Camp Piatt, Ten Miles Above Charleston,
West Virginia, June 30, 1864.
Dear Uncle: — Back home again in the Kanawha Valley. Our raid has done a great deal; all that we at first intended, but failed in one or two things which would have been done with a more active and enterprising commander than General Hunter. General Crook would have taken Lynchburg without doubt. Our loss is small. [The] Twenty-third had nobody killed. My brigade loses less than one hundred. Our greatest suffering was want of food and sleep. I often went asleep on my horse. We had to go night and day for about a week to get out. We are all impressed with the idea that the Confederacy has now got all its strength of all sorts in the field, and that nothing more can be added to it. Their defeat now closes the contest speedily. We passed through ten counties where Yankees never came before; there was nothing to check us even until forces were drawn from Richmond to drive us back.
There are rumors that we are to go East soon, but nothing definitely is known. We hope we are to constitute an independent command under General Crook. We have marched, in two months past, about eight hundred miles; have had fighting or skirmishing on over forty days of the time.
My health, and my horse’s (almost of equal moment) are excellent.
Send letters to the old direction, via Charleston, for the present.
Sincerely,
R. B. Hayes.
S. Birchard.
