New Berne NC April 22^d 1863

 

My dear little boy Freddie

                                    Mother told me to write you a little letter well now I shall write my little Freddy a big letter and he will get Mama or Georgie to read it to him, now wont that be nice

 

                        Mama and Georgie tells me in their letters what a cunning little fellow Fred is and how roguish he is and how much he talks about his papa in New Berne.

 

                        Now papa is real tickled when he reads in Mamas letters what little Fred has been doing, and what he says, and how often he talks about papa and wants him to come home from the naughty war, and play with Fred. Well pap is coming home pretty soon when the weather is warm, and the strawberrys are ripe, and Fred and papa and Mama will eat strawberries and cream and then we will walk down on the beach where papa used to ride him in his little carriage last summer and let him throw stones in the water.

 

                        I will tell Freddie what I see out here in New Berne

 

                        There is lots of Bang Dums and they have / lots of drums and trumpets and they beat them 2 times every day and the Bang Dums fire guns and they shoot the great big cannons from the Fort every day when the sun rises and at night when the sun sets And the horses drag the cannons and men ever so fast with them and then they bang them, and then they go home with them and take the horses out and tie them in the stable and let them eat their supper

 

                        Then there is lots of little birds here on a tree in the camp in the morning the little black birds will cover the tree all over they are so thick and they will twitter away for a spell and then off they will all fly together away off the other morning I heard a mocking bird in that tree he sang to me all his little songs and then flew away and the little frogs are jumping round and toads sing and the snakes are out and the Bang dums kill the snakes and the roses are blooming and father will send little Fred a rosy in his letter

 

Now I will tell him about the little darkie boys and girls

 

The poor little darkie boys here do not have nice clothes like little Fred Herbert no nice bed and sheets to lie in no nice bed room / to sleep in no clean mamas to keep their little black faces clean. no nice table to eat from no silver mug like Freds. no spoon no knife and fork. no china plate to put their tato in. they do not have any milk and water. they dont have any carpet on their floor. no the little darkie children do not have any of these good things

 

                        I see a little darky girl the other day in her little slab house sitting on the ground for there was no floor. And the little girl was about as big as Fred and she was eating some pork and potatoe out of a tin plate with her little hand and her face and hands were all over grease I see a little girl go up to the man that gives out the coffee and rice and pork and bread, and she handed him her little tin dipper and he filled it with hot coffee and she stood at the side of the barrel and drinked her coffee and chewed her piece of hard cracker. I thought to my self if my little Fred had to eat his little supper like this little girl not have any table to set up to no mama to fix his little supper oh how bad Freds papa would feel and these little darkey dont have the nice bread and butter and Uncle Fryes milk that Freddie does so I hope Freddie will always be a good little boy and love his good mama who makes his nice clean clothes and gets him his nice breakfast and dinner and supper and keeps his little face and hands clean and gives him such pretty things for play things now the little darkies do not get any play things here and wouldnt they be tickled to have some of little Freds old play things, cant you send them some of your old ones? and some of your old clothes Ha! ha! how tickled they would be to get some, the the little wooley heads

 

                        There I have written you a great long letter, now you must ask Mama to write papa a long one for you to send to New Berne to him tell mama to kiss you for me and bid you good night. be a good boy and I will write you again Give my love to Willie and Georgie and Mama and Grandfather and Mother and Aunt Eliza and Nell and Charlie and William and all the Aunts and cousins

                                                                                   

From your loving Father

Tho^s Herbert

 

Mama told me that Fred had hurt his little Finners and bumped his head I am real sorry Mother must kiss it for me

SOURCES