Monterey April 27^th 1862

 

            Sunday has come again dear wife and the day has been very bright and beautiful. The sun has shone forth with great power, and even dull dismal & dirty Monterey has looked more bearable. Our prospect for remaining here for some days seems to be very good, and acting upon this idea, Major and I selected a different camping ground from the one we now occupy and I have given orders to move tomorrow morning at nine oclock. If however it should rain I will countermand the order until the sun again shines forth. Our present camp although higher than the town itself, is still low enough to make me afraid of the miasma of the valley, and I intend to move to an elevated point in the midst of the pines and where we can get water from a pure mountain spring which bursts forth from the ground making a break immediately from the spring large enough to turn a mill. In fact there is a mill dam & the remains of a mill about / a quarter of a mile from where the spring makes its first appearance above ground. If we could move at home with as much expedition as we can here, and with as little warning, I am afraid we would frequently change our place of residence. An order comes to march bag & baggage in an hour, or perhaps immediately, and at the sound of the bugle, after the morning dawn comes the tents, the wagons are packed, the men at the next bugle call fall into line, and forward we go to wherever we are ordered. Sometimes the first warning we have is the long roll, and as if by magic, company after company fall into line, all ready for immediate service in whatever way they may be needed. It is most astonishing how readily men accommodate themselves to a life of this kind. At home they are entirely independent, and would not submit to be ordered in regard to anything, but here discipline has had its effect, and the men obey most cheerfully because they have / learned that their safety depends upon it. This afternoon we had the second dress parade we have been able to have since we reached this miserable hole. You have heard from my former letters that the weather has been horrible ever since our leaving Huttonsville, and the consequence has been that it has been impossible even to have company drill, let alone anything for the whole regiment. The men when warned for dress parade opened their eyes in astonishment, but really seemed to enjoy getting back to some of their old duties.

 

            We have but little war news that is atall reliable. The papers never reach us until the news is old, and we are compelled to rely upon horseback mails that are as uncertain as the wind itself. The telegraph does not come nearer than within forty miles of us, and you can therefore imagine that news here is stale with you long before it reaches us. We have camp rumors of all kinds and but little else. Deserters are coming in every / day from the rebels, and from them we hear of their movements. This source is not always reliable, but we manage with our scouts in addition to keep tolerably well posted as to the rebels immediately around us. Yesterday morning a forage train of some twenty six wagons returning with corn &c and with an escort of only ten men and a sergeant was attacked by a band of guerrillas and entirely cut off, some sixteen miles from here. There was an ugly mistake made in regard to the detail of the guard which caused the misfortune. There was to have been one hundred men, and this would have saved the train. As yet we have not had all the particulars, but know that the train is lost & some few men killed. None of the men or wagons were from the 75^th. Yesterday and today quite a force has been sent out to the scene of the disaster with strict orders to make terrible retaliation upon the actors and their aiders & abettors. Capt Morgan was sent with his company from the 75^th and some four companies of / infantry and one of cavalry from M^cDowell. Those guerrillas are not soldiers in the rebel army, but robbers and murderers, who shoot from behind trees, and then hide their arms and return to their homes as if entirely innocent of all harm. Some of the citizens who do not fight themselves harbor and aid these scoundrels and by doing so make themselves equally guilty. All such parties if caught will have but short space given them to make their peace with heaven. The orders are to kill and burn wherever these bands are permitted to work their iniquity so as to teach the people of this region that they cannot with impunity profess peace with their lips and stab in the dark with their hands, or those of their sustained guerrillas. It is hard to have to do this but self preservation demands that this system of warfare should be abolished at once, and there is no way of teaching these people but by making them feel a terrible retribution / in their lives and property whenever such acts are committed by them. Tomorrow I expect to hear from our troops, and I have no doubt they will avenge themselves. The wagons lost belonged to the 73^rd Regt OVI Col Orland Smith who is encamped in sight & the General has ordered him to send three companies to the neighborhood of the disaster and from the inhabitants replace his lost teams. No such order would have been given if the train had been captured by regular soldiers, but everyone views this as entirely different. We hear rumors that Jackson & Johnson have both fallen back to Gordonsville, and that Banks has occupied Staunton. If this is so there is no enemy before us, and we might march to Staunton at once, but our orders are stand fast & we dare not go. Doubtless the troops are falling back upon Richmond where the great fight will be made. If this is so we may yet have a chance. Love to Sat & the children & all the family with loving good night kisses for darling wife—

N. C. M^cLean

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