Last evening I heard that a mail was going this morning, had gone to bed but got up and mailed a paper to Geo. so that you might know that I was alive

 

Newbern Nov 14^th '62

 

My dear Sister:

             I guess you at home begin to think that I have forgotten you. I have not but for the past two weeks I have been acting not playing soldier. I have marched about 175 miles; slept under the "broad canopy of Heaven" during fair weather and foul and have returned safe and well. You may have read in the papers an account of an expedition which left this place Oct 30^th bound no one knew where. It consisted of between 5 & 6 thousand infantry & cavalry and 25 or 30 pieces of artillery. We left this place at 3 o'clock A.M. Oct. 30^th, most of the force embarked on board transports / and sailed down the river but my Regt. and the 17^th Mass. went up the river, the Neuse, about 10 miles and then struck off through the woods. we were to guard the baggage train which could not well be transported. I have not time to-day to give the particulars of the march, have a few notes and will look them over and in my next try and give you a soldiers life on the march. We have had a long and hard tramp and whether or not we have been successful I cannot say. in a few days our Gen. will tell us what we accomplished. It was a bold push into the enemies country and at one time we were in a critical condition. the Rebels were within 5 miles of us and three to our one, had they made a bold push they must have captured our entire force. The 8^th day after marching from early morn till midnight we encamped within about 5 miles of Tarboro N.C. where we knew the Rebels / had quite a force. This was a dismal night in our camp, the men were completely exhausted and it was raining hard. My bed that night was three rails. by the time we got our baggage train up, fires built and supper ate it was two o'clock. I slept about two hours that night. Early next morning we were on the march and as we supposed towards the battle field. During the night I had heard the whistle of an engine two or three times but thought nothing of it till the next day when I found we were on the backward track. The whistle that I heard was that of the engine reinforcing the enemy. during the night our scouts found that they were being largely reinforced and all that we could do was to take the back track. It was anything but pleasant to think that we were obliged to retreat but this we must do or be captured, the enemy was fresh and had an army three / times as large as ours. he had direct rail road communication with Weldon and other places where there was large Rebel forces. We were 75 miles from home and had a large baggage train to protect.

 

            The forces that I mentioned as going down the river joined us at Washington N.C. I forgot to tell that part of the story, that place is nearly three days march from here so you see my Regt. had to march three days longer than the others.

 

            If we did not accomplish all that we expected to we did something. For a long time there has been a heavy battery on Rainbow Bluff preventing our gunboats going up the Roanoke farther than Hamilton, to capture this battery was one of the objects of the expedition. we found it evacuated and the guns removed. We had several slight skirmishes but my Regt. was not engaged. Sunday night Nov 2^d we had quite a smart artillery fight and one or two Regts. of infantry were engaged. I was about a half a mile from the scene of the action, laid down and went to sleep while the engagement was going on.

 

We marched through the towns of city of Washington N.C. and the towns of Williamston, Hamilton and on to within a few miles of Tarboro, came back by the way of Jamesville

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