Camp Seigle near Winchester Va Aug 5^th 1862

 

            Dear Aunt

                                    I take the present opportunity to try and write you a few lines to let you know that I am well and I hope that these few lines will find you well and enjoying your self. I expect that you began to think that I would never write to you but I confess that I have done wrong in not writing to you sooner but I hope you will forgive the past and I will be more prompt in the future. And you must remember that I is a hard job for a soldier to write a letter for it takes him a long time to get started and when he does it th is hard work to think of anything to write we are still at Winchester and I expect that we will stay here some time unless we are driven away by the rebels and before they can do that we will make many a one bite the dust for we are strongly fortified on a hill commanding the city of Winchester and the Gen has told the citizens of the place that if we are attacked here he will shell the town and he will do it for he is a man that when he says a thing he means it you may judge of the strength of our works by the amount of labor put on them there has been five thousand men at work on them every day for a month and you know that f that many men would do a heap of work. we are looking for a big fight every day and I expect before many days you will hear of a big fight here I suppose that you have read that letter that y I sent to Grand Ma and to Charles and I will not write the same over again. I suppose that there is good deal of a stir/ among the men folks about there on account of the draft that is about to be made and I expect that it will make some of those fine gentlemen about Ballipolis look wild and I hope that those that were so anxious for the war to go on and would not try to help themselves will have to go but I expect that they are not so keen to fight now when they have got a chance still I suppose that there some comeing boldly forward and enlisting I tell you that if a man wants a good schooling free let him join the army for I tell you the truth this trip in the service has lernt me more than ever did all the schooling at home you my may not believe it but it is s true as gospel agin one goes through all the hardships that I have It will learn them something you can guess something of the things we have gone through with by this we started from there with five hundred men and now we have got with us only five & all the rest are dead or broken down and sick well I must soon come to a close for want of anything to write I never saw such hot weather in my life as we have here we are now only eight teen miles from the Blue Ridge and I tell you that they look nice they look like a vast ridge of indigo reaching above the clouds and I can see from here the gap in them called Manasses gap but the gap is a good ways from where the fight was were we are camped on the farm of old Mason the same one that went to England with Slidell well we have pretty easy times now nothing to do but lay in the shade I have wrote twice to one to Grand ma and one to Charles and what is the reason that I dont receive no ans write soon and tell me all the news More anon from your

                                                                        afft nephew     F.D. Shepard

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