Woolsey family letters during the War for the Union
    

‘I can’t stand, but I tell you they only broke, they didn’t run.’

Eliza Woolsey Howland to her husband, Colonel Joseph Howland:–

I enclose some comments about Casey’s division, and we all agree here that justice was not done to the men. It is surely hard enough to lose as terribly as they did without being reproached for cowardice. Abby says in a late letter– “Anna Jeffries came on from Boston yesterday in the train which brought many of the Daniel Webster load, scattering them all along at or near their homes. One gentleman was asking another whether Casey was of Rhode Island or Connecticut, when a wounded soldier cried out from some seat nearby, overhearing Casey’s name–a cry of anguish and anger–`They didn’t run! they didn’t run!’ He tried to stagger to his feet, being wounded in both ankles, and then added–’I can’t stand, but I tell you they only broke, they didn’t run.'”

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