Lt. Melvin Dwinell, Co. A, 8th Georgia Infantry, On Casualties and Spoils

Battle Ground near Manassas Junction July 24 1861

Dear Parents – On last Sunday I was in the midst of one of the hardest fought battles that has ever occurred in America – I am without a scratch or even a bullet hole in my clothes – Five of our men fell dead by my side – four were mortally wounded – and six or eight more severely – It seems a miracle that I escaped unharmed. The Confederate Army was victorious and completely routed Lincoln’s forces – We took 64 cannon of the best kind, 100 heavy baggage wagons – about 600 Prisoners and drove the enemy back some 12 or 15 miles and would have pursued them to Washington but out men gave out from sheer exhaustion.

Your aft. Son
Melvin

From Dear Courier: The Civil War Correspondence of Editor Melvin Dwinell, pp. 57-58

Melvin Dwinell at Ancestry.com

Melvin Dwinell at Fold3

Melvin Dwinell at FindAGrave

Vermonter in Gray: The Story of Melvin Dwinell

More on Melvin Dwinell here, here, and here