Camp of 20^st Me Vols

                                                                        At Rappahannock Va

                                                                                    Jan 1^st/64

 

            Ever Dear

Mother, Sisters, and brother.

 

I now seat my self to pen you a few lines, and in the commencement I will wish you all a happy New year. I am pleased that I have once more the opertunity of writeing to you that I continue in good health and hope this will be as successful as my leters have ben heretofore in finding you all injoying the same great blessing

 

I wold very much love to be in my distant home today with my Lelatives and other friends but it is directed otherwise When I left home I some expected to be back there the war ended by the time this date rolled around, but I am sorry to say the end looks far distant yet. (but the Old Saying is it is always the darkest just before day)/

 

when I left home I thought it was for the want of men that this struggle was not brought to an end but my thought caried me far astray it is mony that is to the root of this only not all to gather money but you know some People want paupers names and the bigest Scoundrels & cowards sometimes is thought to be the most popular but they being behind a veil the light is shut out from other people Eyes. You may take the oficers from the highest to the lowest rank you will find them the most los, drunken set that the U.S. affords, and if you had the chance to see that I do you wold soon agree with me I have never rote much before but I never have ben blind or I have never thought nonetheless It seems quear When we have them in a tight place that we let them go un noticed as we have twice or three times Cince I came out here and another thing is strange they can come right in our rear take our train prisoners hang nigers blow up our aminition Kill our men and be of and/no clew be had of them all this within 1/4 of a mile from the Collom just in our rear, and another thing is strange they can go all among us Kill men almost in our camps and we let them and hunt them not and if we do happen to get one of their gorillars through a mistake are sometimes sent to washington Kept 24 hours and then parol them and let them go or put him in some place and let him get away but it is not very often they will take him further than Corps headquarters and then let go and what is funnier still is that they cant stop the enemy from going right into the city of washington any time they please. (I have reference to Mosby and some of his spies) they have gon sofar as to call them selves a quartermaster and Order a train of Clothing and provisions out and lead it where he choses and then have men ready to pounce on them but is the most quear of all after the north has Pentenized the South so much and telling of their famin and that they are going to starve/them out and our goverment bost of the plentifullness of our that flow through our land and what the soldier has to live on and how the Sothern Soldiers are used, and about their living on half rations, this all very good to put in [?] but wold not the truth do beter but to let them tell the truth about our own Soldiers us yankies and they wold say they do not have half Enough to Eat and are used worse than Dogs that they wold, and wold not be a might out of the way. O the Damnable works if it was not for what we buy we wold Suffer if we wer half as well united as the Sothern Confedrecy whitch they call demorilized we cold have shipped them out long ago you would be surprized every man woman and child are all united and ready to fight If we olny had men in comand that knew their [?] I advise them not boast of Yankey tricks and Cuning and another smart prank in our folks leting them take that boat that run from Portland to NY her name was the Chesepeake it is madness to think of the Capers they have put up with us

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