Transcription
I shall go where duty calls, but shall not rashly expose myself to danger—but the charmed circle in which General Jackson and his staff moved is broken & the break was a heavy one—and today it is feared that Gen. Jackson has reached his last days, pneumonia has attacked him, debilitated by his wound, and his physicians think the chances for his recovery are very poor—but I do pray Heaven to spare him, unless, in the wise counsel of eternity, he has accomplished the end for which he was created—he said himself that he did not doubt but it was for the wisest of purposes that he lost his arm, as the revelations of Eternity would show.
The smoke of battle has cleared away and we now see what we have done and can only hope for the results. We have severely punished Hooker and his immense army-his loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, can not be much less than 20,000, we fought him over a space of country 15 miles long & 3 wide, having some 5 or 6 distinct battles with him & he did not gain an advantage in one of them, though we had many valuable men killed & wounded. The fact is that as soon as we flank them they become panic stricken & no amount of leadership can avail them-they have been so often whipped that they always begin half whipped, and give up as light reverses-though they brag and bluster and are going to do wonders-we fell on their rear unexpectedly and they say one of their corps ran at the first fire.
We hear today that Lincoln has called out the militia of the North, fearful of our invasion, now that his "best army on the planet," has been demoralized. Let them come on, nothing will end the war sooner, come it must that they have fighting at home and when that begins they will let us alone & peace will come. We hear also that armed men have been sent to various fronts of the west to enforce order & collisions must ensue. If there is any spirit of freedom left there they must resist-if they do not I hope they may be enslaved. The details of the battles you will get from the papers.
