P.S.

            Please Pardon this long letter  Al

 

Camp of the 14^th N.J. Vols.

Near Richmond, Va.

May 22^nd 1865.

           

Dear Cousing Clemmy

                                                I trust a few lines from me at this time will not come amiss. We have at last had the priviledge of beholding the long sought for City, and can now witness that which was once (surrounded by an immense Army of Gray Backs) called the Capital of the Confederate States of America. But that noted rabble is no more. Libby Prison no longer holds our brave Boys until the rats eat them up. Belle Island is no longer dreaded by us, for surely I always felt an inward dread of being taken prisoner & placed upon that Isle where escape was impossible. But I have no longer such a dread. I have visited the principal places of any interrest in the city, taking a stroll through the Capitol & through the park, which is splendid, taking a view of the bronze statue of Washington, Jefferson, Mason, Henry & the marble statue of Henry Clay, which is separate from the rest. But I must before I farther proceed state to you how & when we left the fair town of Danville, Va. we bid adieu to said place last Tuesday, taking the / cars for Richmond, arrived in Manchester on the banks of the James River opposite the Capital the following morning (Wednesday) where we disembarked remaining for a few hours taking a good look at the city from across the river. in the afternoon we went into camp about a mile outside of Manchester, where we were to remain until our wagon train camp up, then march through Richmond & onward to Washington. the train arrived yesterday morning & we were to start from here tomorrow, but owing to a terrific thunder storm we had yesterday about 5 P.M. & during the night, the march has as I understand been postponed until the roads become more dry. But I reckon we will remain for several days, for while I am now engaged in penning this letter it is raining & bids fair to be a rainy night. Then again we may not move from here until our muster out rolls are made out & everything in readiness for immediately transmogrifying us into quiet and peaceful citizens once more. Uncle Sam dont want to bother with us much longer. we have accomplished all he desired & now we can be in readiness to seek a new job. But I dont actually think after all I have endured that I can find employment in civil life / that will be more suited to my taste than to be a Soldier in time of peace. But the question now arises whether or no they will not send somebody down in Texas & I dont want to go there. still I would like to go West upon the frontier. But not until I have spent a couple or three months at home. I received a letter from Mother yesterday she is quite well and states that John is able to be out again he is having a severe time of it. But that sickness last winter it seems has almost broken his constitution & I cannot think he will ever regain very good health again. if he were young like myself he might outgrow it. But throwing all other subjects aside I have been a luckey chap. I have been dead two or three times & am alive yet. I guess I must be like a cat, have seven lives. I have had a deal of sickness within the past two years & nine months but never was so unfortunate as to be absent once from the field to any General Hospital, yet that is my own fault. I would always stick & hang like a tick & as a matter of course I am far from feeling any sorrow for being always on hand, so long as God has seen fit in His manifold mercies to spare my life. I fondly / hope this may find you all in good health as it is my enjoyment at the present time. I thought I must write to you Clemmy while we are lying here for I may never have an opportunity of again writing you in this state, where many thousand men gave their lives to preserve from the Rebel horde that Flag of the Free, emblem of sweet Liberty. Long live America & may her banner yet wave in triumph over the Provinces of Canada & Mexico, for surely one day they must be annexed to the United States. But may God bless those who tonight are mourning the loss of Dear Father Husband Son or a Brother. O Lord be thou a Father to the fatherless a husband to the widow & comfort them in their dark hours I pray Thee. I cannot be too thankful that my life has been spared yet to comfort that Dear Mother who upon her bended knees has besought God the Father to spare my life to her, that I might be a blessing to her. God grant I may. Tonight she is thinking of me as I sit here penning you these few lines. I imagine I can now see her and her mind far away down in the South, and wondering where her poor Soldier Boy is this night. if it is raining in Jersey she is thinking whether or not I am comfortably situated. I tell you Clemmy that dearest of all earthly friends is / our Mothers. yet alas how very many there are cannot & do not realize their worth until God removes them from earth. nought in this world can exceed motherly love & affection for her children. I often think I can never repay her for what she has done for me from childhood up. Now I am free it does not seem that I can be of age, although I feel as if I were somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty or forty. I tell you Clemmy you dont know just how old I feel. yet when I look back upon the past I cannot for a moment allow myself to wonder that three short years should so nearly break my constitution. I dont believe I will ever be a hearty rugged man calculated for any manner of hard labor, yet I must trust alone to Him who / has thus far been my guide and my strength. it is raining terribly and I find my tent is not perfectly water proof, so I must soon be obliged to close and crawl into bed, there to dream of the many happy days I trust which are in store for me. I would dearly love to hear from you, but I suppose there is no use, so you can be prepared for two or three extra kisses when I come home. give my love to Uncle & Aunt & to my cousins. you must lay this one side if you get tired of reading it for it is one of my failings to write a good long letter, leaving out the word good. I expect you are busily engaged preparing for the boarding season. I think you will have a full house. you surely will when I get down there. perhaps you will want some one to drive the chicken wagon & I will just come in play. I think I could buy up eggs cheaper than most any one, for I would be thinking occasionally of how we used to buy such things in Virginia

           

Good night may God bless you all

                                   

Your Cousin Al.

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