Carrolton Lousianna Dec 28^th 1862

 

                        Dear Wife Children father mother and all

 

I will again try and write you a few lines again after a lapse of two weeks from the time that I last wrote you. I have written three letters sense sinse I left New York. two from Port Royal and one from fort Jefferson I do not know as you have got them yet. But I will write again so you will get some after a while

 

                        I will commence at Tortugas as it was there that I wrote last we came in there on tuesday morning and staid their five days we were allowed to go on shore during the day which was very refreshing after being confined on board of the ship so long we left there on Sunday after noon the wind blew very hard so that the sea was so rough that we could not stand up unles we held on to some thing. we were all sick but four or five I did not eat but one meal from Sunday to the next friday I was so sick that I could not eat the hard bread & salt beef and I could not get anything else to eat on the boat. when we got to Ship Island the boat stopped there about an hour but no body went on shore the commander of the fort come on board and gave us our orders to go to New orleans. we started out to sea again for an other rough time for 24 hours then we came into the mouth of the Mississippi river Behold the Scene changes from rough seas to the most delightful scenery. first boundless fiels of low land covered with cane breaks. then some appearances of civilization then some small plantations / then a few fields of cotton plants and finaly to make things delightful field after field of sugar canes. the scene change again We see in the distance what appears to be a large apple orchard but on getting in nearer to it proves to be an orange grove the trees loaded with some of the most splendid oranges that I ever seen bushels and bushels of them the trees were loaded like our apple trees were this fall.

 

            About noon we came up to fort Jackson on one side of the river and fort Phillip on the other fort Jackson is a small brick fort with heavy earth works all around it and mounts a number of large guns. there is a breast work around about 15 acres with a ditch all around out side. Fort Phillipp is on the other side of the river with nothing but earth works and embankments and breast works with a number of heavy guns on the top of the embankments we had to stop there until the doctor from there came on board and inspected the boat to see if there was any contageous disease on board we lay there about an hour and then started again up the river. It was Christmas day and the slaves of almost every plantation were out on the banks of the river waving their handkerchiefs dancing and hollowing the Yankees are Coming hurah for the yankees Some of them got down on their knees and all kinds of shapes they seemed to rejoice to see the soldiers go by 

 

About every ½ mile we would come to a plantation of sugar canes or cotton each one would have a large orange orchard loaded down it looked so tempting that we could hardly restrain ourselves. Every plantation would look like a small villiage there would be the family residence the sugar mill and store house and then the negro quarters. the whole would cover from 6 to 10 acres and very close to gether at that. Some places the folks would come down to the shore with oranges and try to throw some on board but we only got one. But night overtakes about 15 miles from New Orleans and puts an end to the scenes About 8 Oclock we come up to the wharf there and lie to till morning. in the morning we begin to see a little and want to go on shore fortunately myself and George Garlock are the luckey ones to get detailed for the purpose of going on shore to do errands for the boys when we got up on deck we saw piles of oranges piled up on shore like piles of cider apples from 15 to 50 bushels in a pile

 

            I was very hungry that morning and before going on shore I bought 3 loaves of bread and eat one whole one alone allmost without anything with it then we commenced going on shore. we first bought 200 large nice oranges and came aboard I paid a cent a piece for them some as large as a pint bason and all very nice ones I sold all but about 50 and them I kept to eat they are as common here as apples at the north. There was very nice flower gardens along the shore all kinds of southern roses / and all kinds of flowers in full bloom yet it is the middle of winter the magnolia trees is the most beautiful sight of the kind that I ever saw. The flower looks very much like those lady slippers that we had this summer only larger the trees are about as large as our largest lilack bushes. there was for sale in the market in New Orleans lettuce young onions radishes turnips and all kinds of green garden sauce But I must say something else or I shall have my paper full of nothing

 

            We left New orleans friday about noon and came up the river to this city 8 miles above the city of New Orleans where we landed and struck our tents there is about six thousand here in camp and more are coming every day We found James & Henry Wasburgh here the had been here long enough to go up the river to Baton Rouge and help take that place and get back here

 

We were 27 days on board of the ship before landing allmost every man was nearly used up with the confinement of so long a voyage and hard usage But since we came in camp we have enough to eat and that is good Pork, beef, potatoes, beans, rice, meal, tea coffee and new bread every day more than we can eat

 

            Yesterday Sunday we were ordered out to get ready for battle in the quickest possible time the men got their guns and was formed in a very few minutes then each man had 40 rounds of cartridges dealt out to him and six companys were marched off for the scene of action when we got there it was nothing but a drunken brawl amongst the 91^st Regiment so our fight was of not much account that we took about 60 prisoners and put them in the lock up then this boat went on up the river

 

[inner top margins upside down]

 

When we got here I found 3 letters here for me one from Jennings and 2 from you But I have wrote so much that I cannot answer all / you want me to in this letter I will write again in a day or two and tell you what to do

SOURCES