July 1, 1862
The battle still rages. McClellan certainly in retreat to the James, Jackson on one flank, Longstreet on the other & Magruder & Hill pressing him in front. God be with our poor wounded! The sight is pitiable in the extreme. Every house is shattered with shot or shell, yet amids the ruins are huddled our own & the enemy’s wounded, for they no longer attempt to carry them with them but are forced by our advance to abandon them. God help them. Dispatched all the Hospital stores I have, Linen, Cotton, Wine, Cordial, etc., to Richmond, praying that they might alleviate some poor fellow’s sufferings. Our anxiety intense.
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
