Chapins Bluff Va. Oct 9^th 1864

 

Dear Phemia

                        I have to acknowledge the reception of two letters from you since writing my last, one week ago to day. One of Sept. 26^th and one of the 2^nd of Oct. which was written in Steuben Co. I am glad to hear you have made your journey in safety without impairing your health and I trust the change of air will prove a benefit to you. You seem to be blessed with kind and numerous friends in your present locality, and I hope that a steady improvement in health may be added, so that you may fully enjoy your visit with them. Do not think that I envy you your pleasure or entertain any fears of being forgotten. I have too much confidence in your love darling, to think so for a moment. I am always glad to know that you are surrounded with kind friends and thus blessed with the means of making life pleasant and happy. When I wrote to you last I informed / you of Charlies being wounded. I hope you will not be alarmed at this inteligence, for his wound, although it may be a painful, it is not a dangerous one. I have not had any oppertunity to hear from him since he left here, nor I have not learned what hospital he was taken to, but I presume he went to the general hospital at Fort Monroe. We have had one more wounded in our company since Charlie was, a young man from Bloomfield by the name Baker. He was badly wounded in both feet by a piece of shell which tore one of his shoes entirely off. Those two are the only casualties in our company since we left Point of Rocks, but we have lost in the regiment five in killed and twenty five wounded. Our Brigade, the 1^st still holds their position in the fort captured from the enemy and the work of strengthening our position is still going on, and has been without intermition day and night since we captured it, until last night, the men had an oppertunity of enjoying one nights rest. yet there is much that remains to be done in building magazines, boomproofs &c. The enemy seems to be a little / more reconsiled to our holding it than they were at first. The pickets met a few days ago and made a friendly aggreement that picket firing and sharpshooting in front of the fort should be stoped, and since that time there seems to be quite a friendly feeling between the pickets. Both lines is within sight of the fort and I often see them exchanging papers. Yesterday the pickets of both sides were out burring the remainder of the enemies dead that fell when they charged our lines and tried to retake the fort. One rebel Lieutenant at the time they were picking up the dead locked arms with a friend and very deliberately walked over to our picket line and from there to the fort. Another came over with a paper in his hand to exchange he said, but he did not wait for one of our men to meet him half way between the lines, but walked in to our lines and said nothing about going back. Deserters are coming in faster here than I ever saw them before. thirty came in yesterday, and they are coming in every day, and all seem to think their cause is a hopeless one and state that there is many more of their / men only waiting for an oppertunity to desert. The prospects of our success in this vicinity seems to be very promicing. we may meet with some little reverses on some portions of our line, but the main undertaking is steadily moving on and I believe greater successes will soon crown our efforts. A quite a severe engagement took place on our right day before yesterday and we met, I understand, with a slight repulse at first, but our men were reinforced and drove the enemy back and took several hundred prisoners.

 

            You ask who is captain of our company now. we have but one commitioned officer in the company now. D. W. Redfield is 2^nd Lt. but there has no 1^st Lt. or Capt. been appointed yet. I am glad to hear your Mother is recovering from her sickness but I am very sorry to learn that Miss is so poorly. I hope to soon hear that she is better. When you write please give them my love and good wishes. How glad I should be to see you today dear Phemia, but the time is drawing near where I shall enjoy that pleasure if we are both spared. May God bless and comfort you through all the trials and afflictions of life is the earnest wish and prayr of your ever sincere and

Affectionate Friend                                                                            

Russell F. Wright

 

To Euphemia O. Gillet

 

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I hope to hear from you often as usual. I will try to write every week

 

You see I am again indebted to benevolent societies for this sheet. The Christian Commition often furnish the soldiers with paper and writing material when they are at the front and have no oppertunity of geting it elsewhere

 

There is some talk of our returning to Point of Rocks

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