1861 November 6 Centreville Va

My dear little Nannie;

Yours of the 2nd inst. was received two
days since & I did not write yesterday because of the incessant
petty annoyances at our camps – I spent most of my time at
the earth-works being made near us by three regiments of in-
fantry – As I have before told you this is naturally a very
strong point & the entrenchments are much more formidable
than those at Manassas –

Clarks says he has been unable to find Mr. Long’s
Uncle & on that account has not delivered the letter alluded to
by you – He (Clark) spends most of his time at other places
than this camp – I have not noticed that he has a cough
since his return – He says “Tell Ma I have no cough now.”

I suppose this company is complaining not less loudly
than the Citizens of Lynchburg about the uniform – Capt
Latham yesterday showed me an application from him-
-self to Head Quarters for an order detailing me to go to
Lynchburg to attend to them – I do not know what dispo-
-sition will be made of the application as they are very
rigid & more tardy at Hd Qrs in acting on such papers –

Since his return Clark has inquired for & gotten
a new tent of inconvenient (Bell) shape – In this & the old
however we hope to make ourselves a little more comfortable

[page 2]
Although they may move at any time there is now no
sign or expectation that the Yankees will advance soon
to or near this place – The next demonstration I guess
will be made either in Kentucky or somewhere on the
Southern seaboard – Our pickets are half way between
Fairfax Co. House & Fall’s Church and the latter place
is occupied by the Yankee pickets – Genl Evans is drunk
nearly all the time & Genl Longstreet (who is drunk only
about two thirds of the time) may supersede him at Leesburg -
Col. Radford & Jack Langhorne are in trouble before a
Court Martial & it is thought that Radford will get
the advantage – Langhorne it is thought will be cashiered or so severely
reprimanded as to induce him to resign –

I did not sleep well last night on account
of noise from drunkenness in the Camp & this morning I
cannot write more –

From what I have said you must not ex-
-pect me at home until about the last of the month
for it is by no means certain that Grey’s application
will be entertained by his superiors –
Give my best love to all at home
Very devotedly Your own Choctaw

Nathan George Evans, 1824-1868
James Longstreet, 1821-1904
Col. Richard Carlton Walker Radford, 1822-1886
John Scaisbrooke Langhorne, 1817. Major – Aug. 21, 1861. Retired in late 1861

William A. King, Captain of the Saltville Light Artillery
MSS 6682