1861 June 19 Louisa Blues No. 7

Dear Pa:
I wrote home from camp a few days since
directing you to write us at Winchester; we have reach-
ed Romney, a small mountain town in Hampshire
Co. and within a few miles to the Maryland line
and as we seem to be quartered for a week or two
at this place, please write to us here. There is no cer-
tainty, however, that yr. letters will reach us as our
letters movements are so uncertain. Direct to our
Captain’s care 13th Regt. Va. Vols. and it will then be
forwarded to us no doubt. There was a skirmish
last night between our forces sent out on guard
and some 150 federal troops. We took two pieces
of cannon from them, both small, killed two
of their men and took possession of & burnt the
Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Bridge at New Creek; one of our
men a Tennesseean was slightly wounded.
I have just been released from guard; stood last
night and all to day, at intervals of four hours,
remaining on duty two hours at a time. John
and Ed[loe] stood during same days hours with
me. All our fellows are well and getting on
finely except a few who were left in the hospital

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at Winchester. Ed[loe] is really in fine health and spirits
and his merry peals of laughter daily echo throu out the
camp ground. The bathing is fine here and the cli-
mate remarkably healthy; you need have no fears
for us then on the score of health. All our regiment
is eager for an open fight with the enemy and
sanguine that we can whip twice our num-
ber. We have possession of a pass, and the only ^‘one’ in
this region, between us and Maryland, of the range
just in front of us; we can there whip out five or
six to one. Please write to us soon as we are
all anxious to hear from you whenever
you can. We w.d all three write more but have
just been on guard and feel very tired.
With much love to home folks & all friends
& hoping to hear from you soon, I am
Yr. aff. Son
F. P. Jones

[The following postscript is from the third brother, John William Jones.]

I’ll write a long letter by Satur-
day’s mail, Fendol Chiles shot
four times in the skirmish this
morning & thinks he struck a
Yankee. The Yankees ran like
troopers & our men h[a]d to shoot
them running. J.W.J.

MSS 13407