Camp near Crab Orchard Ky

May 24 1863

 

Dear Father

                        I am well and in good spirits and hope these few lines will find you in the same state I have written two letters home since I came to the reg't. I commenced one day before yesterday and sent it yesterday morning I put a postscript stating that we were off in the direction of Sommerset. We received orders to leave yesterday morning but it was countermanded but did not reach us till we had come about 10 miles when orders came not to go any further and we went on a mile or more and went into camp here 1½ miles from Crab Orchard. We left camp at 7am and marched about 10 miles where we turned in and stopped 2½ hours to rest and got our dinner. It was a hot sultry day and the pike very dusty. After our rest we started on and went over a mile further and went into camp near Dick Creek / By consulting a map of Kentucky you can see our position. John Morgan was in here a year ago and done considerable damage burning the bridge here and the house of one of the inhabitants and took 16 union men 2 of whom escaped and the rest they took to Cumberland Ford and hanged them. Our knapsacks were carried on our ox team which was quite a lift. I wrote you a little of the beauty of the country out here. It is not so good land here and grows worse as we proceed this way and abounds in mineral springs containing salts. They have apparatus here for making these salts. It is done by evaporation over a fire. There are a number of wells dug side by side and spouts run from there to a shed in which are boilers over a fire. It brings 25 cts a lb. The water tastes quite strong of salts. These springs were visited by a great many southerners before the Rebellion. I wrote you last fall (I believe) of our being at White Sulphur Springs where in Virginia where we had a skirmish. We are at the foot of a hill here which abounds / in petrified substances

 

Camp beyond Crab Orchard Ky

May 25 1863

            Dear Father,

                        I left off last night for dress parade. To continue, these I picked quite a number of these petrified things. Some of these appear to be ram horns, roots twigs &c I will put you in one or two "coffee" beans, which the folks here use in summer to kill flies by mixing the meat with molasses. they make a pretty basket to wear on a chain. A dispatch was read to us on dress parade last night that our forces held the outer intrenchments at Vicksburg and that we completely invested the place place. We moved this morning between two and three miles to the other side of Crab Orchard. This is a town of 5 or more stores. Gill is well. H M Glines sends his respects. I reckon we will not stop here more than a day or two. I think I will send you a stalk of from William

 

Camp at Stanford Ky May 27 (1863

 

            Dear Mother

                        We made a short stay at Crab Orchard. We got orders to leave / in the evening which we did. The road was very dusty but the moon was up we marched about 15 miles to a ways beyond Stanford. We got here between 12 and 1 at midnight. It is only about nine miles from Lancaster to here by the pike but the way we came was most 30 miles. If you would get one of Lloyds official Map of Kentucky it would be what you would want, to follow us in our travels. It shows the pikes and small places &c. It is nearly four weeks since I have received a letter from home. There is a grist mill near here, and close by is a beautifull cold stream of water flows out of the ground from under a large rock. we go under into a cavern it is quite a curiosity it is called the best water in the State. This cavern is about 30 or 40 ft long. Flour is worth $3.50 a hundred here. Meal .75 cts a bushel. I do not expect we will stay here long. We had a small shower this morning but not enough to do much good. You must excuse bad writing as writing on a tin plate in my little shelter tent. But I will close for this evening. I will put in a few cotton seeds. It is not raised much in this state              from William

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