May 9^th 1863

                                                                                                in our old camp once more

 

Dear mother i will improve this oppertunity to write a few lins to you we have had a long march since i wrote before but came out all right i suppose you have hurd all about the battle bafore this time if you haint you will before you get this letter we left this camp the 27 of april and marched to chelysford in to days the ponton bridge was put down so that we crossed the same nite i thought we should have some thing to do but we did not evry thing went well untill the 3 day we was going through / a long strip of woods we got to a field and then the first shel that i ever hurd came screaming over our heads the rebels threw about 30 but did no dammage then when we camped for the nite walter had to go out on picket they had hardly got out of the camp when the rebs fired in to them the boys fired one round and the rebs was gon and no one hurt the next morning we started of again and went all day and nothing happened we camped in a larg field that nite the next day we marched down the road about a mild and was ordered back prety soon the pickets began firing and they had quite a time / that nite we lay in the road on our guns the nex morning we went back to the ground that we ocupied the nite before there we found that our men had been bisy all nite in throwing up brestworks we stade there untill about 5 oclock when our brigade was ordered to go of to the rite to cut of the rebels retreat we went 5 mils and then turned round to go back to where we had left our napsacks but did not go far before we was ordered to halt we lay there some time when we toock a diferent road and came out into a field where there was a larg boddy of our troups we had / not been there long when the rebels opened fire the shells whiseled over our heads very fast we lay flat on our belies I tel you we could see the guns every time and see the shels when they exploded but that soon stoped our canon was to much for them the next morning we left at 11 and then the fite began it lasted six hours and we was lucky enough to keep out of it altho we expected to go in every minte but god kept us out of it we are rite yet I and walter are both well at present and hope this will find you the same good by this time from your suns            isaac and walter Witherall

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