Direct your letters to

Reeds Ferry.

           

Write soon.

Park

 

Reeds Ferry Aug. 5^th 1862.

 

Friend Willie

                        I will now try and fulfill my promise by writing to you. I presume you have been waiting for a letter from me a long time but guess you didnt receive any. I hope you will excuse me for not writing before this. I havnt had time to write to any body since I come home. this is the first letter I have written.

"Well Will" what is the news in "good old Westford"? not much I presume. how is the War Fever with you? "have you enlisted yet?" has Ed Flagg enlisted? I suppose you will go when he does. has Albert Fletcher & Wayland Balch enlisted yet? or havent they spunk enough. / have they got their 23 men yet. I suppose they have long before this. will they draft in Westford? they wont in Merrimack. they have got men enough. there has about 45 men gone from Merrimack (in the whole) we get more bounty here than you do in Westford. we shall probably have over 200.00 dollars to start with. quite an inducement. I suppose if I should tell you I have enlisted you wouldnt believe it. there was three of us went up to Manchester yesterday and enlisted and was sworn in. there was two more enlisted last Friday and two some time ago. we shall have a pretty good time together. we are going to sleep in the same camp. there is three or four more going to enlist this week. we shall get enough for a squad. we are going in camp next Friday if nothing happens. / It is the 9^th Regiment we are going in. it is going to camp in Concord I am going on certain conditions myself. I am going in a band if I go the 9^th is going to have a band of music. there is going to be 18 pieces. I am going to play a cornet. I have been playing on one ever since I came home. I can play some on it now. I told the Captain I would enlist if I could get in the band. he said I could if I wanted to. he said if I couldnt get a chance in the band I neednt go at all. they enlist the band just the same as private soldiers. they are mustered in the United States service the same. the band is going for the Officers benefit. they have the same pay as the rest. probably they wont be on guard. I hope not any way.

 

Well Billy I must tell you what a good time I had last week. I went / on an excursion up to the Lake. there was about 500 went from Manchester. I staid up there the night before. I had a splendid time I rode over 200 miles. rode on a steamboat all over the Lake. it is about 350 miles round the Lake. we all took our dinners with us. there was ten of us went from Reeds Ferry. I never had any better time in my life. Well Billy I guess I shall come down and see the folks before I go to War if I can have a furlough. I guess I have written about all the news. therefore I will bring this miserable scrawl to a close. Give my love to all the folks with a jug full yourself.

 

Please write soon write who has enlisted. write all the news.

 

Excuse bad writing

 

From Edmund P French.

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