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On July 2, 1861, Federal troops under the command of General Robert Patterson crossed the Potomac and moved toward Martinsburg, West Virginia, prompting General Johnston to order Jackson to have his troops advance and meet the enemy. The advance guard of Patterson's forces skirmished with Jackson's forces at Falling Waters, a village on the south side of the Potomac. Ultimately Jackson's brigade, outnumbered, withdrew to a camp below Martinsburg (Wallace 15; Bean 33; Robertson, The Stonewall Brigade, 29-33). Although the Liberty Hall Volunteers acted in support of the Fifth Virginia rather than participating directly in the battle, Captain James J. White was pleased with their performance, bragging that "[t]he boys were cool as you please, with shells bursting around them and bullets whistling around their ears" (quoted by Turner, 57). After Patterson took control of Martinsburg on July 3, Johnston's forces remained encamped at Camp Stephens, awaiting an attack. But on July 7, as William Brooks reports, Johnston, fearing that Patterson had greater numbers, ordered his troops to fall back to Winchester (Bean 34).

Saturday was July 6, the day before the troops were ordered back to Winchester.

General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891) received his diploma from the U. S. Miltary Academy in 1829 along with his friend Robert E. Lee. He received praise for his service in both the Mexican War and in the wars against the Seminole Indians. In April of 1861, he resigned from his position as a brigadier general in the U. S. Army, and in May of 1861 accepted a commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He commanded the Army of the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry and led Confederate forces at First Manassas, August 1861 (McMurry, 859-61).

Hon. Alex R. Boteler (1815-1892) was a congressman from Virginia. Initially he opposed secession and gave an eloquent address in the House arguing for the preservation of the Union, but when Virginia seceded he supported its actions and left with it. During the war, he served in the Confederate legislature and also worked a a volunteer aide on the staff of his friend Stonewall Jackson (Lankford, 197-8).

Out of Patterson's 3000 men, ten died and fifty were captured, while 10 of Jackson's men died out of the 350 soldiers who took part in the skirmish (Robertson, The Stonewall Brigade, 32.

Billy Wilson is probably William N. Wilson, a member of Company I. Wilson was captured at Kernstown on March 23, 1862 and exchanged on August 5, 1862. He was listed as a deserter after November 27, 1862 (Robertson, 4th Virginia Infantry, 81)

John D. Brooks, perhaps a cousin of the Brooks brothers, enlisted in Company H of the Fifth Virginia Infantry on April 19, 1861. After serving five months as regimental quartermaster clerk, Brooks was promoted to first sergeant in September of 1861. In April of 1862, he was transferred to Company E, and he was promoted to captain in 1864. He was paroled at Appomattox Court House in April of 1865 as Captain, Assistant Quartmaster. 2nd Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. After the war, he moved to Missouri and New York.

Aunt Martha is most likely Martha Stuart, the sister of William Brooks' mother. According to the 1860 Census of Augusta County, Martha Stuart was 48 in 1860 and lived on a farm adjacent to the Brooks'.

"Baskins" probably refers to James W. Baskins of the Fifth Virginia Infantry, Company H. He was born in Augusta County, Virginia in 1840 and enlisted in the the Fifth Virginia on April 19, 1861. He was killed on July 21, 1861 at Manassas (Wallace, 94). "McComb" is most likely Moses Andrew McComb, who enlisted with Baskins in Company H of the Fifth Virginia Infantry. Born in 1837, McComb was a a farmer in Augusta County until he enlisted as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1861, was dropped on April 17, 1862, and re-enlisted on January 1, 1864 in Albemarle County as a private in the First Regiment Virginia Cavalry. McComb was paroled at Staunton on May 1, 1865, and died in Staunton on March 17, 1906.

"Mr. Lee" may refer to Charles Lee, a minister who lived in Augusta County (Augusta County Census, 1860).

Benjamin Stuart, William Brooks's maternal uncle, owned the farm next to the Brooks' farm. In the 1860 census of Augusta County, Stuart was listed as a forty-year old farmer.

William wrote this post-script sideways across the top of page one.