Bowers Hill July 25^th

 

Dear Parents

                        I just received your letter dated the 19^th to night and was glad to hear from home.

 

                        I am well at present and all the rest of the Boys

 

                        there is not mutch news to write about here at present

 

                        to day three Regiments of Cavalry and two or three Batterys started for newbern north Carolina

 

                        you speak about us throing away our knapsacks and blankets annother time I will throw away every thing before I will carry it to kill my self

                        But after all I stuck / it through as well as anny of them

 

                        you speak about the 68^th having hard times I dont know what they have done but if they have done as mutch duty in their month time as we done in one week they done well for new troops

 

                        and if they suffered for rations think of us for 8 days from the 1^st of July till the 8^th.

 

                        we started from the white house landing in the morning but we had to cross a bridge that took the force about half the fornoon and then we went to one mile beyond king williams Court house and camped for the night

 

                        and the 2^ond our Brigade went about 6 miles our Brigade was the reserve Brigade / we had to stop to guard a road that night.

 

                        I was on guard that night at a house about one fourth of a mile from our camp there was five of us and a Corporal there it was on top of the largest hill that I have seen in Virginnia. the house was not very nice but there was some prety nice furniture in it. I tried to sleep on a nice sopha but it was so soft that I could not sleep on it and so I had to get up and sleep on the ground whitch went a good deal better

 

                        and now for the 3d day we started about 8 oclock and till noon then we had an hour to run and get our water and build fires and get our dinners. in some places it is an hours work to get the water

 

                        and on went we did not stop for supper nor nothing / till one oclock that night and that was it taylors Plantation

 

                        I did not keep up with the reg till they stoped But I did not go to sleep till I did catch up and if you had been with me you would have thought the whole of the troops had halted But it was only the men that had fallen out in one Company of ourn there only one oficer and one man with the regt when it stoped

 

                        and now for the 4^th day we started a seven and stoped at noon for one hour then we started for the Juntion. it was ten when we got there and we could not build anny fires and we had to go with out our supper and about two in the morning we began to retreat and we did not stop till we got back to taylors again that made 24 hours that we had to march about stready without anny thing to eat. in two days and a half we marched 59 miles. if the 68 had anny thing as hard as that I will write annother and

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