1862 October 7 near Harper's Ferry

[on patriotic stationary depicting a farmer leaving behind his plow to carry a rifle and flag]

                                   CAMP Near Harper's Ferry 
                                        20th   Regt, Co., H   U.S.A.
                               Tuesday Oct 7 1862

Dear Brother & sister Len & Sarah,
                Nearly five weeks have
passed away since I was at your
house. the time has passed of very quick
with me & yet when I look back it seems
as though it had been five months instead
of weeks since I left home.
We left New Haven on Sunday the
next after I was at your house & arrived
in New York & took a steamboat for Fort
Monmout New Jersey where we again took
the cars & arrived in Philadelphia about
daylight the next morning.  It rained
very hard when we got there but we could
not stop for that. We go out of the cars
& formed into line & marched through

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the city to an eating house where
thousands of hungry soldiers are fed free
of cost every day.  We halted in front of the
place & stood about an hour in the
rain waiting our turn.  We finally got
a chance in & you may be sure we
did ample justice to the abundant
provision made for us by the liberal
people of Philadelphia for we had eaten
next to nothing for nearly 24 hours. After
we finished our meal we marched
about a mile further through the
rain & water which was running in
rivers all over the streets, to the Depot of the
Baltimore R Road where we waited
until afternoon & then started for Baltimore.
All along the road through Philadelphia
& from there to Baltimore we were greeted
with cheers & the people  all seemed to
rejoice at the Sight of so many Regiments
of men going on to fight the Battles of
our Country.  We arrived in Baltimore
about Midnight & Marched two miles
to the the[sic] Depot of the Baltimore and

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Washington R Road. There as in Philadelphia
we were furnished with a good meal
& we then lay down on the floor  of the
R Road Depot until morning. We were
then furnished with Breakfast &
started for Washington. Where we arrived
about 3 o clock in the afternoon.   We were
then taken to Uncle Sams quarters & fed
with a meal such as I shall never forget
They feed every Regt that comes in in
the same way. They have a large long
room fitted up with narrow tables
or Benches & on those are laid one
slice of bread in a place about a foot
apart & on the bread a piece of the fattest &
greasiest pork you could imagine (but
not the sweetest) this was the dinner or
meal given to each soldier.  We had some
Stuff they called Coffee set on in pails
which were not as clean as some swill pails
I have seen and we were at liberty to help our
selves to this. We were not long in finishing
our supper here & then we were marched
out to East Capitol hill & about two miles

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from the Capitol where we slept on the
ground without Tents for the first time.
The next day we pitched tents & had a very
busy day of it although it was the Sabbath.
You will naturally conclude that our
first impression of Washington was
not the most favorable. My first was
as favorable as my last.  While we were
there we had very hard fare the most of
the time.  We staid there on Capitol Hill
only four days.   We then marched over
to Arlington Heights near Fort Richardson
& Scotts & encamped there.  While we were here
we had three or four Division Reviews where
there were some ten or twelve thousand
troops together and several Batteries of Artillery we
were Reviewed by Gen. Casey.  We left Arlington
Heights for Frederick City, Maryland on Monday
of last week we arrived & staid until
the latter part of the week when we were
ordered to this place.  We have been here four
days we are encamped at the foot of
Maryland Heights two miles from Harpers
Ferry.  We were on the very ground occupied
by Stonewall Jackson & from which he was
driven by Burnside some four weeks ago
when we were at Frederick City & we are
now on ground which has been occupied
by the Rebels.  On the Heights above us & in the
woods around have been found by our boys
Broken guns & Bayonets & there are Dead
bodies lying in the Woods unburied not
one mile from our camp.  Several were
found the other day & burned for they could
not be moved enough to bury them.  So you see
we are in the midst of Scenes which make one

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feel that there is reality about war how
soon we shall be called to fight I dont know.
We may be very soon.  We are in Gen. Kane
Brigade and in the 12th Army Corps under
Gen. Williams. Yours Truly M.B. Woodruff

Merritt Burr Woodruff, 1828-1907, Co. H, 20th Connecticut.

MSS 11065