Corinth, Miss. May 10^th 1863.

                                                                       

Dear Friend,

                         I rec^d your letter while on on the march. we were out eighteen days and since we returned I have not been very well, hence the reson of my delay in answering it.

 

you will doubtless laugh when I tell you what I was doing when I rec^d your letter. we had camped for the night and I was cooking my supper, frying meat in a shovel and boiling coffee in my tin cup. it may sound odd to you but it is the way we have to do on a march as we take no cooking utencils with us. I had a cracker a slice of fat pork and a cup of strong coffee for supper that night and made a good one out of it too the cracker answered for bread and the pork for butter. so I had bread and butter and coffee. I thank you for the invitation you gave me to come and eat doughnuts as you did not say when I supose I am at liberty to come when I get ready so I will put it off to some future time and remember that when I come if you dont have doughnuts / I will stay untill you make them. you may see me sometime when you are not thinking of it. if I can get a furlough this summer I am comming home if you see a rough looking customer coming across the meadow dressed in blue clothes you may look out for me.

 

I am glad to hear of the religious interest manifested by the young members of M^r Wellers congregation and hope it may increase until many be found kneeling humbly at the feet of the savior. youth is the time we should seek religion before we become hardened in sin. the longer we put it off the more we have to repent of.

 

your Mother wants to know what I mean by the [?] H. news and what old lady I spoke of ask her if she dont know. if she does not I will tell her near enough to enable her to find out tell her to visit the first house after crossing the railroad on the woodburn road, left hand side of the road and she will get all the news and see the old lady then she will understand what I meant.

 

I understand that our Friend the Soldier's Joy has / been supressed I am sorry, for it was an excelent little paper just the thing to cheer up the soldiers. one little piece about Charles Perdue was most too rough. it was the only piece any body but Sam Smith (and it was not worth while to notice him) could find any objection to. I shall have to quit the Capt has come in with orders to be ready to march at a minutes notice. tell John to write.

                                                                       

I remain your True Friend.

HVHoagland

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