ALS signed “P. R. R.,” four pages, 7.75 x 12.25, July 29, 1861. Just days after Bull Run, a member of the "Home Guard" from Henry County, Virginia, writes from a house then serving as a hospital. In part: "I hardly know what to think of John's case…his mind is confused and delirious, and his pulse beats pretty quick…I am giving him Quinine, a little morphine, and whisky punch…Mrs. B….has been emphatically our sister and our mother…when she heard of the battle the other day, she went to the hospital to enquire if any of the H. Guards were wounded…Report here says that we have captured 67 pieces of artillery…besides that, we have taken 3000 prisoners!…Col. Early has been promoted Brig. General!…John is very bad…with a muttering delirium…perhaps before I close this letter, his death may be announced…it is a mournful thing to die away from home…We are all sick of war and its horrors, although we are victors—nothing but duty keeps us here." In very good condition, with scattered staining, and splitting along the intersecting folds.
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