John Augustine Washington to Ned Turner discusses Lee's recent promotion and other military news - American History 1493-1945 - Adam Matthew Digital

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Field name	Value
Collection Reference Number	GLC02953.01
From Archive Folder	Unassociated Civil War Documents 1861
Title	John Augustine Washington to Ned Turner discusses Lee's recent promotion and other military news
Date	19 June 1861
Author	Washington, John Augustine (1821-1861)
Document Type	Correspondence; Military document
Content Description	Lt. Colonel Washington, George Washington's great-grandnephew and aide-de-camp to Robert E. Lee, discusses Lee's recent promotion, Union general Benjamin Franklin Butler and the recent Battle of Big Bethel, and Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston's evacuation of Harpers Ferry (Virginia). He begins by reviewing various business matters relating to Waveland, his plantation in Fauquier County, Virginia. Washington later mentions that one of his slaves had run away from Mount Vernon, and is now with Union forces.
Subjects	Battle of Big Bethel (Bethel Church, Great Bethel) Civil War Military History Confederate General or Leader Confederate States of America Union Forces Union General Battle Mount Vernon African American History Contrabands Runaway Slave Finance
People	Washington, John Augustine (1821-1861) Turner, Ned (fl. 1861) Butler, Benjamin Franklin (1818-1893) Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (1807-1870) Johnston, Joseph Eggleston (1807-1891) Washington, George (1732-1799)
Place written	Richmond, Virginia
Theme	The American Civil War; Slavery & Abolition; African Americans; Banking & Economics
Sub-collection	Papers and Images of the American Civil War
Additional Information	John Augustine Washington was the great-grandnephew of George Washington. He owned Mount Vernon until 1858, when the Mount Vernon Ladies Association purchased the estate.
Copyright	The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module	Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945
Civil War: Theater of War	Main Eastern Theater
Transcript	Show/hide [excerpt] Gen. Lee is now in command of [obscured text] [A]rmies of the Confederate States as I understand it, and I presume I shall therefore remain with him and not be attached to a regiment as I had supposed. I had much rather be with him, and would be equally pleased if he would have Richmond, as my impression is that before many days have past, we shall have had some hard fighting in Virginia, & staying here is dull work. I think (and this is my personal judgment only) that we shall have warm work in the Valley and near Alexandria very shortly. I doubt Butler's venturing beyond his walls and intrenchments without an overwhelming force - after the sound thrashing they got at Bethel Church. The accounts from there of the Enemy's loss are not exaggerated. five hundred of killed & wounded are a low estimate. Our actual loss was one man killed & six wounded. Troops are coming in here rapidly and I think in a few weeks we will have at least 100,000 Virginians & Con.[federate] S.[tates] under arms - in Virginia - We have now 65 or 70,000 and incoming 2 or 3000 a day. Gen[eral] Johnstons evacuation of Harpers Ferry is approved of I think by Military men. He would soon have been hemmed in and cut off from supplies and obliged to come out. It is hoped now that he has taken the field & will be able to meet the Enemy in detail before their columns can unite. If our people will always do as well and the Yankees as badly as at Bethel [text obscured: I] think they will be taught some severe lessons - …One of my negroes has run off from Mount Vernon & taken a horse with him, and I learn is now in Alexandria, negro & horse both being received and used by the Yankees…

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