Camp Bowers 13^th N. H. Volunteers near

Portsmouth Va Thursday ten A.M. June 4^th/63

 

Dear Hannah I have just got relieved from guard and having a few moments to spare I am trying to employ them in writing a few lines to you to let you know that I am well and prospering as well as could be expected out here in the sunny land of "Cotton" and also to inform you that I have seen about enough of the "Sunny South" and I hope soon to see the "Granite Hills" which although I am perfectly satisfied still exist yet I have not seen them for so long that they seem almost "Mythical" and I should be very much pleased to make "issuance doubly sure" that they do still exist by beholding them once more if it were but a short time. Well I undertook to write to you yesterday but after writing half a page or more I came to the conclusion that I was not smart enough to read it myself and so I thought I would not send it to you to puzzle your head with while engaged in "teaching the young idea how to shoot" as I heard your school was to have commenced last Monday. Well we are still at work building Corduroy roads and forts here and by the aid of the 10^th N.H. Vols. (which moved here day before yesterday) we are getting along pretty well. We had quite a rainy day yesterday and it was very acceptable to us for / it had got so dry that every little breeze made the dust fly so that we could not see a rod. Well we have got to go out on the road to work again this afternoon and I have not been out since the day before yesterday owing to my being out on guard yesterday. By the way we are going to have quite a business place here for they are at work on the railroad out here by our camp building a station and are going to lay a double track and make a depot for Commissary stores for this Division. We see by the papers that Vicksburg is not taken after all the fuss that was made about it a week or two ago and we hear that Gen Hooker has fallen back to Fairfax Court house and abandoned Falmouth Station and Acquia Creek and taking all things together it looks rather dark for the Union army today at least so it seems to me but we still hope for the best although while "hope deferred makes the heart sick" it is almost discouraging to hope. I cant think of much news to write for there is nothing new here it is the routine of affairs daily go on guard or go to shoveling either one that we please. By the way we had something new about a week ago one of our boys by the name of Charles Burt was reported to have the small pox and was imeadiately started off tent and / all down in the woods and there was three more in the tent with him G. H. Hanscom J. A. Tuttle and Charles H. Berry one of Hannah Jane (Berry) Hawkinses brothers and they are down in the woods now but the Doctor says he cant tell yet whether it is the small pox or not and I guess upon the whole he dont know anything about it. Lem and E. H. Leslie are on guard today and Lem says that he is coming home to go to school this summer and says he guesses he can behave himself if he has lived the life of a barbarian for the last eight months and he has not lost all his ideas of good manners although I think for my part that I should not know how to act in the presence of any thing else but some these "colored individuals" round here. There is a lot of negros out here on the camp ground now with oyster pies &c to sell and are here all of the time or at least every day. Now and then a white man or woman comes in and gets all of the custom away from the negroes for you cant find a soldier here that does not hate the sight of a negroe at any time they may come. Well we hear that we are to be paid off for two months in a few days and we hope that is so but it is not much nie to hope for any / thing since we came out here but we learn to wait for things as they come and not be particular what it is when it comes let it be what it may we make the best of it. Our Lieutenant Colonel resigned his commission a short time since and started for home yesterday morning and we were all sorry to see him go for there was not a man in the Regiment but what liked him the best of any of the field officers of the Regiment and we felt when he started as if we were all loosing a friend but we could not blame him for going for when we all gathered round him to say farewell he looked as if he could with difficulty stand to say what few words he did say to us and he seemed as if his heart was too full for utterance. He thanked us for the kind attention we paid to him in all coming out to give him a parting salutation and when he closed there was hardly a dry eye in the regiment and we gave three times three cheers for him and then he started for home. Oh how we should have liked to have accompanied him on his journey home

 

[interwritten upside down]

 

to the old "Granite Hills" of N.H. Well the boys are all at work cleaning their guns writing letters or something of the sort. It is now about one o'clock and I have got to go out to work on the fort this afternoon and shall have to start at two o'clock so I shall not be able to write much more untill tonight so I must stop and bidding you good bye and a kiss from your trueharted and constant Lover Joe Prime

 

Well it is evening about half past nine and I have just finished writing a letter for Hiram Thompson and am trying to finish this also for I have to write letters for nearly one half of the company and read them too for that matter and I have done it so long that they all seem to think that i am obliged to do it for them and it makes no difference what i am doing they will come to me "Joe I want you to write a letter for me" or "Joe back this letter for me" and it makes no difference what I am doing I must leave it off and go to work for them. Well enough of that I have been out at work in the corduroy road this afternoon but have not been at work very hard I assure you but then I need not have told you that for you know my disposition / well enough to know that I would not hurt myself with work at any time. Well you wished to know how Amaziah felt about loosing his leg I could not tell because the Doctor told us not to say anything about his loosing his leg to him as he wished to keep him as quiet as possible well I must close so give my love to all keeping the lions share for your self and here is a kiss for you and I still remain your loving husband Joe Prime write soon as convenient and tell me all of the news and about how you get along with your school this year          J. H. Prime

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