The Yankee Gazette

CONFEDERATES IN SHENANDOAH VALLEY!

MILROY EVACUATES WINCHESTER

HARRISBURG IN DANGER

near Manassas, VA- Our army correspondents report that the rebel army under General Lee has indeed marched into the Shenandoah Valley and attacked General Milroy's 10,000 man Union force at Winchester. On Friday June 12, it was ascertained that a large body of Confederates were moving up the Shenandoah Valley on the Strasburg Pike. Gen. Milroy's pickets a few miles from Winchester, encountered them on Saturday morning, and found that they were members of "Stonewall" Jackson's old corps now commanded by General Richard Ewell.

Gen. Ewell

A general engagement took place between Milroy's forces near Winchester and a sizeable force of Confederates who were repulsed, losing a number of prisoners and many killed and wounded. Rebel prisoners stated they were from General Ewell's Corps, estimated to be at 18,000 men. One rebel boasted, "Ah am from 'Stonewall' Jackson's old corps and we'uns are going to march around the Yanks agin like we did last month!" Outnumbered almost three to one, the battle was renewed on Saturday afternoon and Milroy's troops fell back into forts around the city. Early the next morning Confederates fell upon the rear of Milroy's column, turning an orderly retreat into a panicked exodus. Many of the troops who fought their way out gathered at Martinsburg but quickly left for Harper's Ferry or fords across the Potomac.

from Martinsburg- A body of Confederates believed to be about 5,000 strong, passed through Winchester and made their appearance at Martinsburg yesterday. The townspeople are using great caution in the protection of personal property. Meanwhile a group of 2,500 Confederates crossed the Potomac River and have raided Chambersburg, alarming officials in Harrisburg and other cities in the area.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has succeeded in saving all of their cars and engines. The freight and passenger business between here and the west is suspended due to the emergency, but service between Harper's Ferry and points east will continue. Railroad officials declare the government will place guards at all bridges and rail road lines while the emergency is underway.

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THE ARMY RUSHES NORTH

FORCES CAMP ON OLD BULL RUN BATTLEFIELD

CAVALRY HAS REB PRISONERS

Near Manassas, Virginia- The grand Army of the Potomac is now on the old Bull Run battlefield. The Third Corps arrived at Manassas Junction on Monday morning and the First and Eleventh Corps are at Centreville. Major General Hooker and his headquarters are on their way to this point and by tomorrow night the army will be concentrated here. Our cavalry commands have been on the outskirts of the army and performed invaluable service as scouts, gaining information of the enemy movements and blocking the enemy's advance as they can.

Union soldiers leave their camps near Falmouth, Virginia

The march has been a punishing one on man and horse as Daniel Townsend of Battery E, 1st U.S. Horse Artillery relates: "We left in the afternoon of June 11, and proceeded toward Warrenton Junction which we reached on the afternoon of the second day's march. There we remained a day while the main body of the army was moving toward Manassas. By dark on the following day (June 14) the army had passed. Boots & saddle was then blown. We harnessed and saddled up and in ten minutes were ready for the road. With battery A of the 2nd United States Artillery and Kilpatrick's brigade of cavalry, we formed the rear guard of the army and moved after the column which was now out of sight. The dust was so thick that the man in front of me I could just see and that was all. Our clothes were grey and our eyes were nearly blinded with it. It put me in the mind of some Arabs crossing the desert in a sand storm that I had seen in some picture book. It was the hardest night's march that we had experienced so far. A good shower of rain would have been more preferable."

The army has moved rapidly from their camps near Falmouth and the itinerary of the army was recently released by the War Department. General Hooker will most likely hold his army at Manassas before moving again.

BATTLE OF WINCHESTER

DESPERATE BATTLE ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

MILROY FIGHTS HIS WAY OUT OF TRAP

Gen. Milroy

Winchester, VA- General Milroy's Union army at Winchester faced a terrible situation this past weekend when Confederates under General Richard Ewell, a former officer under "Stonewall" Jackson, arrived south of the city and immediately opened fire upon the city's defenses. This force of Confederates, it turns out, is the advance of General Lee's Confederate army that has marched from their camps at Culpeper and Fredericksburg and into the Shenandoah Valley.

After a desperate fight, Milroy cut his way through and united with our forces at Harper's Ferry. A reporter in that town writes that the battle was very desperate and we repulsed the rebels repeatedly with heavy loss, but finally they were reinforced and Gen. Milroy made his arrangements to abandon Winchester, finding that the rebels were endeavoring to close around him from three sides. He lost considerably- 2,000 in killed, wounded and captured. The escape from the area was said to be orderly and well mannered despite the closure of Confederate forces from several directions.

