1861 September 20 Camp of 13th Va. Regt. D Fairfax Station [Virginia]

My dear Ma:

Just as I was getting

off into a doze about 10 o’clock last

night Capt. Murray announced “letters

for Co. D.” and Ed & I got up to read

yr & Pa’s letters by moonlight but

were invited in to read them by

Capt. M’s candle (privates are not

allowed lights after half past nine).

We were as usual delighted to get

tidings from the loved ones at

home and especially to hear that

the sick ones are all better. I

begun a letter to Pa last Monday

after getting back from Munson’s

Hill but had not time to finish

it and as Pen & Ed have both

written long accounts of our last

trip down here I will refer you

to yesterday’s Dispatch to what

“Justice” has to say. Our Regt was

certainly most Providentially pre-

served – in the face of a greatly

superior force of the enemy and

having heavy skirmishers nearly

all of the time we had not

a man touched until just before

we left when David Magruder

was wounded by a very rash

attempt to cut off some of the

[page 2]

Yankee picquets. Fendol Chiles, Tap Trice,

Virgil Carroll, several others of our co., some

Baltimoreans & David Magruder crept around

through the bushes and ^‘got’ between sight of

ten Yankees and their “Reserve” with

the intention of taking them prisoners,

but finding themselves discovered

they fired on the party, killed

three and were making their

way back to our lines when Dave

was shot. He is now doing very well

and we hope his wound will not

prove to be serious. You express sur-

prise that we have been able to

stand so well the hardships we

have to encounter, but the truth is

we have gotten used to them

and don’t mind them half so

much as we shd [should] have done

but for the training we have

had. I slept one night while at

Munson’s hill in a drenching

rain – the water running under me

and completely saturating me about – and

yet I slept soundly and experienced

no inconvenience from it the next

day save the trouble of drying my

clothes. As for a march of fifteen

or twenty miles – we have come

to regard that as a small

matter; and camp fare & accomo-

dations we count among the

luxuries of life. As for our

“winter quarters” – do not disturb

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yrself about that. We shall perhaps

have our winter quarters at “Willard’s”

in Washington or if we are not so

fortunate we will doubtless have

snug little huts somewhere and

will be comfortable. “The Lord will

provide”. the health of our regt. is

much better now than it was

two or three weeks ago, and we

have very few (only five I believe) on

the sick list in our co. – none of

them sick much. We have certainly

been highly blessed. I have been

expecting every mail to bring me

my commission as chaplain of the

regt. but have thus far been disappoint

-ed. I suppose that the Sec. of War

has been very much pressed for

time but have no doubt of eventually

getting the place. I think that I can

certainly get a furlough as soon

as I receive my commission. I hear

from Page very irregularly and have

been anxious for her to go to the C. H.

where I can hear more regularly – h[a]d

thought of taking her these when

I went – but there is so much

sickness about the C. H. that I

am afraid for her to go there

-besides you are so much crowded

with the sick. We had a grand

Review and flag presentation

yesterday but I refer you to

an article I send the Dispatch for

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the particulars. Jimmy Daniel took breakfast

with us this morning – also John [-]ham

on his return to join his Regt. We see

John Daniel quite often – he gets on

very well indeed. Saw Uncle Phil

Ashby again last week – am going

to his regt. to see him before long.

I have a large number of friends

in the diff[eren]t regts. but very seldom

get an opportunity of seeing them.

I must bring this to a close now as

I’ve some other letters to write. I very

rarely write a letter except to Page

or home but I’ve several now that

I am obliged to write. Best love

to all at home & Aunt Cynthia’s.

Write as often as you can.

Yr most aff son

J. Wm. Jones

Pvt. David W. Magruder: Wounded …. at Munson’s Hill 9/13/61. For other accounts see letters of Magruder's brother-in-law Edward T. H. Warren on September 17 and 18.