Camp near Marietta Ga

July 1^st 1864

                                               

Miss Mollie Wood

Upper Alton Ills

                                                                       

Mollie: you must pardon my negligence in not writing to you before now. If you wish to renew the correspondence I shall be prompt hereafter. It gives me pleasure to receive letters from friends & especially Lady friends near home

 

            But there has been but one such written to me since I left home in June one year ago. I presume she has tired of it as she has not answered my last. / That I do not get letters I need blame no one but myself as I must acknowledge that I have been very negligent in writing to any but home folks.

 

            We soldiers as a general thing get so tired of a soldier's life: the monotony and routine of every day duty that we imagine that we can write nothing that will be interesting to our friends. Our friends at home may think the same of home affairs but they mistake; a few lines about home matters any amount of neighborhood gossip we can relish once in a while. And above all a few kind words of encouragement and sympathy none who appreciate are not acquainted with the weary tedious hours of camp life can appreciate; and any one can give such encouragement. Such letters from home are dear to us, but, equally dear are such tokens of regard when they come from our friends whether they are for ourselves or country 

 

Well Mollie from what I have just written you may conclude that we have a very very hard time of this is so so far as the performing the same kind of duty over and over and then when we have nothing to do comes the time we want to get letters

 

            I'll try and describe one of these times when we have nothing to do. On the eve of the 22^nd June we moved to our present position. It was after dark when we got here and we worked till about 12 O'clock putting up breast works. These are made by pileing logs one above the other say 4 feet high. then the dirt is throwed from the inside and banked and tramped against the outside. The ditches are generally wide enough to lay in them and our boys have been compelled to do so ever since we have been here as our works & the Rebel's range from 50 to 500 yds apart. After the dirt is banked against the logs 4 feet high another one is laid on top and raised two or three inches from the dirt so / as to make a crack large enough to shoot through while the log protects the head. Now this is the kind of place our reg't has been in since the 22^nd ult

 

            Who would not get tired of such as that. But then we have plenty to eat dont have to march far at a time nor fast. Very often get a mess of apples berries &c Never pass a fine mutton get into a nice shady camp once in a while where we stop a day or two; have good spring water to use and privilege to pretty much as we please.

 

            Take it all together a soldiers life is not so hard if it was not for the amount of led & iron the rebs throw over our way. To give you an idea of the amount of ammunition used I'll tell you how much our Reg't & the 84 Ill issued the 19 & 20^th of June. During the two days our Div drove the rebel centre 4 mi past the right & left and held our position. The 84 issued 34 000 rounds of cartridges & our reg't issued over 20 000 rounds. Our Reg't has during the campaign 10 killed & between 30 & 40 wounded. I presume Sol wrote to you about his accident. June 10^th he cut his foot severely with an axe. I have not heard from him since. he is probably at Chattanooga. I shall be glad to hear from you soon Your friend &c   W^m H. Clayton Co B 80 Ills 3^rd Brig 1^st Div 4 A.C.

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