1862 May 19 Great Flat Top Mountain, Va.

[from the diary of Charles Hay of the 23rd Ohio]


                                  Great Flat Top Mountain, May 19th, 1862.
     We marched 14 miles today, and
arrived here about 2 P.M.  The heat
of the day rendered it quite unpleasant
marching, & the road being quite hilly,
made it more disagreeable.  Whether we
remain here, or continue our retreat,
remains to be seen.  Certain it is, that
whether we go farther or not, we cannot
help feeling as though we could have thor=
=oughly “cleaned out” the rebels from Princeton
and the surrounding country.  Instead thereof,
an army of 6000 men, well supported by
artillery, retreat before daybreak from
what we all believe to be an inferior force,
leaving a number of sick and wounded
to the tender mercies of the “secesh.”
     There must be imbecility, and a want
of energy somewhere, or ‘such things would
not be.’  Soldiers can have and render
as good opinions as those high in authority,
and it is a universal opinion in camp, that
Gen. [Jacob Dolson] Cox is not the “right man in the right place.”  
                                                                         


[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 13925