#15      written to Freddie Bartell

            younger Brother

 

                                                                                                            Fredie. Bartell.

                                                                                                Dear Fredie this is perhaps the last chance I will get for a while to write to you so I will write you a few lines I see by your leter you would like to be a drumer but it is impossible for yo to come here. if you could drum aney atall and we ware in Baltimore you might come. Learn to drum as well as you can and you will get a chance to be a drumer some time we have got two as small as your self the smalest one is the best he cant be beaten. he belongs to the bras band he gets 17 dolars a month. the drumers carey the wounded or get holt of a gun and fight on their own hook. I should like to see you here we have lots of fun. I know you would injoy your self here you aught to see a shel burst in the are. I wonder what you would think a few days ago the rebels fired cros here the balls struck the water the water flew up high and the ball skip along and the water it would be a long minet before we could here the report after we saw the flash I gues we will see plenty of it before long: no more at presant good by.

 

                                                            To Hank.

                                                                                    Hank I hope you aint mad cause I did not send you a leter I thought you would not care as long as I wrote to you it was for you and Fredie I will write to you a leter alone when I get way down thare and tel you all I have seen and how maney rebels I cild when I come home I will make all square we will have a gay old time like Theadore and me have here once in a while

 

Theadore says he would like to have some fun with you him and me sleep togather he says I get mad just like you and Fred did I must stop it will soon be roll call

                                                                                    good night your brother J.B.B.

 

Augusta. Bartell.

                                                                                                            Dear. Sister.

As I have time and plenty of room I will write you a few lines. the duce knows when you may here from me agan but I hope you will I will write as often as I can and I want you to do the same. when I am way off thare it will be lonesome and I will like to here from home. I want you to write as often as you can and tell Wm to write. I hope we will have fine weather on the way. I have had a good maney boat rides since I left home and I have got sick of it we be so crowded the last time from Baltimore. here it was so crowded. so / that I could not lay down the first night Theadore and Charley Plummer and my Self and 2 others slep on the deck it was cold as the duce and I caught a bad cold wich hung on me ever since but I am geting over it now. we are goaing whare it is warm enough the soldiers go in swimming now is the warmest time of the year thare. it will take us about a week to get thare. Those Valentines Neal got Theador sent I think I sent one of them. I bought a lot of them and sent them of but I dont know whare. I gues we shant get home next sumer if we get way down thare but a good maney of us will never see home agan. if we get into batle which I think will sertanly be if we get thare. This evening the steam Ship Constitution came up the river the rebels fired at hir a shel Bursted rite over hir and one struck the water astern of hir I was back in the woods after wood when they fired at hir Theadore saw the shel birst it made a noise as the canon itself she is so large she hast run in the midle of the river. I supose they will fire at us when we go down she is the largest Boat I ever saw but I must stop for I want to write some to Fred and Hank. from your brother. Farewell for a while

Father I will send you 20 or 30                                   To Augusta. Bartell.

 

dolars pay day we havent time to get payd before we leave here but if I can send it safe I will we ought to have pay before this last pay day I lent a young felar some he wanted to send to his wife

 

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are by this time we have ben here a week ago to day and I like it first strait it is a very nice place. and we can see the rebel camp crost the River. our old Col went home on a furlog and has come back to day and we are goaing away from here and will go abord the constitution. they say we are this time goaing to ship Island. they brought us here til our Col. got back. they say our Col has brought us Rifels with sable baynots I hope he has I should like to have one of them to fight with. I think I could fight like a buger. I dont think we will stay a month in a place til we get we get home. we will have a long ride on the Ocean.

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