April the 28^th

A D 1862

 

Dear Wife

i received your welcomed letter a few minutes ago and so i enbrace this opportunity of writing a fines back for it was a long expected letter i had just ate my supper for i had been washing this afternoon i had a hard washing and my hands is sore it is a very fine evening though it has been very disagreeable these last few days i like this country very well we get enough to eat and getting more evry day i never had / better health than i have here though i would rather be at home with you yet than here for i do not feel at home here and wish to go on to fight the rebels so that we may return home again the news here now is that there will be peace before long general M^cClellan has gone to Washington to meet the delegates from England and france that has come there to try to make peace between the North and the South and i hope that they may succeed in in their object i got my fortune told and he told me that i would get home soon that i would / get some news from you and that you wanted to see me and that i thought a great deal about you and great deal more but i no room to write it Well i must get a smoke i am writing and smoking with my pipe in my pocket the stem is over a foot and a half long made of india rubber tobacco is very dear here We have a very pretty camp and i think that we will be here for some time the Colonel said that we would be here till we would go home i cannot say how true it is and i do not want you to believe all stories that you hear / for there is so many lies sent in letters from here but i will will write the truth and you can depend on it you may think at home that we are in very dangerous place here but you need not fret though we are not far from the rebels but they are so afraid of us that there is no danger of them attacking us general M^cClellan says that he is not afraid of all rebeldom here there is no danger of us getting into a fight for there is better drilled men before us there is some talk about us /

 

I have not had letter from father this long time i do not know what is the reason for i have wrote to them i am expecting a letter from them evry day Please let father know that i am safe give my best respects to your Mother and all the family and my parents and sister / Samuel Byers sends his best respects to you. My pen is getting loose for i have fastened it on a piece of a stick with a rusty pen point give my respects to Margaret in a half a bushel but i do not feel very funny today Well i must close for i do not think that you can read half of it but you must consider where it came from our cars run within 7 miles of Richmond We are within that distance now write soon from your affectionate

                                                                                                           

Husband W^m Rees

Mary Rees /

 

Mary Rees

William Rees

 

Well the 29^th of April is dawned and we have been called out about three oclock this morning We stood till daylight and now we have orders to make our breakfast to march somewhere they say to reinforce the men before us / the talk is that yorktown today but i do not how true it is so make yourself contented and do not fret you must excuse my long letter but i that is the sort i like it was 12 oclock when i went to bed last i wrote this on while the coffee is boiling so excuse my poor writing so no more at present Write soon and good Bye for this time

 

from your affectionate Husband William Rees

to Mary Rees

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