February 23, 1862
Sunday—Last night after I had gone to bed came a letter from Patrick telling me to our dismay that the Regt under Col Leventhorpe had been ordered to Garysburg and that the Steam boat was wanted to convey their baggage up the River! Did any one ever hear of “Move House” being played on so stupendus a scale? The very day our wagons returned from moving them down we heard they were ordered up again. This was countermanded, however, & not five days after reordered, and they go now positively to Garysburg. This leaves nothing but the Militia, & they ill armed, between ourselves and Burnside; but there is a system of compensation in most matters in this world—so perhaps our crooked river with its terrible reputation for sudden rises and falls, which ordinarily is such a draw back to us, may now be the best bulwark we could have.
Walked with Father in the afternoon. As the sun went down we distinctly heard the booming of a Canon in the distance, probably the “Evening Gun” of the Enemy now in theChowanRiver. It sent a thrill, by no means of pleasure, through us. It was a solemn sound that still Sunday evening. That sudden & heavy report, it brought the War to our doors & hearth stones. Alaas—for our poor houseless neighbors in Winton! How soon your fate may be ours none of us can tell!
Source: Edmondston, Catherine Ann Devereux, 1823-1875, Journal of a Secesh Lady: The Diary of Catherine Ann Devereux Edmondston 1860-1866. Crabtree, Beth G and Patton, James W., (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1979). http://nc-historical-publications.stores.yahoo.net/478.html
