Camp Stoneman, D.C.

Feb. 12^th 1865.

           

Dear Sister.

                        Your letter of the 5^th inst. arrived last Wednesday afternoon, so I will proceed to answer it this evening. It has been Sunday here with us. how is it with you.

 

Sunday with us means, not a day of rest, but exactly the reverse. We have the most to do upon that day of any out of the seven. In the first place we begin to clean up, wash, put on clean clothes, clean up our arms and equipments sweep out the room, pack our knapsacks and bedding, and put everything to rights generally, preparatory to Sunday morning inspection / This morning the orders were to be ready to be inspected by some of "Hancock's" staff officers. The inspection came but the staff did not, pretty likely for the reason of it being a cold snow squally day. We fell into line at ten with every thing on, and stood in line in our quarters an hour, then marched out and stood another hour in the cold before we were through with it, all this time without over coats. You may believe we were some cold when we were staying there, and if wishing would have done anything the officers that kept us there would have been sent to a place where they would never see cold weather.

 

            One of the men in this company who is orderly at H^d Q^rs today says the Col. is drunk as a fool today this afternoon / There are six companies filled up and the seventh is being filled. I think they will have to begin to consolidate some of these companies before long. One of them has got reduced to thirty men they have deserted like Jemima. When I was in Washington Friday I was in the R.I. State Military Agency to see Clark Brown. I found a man in there who was in C^o I. with me, George Holroyde. I shouldnt be afraid to bet that he came here and enlisted for the bounty and then deserted after getting the money. He told me he didnt want to go around much as he was afraid of being picked up by the detectives as a deserter.

 

            There has been a lot of promotions in the Second R.I. so I heard in the city Perkins our orderly sergeant is now a captain. Perry (a sergeant) and corp^l / Elisha Arnold are First Lieut^s and Adj^t Rhodes is Lieut. Col. I dont know whether to be sorry or not, for not reenlisting with them. The eighty dollars a month here is more than their one hundred and ten or or twenty, though the position is not quite so "honorable". My Patriot last weeks paper I shall not be able to send on to you. It came Monday and I just looked over the inside of it and laid it down upon the bed and that was the last time I saw it. Today my gold pen has disappeared rather mysteriously. may be it will come to light again in the morning. I gave $4.50 for it. My wood has travelled has it? well I guess he will pay for it. if he dont it wont be a very heavy loss. I think I will send you a hundred dollar greenback to take over to Cook if you will be so kind. I think you are getting to be rather rakish going to such big parties. I suppose

 

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Googins will stop letting the money slip so freely now that he has got married wont he

 

Yes that Ayres is the one that makes the pills The brown bread pills though. he is away on a furlough now in N.Y. and Mass. he is a Mississippi boy born in Vicksburg and lives now when at home in Ill.

 

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Didnt you have a good old time tipping over. all hands that night. I am not fond of tipping over when I go sleighing, are you.

 

Well! Dont you think, I am to have the honor and supreme felicity of going on guard tomorrow morning. Hoorah.

 

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Truly Yours     Lowell C. Cook.

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