1862 June 13 Chapel Hill, N.C.

[from the diary of Eliza Oswald Hill, refugee from Wilmington, N.C.]

Friday 13th  A very warm day  I have finished my dress--& have
written a long letter to Liz--Mrs Wingfield comes to night for
Wilson to say with her mother--We are all grieving about
it & I shall hate to see her go--For tho' she is a very young woman
only 21 Still she stays a great deal with me--& we walk toge
-ther every afternoon--I have a long letter from Tom received
this morning--His Regiment was in advance of the Army & the
pickets only a half mile from the enemy--His Major Campbell
was sick & he was then staying with his Lieutenant Colonel
at head quarters--He likes his Captain Sessions very much--said
he was his particular friend--The armies were only 2 miles
apart--& they were expecting a fight every moment--Toms
Regiment was sent on picket two days after he arrived
there & he said they had been knocking about ever since--Arms
in hand--& guns loaded--A little skirmishing was constant
ly going on--& the Yankees were sending up balloons--
He said they were all very much cheered up at StoneWall
Jackson Victories--first over Banks--then Shields--

MSS 6960