Osborn Ayer - Civil War Correspondence

Falls Church, Virginia July 25^th

Friends at home

I take the present opportunity to write you a few lines to quiet your anxiety (if such exists) as to my whereabouts safety &C [etc.] Some sixteen dayes [days] ago we broke camp and mooved [moved] into Washington from which place I wrote you last Our reg [regiment] has been verry [very] busy since that time, first around the defences of W -- acting as scirmishers [skirmishers] and then in persuit [pursuit] of the Rebs

After I wrote you from the city and on the same night I went out and in the morning was thirty five miles away from there Scirmishing [Skirmishing] commenced in the morning and at Rockville, Virginia we had a quite a severe engagement

only part of our Reg [regiment] and about one hundred of the eight Illinois being engaged Here we suffered most of any where loosing many in killed and wounded and captured Our Co [company] suffered least of all although we led the advance of the column The rebs charged our front and left flank simultaneously and the only wonder is that we were not all engulfhed [engulfed ] in the living wave they poured upon our little handfull [handful] of men Co F was dismounted and suffered the greatest loss, not being able to regain their horses in time We all owe our safety more to the clouds of dust which rendered friend and foe undistinguishable They the fire of the Johneis [Johnnies] was too high to be effective as a perfect storm of bullets whistled overhead

Our Co [company] loss was but twoo [two] missing and twoo [two] wounded slightly My tent mate J. L. Finley is amongst the missing whether killed wounded or taken prisoner I cannot accertain [ascertain] The rebel force here was estimated at five thousand whilst we did not have as many hundred engaged The rebs acknowlege [acknowledge] a severe loss here, and it was said the ground where the hardest fighting accured [occurred] was heaped with their dead We next engaged their retreating column at Poolesville, Maryland where they opened on us with shell, and for an hour the screach [screech] and blasting of shell was more frequent than pleasant We advanced a scurmish [skirmish] line and drove them from their position before our artillery could get up and get into position and at sundown we gave them

a taist [taste] of shelling also and a much more effective one than we received for our only loss was twoo [two] horses and one man slightly wounded in the foot I have not time to write particulars now we followed them into the Shenandoah Valley beyond a little vilage [village] (called Berryville, Virginia I believe) some nine miles

We were then ordered back and here we are again on the old ground I am in good health and have not received a scratch Had Gen Write General Julius White who commanded pressed the enemy as I think he might we would have had more fighting and I think the enemy would have went with less plunder to their home but our orders were always, not to bring on an engagement as the infantry and artilery [artillery] could not come up to assist but we could have done much without them if allowed and our Col chafed under the restraint, he had command of all the cavelry [cavalry] forces. I have no more papers and there is none in camp or I would write more particulars I will write again when I have an opportunity

Regards to all and as ever O Ayer

Camp near Berryville Shanendoah Shenandoah Valley Sept 12^th

Friends at home

I received a letter from Sister A yesterday and was glad to hear from home and friends once more As I am doing little in camp today I will ans [answer] it Our Brigade went out on reconorceance [reconnaissance] this morning and I did not go along as I could not find my horse in time They took out a section of artillery from the battery belonging to the brigade Already I hear the thunder of its guns at the front and an engagement is going on The 2^nd Mass [Massachusetts] has been brigaded three times since leaving Washington for the Middle department At first it consisted of the 2^nd Mass [Massachusetts] 2^nd MD [Maryland] and 22^nd PA [Pennsylvania] Cav [Cavalry] The latter was then taken out and the 25^th N Y [New York] put