In front of Vicksburg Miss May 28^th 1863.

 

Dear Malvina

                        I again set down to write you a few hasty liens and can say to you that I am well hoping my little Family are enjoying the same blessing we have prety hard fare at present sleeping out in the open air of nights and have Coffee and Crackes and fat Meat to eate. oh if I only had some of them good things to eat like I had when I was at Home but I hope the time will soon come when I can go Home never to leave again. it is suposed we have got about thirty or forty thousand of those Devils cooped up in Vicksburg and we are holding them to the works night and day there is a continuous / fire of Rifles from day light untill Dark and the Artilery fire on them day and night it is a sight to see the Bomb shells bursting of nights and crashing through the Houses it is terrible to behold our Regiment has been two days and nights in the Rifle pits within two hundred yards of there Forts. there Rifle Balls came whistling over our heads all the time we had but one man shot during the two days how maney we shot of the enemy we do not know we lay so close to them that they cannot load and shoot there cannon as we pick off there cannoneers as fast as they expose there heads frequently our men and them / hallow over to each other and frequently in not a very complimentary manner sutch as here we are you damnd Yankee son of a bitch shoot away and our men probaly will say to them keep down your damnd Rebel head or you will get shot or some times stick up your head I want to get a shot at you I frequently pick up a gun and pass off an hour shooting at them I shot one of there Mules yesterday morning with a springfield Rifle about as far off as from our House to olde Mr Keelys House

 

Malvina I have not heard a word from you since I left but I know you have writen but they have not come to hand I think I will have an oportunity / of writing to you more frequently than I have been doing of late I do hope I will soon heare from you direct your letters to Vicksburg and I hope the next I write to you will be writen in the city or wher it used to be

 

my love to you all

                        Samuel J Keller

Mrs M E Keller

 

NB the Boys that are

with us from Bluffton

are all well and in good

spirits the wounded are

geting along well

SOURCES