Hd. qrs. 11th Corps
My dear Mother,
[…] We have heard some firing today but do not know whether Gen. Meade intends to push on to attack or only hold a front upon the Rapidan River. He is hardly strong enough now to try Richmond in real earnest, unless he thinks he can get there before Lee could recall his absent forces. And in that case – could he hold what he had acquired? is the great question. So I think, notwithstanding this bold and threatening advance into the enemy’s country and the skirmishing which has already occurred, that a great battle or a general attack by our Army is hardly probable. […]
Charles Henry Howard to his mother, Eliza Otis Howard [Charles Henry Howard Collection]