Here is a snippet from Hugh White's letter to his father after the Manassas battle - this dated July 23, 1861.
My dear Father,
I wrote you yesterday that you might know of our safety. You will hear more of the particulars of the battle of the 2st than I have time now to give. Our Company has suffered sadly......Who thought that our ranks would thus be thinned and so many be hurried into eternity? Where are their souls? This thought often perplexes and saddens me. I pray that I may hereafter be far more zealous in seeking to bring sinners to Christ, that if they die, they may only sleep in Him. I wish that I was with you to join in ascribing praise and glory to the good providence which preserved me in such danger. Everyone in the fight was in imminent peril. Balls flew fast around and over us, and many of our brave comrades fell at our side. But brother James and I, though separated for awhile during the first charge, soon met again and side by side we passed through the remaining scenes of the day. We are unhurt. Though our loss has been great, the field is ours. The enemy was put to flight and chased for miles. .......They fought bravely - for their regulars and best soldiers were engaged. But they could not stand the charge of bayonets. Every time we advanced, they fell back. Who would not praise God for thus overthrowing those, who, on His Holy day, sought to execute their wicked purpose to crush those who sought to defend their liberties and their home. It was an awful Sabbath.
How often I long to be with you, enjoying the privileges of the Sabbath. Even one hour would have been delightful. But God ordered otherwise. We are all in His Hands. He casts down and He keeps alive. May He speedily crown our cause with complete success! If it please Him, may I again see my father and mother in peace and spend my life in preaching His Gospel. The scenes in which I am now engaged are very sad; yet the taste of victory, though bought by precious blood, is sweet. But to preach would be far better. .......But surely God has spared us in this protracted and bloody battle, as He has, He can spare us in the future. There was an incessant roar of cannon and musketry for over eight hours. The hardest fighting was from eleven to four o'clock. We were in this........I hope to see you again in peace. But if we do not meet here again, we have a home in heaven.
Hugh
The recent disasters, especially that at Fort Donaldson, have not discouraged but aroused the Army, and they are more anxious to do something to redeem our cause than ever. I am glad that the same effect has been produced among the people, many of whom should have been in the army long ago. No man ought to permit himself to be drafted. It is my intention now to remain in the army. Although you are not yet 17 years of age, I wish you could be here. But, T, I am afraid to see your life in so much danger. I should tremble far more for you than for myself. If I am killed, I have a good hope, that I should at once enter heaven, and be happy forever. This hope cheers and animates me at all times...so that while death walks on every side, no tormenting fears arise. But alas! How different with those who, unprepared for death, meet it on the field of battle. I have heard such men cry to mercy in the midst of the battle, when the cries seemed louder than the roar of the cannon, and certainly pierced the heart with keener anguish.
How then could I endure to see you placed in danger of such a fate? Will you then, at once, seek preparation for death, so that whether it meets you at home, with everything to promote your bodily comfort, or amid the horrid carnage of the battlefield, it will be without terror? Why not, at once, do so? Why wait one day, one hour longer? Everything calsl you to decide for God and against sin. Every day you live out of Christ sin is binding you more and more firmly in its fetters, and may thus hold you as its captive forever. I beseech you, therefore, to break off from every form of sin. Tear yourself away from it by fleeing at once to Jesus Christ, the only Savior from sin and death. Do you never feel anxious to be a Christian? When you sit in your room at night, with your Bible at your side, does something never whisper to you----open, read, obey this book, that you may be happy forever? I know it does. This is the Spirit of God speaking to you. Heed its voice---search the Scriptures, and you shall find eternal life. I wish I could write more to you, but I cannot today. My prayers follow you day and night. But even this will avail nothing if you will persist in rejecting the Savior. The question of life and death, salvation or eternal destruction, must be decided by yourself. The only reason why sinners are lost, is that they "will not come to Christ that He may give them life." It is their own fault. How will you decide? Decide at once for Christ, I beseech you!
Your fond brother,
Hugh