Camp Near Murfreesboro

Tenes

May the 18^th 1863

 

Dear mother

                      I seat my self this afternoon to answer your letter whitch i received two days a go i had to go on picket so i could not answer this any sooner i was glad to hear that walter was safe you say you was expecting him home the next day i hope he will get home safe i gess he will be satisfyed of war for awhile but he done nothing but what evry man ought to do he volenteered for to help to put the war down and that is what i like / to see i see in to days paper that the three hundred dolar act is all over belonging to the conscript act it dose me good to hear of it i supose you understand this i will tell you if a man was conscripted and did not want to go to pay three hundred dolars they could get of but that is all nocked in the head rich and poor has to go now it dose the soldiers more good to hear of that here than if we had gained a victory good for the conscrips i hope evry regiment in the survice will be filled full with them for a greater part of the regiments in this department cant muster more than from three to four hundred men so if we / had all the regiments filled up full it would make a good lot of reinforcements and not have to make any more officers for the officers can command a full regiment as well as two hundred well Mother dont you think it will be a good idea to make rich men come out and fight for they country it is the rich that has something to fight for we ones poor volenteers that came out at first and volenteered we came out with pure patriotism not for to safe our property for we had none if the rich and coperheads dont take no interest in it they cant expect us to stay out here and fight them till the last one of us is killed of and no one take any interest / in it i tell you mother if we dont get more men inside of two months we will have two acknoledge the southern confedercy for they have conscripted evry thing in the south and made them fight and we never fight the rebles but what they have the most men and why is it why because they take evry man that is fit for a soldier and why cant we do so and put it down they people at home thinks they wont be conscripted that is foolishly they must come if called on and mix three or four hundred in a old regiment they will have to fight or get killed by the old troops some of them may as well come out here / and be killed as to stay at home and get killed by some of the soldiers when they get home for talking secesh talk you may think this is only talk but if you would hear the soldiers express their opinion a bout them you would be satisfyed well Mother i see Hoocker was badly whiped why is it that that army allways gets whiped i am shure the rebles here fights us as hard as they do their and we can whip them here evry time they is something rong i dont blame the men that is the privet soldier but i blame the Generals i think they all want to raise and they are partial of one a nother / and wont work to one and a nothers hand now that ant the case here they all pitch in here it makes no difference who gets the praise so the battle is won but we have a good lot of Generals they cant be beat i gest got in of picket to day we had nice weather while we was out i was sory to hear of ant Nelly being dead but i now she will be better of you say bily would rather see me than Walter i gess he will be glad to see me when i get home i wrote to alie the other day and i wrote to you and sent you five dolars / to buy lidia some clothes to go to school with i now she will have to have some better than usual i most forgot to tell you you will have to pay Simon Faulk 13 cents of postage if you want to get that paper if you hant done it already tell walt to take time and give me the full perticulars a bout that battle tell him he needent smoove it over for i have a pretty good idea how they came back over the river give ant mary my best respects

 

write to me soon and let me now how many / Coperheads is conscripted from a round their i will close hoping to hear from you soon this leaves me well and i hope it will find you all enjoying the same great blessing

                                                                                               

Abram Kipp

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