Head Quarters 1^st Div 11^th Corps

Stafford Court House Jany 13^th 1863

 

            I hope before this time you have dear wife received my letter written last night and sent by Col Richardson today. Todays mail did not bring me any letter from you, so perhaps you are punishing me for the fault of the mails in not taking to you my letters as fast as I write them. After awhile when my letters do arrive you will be sorry if you are doing so. It is dreary enough here without having it made more so by not hearing from you. We are living here now in that glorious state of uncertainty as to our future which prevents our doing anything in the way of making ourselves very comfortable. We do all things under the idea that it will only last a few days, and then we must move. So it has been with my own quarters but today I set Dr Hart / at work with a detail of men to fix up the ground around our tents so as to make the place as cheerful as possible. My tent you remember is pitched upon the ruins of a house and against a tall chimney the fireplace of which I use inside. I have a very good floor & everything within the tent is reasonably comfortable, but on the outside until this afternoon there has been nothing but heaps of ashes from the burnt dwelling. All of this the Dr will have removed so as to give us at least a clean and tidy front yard. We intent then to make a sort of garden fence of branches of pine which will keep off the cold wind, make us more private, and we hope look quite rural and pretty. Of course we will have to move as soon or perhaps before we get our establishment completed, but what of that, it will give us something to do for the present and that is a point gained just now. /       Gen^l Sigel tomorrow goes over to visit Gen^l Burnside and perhaps I may go also, but as yet I have not decided. I believe the object of his visit is to obtain more definite information in regard to our future movements, so that if possible Sigel can concentrate his whole division of the reserve. At present one corps is at Fairfax Court House and the other here. This separation is too great to enable him to do anything with his whole division at once. If he finds that we are to remain quiet for the winter I expect he will ask permission to move perhaps to Warrenton Junction or in that neighborhood so as to prevent any more such raids as that lately made by Stuart. It is useless to speculate however as to our movements for here we literally know nothing, and yet we are afraid that we are as well informed as our highest commander. In truth we are beginning to think that our movements / are stopped because the powers that be do not know what to do. We lack a chief who can plan and execute. Where such a man is to come from I cannot tell. So far no one man has seemed to answer our purpose. May we be more fortunate in the future.

 

            As yet my command has not been arranged to my satisfaction, but Gen^l Sigel says that it shall be done in a short time. Indeed there seems to be some unaccountable delay in regard to the appointment of Gen^l Stahel to the command of the 11^th Corps. Whatever is done there will be bitter feeling. Stahel, Schurz and Steinwehr each want the command, and only one can be pleased. The other two will then be mortally offended and perhaps ask to be relieved. There is a hitch somewhere but I hope the visit of Sigel to Burnside will make matters plain.

 

Love to Ev, Tottie, Bessie and darling wife with loving good night kisses   M^cLean

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