1861 September 10 (I think) Upton's Hill Tuesday Evening

[Warren is correct. September 10, 1861 was a Tuesday]

My very darling Jennie

A moment in which an officer of the
Confederate army is Entirely unemployed is so
much of a rarity that I must this morn-
ning enjoy it by writing to you--I am now
about 200 yards from the house of Upton, the
Black Republican member of Congress from Va
seated on the Root of an oak tree writing to
you on the top of an old band box. By order
we left our camp at Fairfax Station Satur-
day morning & took position at this point
which is 2 miles nearer the yankey lines
than Munsons hill and a mile nearer the
city of Washington than Munsons Hill
but no nearer the lines of the Enimys
Our pickets are now so near the yankey
pickets that we can hear them talk and
frequently hear what they say--Yesterday
morning while I was on duty as officer
of the day --such a continued fire was kept
up between our pickets & the yankeys that I
deemed it my duty to visit I accordingly
started on horse back--but to avoid being too
conspicuous a mark I left my horse in

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the Reserve of that post by the picket, which was
occupied by the Guards & went the rest of the
way on foot. I found the boys either squating
behind trees or lying down behind logs watching
with guns ready to shoot in a second. They said
the thickets in their front was alive with them
& insisted on my leaving the lines & going
some distance around in order to get to our
last post from there I cold see them as
thick as black berries, but entirely beyond
our range--The Tennesseans however on the
next post from us were pretty buisy with
them--I am inclined to think that they
were not so near our boys as they im
agined for in returning our post in
full range of them--no one fired at
us--I mention this to show you the
delicate nature of the work we are
Engaged in--a constant fire is kept
up all day long--& shots were fired in
the last minute & so it goes all day
long--Yesterday while I was at the for
front[?] of our line we fired from Mun
sons Hill threw shell in the corn
field from which the Yankeys were
firing on us & I tell you it
made them travel in a hurry--This
morning we heard apparently 2 miles

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on our left two heavy volleys of musketry
which rather alarmed us--first we thought
it was in our Rear in the neighborhood of Falls
church & the men were called to arms in a
hurry--but it turned out to be an attack on
our cavalry picket--How it resulted I have not
yet learned. We are in full view of the yankey
encampments & can hear them firing their
big guns--trying them I suppose--12 have
just been fired & now another--then 4 more
& then 4 more--this commenced on their
right & run to their left & I expect means
something more than a mere trial of guns
some signal.. but what I cant imagine &
so it is all the time--when we first got
here we could hear their drums all the
time & such a rattle mortal men never heard
but since Sunday we have heard but little
until just now--since we have been here
we have had fine living--I sleep in a house
on my cot eat all sorts of vegetables except
tomatoes we get them in this vicinity
The country is the prettiest I ever saw
would I think be a nice place to live
but for the great number of Yankeys in
the country

I have an opportunity to send this to
day We expect to return to the Station

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tomorrow all seems to be quiet here
now

Most affectionately
E T H Warren

"the Guards" would be the Harrisonburg Valley Guards, Co. G, 10th Virginia Infantry

"The Tennesseans" would be the 3rd Tennessee Infantry

What Warren was hearing was a 21 gun salute to President Lincoln who toured Union fortifications on the evening of September 10, accompanied by Secretary of War Cameron, General George B. McClellan, and Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania.

John P. Mann IV

MSS 7786-g