1862 May 27 about 5 miles from Hanover Junction, Va.

[from the diary of John Tyler of Letcher's Artillery]

May 27^th.  Awoke this morning still rain-

-ing and we saturated through & through.

Started off in about half an hour after

rising.  Passed a house on the road where

the men got at whiskey.  Halted a short

distance from it on the road to feed

the horses.  Two or three of us went back

and took breakfast there which con-

-sisted of coffee, biscuits & fat bacon,

for which the moderate sum of .88 cts each

was charged. – After the battery had

moved on from this point, the road

became so bad that we halted and the

Capt. went down a new road that turned

off on our right to see if we could not

cut off the bad roads by going around –

while the Capt was gone the whiskey com-

-menced to take effect, and a general fight

ensued, in which about one half the Comp-

-any was engaged swords were drawn &

pistols.  The command devolving on us

I had at first a good deal of difficulty

in getting the men to listen to me;  but

in a short time, after taking a pistol

from one of them & depriving others of their

swords, & ordering the men to their

posts, the riot was stopped without

my drawing my pistols, although two

or three times I started to unfasten my

holsters.  I was very glad the Capt. was

not there for he would certainly have

shot some of them.  He came up a few

moments after and was just about

reviving it by calling out in an ex-

-cited tone “what is the matter here”

etc when I told him not to say any thing

at all as it was all over, and the best

thing we could do was to start on.  So

we took the road that branched off

towards Ashland, leaving the rest of

the train to pursue their way over the

bad road we left.  We reached Ashland

in a short time, as it was only a mile

off.  There we stopped long enough to get

some corn for our horses.  During which

time I went down to see Mr. Macmurdo’s

family with Mr. Pemberton whom I met

at the Depot.  Took a wash there & res-

-ted a short time, when Mrs. Mac [letter lined through] gave

me a bundle of biscuits & ham for my

haversack, most acceptable I can as-

-sure you.  Left Ashland on a good road

to join our train at a little beyond Kilbys

Mill station.  When we reached the railroad

we found Genl. Anderson & staff, who

told us that orders had been issued for our

return to Hanover Junction, & we started

back on our return, immediately after

drawing some crackers for the men they

nor me having had any thing to eat since

early in the morning.  We Camped about

5 miles from Hanover junction at 6 o’c [The time of “6” is not perfectly clear.]

[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 6150

1862 May 27

[from the diary of Jonathan Hager of the 14th U.S. Regulars, as copied and annotated at a later date]

May 27  To day Captains Brown Keyes & McIntosh
were detailed for picket duty.  This was the
first duty of this kind any of us had performed.
It was a hot day & the sky was without a
cloud.  Heavy firing of Cannon & Musketry
on our right gave notice that the rebels
were watchful & active.  We expected orders
every minute to march.  None came this day
& we retired to our rest undisturbed, awaiting
the morn to hear whence the firing came.

MSS 9044 

1862 May 27

[from the diary of Samuel Johnson of the 1st Massachusetts Independent Light Battery]


                        May 27th
Yesterday all was remarkably quiet. although-
-h we were expecting to move every
moment.  To day Bartlett’s brigade. the
1st N. J. Battery, and a squadron of the
1st N. Y. cavalry were sent out to Mechanics-
-ville on picket, to guard the road leading
to Richmond and Meadow bridge of over
the Chickahominy.  During the afternoon
two balloons were sent up, to reconnoiter:
a heavy cannonading is heard on our
right; supposed to be Gen Porters corps
engaged.  Pleasant during the fore afternoon
although it rained quite hard in the

fore noon      

[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 8493
     

1862 May 27 Staunton, Va.

[from the diary of Joseph Addison Waddell, civilian employee of the Quartermaster Dept. and former editor of the Staunton Spectator]

Tuesday morning, May 27, 1862.

