CHARLESTOWN, VA., July 19, 1861.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL U. S. ARMY, Washington City:
Almost all the three-months’ volunteers refuse to serve an hour over their term, and except three regiments which will stay ten days the most of them are without shoes and without pants. I am compelled to send them home, many of them at once. Some go to Harrisburg, some to Philadelphia, one to Indiana, and if not otherwise directed by telegraph, I shall send them to the place of muster, to which I request rolls may be sent, and Captain Hastings, Major Ruff, and Captain Wharton ordered to muster them out. They cannot march, and unless a paymaster goes to them, they will be indecently clad and have just cause of complaint.
R. PATTERSON,
Major-General, Commanding.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. II. With additions and corrections. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.
Spirit of '61 