Ship Island March 3d 1862

Dear Henrietta

                        I have not yet got so far from home as to forget about the folks at home and more particularly about the aniversary of your birth day and I hope that when these few pencil lines will find you well and contented and happy and tomorrow comes my birth day and I believe. but you can ask your mother if I am not 26 years old tomorrow two days past has been the coldest and most blustering of anay time sense we have been on the island but not at all freezeing last night in the middle of the night some of the tents were blown over and we had to go out in the night and shovel sand on the Edge of the tent to prevent it going over and the thunder and/lightning with rain was most terific the ships at the wharf was tossed about like fish scales one that was taken from the rebels was sunk but it was not verry valuable we hear of quite A number of the rebel states are backing down which is pretty Evident to me that the war is pretty nere A close I have bet A gallon of Molasses that we shall be at home by the 1^st of june and I think I shall win it although I think you had better send me some under Shirts if I have any we shall get paid this week and I shall send you $25 and you and your mother can do as you please with it if we get all our pay I shall send more government is pretty sure pay but slow the boys are setting around the candle in the tent playing at cards as usual in the evining/and my neighbour Teal are is reading and weighteng writeing you said your mother had got the paper all right in regard to the state money but if not you will have to get another paper from the city Clerk of Chelsea and send it soon as I have lost the one you gave me in your letter has mother been to Lowell yet tell me if she has I dont know when this will go but I will not write any more to night as I may wish to say something more when I can send it finely A few words more to night as it is not but 8 o clock have you herd from Marlboro or concord or Weston if you have any news  from any of those plases tell us some it may be interesting I went to meeting yesterday and Mr Babbage preached now I will stop to night/

 

James Wiley has just been in our house to make A morning call he belongs to the rangers thay have horses to ride I think sometimes I shall tri to be transfered to that company—I should close this letter if we were paid off and would like to have it on the way home. so I should it is 2 o clock day time the Crums are one side asleep James Yentill the other side reading A novel James Munroe is getting off some of his wits keeping the other boys on A laugh he is A funny fellow

 

6 o clock just after ten so I will write A few words and I think it would be amuseing to you folks at home/

 

[margin: 5 march we have been out on our morning drill two hours drill only and finiely we have rather an early time of it now Saturday afternoon and I have been with others to cut rushes as you may call it long grass for our beds we spred them over the tent and they make A compleete bed]

 

this is the 4^th day of March and it is my birth day and there is no wine or anything to treat the boys to as they are all saying you ought to treat but no go there is plenty of Oranges there selling cheap thay grow A little way from here there is a great deal of excitement on the island to night we can see A great fire at Cat Island and another off at another island we think that is on perpose to decoy some of our Fleet over there on purpose of takeing some of us and another thing to cause excitement two or three days ago some of our boys with three axes and provision went up to the further end of the Island for the purpose of cutting wood/and the story is to night that they had been taken by the rebels if so they would be taken to N Orleans and kept there during the war there is talk about our taking up the line of march in A few days some say we shall go to Mobiel others say to N Orleans but I think now we shall make A drill some where and I hope we shall for I dont want to come home without seeing something of war it is the topic of conversation about the tents to night what has become of our boys some one has just come in our house and says one of our men has just come in with ten cattle that they have stole some where so we shall be under the painful nessesity of Eating them up/

 

the paymaster is paying off some of the Companyes today and I suppose our turn will come tomorow the wind has not subsided yet how the tent flops about but if it blows down I dont think it will hurt anyone and I have my doubts about its wakeing some of the boys up and you would not think so if you you could hear the snoreing around the tent in the nighttime time dont forget to give my regards to uncle josiah and family now I have come to A period for the night 26 years old to day the boys are all suffering for tobacco or have been but the Ship Lewis has got in with tobaco so they will be supplied at A moderate price I went to the Sutters this morning for some this morning and he/ throwed out two hands shuch as I used to buy of Lewis for three cents and they charged me ten cents A hand I put back one of them and told him I thought one would do at that price evry body is whiny you have you got any tobaco if you say yes then it is give us A chew and finely we have to steal our own tobacco [?] turn away and take A chew

 

Some of the [?] went over to an Island yesterday and thay come in contact with an nigger boy and he was frightned an run they sung out for him to halt and he did he had been [?] four days without any thing to Eat Except Eating some of the carcase of an old cow that had died A week ago they took him and brought him home…

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