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78 hero with a single corps which did not number 15,000 battled with him for 12 hours nearly incessantly, retiring in good order five miles to Banks Ford retreated across the river in the face of a veteran army, victorious, valiant, overwhelming in numbers, and commanded by one of the ablest generals the world has ever produced, bringing off all his artilery, ambulances, nearly off of his wounded and 1200 prisoners. Honor, forever, be to the 6th Corp. and Gen. Sedgewick. And yet this man refused the command of our armies when it was offered him, and when by seniority he was entitled to it. Hooker stock was on the decline, sellers gladly disposed of it at 50 ct. on the dollar and buyers gambled at that price. I believe the army had all retired across the river by the 5th of May. We settled down in a pleasant camp near the river where the green clover grew most luxuriously and all nature smiled as if to relieve our heavy hearts from the mortification of defeat. We cleaned all rubbish from the face of the country. And in a few days, any one would have thought by the countenances of the soldiers that we were the most victorious army upon which the sun had ever shown.# We built nice arbors over our camp lined our streets with pine trees arched the entrance of each street with evergreens. mande(made?) the letter of each companies street of evergreens and hung it at the arch. and thus Hookers army as the newspapers sparingly expressed it "Went into summer bowers." This is the thanks that a soldier receives by those for whom he

1. While we were in this camp the 34th N.Y left us, their term of service having expired. It was a noble regt. and fought faithfully by our sides ever since the Battle of Ball Bluff.