Near Dallas, Geo.

                                                              May 30^th 1864.

 

Dear Parents

                        As I did not get my other letter done in time to go off in the mail of that day and as none has went out since until yesterday when I was out on picket and as another one goes out today I thought that I would write and let you know that I was doing well excepting a pretty bad cold that I took the night we came up to this place. We are in front of the enemy and got up here about ten o’clock on last Wednesday night. It was/raining very hard at the time and we were getting ourselves warm and wet at the same time. When they marched us up to where they wanted the breastworks made we could see the big twelve pound solid shot coming right toward us and hear the bullets whistling around us. It seemed mighty dangerous yet there was only one man hurt while we were marching along there. He was struck on the stern by a spent shell that had not bursted and was bruised a little and knocked down. We are out of the breastworks now and back in the reserve. But the shells shot and bullets come around here a little thicker than is agreeable. The enemy advanced/on our breastworks last night between ten and eleven o’clock. They got pretty near on our breast-works when our boys opened out on them and drove them back beyond their own line of works. I understood today that we took their first line of defenses. How it is I cannot tell. Pa will you please send me a Cincinnati paper containing an account of our Resacca fight if you have one near. If you send me that paper and envelopes will you please put a good Faber lead pencil No 4. in. That is put in the one with the hardest lead. Love to all. Tell Grandpa that I wrote to him some time ago and have not heard from him since. Write soon

 

                                                            Your aff son

                                                                                    Willie

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