April the 7^th A D 1862

 

Dear Wife i take my pen in hand to write a few lines to you hoping that they may find you well as they leave me though i have a very bad cold i am of duty today therefore i thought of you and how i would like to see you again that i could not restrain from writing and being by myself all the rest of the company being out on drill. We have curious times out here We live in little huts made of brush with our gum blankets on top there is three and four in each tent there is four in the tent that i am in me and John Jones and two irishmen i sleep very well in them though if you would / think that they were play houses that i have seen children make We cook ourselves i cook while John gets the wood and i burn my fingers to blisters sometimes i do not know what i would do if it were not for John for evry one for himself here We are drilled pretty hard We passed by the camp where Thomas Davis was when we came but i could not get out of the ranks and i did not know that he was there till afterward i saw a man out his Company he told me that he was well his regiment has gone before us now they moved last friday before they moved they were about six miles from fortress Monroe and we were nine miles from it / now they are about twenty miles from the fort We have not moved yet and not know when we will neither there was thirty three regiments passed our camp in one day last week and wagons pass here day and night i have seen pretty hard times i left Washington We have moved so much but i have stood it firstrate We came on boats for one hundred and fifty miles i hate the boats We had to sleep out on deck the whistling around and the boat rocking like a cradle We were one time on the bay out of sight of land We were part of two days and two nights on the water i suppose you thought when you heard of us going to go on the boats that it was the end of world Well i think there is a good / ways yet We are not very far from the rebbles but dogs are to much cowards to come out to face us in the open field i wanted go with a company of artillery last night that wanted some men out of our regiment to go to yorktown they are going have a battle there some of these days our men has drove them back they had a battle day before yesterday We could hear the cannons they We are not drilled enough to go to it We have to stay as rear guard i must bring my letter a close or you tired reading i do not want you to to be uneasy for i write worse than it is i feel firstrate i think the war will not last long Write soon i am sending a few lines to father be of good cheer i will be home the 4^th of July from your affectionate Husband William Rees          true love

 

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i send these recipts to you

            Mary Rees

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