The following letter was written by 19 year-old Owen Jones (1842-1921), the son of Isaiah Jones (1812-1888) and Matilda Darrah (1812-1888) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Owen enlisted in Co. K, 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves (32nd Volunteers). This regiment was organized at Philadelphia and moved to Easton, Pennsylvania, on 20 May 1861. They remained in “Camp Washington” at Easton until 22 July when they moved to Harrisburg where they were mustered into the US Service on 28 July. Owen was promoted to corporal on 1 March 1862 and then discharged on a surgeon’s certificate on 2 December 1862. After the war, Owen was employed as a police officer in Philadelphia.

Owen’s letter was written on 1 May 1863 from Falmouth during Gen. Irvin McDowell’s advance on Fredericksburg with 30,000 men. Their objective was to gain control of the town and potentially cross the Rappahannock River to continue their march on Richmond. Stonewall Jackson’s maneuvers in the Shenandoah Valley, however, disrupted this advance and forced McDowell to withdraw.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp near Falmouth
May 1, 1862

Dear Mother,

I received thy kind and welcome letter on the first and was glad to hear from thee and to hear that thee got the money and my [ ]. Thee said thee thought I would get tired of reading thy letters. The more thee writes, the better I like to read them. The more the merrier.

We have made another move. We are only 60 miles from Richmond. We are only 3 miles from Fredericksburg. We are along side of the Rappahannock river. It is a nice place. We expect to cross the river as soon as the bridge gets done. They are making a bridge. We can see the rebels on the other side of the river. We have had a hard march these two weeks.

Thee wanted to know if I dressed any different to the rest. Not a bit of it. Just the same. I have to go on picket but don’t stand post. We have to do the same as the rest of the men—only we have two [corporal] stripes on our arm; that’s all big thing. Can’t see it.

It looks like rain today. Things is very dear here. We have to pay 15 cents for a three-cent loaf of bread. That is awful. We have to pay three prices for anything we want big thing and we see it. I was very sorry when I heard such bad news about Bill Rook. I hope Pap will try and do the best he can. I think I will have to stop for I don’t know what to say. It is one thing all the time. We are under General McDowell. He is over McColl. We expect to cross the river very soon.

Give my love to grandmother and all the rest of the folks. Write soon. I think thee will see something in the papers about us soon. I hope so for we have done nothing yet but tain’t our fault. The men was always ready to go in. You will bet they was just so. Give my love to all, Pap, Em and thyself the most.

Direct thy letters to me, 3rd Regiment, Company K, Capt. [William] Brian, Col. Sykes commanding, Washington D. C., McCall’s Division. and then they will come all right. Write soon. This is from thy dear son, — Owen Jones