Bettes, William H. to Lodema
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02596.03 Author/Creator: Bettes, William H. Place Written: Centerville, Ohio Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 19 November 1862 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope ; 20.4 x 12.8 cm. Order a Copy
Left Gainesville, Virginia yesterday at 5PM and is now between Centerville and Fairfax, Virginia. On the way, they passed the memorable battlefield of Bull Run. Encamped about six miles west of Centerville; they are now about four miles east of that place and comfortably encamped in the woods. Have their tent up and plenty of hay for their bed. They have "good soft bread, good butter, good fries, good coffee and milk for supper tonight and we have enough for breakfast. We live on the best when it can be had." Feels that the public will no longer be "bored with the old stereotyped phrase 'all quiet on the Potomac.' Burnside is pushing the Rebels back to Richmond." He does not wait to entrench nor amuse the public with the announcement that he is in a hot pursuit of the enemy. Writes that "you will see brighter days soon now that we have got rid of our Donothing General McClelland and Buell. There is a few more that ought to walk the plank. We have only one General in the Army of the Potomac that is to be watched and he will have to walk up to the scratch or out he goes." Only received her letter from 10 November 1862 tonight. Has never felt so much like pitching into the Rebels. Writes that there is a prospect of this war coming to an end sometime now and there never has been before. Has "watched the moves of the Army closely and there was more truth than poetry in General Milroy's remarks to President Lincoln when he told him that West Point was running us all to hell, all those West Point Officers are as proslavery as the devil, and they are afraid of liberating a negro or hurting their masters. But thank God the program has changed. The days of the Southern Confederacy are numbered." All the men are quite well except for Wellington, who they fear has a fever. Wellington left yesterday for Washington City to go to a hospital where he can be properly cared for. Gave him some money and told Wellington that if he needed more to let him know. As soon as Bettes knows what hospital Wellington is staying at, he will write to his wife with an update on Wellington's state of health. Wellington is not dangerously ill yet but it is 25 miles from the camp to the city, which is a long trip for a sick man to take.
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