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Williamsburg May 30th/61

Dearest Cousin,

Knowing your anxiety about us all, in this expo sed region of country, I write to let you know that Williamsburg is not yet in possession of the enemy, who have not advanced further than Warwick County & our soldiers are occupying the roads between here & there, & propose to interrupt their march, by cutting down trees & throwing them across the road. Many families have left Wmsburg to escape the enemy, but at the same time, hundreds of the poor Hampton people have taken re- fuge here. They arrived here in with nothing but the clothes they wore-numbers of them slept on the Courthouse green but in the morning when we found many more here I can assure you every door was open to them. Mine is with now a woman or child in Hamp ton but the men are all evident and will fight bravely. The uprising of the people in Virginia is as one man & all are prepared to defend the dear "Old Dominion"

Many men and (?) soldiers have been in Williamsburg in the last few days on their way to York Town & the region around(?) about Col Magruders the commander of the forces in there & has just sent to John for the old map of the battle ground which is the only copy exists & belonged to our Graham (?) Mathews who you know was chief Surgeon to the forces in Va. General Lee also has sent for a copy. They say it is of unesti mable value to the.

The servants seem to be this far as much opposed to the ene- my as we are. Only 4 or 5 from Hampton have gone over to them. One of the refugees who stayed with us says she buried all her china & plates & when the ene- my took possession of her farm one of the servants to where it was & the Yankees dug it up & broke it to pieces with an axe & also tore up the feather beds.

I am affraid I write almost unintelligibly but soldiers are coming in & going out of the home all Day as we have many of the officers staying with us.

My Cousin Mary Copeland & myself have in the last few days given given permits to con- sent a [...} soldiers to visit the Asylum & so well behaved a crowd I have never saw never even