Thomas J. Carter to Grayson Carter and Cassandra Carter, 21 May 1863
while I am writeing                                                    Camp near Falmouth via
Word has come to the
company that a member of the Co that is at the
hospitle is dying                                                          May the 21st                1863
he got his finger shot
off and mortyfycation took place to day and they his arm there
is no dowbt but it
will kill him                            [margin] his name is lwes pery
 
Dear parents I asume my seat this morning with pleasure to answer your kind leter that I receiveed some time ago it found us all well and we was glad to hear that you and the rest of the famoly was well and in good sperits and geting a long as well as you are I wowld of writen sooner but I have not had / time only at night I am not on duty to day and I will write a few lines to day the boys is all well and prity lazy the weather is so warm that it is hard to find a comfortable place to write or lofe in there is no news of eny importenc I believe worth mentioning the rebs is very quiet they have not much to say our boys tants prity smart they still keep comeing over evry chanc they get there was 2 come over the first of the week I asked them when they thought they wowld go back they alowed they they wowld not go very soon if us yankeys wowld let them stay they was tierd of the other side of the river old Jackson is dead his men killed him in a mistake they wont ecnoledg it we / talk to them a litle on picket but it is agant orders but we watch who is a bowt and once and a while have a chance of passing a word some talks mild and nice and if their famolies wer out of the cofedrit lines they wowld not stay longer than they cowld get a way at the time of the batle on sunday morning owr rejment layed on the grownd a bowt sun rize to support a brass baterry that was stationed on the plank rode at the corner of the woods the rebs came up in double colum to take the artiery and the prisners that wer taken that morning and threw the day said their oficers never of got them as cloce to it as they wer but they 2 compnys of cavelry behind them with drawed sabers / and there was no retreat for them and they was oblige to stick to it but when the the artierry opened on them the wood could hardly hold them it left them in win roes in the woods I cowld the wounded s morns plane from where we layed they need not tell me that owr loss was equal to theirs I seen a litle of it my self we had breast works throwed up all a rownd owr lines and we layed in owr entrechmets and let them come at us the way we wanted them and it is evident that men fotfyed like ourn was would kill 2 to one we had the timber cut a way a 100 yards blow the breast works that give us a fare sight of them and we let them to owr on distenc a fore we let them have it I must close for the present I write to mother some time a go nothing more but re mane your Sone Thomas
 
answer soon
 
            all the boys is well and harty
2729
DATABASE CONTENT
(2729)DL0530.05646Letters1863-05-21

Letter From George W. Carter, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry, Camp Near Falmouth, Virginia, May 21, 1863, to His Parents


Tags: Battle of Chancellorsville, Cavalry, Death (Military), High Morale, Hospitals, Injuries, Nature, Picket Duty, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Weather

People - Records: 3

  • (1288) [recipient] ~ Carter, Grayson
  • (1289) [recipient] ~ Carter, Cassandra ~ Smith, Cassandra
  • (1300) [writer] ~ Carter, Thomas

Places - Records: 2

  • (97) [origination] ~ Falmouth, Stafford County, Virginia
  • (1130) [destination] ~ Millsboro, Washington County, Pennsylvania

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SOURCES

Thomas J. Carter to Grayson Carter and Cassandra Carter, 21 May 1863, DL0530.056, Nau Collection