Morris Island S.C. Jan 13. 1864.

 

Your letter of the 4^th inst. together with the 3 papers and a letter from Martha Hall I rec^d last evening, and was very glad to get them all; they came through quicker than my mail matter has lately, which made it seem all the better as old letters don't seem to have more than half the value that new ones do; old papers wear better than old letters with us as we very often see some item of news that we knew nothing about before, as our mails are so irregular.

 

I hardly know what I shall write about as there is hardly anything going on here just now. Yesterday there was a flag raised on Fort "Strong", formerly called Fort "Wagner"; I dont know, but think it is the first American flag that has been raised on that Fort more than Regimental colors—although flags have been flying for some time on Forts "Chatfield" and "Putnam" formerly "Gregg". There has been considerable firing from our batteries all night and this forenoon but what / it all amounts to I can't tell. I suppose they are firing some shells into Charleston as they have been doing for some time past. Those deserters that I wrote to you about in my last, say that the Rebs think that when our batteries cease firing, that their batteries have silenced ours, when the truth is that our batteries fire as many times as they are ordered to and then stop. The Rebs will find before many weeks I think that our batteries are not so easily silenced as they imagine.

 

Day-before-yesterday I sent 3 "New Souths" of the 9^th inst. one is for you, one for George Eaton and one for Martha Hall; I also sent one to Cousin M. J. Paterson. There are two pieces in it which I thought would be of interest to you, one is all about the celebration at Beaufort, and the other is a description of Morris Island, a very little exaggerated in some points, but on the whole the best description I have seen of this miserable hole. That ghost story I saw some time since, and must say I don't think much of it, nor do I believe it either. 

 

Besides being such a miserable place, the weather, since about the 20^th of September, has been most of the time either very windy or rainy, and as you say if we had no Yankee ingenuity we should be very badly off. A good many of the Regiments live here with their tents pitched on the ground and with no stoves or bunks in them. I often wonder how they live so, but as we lived in the same way for about a year, I know that they can get along so, but every hours work laid out in fixing up a tent pays, in the comfort the men take after it is fixed; our Regiment has the name of having their quarters fixed up better than any other Regiment in the Department except the Engineers, and they would be much ahead of us if we had the same chance to get lumber that they have.

 

I believe I wrote in my last that I should send my diary home by John Bryant who is going home on a furlough. I thought then that he would be about ready to start by this time, but he don't seem to be any nearer / to it now than he was then except that the papers are made out. Perhaps he may be ready to start in a week. I mean to try and get a picture to send you by him by that time.

 

I suppose that Josiah Taylor has gone back to his Regiment by this time, if he has not give him my respects if you see him or any of his folks, also, to all who enquire for me.

 

When you write to Aunt Harriet or any of our relatives you may also give them their share, and tell them I wish them a Happy New Year, if it aint too late.

All the Exeter boys that I know about are well.

 

My health is as good as usual and I am still in the Adjutants Office.

 

I am trying to fill out this letter but don't know how I shall make out.

                                                                                   

Yours truly

J. W. Clement

 

Mr John Clement                                                                    

            Exeter

                        N.H.

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