Gettysburg: "Awful march and a terrible battle"

Calvin A. Haynes served in the 125th New York Infantry, Company E as a sergeant. The infantry defended against Pickett's Charge. 

Loudon [Loudoun] Valley, Va.
July 19th, 1863

Dear Wife,

Not having heard from you in a great while, I did not know but what you would like to hear whether I am dead or alive. I am enjoying good health at present. We have had an awful march and a terrible battle. A great may of our boys were killed or wounded but I escaped without a scratch. It is a miracle that we were not all killed or wounded. We were in the thickest of the fight, making a charge on the Rebs a ½ a mile through a fire of grape and cannister. Our Regt. lost a 100 men in 10 minutes. Our Co. lost 8 killed and 14 wounded. Stephen Hunt … was wounded in the hip. I have not seen him since he fell … Stephen was a good soldier full of his fun. We miss him.

This has been the hardest campaign the army of the Potomac ever had … The 2d in the afternoon was the bloodiest part of the battle. At 2 p.m. they opened on us … with over a 100 cannon. We lay flat on our faces for 2 hours. The air was filled with shell bursting in every direction. The battery that lay in front of us had 55 horses and 80 men killed … That night and the next day [the Rebels] retreated leaving their dead and wounded on the field. I went over the field. Such a sight I never wish to see again. Every conceivable wound that can be thought of was there. There was so many wounded that it was impossible to attend to all of them. Some of them laying 48 hours in a drenching rain. It is beyond the power of me to describe a battle field …

Source:

Haynes, C.A. (1863, July 19). [Letter to Wife]. New York State Library, New York. Letters describing the Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg: Manuscripts and Special Collections: NYS Library.