Warrenton Va.           

Nov. 1^st 1863.

                       

Dear Sister.

               I suppose you will want to hear the news again today, so here goes, but I'm afraid what I write will not be of a very entertaining character. We have been very busy the past week in making ourselves comfortable, making good substantial tents, good enough to spend the winter in, should we stay here so long.

 

            I have got a pretty good fire place once more hitched to the end of my tent. It is not finished yet as I want it, but it is so we can have a fire and do our cooking. last night the wind blew like big guns It seemed sometimes as if it would take the tent chimney and ourselves clean out of camp but it didnt quite. we had to let the fire go down as the wind drove the smoke into the room so we could not stand it. / The sides of the tent is logged up a foot and a half so we have plenty of room if we dont stand up our hotel is not quite large enough to have a ball. the bed is at one end and is four feet wide we have got the chimney built up three feet with stones, the rest of the way with wood. it wants about two feet more on top of that to make it about "inkstand" We have rather poor tools to work with. the folks your way would not think they could do much with them I guess, but we have to use such as we can get. we have cut all our stuff with a hatchet we used for a trowel, stone hammer and pickaxe at Bristow, so it cannot be expected to be very sharp. I think I could ride to Boston on it in a pinch.

 

We have two drills a day, and what time there is to spare after that we are busy at work. Sunday seems to have been forgotten today you would think there was a shipyard here to hear the hammering and pounding thats going on. Lewis and his gang are going to have something extra for a house by what he says. they are all going into one house nine of them. 

 

            Where do you suppose the box is "at"? You haint heard from it yet have you. I have not. I shall not look for it until the railroad is in running order. It seems as though it took an everlasting while to get it in operation again. The bridges along the route are very high and pretty wide. I walked over all of them from Manassas Junction to Warrenton Junction and it looked rather pokerish down to the water below. The morning we left Bristow to go to Catletts, myself and another man were together on the railroad we came to the bridge over Kettle Run. he was ahead, he stepped one foot on the first timber and looked down into the water. Ugh! he shivered, and said "I cant go that" so went down the embankment and waded through the river, and by the time he got onto the railroad again I was half a mile ahead. They keep tucking the wormy hard bread to us yet. we have had one mess of beans and thats all we have had of anything except salt pork, hard bread, coffee and sugar. the "eight days" rations are still kept up, but no man has over three in the regiment. 

 

Your letter came along Friday night. I was glad to see the envelopes for I had none. the postage stamps too. but I was not quite out of them. I wish the box could have been sent a week sooner. if it had I should probably got it at Bristow. I shall not give it up as lost, if it dont come in two months I aint quite out of shirts yet, got one left, the other I threw away last Wednesday, so now I can go to bed when the other is washed. The boys are looking forward to the first of January I tell you I dont make any calculations at all but at the same time I should not be surprised if the old original members were home the first of Feb. Reenlisting dont seem to take very well in this reg^t. the seven hundred dollars aint much of an inducement. What do you think had I better reenlist? It is talked a little here that one Col. is going to resign. he and the fine officers are not on the best of terms and I suppose its for that reason he wants to leave. I should not wonder if Googins did take Ans to bring up. if he does I guess Googins money will get brought up too. Ans would know how to make it circulate I'll bet. I dreamed last night of being home and over to your place and all around there had quite a time.

 

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I have got a little bile on my cheek. they all tell me I look as if I had a quid of tobacco in my mouth. Lowell C Cook. I send you a little Va mud on the corner of this envelope.

 

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Jo Wood has been reduced to the ranks.

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