1862 February 2 Camp Walker

Camp Walker
Sunday Feb 2d 1862.
My own dear Wife
This is a quiet pretty sunday mor-
ning with a bright sunshine but alass [sic] we have
so much mud under foot that all the beauty of
the day is thereby destroyed. I am field officer
of the day the duties of which part begin and
end with a report in person to Col Hill com-
manding the Brigade. Having performed this du-
ty and spent a pleasant hour with Col Hill
I am now at liberty to take my seat and
write you a letter. Quite a sensation has been
created in our camp by the failure of Genl
Johnstons official report to notice the services
of our regiment while a hansome [sic] compliment
is paid to both Vaughn of the 3d Tenn & Stuart
Md of the [1st] Md. Col G is very much cut that
by the mention of the commanders of the other
two regiments & the omission of his name
I think myself that it is a decided refle-
ction on him and through him on the
regiment and its officers. So far as my
observation went, and I saw the entire
field of the operations of our brigade, I dont
think any of the officers did anything
worthy of notice & therefore none should
have been mentioned in the report but
as two were mentioned I see no reason
why Col G should not also come in for
a place unless indeed it was on account
of his consummate blunder in sending a
detachment of four companies from the

[page 2]
regiment without a field officer in command.
Gibbons has addressed a note to Johnston to
know the reason of the omission and I sup-
pose he will at an early day get a reply
of which I will advise you. He is very much
taken down by it. We have nothing new
in camp and I have therefore nothing to write
about I received your letter saying that your
father had refused to let Het go to the weding [sic]
at which you were very indignant and very
freely expressed your sentiment and wound
up by requesting me to schold [sic] you as much
as I liked! Well, I shall do no such thing, but
then if I were in your place I would not get so angry
it does no good and it frets you for nothing, and
I dont like to think of my dear sweet pretty wife
looking angry under any circumstances. I like
always to think of her as a quiet sweet tempered
woman. I know how much you suffer in this
cause. I know that the hardships & privations wh-
ich I endure great as they are, are nothing
as compared with what you suffer being as
you are without a home or its comforts &
seperated [sic] from your husband who has ever
delighted in petting & caressing you and
taking from you all troubles & almost
all thought. This is all hard to bear, but
when there is added to it, unkindness from
them from whom you have a right to ex-
pect mor kindness I confess it is almost un-
indurable. But my own dear Jennie you
must remember that you have ever been an
uncomplaining woman. While I have petted

[page 3]
[&] humored you almost constantly, yet have
I never been a little unkind? when pressed
with the cares of business, and unmindful of
every thing else while almost vainly a try-
ing to thread my way through the difficulties
and embarrassments of business, have I never
appeared to neglect my darling? And you
have you not patiently though sometimes
in tears endured it all? Yes you have, and
now I ask you simply to remember that
this life is full of troubles and that those
which you now encounter while differing from
those in former times are yet only some
of the vexations of this life and must be
met in the same spirit that you have met
others. We have This very happiness of our
married life has tended very much to give
blind us as to all sorrow & trouble. As you
said in your letter the other day your life
had been one of perfect sunshine, mine on
the contrary had up to the moment when
I had the assurance of your love been nother
gloomy. But the idea that the bright happy
& artless creature by my side so radiant
in her beauty so pure in her inocence [sic] and
so blind in her confidence really loved me
with all the ardour [sic] of her passionate na-
ture changed my whole nature and I was
supremely happy in the selfish thought that
I could live for thee only. Our engagement
was short, but it was blessed with the hearty
sanction of all our friends. We were married
our confidence was complete & blinding and

[page 4]
are we realized in each other more than our
fondest fancy had anticipated. whether in
the retirement of our chamber at Mothers or
in our own House or our journeyings [sic] to
Richmond, the Mountains of Bath, or the
Springs, it was all the same we were su-
premely happy. The world was as a garden
of sweet scented flowers. And thus it con
tinued, everything contributing as it were to
our happiness, until no wonder we conclu
ded that however this world might appear
to others, to us it was beautiful. And now
my darling dont you remember that we
often talked of these things and warned each
other of the troubles ahead. Dont you remember
that we often said to each other that we would
have to meet our share of lifes misfortunes &
that we must be prepared for them. Now my
own darling they are upon us. we who were
so selfishly happy in each others society and
the luxuries of a splendid home are torn from
each other by the hard hand of necessity and we
have by the same power been compelled to
give up our home. I exposed to hardships and
anoyances [sic], you to exactions & anoyances [sic]. This
is a great contrast, but yet it is not so bad
as it seems. We still have each others love
This moment I love you more deeply & truly than
I did the first time I folded you in my firm
Embrace. Cant you say the same? My financial
difficulties have been one great source of trouble
If peace was ordered to day I am in a better
condition in that respect than ever before
[Letter of E.T.H. Warren abruptly ends.]



"Col Hill", lines 6 & 8 - 'Both referred to Colonel A. P. Hill, commander 13th VA Infantry; temporarily in command of the brigade.'

"Genl Johnston", line 12 -

"Johnston", page 2, line 2 - 'Joseph E. Johnston. General Johnston commanded the Army of the Shenandoah during the Battle of Manassas which was fought 21 July 1861. The 10th VA Infantry was a part of this army and under the command of General Johnston.'

"Vaughn of the 3d Tenn", line 14 - 'John C. Vaughn, Colonel, 3rd TN Infantry.'

"Stuart of the [1st] Md.", lines 14 & 15 - 'George H. Steuart, Colonel, 1st MD Infantry. The 1st MD, 3rd TN and 10th VA Infantry regiments served in the same brigade at the Battle of Manassas.'

"Col G", lines 15 & 27 -

"Gibbons", page 2, line 2 - 'All three referred to Simeon B. Gibbons, Colonel, 10th VA Infantry.'


'General Johnston's report of the Battle of Manassas (discussed by Warren lines 12-30, and page 2, lines 1-5) did in fact neglect to mention Colonel Gibbons. However, General Johnston sent the following to General Samuel Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector General, to correct that omission.

"HDQRS. Department of Northern Virginia,
Centreville, February 3, 1862.
Sir: My attention has been called to the fact that in the enumeration of the officers who distinguished themselves in the battle of Manassas the name of Col. S. B. Gibbons, commanding the Tenth Virginia Regiment was omitted. This omission was due to unaccountable carelessness, and is a matter of regret and mortification to me. I bet that it may be corrected in my report on file in your office, and the correction published. Colonel Gibbons and his gallant regiment played an important part at a critical time, and injustice to them, even accidentally, is unpardonable. Colonel Elzey, to whose brigade Colonel Gibbons belongs, made honorable mention of him in his report.
Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. E. Johnston, General." [Official Records, Series I, Volume 2, page 479]



[transcription and annotations by John P. Mann, IV]

MSS 7786-g