Difference between revisions of ".NTYw.NzI3"
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+ | |||
+ | Camp near Chaf[f]ins Bluff | ||
+ | July 31st 1862 | ||
+ | |||
+ | My dear Wife: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Again on yesterday I got another one of your | ||
+ | old letters (June 30) – wish I could get such every | ||
+ | day, but fear the old ones have all come, & I will | ||
+ | now have to look for only two a week – the last | ||
+ | two weeks have almost spoiled me about getting | ||
+ | letters from you. I feel disappointed now if I dont | ||
+ | get one or two every day. I read them without look- | ||
+ | ing hardly at the date, & devour them as a half- | ||
+ | famished man would a splendid meal, with | ||
+ | [that? or out?] thinking if it has been just cooked, or is a few | ||
+ | days old. Dear Precious, you [struck-through] I wish you could know | ||
+ | how much I enjoy them. A pretty large bundle has | ||
+ | accumulated in my [pocket?] since I sent [three?] by | ||
+ | Mr. Booker. I dont put them in my knapsack for | ||
+ | fear I may lose them, and I cant tear them up, | ||
+ | -I cant destroy what has afforded me so much pleas- | ||
+ | ure - & I like to look back over them occasionally, | ||
+ | and re-read them when I fail to get others. It has | ||
+ | been a close rainy day & we have been confined | ||
+ | pretty closely to our tents. Our tent as usual is crowd- | ||
+ | ed, & I am beginning to have such dislike to crowds | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | [2] | ||
+ | |||
+ | I wish I could get such things occasionally | ||
+ | from my home. If you & Aunts Mary & Judy could | ||
+ | put up a box or two of uncooked [underscored] vegetables; hams, | ||
+ | eggs, pickles, butter or lard & oranges, & send them | ||
+ | in my wagon to the Danville R[ail] R[oad] Scottsburg, | ||
+ | directing them to Mr. Howison & let us & him | ||
+ | know, exactly at what time it would reach | ||
+ | Richmond, we could easily get them now. If | ||
+ | we failed to send for them in time, Mr. H[owison] could | ||
+ | appropriate what he wanted & give the rest to | ||
+ | the Hospitals. A barrel of apples, or any kind of | ||
+ | fruit, if it is abundant, would be acceptable, | ||
+ | onions & inst[ant] potatoes are good vegetables for | ||
+ | soldiers, as they keep. If you send such a | ||
+ | box put some chewing tobacco in it, & send it | ||
+ | by express. We are obliged to have such things | ||
+ | occasionally, & they sell enormously high here. | ||
+ | Onions at $1 to $1.50 a doz[en] – potatoes at .50 c[en]ts | ||
+ | a quart – tomatoes $1 a doz[en] & a good many | ||
+ | of our men have been touched with scurvy | ||
+ | for the want of such things. As a pretty | ||
+ | large army is now concentrated around though | ||
+ | not being near us, it is almost impossible to get them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | [3] | ||
+ | |||
+ | I have collected from your letters all the infor- | ||
+ | mation I could desire about my farm & thank | ||
+ | you for being as particular about every thing. My | ||
+ | idea about my flock of sheep is to keep them | ||
+ | killed down to fifty ewes & five rams un- | ||
+ | til I get my farm in a better condition to | ||
+ | keep more. I am convinced that sheep yield | ||
+ | more wool & better when the farm is not over- | ||
+ | stocked. You may kill down & sell the [?] lambs | ||
+ | & the inferior ewes (old & young) until the flock is | ||
+ | reduced to forty-five or fifty. Lambs are selling | ||
+ | in R[ich]mond for $10 or .25 c[en]ts a pound. Your Pa | ||
+ | must do just what he thinks best with any- | ||
+ | thing of mine. I am perfectly satisfied with | ||
+ | anything he may do, & am glad my matters are | ||
+ | in such good hands. What did he get for my | ||
+ | oats? While I think of it, I will write again, | ||
+ | in [?] my last letter should be lost. Ask your Pa | ||
+ | to send a check of $75 to Mr. Howison to pay him | ||
+ | for money he has been kind enough to lend me. | ||
+ | -& to let the check show that it was paid by me. | ||
+ | (Aug[ust] 1st Morning) I was interrupted yesterday | ||
+ | & have continued a [good part of it this?] | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | [4] | ||
+ | |||
+ | that I have spent a good part of the day, wandering from | ||
+ | tent to tent & siting, when it wasn’t raining too hard, | ||
+ | out doors by myself. Morton [Earley?], who has just returned | ||
+ | to his company came & spent a good part of the day | ||
+ | with Sam. I felt very glad to see him as he has been | ||
+ | so recently in our neighborhood, but when he said he had | ||
+ | not seen you I was much disappointed – He seemed to | ||
+ | think that Dan[iel] Booker will be unable to come in [‘come in’ struck-through] | ||
+ | stand the service – has left him, three days since, | ||
+ | & thinks he isn’t well enough to come in[struck-though] to this camp | ||
+ | yet. I am afraid he will come too soon. We have | ||
+ | been living very high to-day. Some of the friends of | ||
+ | our mess from K[ing] & Q[een] [County, Va.] came up yesterday with | ||
