Jeffery, Aaron (fl. 1855-1864) to [Robert W. Jeffery]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01896.067 Author/Creator: Jeffery, Aaron (fl. 1855-1864) Place Written: Richmond, [Va.] Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 7 March 1864 Pagination: 4 p. ; 21 x 26 cm. Order a Copy
Greatly relieved to have finally heard from Richard, Aaron Jeffery writes a battle account of the "fight of which you enquire" which he had been involved in "accidentally." The Armory Battalion, to which he was attached, initially pushed back Yankee pickets but was then surprise-attacked by a much larger body of 500 or 600 infantry and dismounted cavalrymen, and the Armory Battalion broke and retreated. Later, however, the Confederates were reinforced by another battalion and two Virginia regiments and managed to push back the Federals. Mentions poor condition of his battalion from lack of sleep [due to insufficient warm clothing in the cold]. Concludes with an account of Yankee predations on the local populace and reports that all the local papers, with the exception of the Richmond Sentinel, are of the opinion that the "scoundrels should be executed." This is a notion to which Aaron agrees, and he asserts "some measure of this kind [is required] to bring the infernal Yankees to the consciousness of their barbarity."
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