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“Every evening we have singing after supper… they generally commence with "Do they miss me at home," then they sing two or three hymns and finish up with ‘They miss me at home.’”

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“Give my love to all and tell some of my friends to write to me. You do not know how eagerly we await the coming of the mail, and how disappointed we are if we do not get a letter. No more at present from your affectionate son,
R. Henry Campbell. ”

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“I like the looks of Martinsburg very much. It is a very nice place. It contains some beautiful residences. Its population is 4000. Almost all of the inhabitants are still for the Union. The Ladies all play (on the piano) Hail Columbia & Star Spangled Banner. This County gave seven hundred majority for the Union. We have excellent quarters. We are quartered in the Town Hall.”

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“We have been very kindly treated by the Citizens [of Martinsburg] since we have been here. They still continue to send us provisions every day. The Ladies send us bouquets every day; and are continually sending invitations to dine and take tea with them.”

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“There has been a great change since we have been here [Martinsburg]. When we first came, the most of the Citizens were Unionists, a great many of them have changed and become Secessionists. When we came, our flag was the only Secession flag that could be seen. Now you can see them on every street. The Ladies wear them pinned to their dresses.”

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“Our Company left Martinsburg… All of the Citizens were very sorry to see us leave. They say that if they are going to station a Company in Martinsburg, that they want us to come back. They say that we are the most gentlemanly set of men that they have seen, and that they would rather have us there than to have their own town Company.”

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“The men reached there nearly crazy with thirst, and had been wondering in vain, how and where water could be procured. The stars and stripes displayed from a window, suddenly attracted our attention and all quickly forgot the agonies of thirst; for it was an unusual thing to behold the American flag hung out in those parts. A nearer approach enabled us to see the flag, supported by a noble-looking lady and her two daughters.
It was refreshing to our hearts, to behold such a sublime exhibition of loyalty in that region of midnight darkness, during the blackest hour. The ladies declared their determination to stand by that flag, and would let it wave if Stonewall Jackson himself came along. As each company approached the flag, heads were uncovered, and one continued huzza rent the air, until the last of the 12,000 had marched by. The old lady took the last morsel of bread in the house and gave it to the soldiers as an offering to her bleeding country. The young ladies went half a mile with two pails each, and brought pure cold water, which might have flowed from a crystal fountain. "God bless you ladies," and "Heaven protect you," were the words last spoken by the soldiers; and away in the distance, the resplendent folds of the old flag could still be seen, floating in triumph.”

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“We reached Frederick City, Md., on the morning of September 17th, 1862. A few days previous, McClellan had driven the rebels out of the city, and fighting took place in the very streets, much to the terror of a large majority of the inhabitants, who were loyal. The people told us that the rebels had pulled down all the Union flags, and in several instances, had tied them to the tails of cows and horses, and trailed them in the dust through the streets to taunt the Union citizens. The Confederate officers cleared out all the Union stores and eating saloons paying their victims in rebel currency, thereby ruining many business men; while not a dollar's worth of goods was taken from any disloyal person.”

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“A few miles out of Frederick, sutlers lined the road, with wagons and stands full of goods. They charged and received exorbitant prices for everything which they had for sale, for soldiers had to live regardless of the cost. Rancid cheese was bought up eagerly at $1 per pound, and the thirsty soldiers paid a dollar each, or more than two days’ wages, for pint bottles of sour beer. Small sweet cakes sold readily for fifty cents per dozen, and hundreds were pressing and crowding up to the wagons, all striving to be waited on first.”

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“The troops camped at night near a field of green corn, and ten acres of it were soon stripped, and sweet-corn hissed and sputtered from a hundred fires.”

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