Letter from Dr. Spencer G. Welch, a surgeon with the 13th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Letter from Dr. Spencer G. Welch, a surgeon with the 13th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry.
Robert E. Lee warns his Confederates against pillaging in Pennsylvania, while Joseph Hooker makes another request to take over the Federal garrisons in the Shenandoah Valley.
Joseph Hooker pinpoints the location of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia as it moves through Maryland and Pennsylvania, and issues orders for his Federal army to cross the Potomac in pursuit.
Confederates regain Marye’s Heights outside Fredericksburg, as John Sedgwick’s Federals retreat across the Rappahannock River.
Federals attack the Confederate defenders on Marye’s Heights in a fight reminiscent of the Federal disaster at Fredericksburg last December.
Portions of the main armies on the Virginia Peninsula clash in a savage engagement that does little to change the dispositions of either Federals or Confederates.