Hd Qrs 2^nd Division 23^rd A.C.

Camp near Mosely Hall March 31^st 1865

 

Yesterday dear wife a letter was handed me from you dated Feb 10^th. You can imagine my disappointment when I expected late news to get only that a month and a half old. Today I have seen a New York Herald of the 27^th ins^t and my lastest dates from you are of the 12^th. Private enterprise which sends the newspapers is far in advance of the Post Office. Lazy officials who are paid by the year are not willing to stir themselves in order that we may receive our letters in anything like decent time. There is no good reason why our mails should not come now with great regularity, for / vessels must necessarily leave every day in order to keep this army supplied with rations and they might bring the mail with the food. I presume our mails are suffered to accumulate at some point until they get a good load and then come forward, simply because some miserable dog does not wish to disturb himself very often. If such is the fact, it would not do for such a fellow to show himself in the army when the facts were known, for our soldiers would be very apt to give him a taste of wholesome discipline, which he would not much relish. I have not been very well for a few days and have therefore moved about very little. Fortunately everything is reasonably quiet in our front so that there has been no necessity for my being very active. The rebels every day / send small scouting parties in our front with whom we have a little brush but it amounts to nothing. So far we have felt very secure from attack. Today I sent Col Fairleigh out on a scout with his regiment. He will not return until tomorrow. He makes a very good officer in the field, and so far I have been very much pleased with him. The paper received today gives an account of the repulse of the attack of Genl Lee on Grant with a loss on the part of the rebels of some six thousand killed, wounded and prisoners. I hope this account is not too highly colored for every affair as serious as this will have a great effect upon rebeldom. It is really amusing to read the rebel accounts of what they are going to do and how they / are going to terminate the war by utterly defeating us. We receive their accounts predicting victories on their part at certain points, and against certain Generals, after it has become history that all their anticipated triumphs have turned into defeats. How many times have they predicted that Sherman would be defeated and destroyed before he could possibly reach certain points, and yet he has marched forward with scarcely a pause defeating them wherever they dared to oppose him. We have rumors that Grant about this time was to make a grand attack upon Lee, and I pray that he may do so successfully so as to terminate this war at once. Love to your mother Lindy & the children with loving good night kisses to my darling little wife.                   M^cLean

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