Friday, July 13, 2012

1862 July 13 Harrison's Landing, Va.

Camp Near Harrison's Landing Va July 13th 1862

Brother William--your letter of July 13th has been received you
wish to know if any siege guns were lost only one small one it was not
captured by the enemy but the gun was rendered useless by the breaking
of one of the wheels & could not be drawn off the Field Our Regiment lost but
one Office[r] at the Battle of Gaines mills Capt Patridge of Co. J. at the
Battle of Gaines Mills we lost one hundred & ten men Killed & wounded
at Malvern Hills we were on the extreme left but took no part in the
engagement, although we whipped the enemy in every battle we have
been defended, we have not accomplished what this Army intended
to accomplish & what it could & ought to have accomplished it is of no use
to argue the question Facts Facts are the things Genl McClellan when
Yorktown was evacuated had An Army large enough & willing enough
to walk into Richmond & I expect the Army could have captured
Richmond Genl McClellans Plea proberly was to take Yorktown and
Richmond without loss of many lives what is the result of this long delay
this waiting untill this place without loss of life, the result is this one halfe

of the Army has been used up by sickness killed in battle & taken prisoners
& nothing has been accomplished with every facility for coming out of this
Campagne successfully & with an Army & an amount of Money such as no
other Genl on this continent ever had Genl McClellan has failed to accomplish
what this Army could have accomplished, I dont say I could do better, but
we have been digging & building earthworks & bridges, new roads have been
built through every mile of the rout we have travelled since leaving Fortress
 Munroe & now all this work has been done for nothing, you will say it was A
Military necessity, well all I have to say is, it ought not to have been so
you may ask could it have been prevented, it could have been prevented two
months ago, Genl McClellan with the Army he had not business to have been
more that ten weeks at the Farthest in entering Richmond, you may think I
am talking wild it may be so. I am not the only one in the Army that
thinks as I do, in my next I will argue the case with you; my Health is
very good all I want is something good to eat, everything we get is tasteless
I have sent Home for A Box now: if you are disposed to put in anything
that you think will taste good do so, whatever you have to send Lizzy
will put in the box give my respects to Mrs Leavitt From
Your Brother   George

Letters of George Leavitt of the 5th New York and his brother George of the 5th Maine
were copied into a ledger by their father in the fall of 1865 as a remembrance of them.  Both boys were mortally wounded in the war, George at 2nd Bull Run and Joseph at Spotsylvania.


MSS 66

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