battery No 9

                                                                         Jan 25^th 1863

 

                        Dear Emma

                                    What is the trouble up north? are you all frozen up or why is it that it takes so long for a letter to come through? I seldom ever get one now in less than eight days whereas last summer they used to come through in three or four days at the most. Col Abbot & staff returned from Ft F[?] last evening they were not in the engagement but were where they could see the whole fight, which was (as Lt Truesdell of Col Abbots staff told me this morning) the most splendid sight that he ever witnessed yet it was a bloody sight after the fight was over as there was over one thousand men killed and wounded in the Fort the next morning after the battle when he went up to draw a plan of it/Col Abbot and staff staid in the Fort three days after it was captured, servying and drawing a complet plan of the works which he is going to have Photographed during the whole time they were there the work of burying the dead was going on there was two women in the Fort during the engagement who came down from Wilmington as they said to see the Yankees licked but were disapointed for once. last Tuesday night two ladies, one little girl, and three men came down in a boat from Petersburg and landed at No 5 one of the ladies was about 20 years old and good looking not married and said that her friends belonged in Troy N.Y. I had quite a chat with her the other lady was the wife of one of the three men that came down some time ago that I wrote you about. Well it has cleared off once more/and is colder than is usual to day I had a talk with Major Brooker this morning about a furlough and he says that I will have a chance to go home before spring but I shant say anything more about it until Lt Humphrey returns if he ever does Thursday Jan 26^th. Well after writing the above yesterday I went to dinner and have just returned as I had to stay and keep house for Lt Bill last night while he went down to see the General about our furloughs and now if nothing Lt Humphrey returns on the first of Feb I shall be home by the 15^th if there is no new obsticles put in the way for Lt Bill has concluded to let me go first so you can mak calculations on having a tormenter appear to you about that time how do you like that? all right come a long I think I hear you say Well I have/just received yours of the 19^th I should think you were enjoying your self well enough so it wouldnt make any differens whether I come home or not you will find that Dave is right in regard to bilding fires for I have a man to build them for me now and certainly should not think of building them myself if I had a wife, for what is a woman good for only to wait on a fellow? but we will argue that point some cold morning Well if Harvey Bellamy has got married I think there is a chance for me yet. By the way is Hattie Johnson in W—[?] I guess if I should tell Gen Mead that I wanted to go home to get married he would say as Gen Tiler used to that a soldier had no business to have a wife, and I think so my self.

 

                                    so good bye for the present

                                                                        Charlie

 

P.S. [?] of Co. H. of our Regt is to be hung to morrow for desertion

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