May the 12^th A D 1862

Dear Wife i embrace these few moments to write a few lines to you hoping that they may find you well though i am not very well i have a very bad cold such a cough that i can hardly write i came off picket this morning i received your letter last night though the contents of it did not please me at all but i am glad that you wrote the particulars i am very sorry that such a thing has happened but we must hope for the better i think that it will be all right again before long i am very sorry that you have been treated in such a cruel manner without a cause i have wrote a long letter to them this morning it is sure to cut the reason that i wrote to Mother was she might have thought that you would not let me know about your leaving i got a letter from home on the 12^th it was wrote on the 1^st but it did say a word about you i warrent that Mother is sorry that before this for she is that nature i would not wonder if you were afraid tired of married life before this but i hope that you will not despair for i am the same as i was before notwithstanding what anything that anybody says and i hope that i shall by the grace of god return home safe to spend many happy days with you yet you must not mind what people talk We are chasing the rebels for the last ten days they stood us one battle at Williamsburg they had a strong fort at that place they fought like tigers there was 2,500 of our / men killed [ink blot] wounded and three thousand [ink blot] with our regiment our company [ink blot] battle two hours

 

            Confound the luck it ink bottle upset and blotted the sheet and writing paper is better than money i had hard job to get it if i had not some good friends i could not get our knapsacks has not come to us yet We left them about thirty miles behind for the wagons to haul them so that we could go faster my paper and all is in it So you must excuse this poor paper Well to my story i could hear the bullets whistling and hear our men cheering as they charged on the foe it was fought on the 5^th of this month it rained very near all day. i had been left behind in camp not being very well but i started after the regiment and traveled hard to get to them but i was told the wrong road and so i did not get with them till the next day i was over the field day after fight it was a hard sight some of rebel dead were lying with ours in one place there was two rebels lying one on each side of one of our men they had charged on our and got mixed the rebel had got one of our men he turned and looked around and saw another who at his back who he struck with the butt of his gun i saw in the forehead When he was shot but to clos the night came on and the battle stopt the rebels run from the fort morning We are on our way to richmond it is about 45 miles from there We will advance tomorrow no more excuse my poor writing on for i am sitting on the ground and writing on my knee which you know is not a pleasant way

 

Write soon from Husband William Rees

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