| | 1 | Author: | Brand Civil War Collection: Brand, William Francis | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Brand Civil War Collection: Letter from William Francis Brand to
Amanda Catherine Armentrout, 1864 September 13  | | | | Published: | 2000 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Civil War Collection | UVA-LIB-BrandLetterscivilwar | | | | Description: | I seat my self this morning for the purpose ofdroping you a few lines. Yesterday the 12th we ware on
Picket & the enimies
cavelry attacked us.
And I am sorry to inform you that your brother was
taken prisaner, also
Sargt
Hays,{1} James
Trotter,{2} Samuel A.
Lightner{3} and James Hutcheson, we{4}
were on picket at Waidsville on the Opecken
river one & a half miles from Brucetown; only thirty men of the 5th Regtwas thare a very small force
to contend with the two brigads of Cavelry,
We held them in check for about three quarters of an hour. When about
two Hundred charged acroſs the ford
getting into our rear, we all clubed together
& fell back about two Hundred yards,
When the Wcavelry that had got in our
rear charged us
cauling loudly on sus to surrender, But the little band
heeded them not but
continued pooring volley after volley into thare midts, almost evry shot
taking effect. one charged up within six or eight yards of me whirling his
sword around one of company D who threw down his gun & surrendered, he then
cauled on me to surrender,
the
boys kept hollowing to me to shoot
him but unfortunatly I had just shot
at the bulk when he road up I pre tended to have my gun loaded & ready to shoot him
if he moved. Several of the boys fired at him & the balls
coming so unplesantly near him he whirled
his horse & made tracks
we soon percieved we
were getting them demorolised
& we charged them, driving them from our front, we
ha'nt got more than three Hundred yds when thay
ware reinforced & charged us again in wich our boys ware taken.
thay ware trying to lget to a smallbunch of timber; seeing they could not reach in time
they whirled & fired into the
advancing foe & kept loading firing
untill thay ware all mixed up with the
foe, Seeing thay ware
overpowered & a further attempt to whip the enemy usleſs,
thay surrendered several of our boys seen them going back under guard,
all of us that made for a deep ravine got out safe, one overtook little George Hutchison just
as he got to the ravine & ordered him to surrender George said he was almost scared to death at the
old sword whizzing around his head but he jumped
into the brush & shot the Yank dead of his
horse, our loss in killed &
wounded was very light One of Comp. H was
mortally wounded & died in the eavning
his name was Strausburg{5}, a brother
to the Strausburg in our band.
one of Camp K. recieved a
flesh wound in the our loſs was the
heavyest in
prisaners. Some twelve or fifteen
from the regt. The enimy mostly used
thare
sabers I am certain thay did'nt loose leſs than forty in killed &
wounded
Jake was enjoying very good health I hope he may meet with kind friends
& mild treatment also the
rest of our unfortunate friends, Again we are
left without an office in our Comp. It is
reported that Sam Hays is on his way down to the
Comp. I think the rest of Comp. E will have to go to fort
delaware to recruit, we have
Eleven hear yet & I am sure we can whip
twist that nuomber of
Yanks, My health is very good & hope this may find
you enjoying the same, Thare has been a
great deal of wet weather down hear It has been
raining all morning this is a very cold
rain, It will not be very long until we will
need our over
coats, I heard from both of my Brothers C is at Camp Elmira New York & J at the
hospital in Baltimore J can begin to use his arm & is enjoying
good health, I must close write soon. May heavens
richest blessings
shower arou
nd thee, My love to all, | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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