"Bill Caston is Dead."

Saturday, May 10, 1862, Summit Station Virginia

We were comfortable at Milford Station. That we were comfortable enough was probably reason enough to order us to move to this place. We are now much closer to Fredericksburg, and still on the railroad that brought us out of Richmond. The brigade is about five mles south of Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock. Somewhere in or hard by the town is another Yankee army that is threatening Richmond from the north, working with McClellan to the east of Richmond.

We built new shelters, having abandoned our previous ones before properly breaking them in. As we were packing to come here, someone suggested tearing down the shebangs so that no one else could use them. Someone replied that we had best leave them be as we may have to come back this way some day. That could very well hold true. We have constructed new shelters and hope to be here long enough to season them. Whether we stay or go will depend on the Yankees.

Bill Caston is dead. We left South Carolina without him. He and others had taken sick and were placed in a hospital in McPhersonville. We had believed that once he was recovered, he would join us. He who sees all has seen fit to remove him from this world. It was Chaplin Betts who had received word of his death and shared this sad news with us. He is spared any further suffering in this world. He was a good and brave soldier.

We occupy our time with a great amount of drilling now that we are a brigade of three regiments. There are rumors that additional regiments will be brigaded with us. We shall see.

Now that we are much closer to the Yankees, it is necessary that we go on picket duty more often than we did at Milford Station. We do not want the Yankees to steal a march on us.
Now that we are relocated, we shall have to find a well-stocked farm somewhere near.