Cheat Mountain Pass A 22^ond 1861

 

Dear Father

                        I take my pen in hand to inform that I am not very well at present I have not got a letter for some time from you I wrote a letter home the 18^th 4 days ago and that night at nine oclock the long call was sounded and we were ordered to get ready for a march and leave every thing in the tents but our guns cartridge boxes haversacks and canteen. we all had to give out our old cartridges and get 40 rounds of new ones apiece we were then taken to the parade ground and formed in battalion order, loaded our guns and fixed bayonets they then started us up cheat mountain on quick time the mud in the shallowest place was over shoe top we waded 4 or 5 deep creeks and no body was allowed to speak a word and we waded lots of mud holes over knee deep it was also raining as hard as I ever saw it we supposed the 14^th I^a and the 24^th Ohio was attacked / we got to their camp at 3 oclock and some of us slept in wagons and some on the ground the ohio reg. gave us some coffee and we had our breakfasts we then learned that there was no rebel force at least in 35 miles of us and the line our generals command was only 1½ miles ahead 4 or 5 mountaineer cecesh had run in some 14^th pickets and that is what kicked up the alarm we stayed up there untill 12 oclock of 21^st. we then started back down the mountain and I tell you it looked hard to see so many black berries and could not step aside to pick one there was plenty of water gushing out of the rocks along the roadside we got back to camp before sundown it then began to rain again and is raining yet today

 

but I must quit writing to day for my head aches very bad and I am afraid I will be sick. write soon from your

 

Affectionate Son

George. W. Young

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