| | 1 | Author: | Senior, Charles Berry | Add | | | Title: | Letter from Charles Berry Senior to his Father, 1865 March 29  | | | | Published: | 2000 | | | | Description: | I received your letters
of the 15 Jan. and 21st Feb. on our
arrival here 2 days ago. I am very
well and have been on our march
and hope that
you may all be the
same. After having been cut off
from the civilized world for nearly
2 months we have again a chance
to communicate with our
friends
at home. Another terrible blow
has been struck at the reeling
con
federacy and I suppose that
Sherman has halted only to gather
new
strength to strike another
and more destructive one than
the last. It is
understood that
Sherman has gone to Fortress
Monroe. I could not vouch
for the
truth of it. I cannot tell how
long we will remain here, but I
don't
expect to stay long. Schofield
first occupied Goldsboro. We were
fighting the rebels at the time about 28 miles northwest of the town
which
were concentrated there. It was the
only fight of any magnitude that
we had. Johnston is said to have
had about 40,000
men. The rebels
the first day of the fight rather whipped
the 14 and
28th Corps from all reports.
I don't know as it was any victory to
the
rebels but the 2 Corps were brought
to a halt and that is so unusual
that we termed it a whip. I can show
the
position occupied at the first
day's fight.[1]
The rebels decidely
outnumbered the
2 Corps. Reports say that they charged
the 14 Corps 4
times, they were all impregnated
with a solution of gunpowder and
whisky.
The 14 Corps had rail barricades and
killed a great many of the
rebels.
They
shot deliberate, nearly all the rebels were
hit in the breast or
head, but you
will learn all this from your papers. I wish we had the
same privilege of reading
the news that you have, a paper is a
rarity. I
think that there is a
good prospect of having peace before long.
I think
that the rebellion is played out, as
the term is in the army. I guess
that
Davis, Lee and crew begin to see that
it is a failure and I am
satisfied
that the southern people and
the privates in their army almost
exclusively desire
peace. As they
fail we gain strength. There never
was an army more
confident
than
Sherman's. I believe that when
he leaves here he will have an army
sufficient to cope with the whole
confederate army of Lee, Johnston
combined. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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