To Mary Milroy From RH Milroy May 17 1863

              Hd. Quar’s 2nd Division, 8th A. C. 

Winchester, Va.  May 17th, 1863 

My Dearest Mary: 

			I recd. yours from Baltimore &  
also yours from Milroy dated from the 4th to the 9th  
inst. greatly to my disappointment I am still here  
yet & the prospect of advancing is not so bright as when  
you left.  Col. Hay’s brig. has been taken away from me  
since you left & also the 12th Pa. Cav. & sent to  
W. Va. & I am left here with but one brig. (Elliott’s)  
I started a brig. to Harrisonburg under Elliott soon  
after you left.  Halleck learned of it & reprimanded me  
severely & ordered me to send after them & bring them  
back at once & lay still.  Scientifically I could  
have taken Harrisonburg & Stannton with ease, as at  
that time Hooker was engaging the attention of the  
rebs. at Fredericksburg & Jones had gone to W. Va.  
& there were no reb. troops in the valley except 400 or  
500 refuse & broken down troops left to guard their  
baggage, all of which could have been captured,  
but this would have been unscientific & hurrying on  
the war too fast for Halleck, who wants the war to  
last 4 or 5 years longer.  I was touched to hear of  
the grief of little Walter at leaving me, poor little fellow,  
I wish I could have you & them all with me.  My room  
was painfully lonely after you all left & I kept out of it  
& absorbed in business as much as possible.  Your visit was  
a bright beam amid the darkened gloom of war, a delightful