Minors Hill Va Dec 19 1862

                       

Dear Col

                                                As I cant get a chance to bore you every night about as I used to do when you were here I am agoing to make one grand effort in the epistolary way. You will undoubtedly hear long before you receive this that our army under Burnside has made another effort & failed Lt Col Hayles is dead also Lieut Briggs Dick Briggs son the 12^th has quite a list of wounded but we hear that they behaved very badly when they got on the ground begun to fire without orders and could not be stopped and when they were ordered forward went backwards I can't vouch for the truth of this report but I think there are some grounds for the report

 

The general opinion is that there will not be any forward movement again for some days I mean with [torn] and then it will be made at some other point

There was a rumor in Washington wednesday that Gen^l McClellan was to be recalled to the chief command but he has not that I have heard of yet.

Gen^l Casey told Dr Perry that he and Gen^l Abercrombie were to do the picketing around Washington this winter consequently there was no probability of our moving at present Mrs Perry Mrs Gould & Mrs Kendrick have been in camp about [torn] weeks 

 

The Dr has come back into the mess (he left before you went away didn't he) and is caterer & financier we lived humbly before he took hold but he has improved matters somewhat. Pitman has had that large square building that stood about a mile from camp towards Washington and that we talked of moving for a barn moved up and placed right in front of the old cook house so that it joins it and then he has built another for his own private use at the left of that the big building is used for the mess to eat in and for religious meetings & military school &c the Parson and Dr have got boards & boarded up tents for their use the officers of all the companies except B. C. & H. have built or are building huts B. & C. are putting two wall tents together and boarding up inside the Adjt has a tent boarded up and chimney built with fire place but it draws the wrong way and your humble servt has a log house 20 x 20 at the left of the line near where the Dr used to have his Hospital tent two windows in it and two rooms with a fire place in one and a stove in the other and one of the rooms is 8 x 20 and is for his own use as an office lodging room &c then there is quite an attic in which the wagon master & cook sleep and we stow quite a number of articles appertaining to the Q.M. department up there 

 

            There have been two Regiments added to the Brigade since you left I think the 141^st N.Y. & 16^th Virginia the latter is a very small Regt and made up mostly of skedadlers from other Regts it is encamped on our left very near my quarters and they are the hardest set of cuds I ever saw without exception They draw new coats & blankets from the Qr. M. and then sell them to our men for any price they can get from 75c up and then draw more

 

Old Pit is very unpopular he puts the men through on Battalion drills every day unless it rains right down or the Gen^l forbids it which he has done once Then he is mighty piggish about leaves and details I heard confidentially that Capt Scott Genl Casey's son in law had been offered the Colonelcy of this Regt but don't mention this from me

 

There is a board of examinations in session at head Qrs and Col Burnham has sent up some of his officers I think that Col Porter of the 40^th Mass has contributed some but the 11^th has done nothing to add to the labor of the board. I wrote you a line to Providence did you get [torn] If Sam is with you now remember me to him and tell him we miss him very much Please answer this Give us all the news & oblige Yours Ever H. S. Olney

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