Varina Landing

                                                                                                            Army of James

                                                                                                                        March 26^th/63

 

My Dear Mother

                        I will write you a few lines to day allthough I have not arrived at any permanent stopping place

 

            I left Harpers Ferry on Thursday morning and arrived in Washington that afternoon and remained there over night and the next morning I went to the Paymasters and got my pay up to the 1^st day of March and put ten dollars more with it and sent it by Adams Express to you making $80.00 that afternoon I found our Colenel Col Lincoln / and he was going to the regiment that afternoon, and we got on board the boat that afternoon and started for City Point it was a very rough day on the river we arrived at Fortress Monroe the next morning at 1/2 past six o’clock we started from there from City Point in going down from there I found Captain Macomber and Lieut. Horton of our regiment on the boat they got on at Fort Monroe so that I had some company we arrived here which is some twenty miles from Bermuda Hundred up the river and about a mile from the Dutch Gap Canal. When we arrived here we found that the whole of our Division had moved that morning which was yesterday towards the White House and Capt Macomber advised me to stop here at the Quatermasters of the Division Capt J L C Ames / who is a Mass man, as I was acquainted with most of his clerks or rather with two of them and as we had walked about five or six miles and it was then nearly dark, I was well pleased with the idea. What I am going to do I dont know. I shall do as the officers who are here think best I have no gun or equipments and I shall not try to follow the regiment at present it is not known whether they are coing back or not but they think here now the rebels are only about two miles from here Admiral Porters fleet lays in the river in plain sight of us here it was only just above here that the Rebel Gunboats came down and where the Drury was sunk, a rebel gun boat since then Porters fleet has been up here most of the / time You must not feel uneasy about me. I shall try and get along as well as I can and if possible shall get a detail. Lieut Horton who is on the Division staff said there may a great many chances and said if the QM on C. S. did not want me he did so I am in hopes I may get a detail down here and you must hope and think that I may be able.

 

            I cannot report to the regiment while they are away that is a certain thing and I shall stay somewhere until they come back.

 

            But I will write you again soon you had not better write until I write you again and tell you how to direct

 

                                                Ever Your Loving Son

                                                            Arthur W Stone

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