Near Gauley Bridge, October 15, 1861.
Dear Uncle: – I am practicing law on the circuit, going from camp to camp. Great fun I find it. I am now in General Rosecrans’ headquarters, eight miles from my regiment. This is the spot for grand mountain scenery. New River and Gauley unite here to form the Kanawha. Nothing on the Connecticut anywhere equals the views here.
Glad Ohio is sound on the goose. Sandusky County for once is right. We shall beat the Rebels if the people will only be patient. We are learning war. The teaching is expensive and the progress slow, but I see the advance. Our army here is safe and holds the key to all that is worth having in western Virginia. . . .
Sincerely,
R. B. Hayes.
P. S. – Send letters, etc., care of General Rosecrans as heretofore. How about Treasury notes? Patriotism requires us to take and circulate them, but is there not a chance of their sharing, sooner or later, in a limited degree, the fate of the Continental money of Revolutionary times?
S. Birchard.