1861 Aug[ust] 9 Centerville [Virginia]

My precious wife:
Two letters have come from you and
have relieved my mind very much. I hope you may
be of great use where you are & that your intercourse
with those around you may be full of love & tender-
ness to the feelings of all, because such was the
spirit of our Blessed Lord. I hope, my dearest,
you will visit Belmead if possible. Don't mind
your figure Its shape is natural & honorable
I hope you have received two letters written since Ii
arrived here. I think I have written two besides the
one from Charlottesville--I attempted to give you
a fair account of our situation here & I hope
your mind is quite easy now--There was no
accident on the R.R. as I came over last Sunday-
This is the Holy Sabbath too--but little it looks
like Sunday here--The blacksmith's shop just
opposite to where I write is open & work going
briskly on. I believe Revd Philip Slaughter chaplain
of the 19th Regt. will preach to day in this place--
There is an episcopal church here which the
Yankees desecrated most shamefully while they
occupied this place. Their names are written every
where on the walls & high over the altar itself with
charcoal & pencil. And now some of those very men

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whose names are there written lie buried in that
church yard! The grave of one whose name
was higher & more conspicuous than the rest has
been pointed out to me--

Of course we cannot tell what will be the fu-
ture movements of the army or of our Brigade but
the general impression seems to be that we are
here for some time yet--I do not imagine that
an attack upon the lines of the enemy on this side
the river is contemplated, because they could not be
carried without great loss & would be of no use
to us practically if we had them. On the other
hand Genl McClelland could not have organized an
army in this time, at all to be compared to the first
& tho it was twice as strong could not have dare
to attack us here so soon after a defeat. I think
myself this portion of our army is doomed to inac-
tion for some time to come tho' of course no one knows.
This is my candid opinion for which you asked--
I am waiting a good opportunity to visit the
battle field with some one who can give me a
correct idea of the real scenes which transpired
there 4 weeks ago to day--It is a remarkable fact
that the road followed by the "Grand Army" is the same
pursued by Braddock to his enevitable defeat.
Almost every soldier in the army has some souvenirs

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of the late yankee flight in the shape of an overcoat
an oilcloth, a sword or a pistol--
You will see by the extracts from the Northern papers
tho' the truth is studiously concealed that the Federal
defeat in Missouri is scarcely less signal.

I have Uncle Philip & Capt. Harris converse about
the battle here a great deal (and I suppose they
understand it as well as any two men in the army)
And from all I can learn the result is as signally
due to the interposition of Divine Providence as any
Philistine or Syrian rout in Holy Writ. There are
a hundred things which had they happened & as
many more which had they not happened would
have caused our inevitable overthrow. and when
I see the result I can, with renewed confidence,
throw myself into the arms of that good Heavenly
Father without one shade of anxiety or one fear
for the future.

Until they are compelled to it, tied hand & foot
I do not believe the Yankees will give up this war
But I do not believe it will be a long war because
they will have the whole world arrayed against
them in less than six months from this time--
And then they will sink down down to weakness
among the nations--Dishonesty & corruption in all
the valations of life can be punished in no other way.

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I have not yet heard from home at all. Write to
Mother often, Pink, & return home as soon as
your work is done where you are

Give my best love to Alex & Jennie & the dear
children & tell me of the result of your Uncle
Edward's visit--Tell Alex I hope he will
soon be well enough to enjoy campaigning again
but I hope he wont return to the North Western
Barbarians again--

I shall write to you as often as I can & know
you will do the same--your last letter came
thro' in two days. Read all in the Bible & those
good books I gave you, that you care & trust
that the Lord will take care of
Your ever devoted Husband
Philip B. Cabell

The Rev. Philip Slaughter, 1808-1890, was a well known Virginia historian.

Philip Barraud Cabell, 1836-1904, nephew of General Philip St. George Cocke and grandson of General John Harwell Cocke ,was one of the few antebellum students at the University of Virginia to obtain a master's degree. After the war he was a professor at Urbana University in Ohio, and later a minister of a Swedenborgian church in Wilmington Delaware. His wife Julia Calvert Bolling Cabell known as "Pinkie", had been a popular Virginia belle before her marriage six months previously


MSS 38-111