Camp Wickliffe          Feb 4^th 1862

Mrs M E Keller

 

                                                                                                            Deare wife your

letter has just come to hand and I hasten to give you a reply hoping you may all be in good healthe we are still on this infernal Hill in mud as bad as you have ever seen in Wells county it raines almost evry day and there is about one third of our Regiment sick I ame well we have had no more cases of small pox and I think we will have no more cases I hope we will all soon get home you say you wish I would come home I cannot go home without being disgraced and you woulde not wish me to do that or see me under those circumstances. I want to see this war over as soon as possible and I think it will be so I woulde willingly take all my Baggage on my back to go and meet those Reble devils and whip them out our boys all have that same feeling and want to see the enemy but we are so unfortunate as to be kept back here in this mud hole do not forget to get Mr angle to trim our grape vines some we are in hopes we will soone be paide off but it may be a long time we cant tell when almost evry one is out of money in our Regiment I have got plenty to do me at present we are out here in the woods wher there is nothing to buy and all we see is once and a while / a heathen looking Kentuckyan who has been raised among these Hills we have preching evry sunday by sawyer that olde fellow who helped me recruit he preaches good sermons but does very little good amonge this audiance of sinners I go ocasionly to heare him they have established a church in the Regiment I have not joined as yet he is a presbyterian I donte believe in the doctrin he advocates Malvina I promised you when we moved back to Wells County I woulde never move any more I will promise you when I get home again that I will never leave home again but will stay and take care of my family I will have done my share of soldiering and travling I must close I have wrote but one letter to Harter and one to Brother Will I do not get time to write to them but ame bound to take time to write to you it is at this time just 10 oclock at night I imagin I can see you all laying in bed and olde Bull laying by the stone in the kitchen we have got a good bed and plenty to eate I will have a greate maney of storys to tell you when I get home we have got some infernal mean officers over us who belong to the regular army I woulde like to see some of them shot my love to you all

                                                                                                                        Sam J Keller

 

N B direct as before

to New haven KY

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