CAVALRY SKIRMISH AT MIDDLEBURG

SKIRMISH AT ALDIE, VA

REBS SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES

from a New York Times correspondent- Union cavalry under General Pleasonton has experienced numerous brushes with Stuart's Confederate cavalry while attempting to force passage through the Bull Run Mountains west of Manassas. On June 17, scouts clashed with Confederate pickets at Aldie, VA. The following day, the Union forces rode toward Middleburg where southerners fought off several repeated attacks and Pleasonton was forced to retire without the satisfaction of driving the rebels from their hold on the town. Our losses were heavy in several New York regiments, but it is believed that a heavier loss was inflicted on the Confederates.

The army command believes that Stuart has blocked the passes into the Shenandoah to screen Lee's movement northward toward the Potomac River and Harper's Ferry. The recent battle near Winchester has proven that the Confederates have invaded the valley in great numbers.

GOV. CURTIN & HIS PRESENT ACTION

NEWS FROM HARRISBURG

Gov. Curtin

Harrisburg- "I called upon the Governor this morning at seven o'clock and found him at the Executive chamber looking wearied and disappointed. He is resigned to the fate that awaits the capital of the glorious old Commonwealth of which he is the executive. He has done everything in his power to avert the dreaded blow. He has pleaded with the War Department to no avail and repeatedly warned the cabinet of what might be expected. It is well to state that the raiders are in such close proximity that he bears courageously and manfully and not desert his post. Most of the stores in the city are closed, the markets deserted and private residences abandoned. The people are standing in knots, conversing upon the probable fate in store for them. Much speculation exists but very little excitement."

LETTERS FROM THE ARMY

More letters have arrived at the YANKEE GAZETTE and are printed here for your information:

With fond love to all,
I am your affectionate brother,
Henry P. Clare

HARPER'S FERRY EVACUATED

from the NY Herald- "I learn from an unknown source that our forces have evacuated Harpers Ferry. SOme of these troops hold Maryland Heights, which are strongly fortified and capable of withstanding any siege laid against it."

THE MARCH IN VIRGINIA

A SOLDIER FROM THE 17TH MAINE WRITES TO THE GAZETTE

Pvt. John Haley of the 17th Maine Infantry submitted his journal of the recent march northward in Virginia:

June 15th
The march began about 7 a.m. The air was almost suffocating, and as we advanced and our canteens became empty, matters assumed a serious turn. The dust in the road was scalding and, as one person remarked, "was thirty feet deep." The soil of Virginia was sucked into our throats, sniffed into our nostrils, and flew into our eyes and ears until our most intimate friends would not have recognized us.
On no other march have we suffered so with thirst and heat. It was but a short time after the water gave out that the effects of the march and heat began to be apparent. Men fell by the roadside to die from sunstroke, but notwithstanding the fact that more than a hundred had fallen out and others were on the verge of it, no halt was made until 10 o'clock, and then we hauled up in an open space where not so much a mullein stalk was visible. The only suggestion of water might be at a couple of houses a mile off. My tongue was now an "unruly member" and "vaunted itself and was puffed up." It required more room than I had for it. Consequently, I lolled and could only perform respiration through my nose.
Water must be had. We made a wild scramble for the house and found a well, but there was such as rush that the bucket collapsed and smashed into pieces far below our reach. Just at this moment the bugle blew and we could tarry no longer. Our hearts sank at the sound. As we were about to start from the house, I spied an old barrel at one corner of it. The barrel was about one-third full of something resembling ale in color and protected by a scum an inch deep. Into this my dipper was plunged and twice emptied without stopping to taste or smell. This horrible substitute for water was much like the turtle soup of the Scotchman, "it would 'na stay doon." I was soon relieved of the mess, but not before my internal department was fearfully demoralized.

QUESTION FOR THE WEEK: In a Union artillery battery, one cannon was hooked to a limber that was towed by a six horse team with a driver on each horse. Each cannon also had a caisson that was towed by another six-horse team and three drivers. Including three extra horses for the officers, how many horses and drivers are needed to move one six-gun battery? How many horses are required for an "artillery brigade" of five batteries?

STUDENTS! Check back for future issues of The Yankee Gazette. There will be one per week beginning April 26, 2004, including news, stories, questions, and more details about the soldiers who march to Gettysburg. Also look for the Gettysburg Star and Sentinel to find out what is happening in Adams County, Pennsylvania. See you then!