Nov. 16th '62
My dear Father,
I wrote you
from Harrisonburg but in such
a hurried manner that I had
not time to collect my thoughts.
That epistle was only to let
you know what has become
of me & was a substitute
for the one which I ought to
have written from Staunton
more than a week previous.
I arrived in Winchester Thursday
but did not come to camp un
til Saturday evening having heard
that the Regmt was going about
ten miles on piquet when I
arrived, I got to camp just as
[page 2]
the boys were returning from
picket. We are encamped about
four miles from town & near
the place where we were encamped
a year ago---we have no tents
but have made ourselves little
log "bunks" which by the way
are tolerably comfortable-they
will do pretty well in dry weather
but we can not make them turn
water very well--the weather has
been quite favorable for some time
for soldiering but last night
we had some rain & my bunk
leakedked [sic] a little tho' not e-
nough to make it uncomfortable.
Two cases of Small Pox made
their appearance in our Regmt
a few days since & in conse-
quence thereof the Regmt has been
placed in quarentine--the cases
[page 3]
are in the Co. from Grayson.
The whole Regmt I believe is
being vaccinated--Hearing that
the Small Pox was in Staunton
I got Dr. Jno. Tate to vaccinate
me the day I left Greenville but
it didn't take much effect & the
day I got here I scratched the
scab off carrying a log of wood.
I think I shall get the Dr. to
vaccinate me again. I
to be very much afraid of this
disease but since I have been
compelled to go where it was
I have become perfectly indif-
ferent. Please don't [missing word] yourselves any
uneasiness on account of our situ-
ation--I will write you if the
Disease spreads thro' the Regmt.
We are separated from the Bri-
gade and are not allowed to go any
[page 4]
where at all. I don't know how
long we will be kept in this
situation, for some weeks tho',
I presume if the Yankees don't
interrupt us. There are no Yan-
kees between this & the river on
this side of the Mountain.
Gen. A.P. Hill's command is
at Berryville in Clark. Gen. D.H.
Hill's at Straburg--Gen. Ewell's at
Whitepost--some where near
Front Royal - Gen. Longstreet's in
Culpeper & Gen. Jackson's old di-
vision near Winchester. I looked
for my knapsack as I came thro'
Charlottesville but found it had
been rifled. The boys generally are
enjoying good health--as the owner
of this pen is waiting for it I will
bring my letter to a close. I shall
write home again very soon.
Yours truly,
James
Corporal James Graham Tate, Co. A., 4th Virginia
MSS 9232-n
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