Camp Foster Roanoke

Island N.C. Feby 18^th/62

 

Dear Sis

                        As you have got two or three letters a head of me I think that it is about time for me to begin to pay up. I wrote to Mother last night giving her some account of this forsaken Island that we are on, for it looks more like a forsaken place than anything eals. we are expecting orders to leave in a weak or two but we may not leave for a month. Genl Burny (as we call him) dont let every one know what he is a going to do and perhaps it is as well that he dont for I give all the credit in the way that he kept his secret so far as being half of the reason that we lost so few men I will give you a little account of our yesterdays work so that you can see how uncertain a soldiers life is when we got up in the morning we found it raining quite fast and as we wear not on guard we all came to the conclusion that we should have a quiet day so our boys got out their writing materials and went to writing but at 10 AM we got orders to form Regt line to escort prisners to the wharf heare was / a pretty prospect. it was raining fast but orders are orders so out we came just got nicely formed when down came the order to go back to quarters and await orders. so back we went. got along all nice it got to be 4 PM all most supper time when down come the Adjunt with orders to fall in it was not raining but a verry little but the moment the order came down came the rain. well out we went and formed our line and took about five hundred as hard looking prisners as it was the luck of mortal soldiers (if they are mortal) to escort and marched them down to the wharf about three quarters of a mile from camp. it kept up a good smart rain all the time we stood on the beach about half an hour when a steamer came along side to take them on board. I stood looking at them and wishing that they would hurry up so that I could get back to our warm supper when up rides Col Kurtz and says Capt Whipple march your Co on board that steamer and guard thoes prisners untill they are put on board the other steamer. Oh Dear good by hot supper. says I to myself you are in for it Wheeler so go it while you are / young. well of cores to get an order is to obey it so on we went and down the sound we started ran along side of the steamer T R Spaulding and began to peddel out our prisners. the peddling consisted of calling of each ones name and he answering to it then the name had to be checked and he was allowed to go on board and we were ready for the next man. you may immagen that it was no easy task to deal out five hundred men in that way. so it was half past nine before we got ready to go back, and then we had sixty nine that they could not take on the Spaulding. we ran back to the wharf left a guard of twelve men on the steamer over the prisners and then marched back to camp. when we got back it was half past ten oclock but we found our coffee hot for us so we came off pretty well after all. so you can judge from this some what a soldiers life at one moment they are heare the next they may be on their way for some place twenty miles off but for all this I like it. theare is so much stir and life to it that I enjoy it I wont write any more to night but will / write more tomorrow  February 19^th. Pleasant and to day I have been doing something that I am not used to that is moveing. we have been living ever since we came hear in the same barracks that they put us into on the night that we arrived, but they weare not large enough for us for they wear made for thirty two and had to hold seventy quite a large difference. so to day we got orders to move into new quarters, so that now we are verry pleasantly situated I and my sargent togather with the sargent of Co D occupy a large room that is it is about twenty foot long by six wide and their is ten of us to occupy it but by takeing some bords and putting them across the rafters we making a chamber to sleep in we get a long nicely we have got a stove in it and a table and are quite gay in our apartments but speaking of moveing it dont take quite so long to move a soldier as it does a citizen for all a soldier has to do is to put on his acquipments strap on his knapsack and he is ready to go one or fifty miles.

 

Thursday 20^th  Pleasant and very warm we had a Brigade drill today the first since we have been heare. it seamed /

 

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like old times. but I must close theare is a mail leave tomorrow I will close so as to send this I am well I dont know how long we shall stop here but I think about a month. direct your letter just as I directed list my name the Regt and Annaplis Burnside expidition good night

 

Your stray Brother

            Richard

 

(kiss Fanny for me)

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