Robert Cruikshank, letter
October 19, 1862
“It was of these Heights [Maryland Heights] that Jackson said if he could gain them he could defy the world and one would think so as they are all rocks, abrupt cliffs and precipices. I could see in every direction and they are of great advantage to the army holding them as it can telegraph by signal from one station to another. As far as the eye could see, there were tents in every direction,- thousands upon thousand... When I got t…he Ferry there I saw train after train coming and going continuously and the streets filled with wagons so that one could hardly pass. I crossed the Potomac on a Pontoon Bridge… Pontoons are small boats anchored in the river about ten feet apart with timbers laid from one to the other and plank laid on these timbers and then another timber laid on these planks and lashed by ropes to the lower timbers holding all fast together from one side of the river to the other. These bridges are moved with the army.”
Author
Name: Robert Cruikshank
Unit: 123rd Regiment New York Infantry, Co. H
Document Information
Type: Letter
Subject(s):
- Descriptions of Locale
Event Location: Maryland Heights, Frederick Co., MD
Document Origin: Pleasant Valley, Washington Co., MD
Source
Robert Cruikshank to Mary Cruikshank. October 19, 1862. Transcribed by Barry Cruikshank. Columbus, OH: ehistory at the Ohio State University. Obtained from http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/letters/cruikshank/index.cfm. Accessed on February 9, 2010.
