Moris Island Aug 4^th

 

My Dear wife & son,

it is but a short time since I scribled a little to you in a great hurry as the mail was going to leave short order & I thought you would be so anxious to hear if I was all right that I would not loose my oppertiy to let you hear from me & now I will be getting ready to send to you again when there is a chance I am stil well & hearty we are encamped in the sand you cannot imagine a sandyer place than it is where we are it flies like snow & blows into our victuals eyes & evry thing else our folks are still mounting guard building fortifications [?] digging pits &c &c on a large scale the rebs keep bombarding on / us & we them more or less sometimes quite smart & then hold up a spell sometimes the Monitors & ironsides will run up & [?] a spel but we are expecting to see the ball open in a few days some think about the 12^th but how that is we do not know troops are arriving most evry day & one thing is evident that something will be done soon. I have endeavourd to give you a little account of the most important events that have transpired since the first attact was made but do not know as you have got them all I was at the batteries on folly Island when the first gun was fired & have seen most all the important events that have transpired thus far there has been two men killed in our regt since / the charge one in Co. F was shot by a sharp shooter while out on picket the other by a shell while the regt was lying in the entrenchments near the batteries it broke his leg & he died soon after it was taken of I was the first strecher man that got to him & helped carry him nearly a mile & got him board of an ambulance our regt was out on picket that night they stay 24 hours go out just after dark & stay until the next night the rebs usually shell most all the time so as to prevent our folks working on the works in the night we can see them comming as we can see the fuse on fire sometimes they burst high in the air & sometimes they strike the ground before bursting & sometimes / they dont burst a tal but why they do not kill & wound more men I do not see to see men all round & shells bursting in amongst all the time & yet there is but a few hurt when we lay near between our batteries & the rebs so the shels were flying over us like hail & they had two smart engagements while we were there one was just light in the morning that was the Co. E. man was hit & we had to carry him out when the shells were flying & when I came back to the regt I tell you if they did not whistle round a fellows head its no matter as I had to go right in range of the reble batteries & right by our own & they were celibrating nicely but I guess your uncle dudly did not flinch a great deal.

 

I will not write any more now but will bye the mail goes

 

Aug 6  I recd a letter & paper from you to day I do not see why you have not recd our letters I have written evry time the mail has left that I know of & I think that Enos has I have not seen him since one week a go last sunday though I hear from him most evry day I expect they will be up here soon they do not give our regt credit for what they done in the charge they were in the hardest part of it & stood it the longest they say the third run like sheep I expect to go up to the entrenchments with the regt to night so I will seal up this letter as it may have a chance to go before I get back I hope the letter I sent you will not be long / as there is $20 in one & $10 in another but I think they will come round after a while sometimes I do not get your papers for weeks & then they will come round the fortifying is still going on here on a large scale I was down to the landing last night & saw a 300 pound rifle gun that is going to be mounted right up on the advance I stood up to the breech of it as it lay on the ground & the top of it came up to the pit of my stomach quite a rifle Hub I tell you the shooting irons are plenty here & now I request it do not for pitty sake wory about me for I am seeing no more than I expected when I enlisted & I do not mean to play the coward & now may the bless & take care of my Dear wife & son

                                                                                                           

L N Mi[torn away]

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