Letter written by Rush P. Cady, lieutenant in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company K, to his sister, Eliza, from Headquarters 97th N.Y.V. near Purcellville, Virginia, November 1, 1862

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PAGE IMAGE Please send
these letters
home as
soon as you
have read
them.
R.
Headquarters 97th N.Y.V. (97th Regiment, New York)
Near Purcellville, Va. (Virginia) (Purcellville, Virginia)   Nov. 1. '62. Dear Sister Eliza (Cady, Eliza) ,

I should have answered your
letter several days ago, but we have been moving
a good deal of the time, & I have been so much
occupied as not to be able to get an opportunity before
now.- Last Sunday, about 1 o'c., we rec'd
“marching orders”, at Mercersville (Mercersville, Maryland) , where we
had remained so long. It rained quite hard
all day & all night, so that it became quite
muddy, & marching with heavy knapsacks,
through the mud & rain, till 9 o'c. at night,
& then having to stand up around the camp
fires all night, without any shelter from
the rain, as nearly all of the men did,
you can well imagine was worthy to be called
“hardship”.- I was so fortunate as to have a rubber
coat (& Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) too) which afforded considerable
protection. We got into a shed that night,
about 11o'c. & lay upon some straw (which is a great lux-

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PAGE IMAGE ury in the army) but being wet & cold, we
were anything but comfortable. Our whole
Corps ( Reynolds (Reynolds) ' (Reynolds' Corps)) marched that day, about
7 miles, to within a couple miles of Crampton's Gap (Crampton's Gap, Frederick, Maryland) ,
& passing through Sharpsburg (Sharpsburg, Maryland) on the way.
The next morning, (Mond.) several of us
officers, including Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) & me, got a good
breakfast at a farm house, which relished
well, as we had gone without supper the
night before. Thursday it rained some in the
morning, & during the day it was quite coal (cool)
& very windy. We marched only 4 miles,
over South Mountains (the Blue Ridge) (South Mountains, Maryland) through
Cramptons Gap (Crampton's Gap, Frederick, Maryland) , to Burkettsville (Brukettsville, Maryland) , quite a
pleasant little village. From the summit
of the mountain, we had an extended &
beautiful view of the Pleasant Valley (Pleasant Valley, Maryland) ,
between the Blue Ridge (Blue Ridge, Maryland) & the Catoctin Mountains (Catoctin Mountains, Frederick County, Maryland) .
I went, with several other of-
ficers of our Brigade & got supper at a
private house, where we had an excellent
meal, & everything betokened taste & refine-

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PAGE IMAGE ment. Three of us lodged at another place
(sleeping all in one bed). These people were
intelligent, entertaining & hospitable, & thor-
oughly loyal.- The man informed us, that
there had been quite a heavy battle close by
there, (the same day of the battle of South  Mt. (South Mountain, Virginia) )
between Gen. Franklin (Franklin, William Buel (General)) 's Corps (General Franklin's Corps) & the rebels.
2 or 300 were killed & 600 wounded on our
side. These wounded filled several hospitals
in the town. The next day, Tuesday, we
marched to Berlin (Berlin, Maryland) , about 9 miles, on the
Potomac (Potomac River, Maryland) , 6 miles below Harper's Ferry (Harpers Ferry, West Virginia) . Here
was a pontoon Bridge, over which Burn- side's (Burnside) 's Corps (Burnside's Corps) d'armee had crossed on
Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday. We remained there until
Thursday, engaged-part of the time making
out muster & Pay Rolls. Three companies
of the 5d Reg. (5th Regiment) (Engineers) including Capt. Brainard (Brainard) 's
Co. (Captain Brainard's Company) lay very near us, & we
visited then the first night, seeing Capt Brainard (Brainard (Captain)) ,
Lieut. Falley (Falley (Lieutenant)) , & all the “new
recruits”- Jackson (Jackson) , Heaton (Heaton) , Bascomb (Bascomb) , Eddy (Eddy) ,
& others. It was very pleasant indeed.

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PAGE IMAGE to meet so many friends from Rome (Rome, New York) .
Maj. Northup (Northrup, Charles (Major)) , Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) & I – took supper
with Capt. Brainard (Brainard (Captain)) & Lt. Falley (Falley (Lieutenant)) – having bread
& milk, tea, stewed oysters &c, in abund-
ance. Nearly all of these fellows visited
us in our camp next day. On Thurs-
day, about noon, we crossed the Pan-
tran (Pantran)  bridge (Pantran Bridge, Maryland) into Va. (Virginia) (Virginia) Again. This bridge
contained 57 boats, & was 1582 feet,
or nearly a hundred rods in length.

Not far from the river, we came to Lovettsville (Lovettsville, Virginia) ,
where there were a good many solders,
& the women waved the “stars & stripes”.
We marched about 6 miles, to within
3 miles of Waterford, Virginia, where our Division
encamped in an immense field & piece
of woods.- Here – yesterday – the last day
of the month – all the troops were “mustered
for pay”, & the Muster & Pay Rolls made out, so
as to be sent on to Washington (Washington, District of Columbia) promptly, in
order that we may be paid off as soon
as possible; there being now – four months pay
due us.- About 3 o'c. in the afternoon,
after finishing the Pay Rolls, Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) & I
started off together for a walk, stopping
at two or three farm houses,- at one house
remaining awhile, & getting some apples