Jackson's being shot the night before.
During the assault
Colonel Edwards walked along on top of the works waving his sword to encourage
his men, and was shot through the shoulder. When he was brought back I helped
him out of the ambulance and expressed sympathy for him, which caused him to
shed tears, but he said nothing. Colonel James Perrin was brought back shot
through the body and in great agony, and General McGowan was struck below the
knee while standing upon the works. I saw my brother once during the day
bringing a wounded man back.
Captain McFall and
Lieutenant Mike Bowers came back looking for stragglers, and found four young
men who were known to be cowards, but who were always great braggarts after a
battle was over. They all pretended to be sick, but I could see no indications
of it, and they were marched off, but, before reaching the works, one of them
slipped away, although the fighting had ended.
After all the
wounded were attended to I was very tired and went to sleep late that night in
a tent. I would wake up cold during the night and reach out for a jug of
whiskey and take a swallow and go back to sleep again.
The next morning
(Monday the 4th) we did nothing. Several handsome young Yankee surgeons in fine
uniforms came over with a white flag, and I went to where they were attending
to their wounded. While there I talked with a wounded man from Ohio, and saw
one of our soldiers cut a forked limb from a tree and make a crutch for a
Yankee who was wounded in the foot. The unfed horses of a Yankee cavalry
regiment had been hitched to the trees near by and had gnawed off all the bark
within their reach.
We stayed there for
three days until the Yankees crossed back over the Rappahannock River, and then
we marched back to Moss Neck in the daytime in peace and found our tents
standing where we left them.
SOURCE: Dr. Spencer G.
Welch, A Confederate Surgeon's Letters to His Wife, p. 50-3
