Camp Sirwell. April the 17^th A D 1862

                        Franklin Tennessee

 

My Dear Mother                    

I seat myself this afternoon to answer your welcome letter whitch i received a fiew hours a go and was very hapy to hear ove you all being well i am well at presant and getting a long as well as i could expect we are stil at the same place garding the little town and railroad Will Huff is stil in the hospital and Jim Huff has never been to the company company sense he left the first time

 

Dan Shearer is now in the hospital in franklin a bout a half a mile from our camp he is getting better we have a good many more in the hospital out ove our company but they are strangers to you they are all mending slowly lieutenant Torbit is now with us and is able to tend to his bisness as before we are garding what is called the Tennessee and Alabama railroad we are camped within a quarter ove a mile ove what is called the big harpth river we have very good water sense we came here we had marching orders to go to the Pittsburgh landing on the tennessee river some week a go but the orders was countermanded that was where they                                        

 

turn over / awful battle was fought some two weeks a go we lost a great many good men their and they was a heavy loss on both sides our men fought well with the exceptions ove some 5 regiments ove ohio troops and they wouldent stand fier they run when the ilinoise troops stood up and fought till they was done out with fatigue and then they fell back in good order both sides claims the victory but our men drove them back 4 miles beyond corins that was four miles beyond their fortifications they was a great many ove our men killed they was some ove our regiment sent down to help to bury them the last account we had from their they had begun to fight a gain i supose you will hear ove the fight before this letter reaches you you can find out more a bout the batle in the papers than i can tell you for we hant any chance to hear ove it here. we are now over nine hundred miles from home you can judge for your self if it ant warm weather down here or not for my part i think it pretty warm i would for my part rather stay here a while we have a good deal to do we stand gard evry other night and drill evry day and cant get a pass to go to town once a month we have taking a great many prisoners sense we came here we have some six or seven in camp now that we taken up for cuting the teligraph wier betwheen us and columbia 

 

i am sory to hear ove uncle Johns folks being sick evry thing is out in fool bloom down here and it makes a person think ove being free once more when i get up in the morning a bout the firs thing i hear is breakfast and then rooll out boys for gard so i cant say we have any pleasure a tal and when we ant on gard we eather have to drill or stay in our camp whitch ant more than three achres big but i never want to go home til this rebellion is put down to never raise a gain when we received orders to moove the other day i never herd sutch cheers as the boys all give to get going i would like to go on if it wasent so awful hot

 

the wheat down here is knee high and they are a bout done planting corn and now getting their ground ready for cotton Frank Michell is still in the tent with us and is well and Bill Sproul and John Boyle is also well they is 18 18 in our tent so you may judge wheather we ant pretty strong or not. you spoke a bout Mr Harvy i herd our lieutenant say he saw him drunk a nough to be funy and proposed to take a nother drink this is a fact. i have wrote to allie twice now and hant got any answer for them so i am going to write to her no more til i get a answer i got a letter from / walt he is well and says times is good in town. we are expecting they sitizens ove this town and a round in this part of the country to rais up some ove theas nights and try to make us leave this i am sory for them if they try it they was one drawed a pistol on our cornel the other day in town and the cornel drawed his out and the felow run and the cornel shot after him but did not hit him they are all cecesh a round here. it loocks very odd to me to see niger weamon ploughing here you can see them out in the field ploughing from day light til dark it loocks hard i tell you i wrote to ban McKalliss some time a go and did not get any an answer yet and one to dan spicher and John spicher as i hant mutch to write this time i will close this letter hoping to hear from you soon give my love to all the folks i know up their

                                                                                               

yours truly Abram Kipp Esq

To Eliza Bann

 

Direct as before

 

tell Bily that i think i will be home a gain the fourth of July. this is my opinion and that ant mutch for i cant tell anny thing a bout it nothing more at presant

           

write soon as you can and a long letter

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