William Henry Benjamin goes off to War

My great-great grandfather William Henry Benjamin was born in 1841, the son of a well-to-do Concord, Massachusetts family.  At some point in the late 1850's the family hired Victoria Regina "Jenny" Masters, an immigrant from Nova Scotia, to be their maid. She was nearly five years older than their eldest son William.  When he was 19 in 1861, he married Jenny Masters (age 24) and one month later enlisted in the Civil War and didn't come home for three years.  I can only what poor Jenny's life must have been, being stuck in the same house with her former employers as their new daughter-in-law and without her husband around. Anyway,  I do know some of what William's life was while in the war, thanks to this family heirloom.

The following is a transcription of a long-hand letter written by W. H. Benjamin to his daughter Clara on Oct. 30, 1898 describing his Civil War service:
 
The principal battles I took part in are Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill,
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Locust Grove, Wilderness, Spottsylvania
Court House, besides several skirmishes. Now the difference between a skirmish and
battle is this a skirmish is where a small number of troops are sent out to find the enemy
how they are located etc. but not to bring on a general engagement but sometimes it
cannot be avoided. A battle is a general engagement where both sides exert themselves
with brains and force, to drive the enemy and secure a victory, the battles above named
were all very severe and stubborn with greats loss of life on both sides. The strain and
hardships in time of battle are great, loss of sleep with little chance to eat or drink.
Sometimes feeling as though you could not breathe for want of water, and then in battle
you have a great deal of marching as well as fighting. I have been 48 hours without food,
and on the march at that, some of the time double quick or double time. The Battles of
Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill followed one after the other, seven days of fighting
and seven nights marching. One might picture to themselves some of the hardships in a
soldiers life in time of war, scarcity of water was one of the greatest hardships, one hardly
realizes what it is to almost die for the want of it, long marches in rain and hot sun,
sometime fifteen miles a day or rather that was an average days march. I remember one
day we made forty-five miles when I dropped unable to go any farther, as I had the
chronic diarrhea (is that spelt right). A soldiers life in camp is rather lazy a great deal of
the time, some of the time there is excitement - enough to make pleasant. I will not write
any more, although, if I should have commenced at the beginning of my three years and
follow it out, there would be quite a book.

Oh, how I wish he would have written a book!