November 22, 1862---"Dread."

NOVEMBER 22, 1862:        

William Thompson Lusk, an officer in the Army of the Potomac, writes home to his mother. His letter reads in part:

“I must say the attack on Fredericksburg is a thing I greatly dread…To see women and children, old men, the weak and the feeble insulted and injured, makes one hate war and distrust one’s cause…A righteous indignation toward the authors of the rebellion may be a good thing, but it is very likely…at the expense of the helpless.”