1862 April 8 Wilmington, N.C.

Wilmington April 8 1862

My Dear Mother

I embrace this opportunity, the
first spare moment we have had for many a long
weary day, to write you. we are one Operator short
here & tho not worked probably as hard as at Manassas
Yet its now constant & we never get off at night till
11 or 12, very often 2 or 3 A.M. I have one of
my old Manassas Friends in the office with me now
Joe Dornin[?], of whom you have heard me speak & we
get along nicely tho I'd much rather be home, I
had calculated so certainly upon being in Old
Lynchburg in a very short time, when we fell back
from Manassas, that the disappointment is very
keenly felt--
There is in reality nothing to write here--
It[s] a hum-drum quiet sort of place. Most
of the young men having gone to the war & there
dont seem to be many young ladies, a great many
of the citizens have left town, fearing to wake
up some fine morning, with old Burnsides after
them. The Old lady with whom I board makes
herself absolutely miserable about it, she has
two very pretty grand-daughters, orphans. they three
are alone in the world & her boarders are her only
dependance, & I feel quite sorry for them, but I
do not anticipate an attack here, at least for some
time, I think most vigorous preperations are made
& making to give them a warm reception. the town
is nearly surrounded by water & could be defended

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against heavy odds, with skillful commanders
which seems to have been the one thing lacking in
North Carolina. But Genls Holmes & French from the
Grand Old Army of the Potomac are here now and it
is realy surprizing to see how suddenly fear has given
place to confidence. about 30000 troops are in striking
distance of this place and Goldsboro. So nut much
alarm is felt by the sensible portion of the people.
The movements of our armies is the only them[e] on every
ones tongue. A great [many] seem to be puzzling their
brains about old Joe Johnstons command, & expressing
foolish fears of his being flanked &c. Its a gratuitous
service entirely, Let him alone & he take care of
himself & fight when he's ready & not one moment
before, tho every Journal in the south were to open
on him. Events are crowding in such succession that
it seems in this balmy summer air, once can almost
smell the sulphurous vapors of war and hear the clash
of contending arms. As I write a battle is momently
expected on the Peninsula, & it is the opinion of
of[sic] our political sages, if whipped at Yorktown the
enemy will abandon the war--God grant it. Down
here we hear every day of vessels running the blockade--
its a common occurrence at this post, & I verily
believe some of these same vessels were loaded &
fitted out in Yankeedom About 9/1/th of the merchants
here are dutch Yankees & German Jews.
Of course, the all exciting topic now is
the great victory of shiloh, still indefinite enough
is know to satisfy us that again have we driven
the invader wounded & cowed before our avenging arms--
& that another great coil of McClellans anaconda
has been broken, & its strength departed. It is very
generally believed that Buels forces & those on the Penin-
sula would decide the war, tho victory has changed

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the appearance of everything, that has been
won & if Magruder whips them in Virginia
peace cannot be very far off--
It would be hard to say whether the public
here are more elated at the victory or depressed at
the death of the Gallant Sydney Johnston, he
died just in the first flush of victory with the cries
of a flying foe ringing in his ears, he lived
long enough to know that we had won the battle
& to a spirit such as his, the knowledge must
have been as sweet as the same cry of the flying
was French was to the dying senses of Wolff on the
Plains of Quebec. Hounded on by press & taunted
with want of courage & ability he has nobly died
to prove the one & won the greatest battle of this
continent to establish the other--
Cant you send me some Virginians occasion-
ally? I do want to see something home-like--
I have not recd my trunk yet, indeed there
has not been time. It is very warm here & most
every one is clad in Summer clothing--I have
nothing in the world but a uniform coat & pants
of thick heavy grey stuff--. I was compelled to
purchase underclothing & a vest--. Let me know
if you have heard from Ned, or if he has left
Tell Miss Jeanie I received her letter & will answer
soon. I have not heard from John Tyree. My love
to her & Mis Anna. Tell Fred I shall write soon
but not to wait for me but pitch in & write me
a good - long - old-fashioned letter--My love to all
Aunt Susans family & tell Aunt Sue not to trouble
herself about those things, she has five dollars which
I sent Humphrey from Manassas to get me some collars
& Handker chiefs. You had better get it, I reckon
as I will be very apt to write home for something

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or other I cant get here. My respects to
Miss Paulina Reid, & all my friends. If
we have a big fight down here, which I do not
in the least look for, I'll write all the particulars
if we whip, but if they whip us 'spect we'll all
have to cut & run for it.

I drove out sunday to the different fortifications
around the city & also to a beautiful flower garden
& regular old-fashioned English Inn kept by a
genuine John Bull. The place looks like some
scene of fairy enchantment, Evergreens, vies & flowers
twisted & turned into every conceivable shape & design.
It is a great resort for both ladies & gentlemen--
for 50 cts I got a magnificent bouquet as big as a
bushel measure--more or less--


I have around the harbour considerably, been
on board one of our privateers which ran the block-
ade a short time, she goes out shortly with a load
of Cotton--The Kane--a beautiful ocean
steamer & the flag ship of Dr Kane in his
great Arctic expedition is here & considerable
degree of interest attaches to the simple white
hull, for she has been razed & is being fitted
for an iron clad gun boat, her sides are
about 30 inches thick, the interior between the
inner & out work being filled with cork--
Other gun boats are being rapidly built. This
a queer little town & I will have a good deal
to talk of when I get home. Kiss little Eva
I think I have received all you telegrams &
letters------
Your Devoted Son
Chas. F. Barnes

Private, Co. G, 11th Virginia

MSS 4444