1862 July 4 near Warrenton, Va.

[from the diary of Private Ephraim Wood of the 13th Massacusetts]

    

Friday July 4^th 1862

     Independence has come.

The Sun came out warm and

it proved to be a very hot day.

We had breakfast at Six Oclock.

At half past six, we received

orders to prepare to march at

eight Oclock.  It was a great

disappointment to a New York

Regt, in Rickets Brigade.

They had got their Camp

fixed up splendidly, and had

commenced to put up fire [perhaps he means fire lanterns.  See below.]

which were sent to them

by their Friends.  They had

made walks through their

Camp with, with arches of

evergreens over head, on which

they were a going to hang

their Chinese lanterns.

The Friend of the Regt from

New York had got up an

excursion and were comming this day

to see them.  They received notice

that the Excursion party had

reached Washington the night

before.  When that Excursion

party arrived at Manassas, the

loved ones that they expected

to see, had been gone about

                                            

an hour.  It was to bad, some

of those friends, if not most of

them, were probably Fathers Mothers

Sisters and brothers.  We marched

ten miles, towards Warrenton.

At the end of our days march,

I had all the Cherries and

blackberries that I could eat.


[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]


MSS 12021