July 6, 1862, Near Harrison's Landing, Va.

It is hard to describe what I have seen and heard in the last 
week or so.  A month back, I thought all was lost, with General 
McClellan and his huge Yankee army within sight of Richmond's 
church steeples, and within the sound of their bells.
 
But then General Robert E. Lee came to be our new Army commander,
replacing General Joseph E. Johnston, who was wounded in battle.  
 
At first, we didn't know what to think of General Lee.  A pious 
and distinguished gentleman and accomplished soldier, he rallied 
Virginia's forces to the Confederacy a year ago . . . but since 
then he had accomplished little, and was most recently just an 
adviser to President Davis.  We thought him a bit meek, and much 
more likely to build forts than to fight. The men called him 
"Old Granny. "  Did he ever prove us wrong!

He decided to attack and attack and attack, and over the last week 
we have driven McClellan away from Richmond to near this place, 
where his huge army is bottled up, milling around, and useless.  
The Yankees are all lined up around here, with their warships just 
off shore in James River, protecting the army with their heavy guns.

We have lost thousands of men; each of the many battles we fought 
was much worse than Manassas, almost a year ago.

Though we have won the campaign, the Yankees punished us in the 
battles severely.  Again and again we attacked across streams and 
swamps, only to find the Yankees dug in behind them.  Again and 
again they would fight us all day, then pull back in the night to 
a new location, fortify themselves, and slaughter our men in 
heaps when we attacked again.  I think we have lost more men than 
they did.

General Longstreet says that General Lee is very angry that many 
of our attacks were late, took place one at a time, or didn't 
take place at all as he planned.  Some generals are going to be 
fired for their poor work.  Our biggest disappointment was General 
"Stonewall" Jackson, the hero of Manassas, and of his brilliant 
spring  campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.  Jackson worked wonders 
there--defeating 4 times his own strength--but when he came here 
and joined us, he was slow, unresponsive, and always late.  General 
Lee had hoped Jackson would attack the Yankees from behind, but he 
never did.

I took messages to General Jackson at a critical time when General
Longstreet needed him to support our attack. Jackson could barely 
put two words together, and he wandered away from me without giving 
me a reply.  I think the man was either sick, exhausted, or both.

I think I did very well for myself. I even got to take part in a 
charge (something staff officers rarely do).  I was surprised by 
my lack of fear, and by the overwhelming sense of excitement and 
the great bond that the fighting soldiers share.

But, despite the bloodiness and horrors, and the fact that our 
attacks were poorly made,  the Yankees were driven away by General 
Lee's brave plans, and by our men's brave fighting.  Almighty God 
be praised.

Saltron took a slight wound during the charge, but he is fine now.

General Lee is a fighter.  I understand that other Yankee troops 
are gathering in Northern Virginia, so perhaps we will head that 
way again.  I would not be surprised to hear that General Lee takes 
us there to attack them.  If so, maybe I will have a chance to go 
home to see Mary Jane and the children, and to find out more about 
what is happening there at Oak Hill.  She and the children remain 
well, thank God.