Camp 8^th Mich. Dec. 10^th of 1864

 

Good morning Sis. How do you like the Succotash composed of rain hail Snow &c? Oh! I had almost forgotten that I was in rebeldom and you in the civilised north. When I crawled out of my cossy house 7 x 11 this morning I found the Surface of “Terry Firma” nicely coated with a substance which above I have called Succotash.

 

The tall pines with their bushy brows are heavily loaded with ice. they seem to bow this morning with reverence to the many brave and noble boys berried beneath their branches who have left kind friends and warm firesides in almost every northern state and met their doom here on the seventeenth and eighteenth of June. the woods and/fields are dotted with mounds at one end of which is a piece of a hard tack box with the name and regiment of some Soldier marked upon it. Verginia Soil contains more boddies than any other state in the confederacy.

 

the most of the boys have erected quite comfortable winter houses. my bunk mate and myself have got ours in the side of a bank. we dug down about three feet and built up two. it is seven feet wide and ten eleven long. the bunk is in one end and a “dutch” fireplace and door in the other. we have a pleanty of fine wood so that there is nothing but the deficency of aples & cider to hinder us from enjoying our selves well when we are not on duty. it was a hart time last night for the boys on picket. they came in this morning with their clothes (outside) completely covered with ice and frozen stiff

                                                                        By by—from Bub

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