Camp Bisland Sunday Evening August 2^nd 1863

 

            Dear Mother

                                    As Bill Wadlington’s Negro Man Henderson leaves for home in the morning I thought I would write you a few lines. Today has been quite a dull time in camp as it is Sunday & there is nothing stirring going on. We sometimes have quite an exciting time every evening when the Gunboats come up this Bayou Teche. There has been now for two or three evenings that there has been none of them up.The health of the Regiment is not as good now as it has been for some time back There has commenced to be a good deal of sickness now; some 5 or 6 cases in our company. Among the sick in our Company is James Stone, John Walton & Jim Britt. There is none of them very sick. You had better not say anything about it out of our family as it may make them uneasy. Ma I want you to have my winter clothes ready as soon as you can for you may have some good way of sending them to me. You may make me as many as two Suits out and out as nearly all of my clothes will be worn out by winter time. you had better have Wils clothes made two & send when you send mine. I wrote to Pa the other day to have me some boots made; tell him to have the legs made long so as to come up over to the Knees. Ma in your letter you spoke to me about the way I treated Miss Puss at our house and if you knew the reason why I done so you would not blame me. You can make an apology to her for me if you like as I dont / want to have her or any body else mad with me. I’ll tell you how it happed & then you can see for yourself who is to blame. Just before Capt Motley’s Parties I was up at Mrs Estes’ & engaged Miss Puss’es company to go to the party on horseback & thought all the time for a week that she was going & ride my pony but the evening of the party I found out that she was going with D^r Jones. This was altogether unexpected by me & she not telling me any thing about it. It made me as mad as I could well be. It was not that I expected her to go with me; but that she ought to let me know it and I would not have cared. You can see now why I did not stay at home the night that I left her there. I think as much of her now as I ever did but I dont think she treated me altogether right & therefore it made me very mad. I think a great deal of Puss & always did, in fact more than almost anybody. I will not write a great deal this time as I wrote to Emma yesterday & sent the letter by Thomas Polond to mail at Alexandria & one the other day to Pa & one to Jimmie Estes. I have put off writing to Dora this time as I have wrote so many letters home lately that I think she would like to get it some other time. Capt Burnham has an order from Gen Taylor for our money Bounty & all and that is the cause of Thos Polond being sent to Alexandria. He only brought forty thousand dollars when he come; and it was not enough to pay the men with so he is going to pay the officers and wait until he gets the money to pay the men. If he had paid the men he couldn’t pay the men officers & if he had paid the officers he couldn’t pay the men. I am not out yet; I have some yet & Capt Burnham told me if I wanted any to come to him & get it. It takes money away mighty fast to buy anything / down here. We have to buy bacon to season our beef with as it is very poor and we get no grease to put in it; and we have nothing but corn bread. Thos P will bring some flour when he comes from Alxa and then we will have something good to eat. you can tell Pa that I send him by Henderson my shot gun & cartridge box and also about fifty caps if he carries them through. Tell pa to pay him $10,00 ten dollars for his trouble. In all probability somebody may take it from him; but there will be a white man with him and I’ll tell him to let nobody take it. It is here in my way & I have an Enfield Rifle & probably it may be of some use to the Malitia.

 

Ma Bill Wadlington is trying to get Jim Estes to come down here and take his place for 2 months I think if you hear any thing about it you had better tell Pa not to let him come for if he stays here long enough to draw Government rations he is regularly in the Army. If he is not obliged to come he had better stay at home.

 

I wrote to Pa to come down here if he could this fall and I want you to tell him to be sure & come if he can. You must make him come. You all can send letters by a man named M^cDowell who is going with Henderson. He is our mail carrier: he goes by Marshall & Jonesville & says he will put it in the Republican.

 

Send me some papers by him or anbody as I never see any at all. Nothing more this time I remain as ever your

obedient Son   Robt A Knox

 

[verso]

Mrs. S. M Knox

                        a private letter

                        to her

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