Finley Hospital.

Washington D.C.

May 20^th.

           

Dear Sister.

                                                I have been waiting since Tuesday Wednesday morning in the expectation of receiving a letter from you but as yet it has not appeared. One came today from Mary Cook dated the 17^th and as I presume you received my letter on Saturday night there has been plenty of time for an answer to get here by this time if you wrote Sunday, according to my calculations. The only reason I can think of for it not making its appearance is that may have been sent on to the regiment and so will be some time before it reaches here. / Thinking that might be the case I concluded to write at once and not wait for it to go there and back for possibly you might think I was dead or half kill, and so have a blue fit. that would be bad wouldnt it.

 

            My shoulder is getting along nicely it hardly troubles me at all now and if I should lie still I should not know as any thing was the matter at all. It was a little sore for a few days but as soon as the inflammation went down the soreness all left with it. There is a little hole left yet and with a looking glass I can look right into myself. It looks rather curious but it suits me full as well as if had been a little lower down.

 

All the men are getting along nicely Everybody that wants it are getting furloughs to go home. a good many have been transferred from here to / Philadelphia. Two men that were here with me of our reg^t went away two or three days ago but I rather stay here than to go any where else on account of my time being so near out. I dont know how I am to manage to get away when the Sixth of June comes. I am afraid I shall not get away at that time. If my descriptive list could only come it should be all right. I have sent for it but whether a letter will go any further than Washington or not I dont know. I want to settle up every thing now that I am here in Washington before I leave here to go home. I was in the city yesterday and drew two months pay. So I have a little cash now to help while away the time. We have a pretty good set of fellows in the ward and the attendant or nurse is just such a sort of a fellow as Charley Hawkins used to be when we were in Brightwood. he makes me think of him all the time. /

 

I saw Col Read's name in the paper yesterday morning. he received a slight wound the same day that I got mine but he went back and took command of the reg^t after staying one day in the field Hospital. He was in command of it Sunday when I last saw the regt. It must be he has had another little dab. I wish I could see the company once more and go home with it. The recruits will have to stay their full time out though they enlisted with the understanding of being discharged in June. its a little too hard on them I think The old camp that we were in when we first came to Washington looks very familiar I found our company street, the very spot where the tent stood I was in and a little place in the ground where we used to bail water to wash our dishes. It seemed almost like home to me

 

If you write again direct to Ward H. instead of ward 5. as I am not in the same one now. Did you get my letter before you saw my name in the paper

 

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I will send you a little flower from Mrs Gale's garden

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