+ | two wagons loaded for us – some of the nicest | ||
+ | bread & biscuits & pickles & pies I saw, | ||
+ | -also corn meal, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, | ||
+ | a lot of chickens, butter, lard, a box of apples, | ||
+ | eggs, & other things – cooked hams [?] It is only | ||
+ | thirty or forty miles off & some of the messes have | ||
+ | had such things all the time – but this is the | ||
+ | first supply we have received. They turn the chick- | ||
+ | ens loose & fed them & have coops, as at home. | ||
+ | I saw an old duck waddling about camp to-day. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | [5] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Morning. last night, about midnight I think, | ||
+ | I was awakened by rapid & heavy firing of | ||
+ | field pieces down the river which continued some [struck-through] | ||
+ | about two hours. We think it was at Malvern | ||
+ | Hill – it was too far to hear musketry – dont | ||
+ | know what it was, but it was certainly fighting | ||
+ | of some kind. We have recently reinforced [General “Stonewall”] Jackson | ||
+ | Gen[eral] | ||
+ | with ^ A. P. Hill’s division & had a considerable | ||
+ | accession to our army of southern troops, a good | ||
+ | many from S[outh] Carolina. In what camp is Mr. | ||
+ | Harris’ sons? and are they immediately at chaf[struck-through] | ||
+ | Drewry’s Bluff?, [Chesterfield County, Va.] If they are, I will try to find | ||
+ | them out, & visit them – but cant find anyone, | ||
+ | except accidentally, without knowing his camp, & | ||
+ | Reg[imen]t & Brigade. Please get your Pa to find out | ||
+ | from [J...?] [Davis?] if I have had all my custom- | ||
+ | ary contributions to Shiloh & the [?] – if not | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | [6] | ||
+ | |||
+ | to pay them for me – also to Mr. Hines’ [?]. | ||
+ | Give much love to all – to your Ma & the children. | ||
+ | Ask Sis[ter] Martha if there are any young, half-grown | ||
+ | boys at Mr. Graves’ school flying around her? Old | ||
+ | girls are generally fond of young boys. Old | ||
+ | Miss Kate Rice (35) once took a great fancy to | ||
+ | with this | ||
+ | me, when about 16. I mail a [letter?] ^ to Millie | ||
+ | from Doc & one to Aunt J[udy] from Sam. Sam is I think | ||
+ | very carless & irregular in writing. Every body in | ||
+ | camp seem surprised at my writing to you so often, | ||
+ | but I cant help it – while writing is the happiest | ||
+ | time I have in camp, I hav’n’t time as I hoped to | ||
+ | write to Charley. I was in earnest about the dag[u]erreotypes | ||
+ | but suppose the scarlet fever keeps you from C[larks]ville. | ||
+ | I will get a letter from you this evening or to-morrow | ||
+ | Hav’n’t heard from Abe lately. I love him like a brother. | ||
+ | May God watch over you all, Darling, & protect you – | ||
+ | Y[ou]r devoted husband – N[athaniel] V. W[atkins] |
Revision as of 09:56, 23 August 2015
[1]
Camp near Chaf[f]ins Bluff July 31st 1862
My dear Wife:
Again on yesterday I got another one of your old letters (June 30) – wish I could get such every day, but fear the old ones have all come, & I will now have to look for only two a week – the last two weeks have almost spoiled me about getting letters from you. I feel disappointed now if I dont get one or two every day. I read them without look- ing hardly at the date, & devour them as a half- famished man would a splendid meal, with [that? or out?] thinking if it has been just cooked, or is a few days old. Dear Precious, you [struck-through] I wish you could know how much I enjoy them. A pretty large bundle has accumulated in my [pocket?] since I sent [three?] by Mr. Booker. I dont put them in my knapsack for fear I may lose them, and I cant tear them up, -I cant destroy what has afforded me so much pleas- ure - & I like to look back over them occasionally, and re-read them when I fail to get others. It has been a close rainy day & we have been confined pretty closely to our tents. Our tent as usual is crowd- ed, & I am beginning to have such dislike to crowds
[2]
I wish I could get such things occasionally from my home. If you & Aunts Mary & Judy could put up a box or two of uncooked [underscored] vegetables; hams, eggs, pickles, butter or lard & oranges, & send them in my wagon to the Danville R[ail] R[oad] Scottsburg, directing them to Mr. Howison & let us & him know, exactly at what time it would reach Richmond, we could easily get them now. If we failed to send for them in time, Mr. H[owison] could appropriate what he wanted & give the rest to the Hospitals. A barrel of apples, or any kind of fruit, if it is abundant, would be acceptable, onions & inst[ant] potatoes are good vegetables for soldiers, as they keep. If you send such a box put some chewing tobacco in it, & send it by express. We are obliged to have such things occasionally, & they sell enormously high here. Onions at $1 to $1.50 a doz[en] – potatoes at .50 c[en]ts a quart – tomatoes $1 a doz[en] & a good many of our men have been touched with scurvy for the want of such things. As a pretty large army is now concentrated around though not being near us, it is almost impossible to get them.
