Friday, June 6, 1862
Near Burnt Chimney, VA
Affectionate Mother,
I am once more permitted to write you a few lines to let you know that I am yet alive and is well but that is more than many of my friends can say and I know that it is for nothing good that I've done that I am spared but a great Blessing bestowed upon me. But the God of all nations has for some purpose brought me through another engagement unhurt and I feel thankful to say so for while many of my brother soldiers were slain on the field. The fight was on the 2nd day. We had been pursuing them hot all day Sunday when in the evening we came up with them which terminated in a hard fight. But our regiment was not engaged in it. We stayed there all night and next morning we started out after and next morning we started out after them again. We marched all day Monday when in the evening another struggled ensued lasting from 5 o'clock till 9 o'clock with unmerciful fighting. Our regiment got here just as the battle was over. We stayed on the battlefield that night. Our line was formed over many dead and wounded Yankees. We ate breakfast over all their dead, some with their brains out on the ground. After eating we formed a line of battle and started out through the woods on another Yankee drive. We marched till about 12 o'clock when news came to us that General Jackson was before us with thirty thousand men after the Yanks. Then we turned our course and in the evening we came up with the Yankees in line of battle in a noble position with a heavy battery in good range of us. We made an immediate attack and with large forces on both sides. But they having all advantages of the ground and our men not expecting them so close by that our men was not properly organized for the engagement but we had run on them and we was obliged to fight or retreat. The first command given was to fix bayonets and charge the batter which the gallant men in great heroism did but we had to charge through an open field for about a half mile under the open and well directed fire of a heavy battery well supported with infantry. The grapeshot and bums cut our lines down so rapidly our officers finding it could not to be taken. We was ordered back for form and tried it again but did not succeed and retired the second time. It is amazing strange how any of us got through to tell the fate of others for all this time we were under the fire of their cannons with the grapeshot and bombshells flying round us thick as a hailstorm. Great destruction on both sides but the number is not yet ascertained. There was several of our regiment killed and a good many wounded but none of our company was killed. D.W. Haney was wounded in the knee. The doctor says that he will lose his leg. Medlock was shocked with the bursting of a bomb in his face injuring his eyes but not hurt bad. All the rest of our company come out safe but there was not more than 20 of our company went into it. Some was sick, some tired down and left behind and some was lost from the regiment and I expect some just slipped out. Two of our captains got wounded and one of them mortally. He is now dead. A piece of bomb scalped me on the side of the head making a mark but not breaking the skin. It burnt so I thought I was wounded. Next morning I went over the battlefield and it was awful to look at the scene of destruction that had been done. The field was lying thick with our Noble Southerners being trampled on.
Eli Landers
Near Burnt Chimney, VA
Affectionate Mother,
I am once more permitted to write you a few lines to let you know that I am yet alive and is well but that is more than many of my friends can say and I know that it is for nothing good that I've done that I am spared but a great Blessing bestowed upon me. But the God of all nations has for some purpose brought me through another engagement unhurt and I feel thankful to say so for while many of my brother soldiers were slain on the field. The fight was on the 2nd day. We had been pursuing them hot all day Sunday when in the evening we came up with them which terminated in a hard fight. But our regiment was not engaged in it. We stayed there all night and next morning we started out after and next morning we started out after them again. We marched all day Monday when in the evening another struggled ensued lasting from 5 o'clock till 9 o'clock with unmerciful fighting. Our regiment got here just as the battle was over. We stayed on the battlefield that night. Our line was formed over many dead and wounded Yankees. We ate breakfast over all their dead, some with their brains out on the ground. After eating we formed a line of battle and started out through the woods on another Yankee drive. We marched till about 12 o'clock when news came to us that General Jackson was before us with thirty thousand men after the Yanks. Then we turned our course and in the evening we came up with the Yankees in line of battle in a noble position with a heavy battery in good range of us. We made an immediate attack and with large forces on both sides. But they having all advantages of the ground and our men not expecting them so close by that our men was not properly organized for the engagement but we had run on them and we was obliged to fight or retreat. The first command given was to fix bayonets and charge the batter which the gallant men in great heroism did but we had to charge through an open field for about a half mile under the open and well directed fire of a heavy battery well supported with infantry. The grapeshot and bums cut our lines down so rapidly our officers finding it could not to be taken. We was ordered back for form and tried it again but did not succeed and retired the second time. It is amazing strange how any of us got through to tell the fate of others for all this time we were under the fire of their cannons with the grapeshot and bombshells flying round us thick as a hailstorm. Great destruction on both sides but the number is not yet ascertained. There was several of our regiment killed and a good many wounded but none of our company was killed. D.W. Haney was wounded in the knee. The doctor says that he will lose his leg. Medlock was shocked with the bursting of a bomb in his face injuring his eyes but not hurt bad. All the rest of our company come out safe but there was not more than 20 of our company went into it. Some was sick, some tired down and left behind and some was lost from the regiment and I expect some just slipped out. Two of our captains got wounded and one of them mortally. He is now dead. A piece of bomb scalped me on the side of the head making a mark but not breaking the skin. It burnt so I thought I was wounded. Next morning I went over the battlefield and it was awful to look at the scene of destruction that had been done. The field was lying thick with our Noble Southerners being trampled on.
Eli Landers
Summary:
The life of a soldier was rough and was often short-lived because of the violence that ensued with all of the different battles. Many times, they were forced to fight without breaks and expected to leave their fellow soldiers for dead since medical help was hard to find. When not fighting, the camps they lived in had only the bare necessities and were often in the midst of a battlefield and littered with dead bodies.
The life of a soldier was rough and was often short-lived because of the violence that ensued with all of the different battles. Many times, they were forced to fight without breaks and expected to leave their fellow soldiers for dead since medical help was hard to find. When not fighting, the camps they lived in had only the bare necessities and were often in the midst of a battlefield and littered with dead bodies.