Camp Sanders May 22^nd/64

 

Dear Father and Mother

                        I received a letter from you yesterday and now will try and answer it I am well as usual Henry is well Billy Beebe has come back from the hospital Leander Doolittle is well James Warner is sick with the measles and in Nashville William Born is here in camp driving oxen Sol Prichard is day watch in one of the tranes here in camp Alf Stevens is sick and in the hospital in Nashville all the rest of the boys are well I believe Henry and me sleep under the same blanket that picture of his is one that he give me and I gave him one of mine so I thought I would send it home there I believe I have answered all of your questions and now I will write some thing else the weather is verry warm here oats and corn have been up for two or three weeks it does not rane here wer verry often so there is no mud only in a few places where it is springy we loded one log the other day that took seventeen yoke of oxen to hall it to the river it was over five feet through at the top end yestarday I worked at the forage house unloding oats there was 4800 sacks came up on a boat from Nashville there was an order issued the other day to form all the men in this camp into companys and arm them to protect the camp aganst / gurillies we have not got organized yet but our guns have come to the staition and I expect we will get them in a day or two I hope so at least some of the boys dont like it but I think it is the best thing that can be done almost half of the men in this camp are disurters from the rebel army and they are afrade of being taken by the rebs and hung or shot—some of them are furstrate fellows and others are rank rebs as you can find but they have to keep still or they would come up missing some of these fine mornings or as the boys say wake up dead

 

                        I am much obliged for that money you was kind enough to send although I did not kneed it I lent Alf Stevens a doller and he has not payed it back yet and I dont know when I shall see him agane some of the boys say he will not come back here agane but will get his discharge and go home

 

give my respects to Angie and tell her she must take good care of any cat till I come back tell sis she must be a good girl and keep her nose clean and that she may have this picture of mine if she wants it and I will bring her some shells from the cumberland river

 

give my respects to Nellie if you see her

            write soon and oblige

                                                                                                Newell F Fuller /

 

Sunday May 22ond 1864

 

                                                                                                Ever Dear Uncle Aunt and

                                                                        Cousin, as Newell has left this part of the Sheet I will try and pen a few lines to you to let you know that I had not forgotten you although I will acknowledge that I have not been very Neighborly in writing to you yet you are as Dear to me as ever and I would like to write to you and wish I had time to do so, but you know that I ought to write home every chance I get and when I have a little spare time I like to improve it in writing to my friends.

 

I have been writing home to day and have not finished my letter yet and do not know as I had better send for I do not know as they receive my letters for I have not had an answer from any of them. I wish Emmie and Zadock would write to me how would they like to be placed in the same place that I am and not get a word from home or any of their friends. I wish that they would just stop and think how they would feel under the same circumstances and it makes it a great deel worse having a Brother Die and being away from home in the place where there are none to simpathise with them. I wish I could hear from Mother for she must feel so bad and melancholy. I am well as usual have not been sick 1/2 a day since I came here but have a bad finger I got it mashed fine from the 2ond joint and think it will have to be cut off for I have to work every day and heat my / Blood every day and rolling logs I get it hurt a Dozen times a day and it is worse now than it was a week ago and it smells so bad that it turns my Stomach so that I can hardly Eat it hapens to be on my left hand and it does not bother me as much on that account I cannot rest very good Nights as I have considerable feever in my hand and have to keep it wet in cold water and the pain of my finger keeps me awake most of the time. I am a fraid if I have it cut off that it will not get well any sooner and am bound to stand it as long as I can but what makes me the madest is the Doctors tell me it is not sore and any one knows that any one with his finger mashed feels it and if they dont think it is sore had better try it and see how it feels but enough of this as Newell is wating for this paper it is hard work to write here and you must excuse bad writing and spelling and write soon to

                                                            Henry Metcalf            be sure and tell

 

Emmie to write and I will pay her when I come home. We are to receive guns then we will be in town in case we have a chance to use them. When you write tell all about the draft and who is drafted Henry. M. Good Bye

 

                        P. S. I have just received a letter from

                        Emmie and was glad to hear from them

                        and will try and answer soon  Henry

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