Washington DC Aug 4^th

 

                                                                                                            Dear Mother I

hope you will forgive me for not writing before [several lines scratched out] I have received to letters from you and have not answered either of them I was very glad to hear from you and ever shall be. I shall write oftener in future I am not very well today about thirty of us went down to long bridge to guard it and coming home played hell with us it was so thundering hot as we used to call warm weather in old shadville Elbridge received your letter and Miss Thornton with pleasure there is a meeting up in the woods and while I am writing our regimental band is playing the Star spangled banner [?] / and other soul stiring tunes we did not go to the fight at bulls run and our prospect is rather slim of going to fight up it at all we have not moved from our old camping ground what made that crook in that word? it was caused by my hat with a rim about 3 foot wide blowing off. Our duty of being city guards unpleasantly prosperous at present our barracks are nearly ready let all of our friends who are desirous of enlisting in the glorious cause of liberty and niger Freedom just go into the woods and strecth a cotton sheed over their heads and live there about three weeks on salt oily pork and carpenters chips in that way they will gain a faint idea of a soldiers life as it is Elbridge has been quite unwell but is all right again now we are damned happy to think we are alive but this war cannot last forever an exceedingly lucky thing / for Mass. V. M. I was down to the 1^st RI regiment the day before it went away and found the boys in high spirits at the prospect of going home I saw Otis Baker and spent a couple of hours very agreeably he was wounded in the fight but said he was going to carry a gun home with him & Charly place was all right and C Rounds I did not see John Horton he was away oup the Potomac There is a great many boys in the 2^nd reg that I know I saw charly Locke he was inclined to repeat with a dismal grin the words of the renowned poet I wish I had not enlisted as well as the rest of the boys including your soldier like children Nat Horton is composed of exactly the same flesh and blood he used to was the 7^th got paid for half a months service which with the assistance of whiskey causes the guard house / to overflow with half paralised flesh and blood give my love to all the girls my respects to all the relation and my best wishes to all the [ink smudge] tell Gideon to keep his toenails short practice on the vioin so that he will astonysh me when I get home cut wood go to school take good care of the garden be a good boy keep his nose clean and and improve himself generalay Lizzie and Ella must be good girls and wait patiently and we shall soon be at home direct a letter as often as you can to  Kingsley Martin

                                                                        Co C 7^th regiment MV

                                                                        Washington DC

 

tell every body that you see to write to me and I will answer them

 

 

I cant write very close it is so thundering hot out here if a man talks thick he is generaly found hot

 

My dear mother I must now bid you good bye nothing would make me happier than to see you           your affectionate son  K Martin

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