Buckingham ferry. SC. March 19^th/62

 

Dear Brother and Sister,

the 5^th of March, Yours of I rec'd yesterday and was glad to hear from you once more, and that you were all well. and now I sit down to write you a few lines in answer to let you know that I am well, and hope that this will find you the same. I have not got Aunt Betseys letter yet. I only got one letter this last mail when I ought to have had about a dozen. well, I shant have to answer them until I get them. I got one last week that was wrote the 26^th of January /

 

Oh, what nice weather we do have down here, but there is so many fleas here, that we cant hardly sleep, but we will be relieved tomorrow. we have been about a month. we went over on bull island again last week and I shot another beef critter, so you see that we have plenty of fresh meat. Uncle Sam furnishes us with as much as we can eat, but there are so many cattle running wild that we cant resist the temptation. after we had that hog scrape, we asked the Cap^t how it would about hunting any more, and he said that it was strictly forbidden, and if we went we would have to / run our own risk, and you know that we would do that for to get some fresh beef, any time. the last time that we went we only had two guns with us, and we were within two miles of the secesh.

 

            I suppose that you have heard all the good news from our army in the west. we heard here this week that thare had been a march made on the potomac, and that our troops had taken Manassas Junction, but we dont hardly believe it, but we hope it is so. you tell dick and Lovina to wait until I get home for I would like to see them when they are spliced, if they have no objections. / You said that Lant Lewis had got himself into a scrape but did not tell whether his wife was dead or not.

 

by the time you get this you will be making sugar. Oh, how I would like to be there long enough to eat some warm sugar. Well, you can send me some in a letter. give my love to all friends that inquire for or about me. tell Aunt betsey that I will answer hers as soon as I get it. I sent you a paper that is printed here. this piece of cloth for Margaret. I found it in a house on bull island.

 

So no more this time

 

this from your brother W^m Chase

                                                           

Mary & G. W. Kennedy

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