Yesterday morning we had news that Jackson has 

routed the enemy and chased them beyond Winchester — 

 taken 2000 prisoners, all their stores +c. Not much 

fighting — our total loss about 100 — the enemy still flying 

and our army pursuing. As it was Court-day many 

people were in town — every face was bright. At 10 o'clock 

I rode down to Mr. Fultzs' to attend the funeral of his 

daughter, Mrs. Lathrop. The day was delightful and the 

country beautiful. On my return, found there was a 

report in town that Gen. Heth had sustained a de-

feat at Lewisburg, and that a large force of the 

enemy was at Franklin, Pendleton Co. In the even-

ing the Western train came in and brought intelli-

gence from Lewisburg, which relieved the depression 

caused by the first report from that quarter. Heth 

routed, but not so badly as reported. C. C. Strayer 

of Harrisonburg came up after supper, and I was 

suffering from headache. Qualified yesterday as 

Executor of Mrs. Sowers' estate.   

[transcript by the Valley of the Shadow project

MSS 38-258            

1862 May 27 Chapel Hill, N.C.

[from the diary of Eliza Oswald Hill, refugee from Wilmington, N.C.]

It is very cloudy to day--& it makes us who are
left feel sad to see others leaving & in so large a number as the
Murder family--They all go off at 7 o'clock--6 ladies &
five children-1 servant & Lieutenant Murder
who had his arm shattered at Hatteras by a shell from the
Yankees---Mrs Wilson the oldest sister is a lovely character
very intelligent & fine looking she would grace a Court
her daughter Mary is a sweet affectionate girl--& will no
doubt make a very strong fine woman when older--She is now
only 16 & has never been in company==Mrs Reid is the youngest
of the family & like the others very clever--But I saw less of her
than the others she has two little boys--Willie & Jimmie--
Mrs Da[?]ing is more dignified than the rest-& has 3 children
of the smartest kind--Maggie--Charlie & [blank space] Then there
is Miss Murder that they all look up to & Miss Davis they call Grand
Ma--She is an invalid.  I have never seen her--
They are all going to Charlotte to keep house together--We
shall miss them very much--It is pleasant and painful to form
acquaintances at a Hotel.  For as soon as we become in
-timate we have to part--This has been the case some 1/2
dozen times since we came here---

MSS 6960

1862 May 26 Camp Bullock near New Bern, N.C.

[from the diary of Jesse Calvin Spaulding, Co. F, 25th Massachusetts]

Monday
May 26

Went on picket right down back
of the house with Partridge, Scollay,
and Corporal Wood of Col D.  Built a rail
shanty.  Rainy but we covered it with
rubber blankets so that it kept us dry.

MSS 11293

1862 May 26 Fort Albany

Fort Albany  May 26/62
7 o'clock PM
Dear Wife
I write to you a few lines
to let you know that it is pay day today.
I have placed the most of my wages in the
hands of the Captain Chandler, who
will forward it, to the Mayor of Lynn
(Peter M Neal.) The amount that I
have deposited with Capt Chandler
is Twenty Three Dollars ($23,00.) which will
probably reach Lynn some time this
week. You can go, or send to Mayor
Neal, and get the same.
Yours in love, Robert
P.S. At Roll Call this evening, Capt. C.
read a letter from the Mayor of Lynn,
in answer to one sent to him from
Capt C, asking him to take charge of
what money might be sent to him
(the Mayor) by the Co. M. The Major

[page 2]
said he would willingly take charge of
what money might be sent to him and
see that it was properly distributed to
those that it belonged to.  The Mayor
also gave us a great compliment for
our orderly, and goo behavour [sic] while we
were in Lynn, he also said he was
advised by some persons, to put on an
extra police, while we were being
enlisted, his answer was, that if
we were Soldiers there would be no
need of an extra police, and if we
were rowdies it would be time enough
for the "Extra" after we had proved our-
selves such, he said he found us the
former, and believed we should prove
ourselves Soldiers, wherever we were
placed, &c, &c.  We then gave three
rousing cheers for Capt C. and three
more for the Mayor of Lynn, and
retired t our tents, and now I'm going
to "turn in" Good night dear ones at home,
Robert

[in top margin of page one]
Three cheers for Mayor

Robert is an unidentified soldier in the 14th Massacusetts Heavy Artillery


MSS 1242