John D. Billings, The history of the Tenth Massachusetts battery of light artillery in the war of the rebellion

When at last we were at liberty to return to our quarters we lay down, and, all things considered, slept well till morning, at which time we turned out steaming, to continue our march. As we moved out of the charmed circle of Maryland Heights, the clouds broke away and the sun came forth intensely hot and scorching. Many of the infantry gave way under it. Some were sunstruck, and we now longed for the clouds as anxiously as before we had looked for the sun. Passing through a settlement called Middle Creek, and the pretty little village of Jefferson, at which we tarried awhile at noon, we arrived about sundown at the city of Frederick, since made famous by Whittier's ‘Barbara Frietchie.’ The city lay in a section of country whose beauty was truly charming; and, indeed, the whole of Pleasant Valley,—that being the name of the stretch of territory over which we had just passed,—with its fresh green fields, and dwellings betokening an air of unusual thrift and comfort, having the Blue Ridge as a background, presented a picture of rural loveliness still distinct on the tablets of memory. On every side waved fields of grain and other crops just yielding to the reaper. The people seemed kind and loyal, and the general appearance of industry reminded us vividly of our own New England.

July 2d was a general drying-day, for the frequent rains of the preceding days had not only completely soaked the clothing we wore, but had also penetrated