[3]
I have collected from your letters all the infor- mation I could desire about my farm & thank you for being as particular about every thing. My idea about my flock of sheep is to keep them killed down to fifty ewes & five rams un- til I get my farm in a better condition to keep more. I am convinced that sheep yield more wool & better when the farm is not over- stocked. You may kill down & sell the [?] lambs & the inferior ewes (old & young) until the flock is reduced to forty-five or fifty. Lambs are selling in R[ich]mond for $10 or .25 c[en]ts a pound. Your Pa must do just what he thinks best with any- thing of mine. I am perfectly satisfied with anything he may do, & am glad my matters are in such good hands. What did he get for my oats? While I think of it, I will write again, in [?] my last letter should be lost. Ask your Pa to send a check of $75 to Mr. Howison to pay him for money he has been kind enough to lend me. -& to let the check show that it was paid by me. (Aug[ust] 1st Morning) I was interrupted yesterday & have continued a [good part of it this?]
[4]
that I have spent a good part of the day, wandering from tent to tent & siting, when it wasn’t raining too hard, out doors by myself. Morton [Earley?], who has just returned to his company came & spent a good part of the day with Sam. I felt very glad to see him as he has been so recently in our neighborhood, but when he said he had not seen you I was much disappointed – He seemed to think that Dan[iel] Booker will be unable to come in [‘come in’ struck-through] stand the service – has left him, three days since, & thinks he isn’t well enough to come in[struck-though] to this camp yet. I am afraid he will come too soon. We have been living very high to-day. Some of the friends of our mess from K[ing] & Q[een] [County, Va.] came up yesterday with two wagons loaded for us – some of the nicest bread & biscuits & pickles & pies I saw, -also corn meal, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, a lot of chickens, butter, lard, a box of apples, eggs, & other things – cooked hams [?] It is only thirty or forty miles off & some of the messes have had such things all the time – but this is the first supply we have received. They turn the chick- ens loose & fed them & have coops, as at home. I saw an old duck waddling about camp to-day.
[5]
Morning. last night, about midnight I think, I was awakened by rapid & heavy firing of field pieces down the river which continued some [struck-through] about two hours. We think it was at Malvern Hill – it was too far to hear musketry – dont know what it was, but it was certainly fighting of some kind. We have recently reinforced [General “Stonewall”] Jackson
Gen[eral]
with ^ A. P. Hill’s division & had a considerable accession to our army of southern troops, a good many from S[outh] Carolina. In what camp is Mr. Harris’ sons? and are they immediately at chaf[struck-through] Drewry’s Bluff?, [Chesterfield County, Va.] If they are, I will try to find them out, & visit them – but cant find anyone, except accidentally, without knowing his camp, & Reg[imen]t & Brigade. Please get your Pa to find out from [J...?] [Davis?] if I have had all my custom- ary contributions to Shiloh & the [?] – if not
[6]
to pay them for me – also to Mr. Hines’ [?]. Give much love to all – to your Ma & the children. Ask Sis[ter] Martha if there are any young, half-grown boys at Mr. Graves’ school flying around her? Old girls are generally fond of young boys. Old Miss Kate Rice (35) once took a great fancy to
with this
me, when about 16. I mail a [letter?] ^ to Millie from Doc & one to Aunt J[udy] from Sam. Sam is I think very carless & irregular in writing. Every body in camp seem surprised at my writing to you so often, but I cant help it – while writing is the happiest time I have in camp, I hav’n’t time as I hoped to write to Charley. I was in earnest about the dag[u]erreotypes but suppose the scarlet fever keeps you from C[larks]ville. I will get a letter from you this evening or to-morrow Hav’n’t heard from Abe lately. I love him like a brother. May God watch over you all, Darling, & protect you – Y[ou]r devoted husband – N[athaniel] V. W[atkins]