Chattanooga Tennessee

December the 2 of 61

           

Dear Mother

                        I seat my self this morning to answer your kind and welcome letter whitch i received yesterday and was hapy to hear ove you engoying good health i am hapy to tell you my health is good and i hope that theas fiew lines may stil find you in good health it does me so mutch good to get a letter from home and hear ove you still being well we are still holding our position [faded] they was a fight down the river two miles [faded, paper fold] our loss was twelve hundred killed and wounded [faded] lookout mountain and the mountain runs to the river and the railroad runs up the same side so [faded] repair the road [faded] they have any amount of artillery in the depot [faded] / they keep shelling our troops all the time they shelled our regt this morning as they ware coming in from the picket line but did not kill or hurt any of them the mountain is so high that they can loock down on us all a round here i was not on picket as i was left in as a [?] gard keeping [faded] night before last the rebles built a large raft of logs and drift a fiew miles up the river and left it so so it would tare a way our pontoon bridges and it did but our men are trying to rebuild them as fast as they can they officers has kept the men working  on the fortifications as they couldent stand it on half rashions now mother i will tell you a little a bout our [faded, paper fold] we have been living on one half pound of hard bread per day and quarter rashions of coffee per day and we gest get meat now and then this morning we was issued between two and three ounces of shelled corn for to do us to day it is very hard but it is impossible to get suplies here the [faded] you may see in the papers that this army is in good condition but it is not the case i often think if i gest had what is throwed a way at home how well i would be fixed / i dont want you to think that i am disheartened for i am gest [faded] you always want to know in your letters how i get a long it is [faded] but i expected it before i left home when i write sutch news as this to you it only makes you feel bad and dont help [faded, paper fold] thankful to you for the offer but it would be impossible for me to get them so you must not attempt it our capt told me he saw you on the cars coming to town and that you looked well and i was glad to hear it i guess [?] thinks that i was killed in our last [?] battle for he never writes any more to me you say you heard I was sick i had a sore throat and went in the hospital four or five days but i am [faded] General Grant is in excellent [faded, paper fold] glad to hear of Curtin being elected.

                                   

December the [?]

as i did not get finishing this letter yesterday i will write a little more we was [faded] of battle to fight we was expecting the rebles to [?] us but they dident come they was threw [faded] yesterday and some of them went [faded] / to the river i think they must have some larger than they had before i hear Isaac Salshiver is at home discharged i think it was time i received a letter the same day i got yours from Kate Kennedy [faded] Well mother what we are going to do here is more [faded] prity [?] position i dont think the rebles can drive us out of this except they throw us out i can stand in our camp and see their camps all a round the boys are all well when i said in my letter  that our army here wasent in good condition i mean i mean they havent grub suficient and you know Col Sirwell [faded] in good condition after going through as much hardships as we have [faded, paper fold] more i will close hoping to hear from you soon a gain my love to all and ant mary write as soon as you can for i am allways glad to hear from you

                                                                       

yours as ever Abram Kipp

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