Camp 23^d USC Troops

                                                                                                            July 17^th 1864

 

            Dear Sister Henriett:

                                                If I am not mistaken you are in debt to me one letter. I have been thinking lately that possibly I might be mistaken & that I was the one indebted & so have concluded to write & if possible get a letter from home.

 

                                                As usual my health is good & I am enjoying myself excellently. This Division of Colored troops has been engaged in building forts for a week past & the labors of the men have been severe & arduous, but the colored men perform more work than white soldiers, so the engineers say who have charge of the work.

 

is Shortened, or drawn in,                               The army lines have been contracted, that is Shortened, or drawn in, & strong fortifications are being erected to enabe a much smaller force to hold the same position, which was previously held by the whole army & by which means it is expected that a large force of the enemy will be kept employed by an inferior force of ours. As you are probably aware, our force here before Petersburg has been reduced by the sending of the 6^th Army Corps to Washington to defend the city & capture the invaders if possible. I presume you have heard or will hear from Amos. I have seen him but once since his return from the hospital. I thought he did not appear very rugged, but he said he was well. You would have laughed to have seen him when I found him, after much trouble & some narrow escapes from random bullets in passing along our lines & crawling on all fours some distance to be out of view of the enemys Sharpshooters. He was in a sort of excavation or pit about 6 ft square which he & his Comrade had dug & spread over it their shelter tents to screen them from the hot sun & completey sheltered from the rebel bullets, though the whizzing of bullets directly over them was almost constant. Amos was fast asleep & it was only after considerable shouting & calling that his comrade Srg^t Jackson brought him back to the realities of his situation & the cracking of Sharpshooters rifles close by. He at last opened his eyes & recognized me, much to the amusement of his companion & myself. But it was no wonder that he was sleepy for at night the men of his regt had to remain awake one half at a time, which broke their rest & made them generally uncomfortable. But there was no complaint among them. All seemed to take it as a matter of course & they took every opportunity to rest & shelter themselves from danger /

 

I suppose that many of the people are hoping & perhaps confidently expecting that the war will end with the present campaign & that everything will shortly resume its former peaceful course. But I fear that no such result will gladden the thousands of anxious people in the North as well as South. Apparently the rebels are stronger than ever & it is a truth no one can deny, that we have not gained on them so much for a year past as we had the previous year. The enemys lines in front of Petersburg are almost impregnable. A large force of traitors are threatening the national Capital, who, though they will fail in gaining a foothold on northern soil, show by their strength & boldness their reckless & daring spirit in making the attempt to invade their enemys country while their capital is closely beseiged & seriously threatened. Recent accounts from the west show that we are gradually losing control of the Mississippi, which was gained a year since at a great sacrifice of life & property. The advance of our forces into Louisiana has been repelled & the expedition aparently abandoned.

 

But in spite of all these discouraging circumstances I perceive gleams of hope. The whole country & the army have unlimited confidence in Gen^l Grant & the President, but they cannot accomplish impossibilities. Our people are more than ever united in support of the President & his policy & the determination of every friend of the government to continue him in office another term shows conclusively that the intelligent people of the free north are not to be dictated to by traitors at home or enemies abroad.

 

            It is true that the rebel army in Virginia is partially cut off from communication with the south & that with the capture of their force now invading, or trying to invade, the northern states, they may be reduced to the necessity of perhaps even evacuating Virginia & as the stories of their deserters & prisoners are all the same, as to their destitute condition, it is possible that if they fail to get supplies to their army from Maryland & Pennsylvania, they may be reduced to a starving condition & be compelled to retreat to the far south, which if I understand Gen Grant rightly, they never will do as an organised army.

 

            But enough of this. I want some news from home. How is that nephew of mine? is the little fellow well & happy? Will Amos accept a commission in his reg^t for three years if he can get one? How are all our friends in Monkton & elsewhere? How is mother this summer?

 

                                                            I am ordered to take my company out to work in the rifle pits & have no time to write more now.

 

            I have just returned from a four hours tour of duty in the rifle pits, which duty though not laborious is rather tedious but if I have some interesting reading matter I can pass the time pleasantly enough. News have just come to us that the rebels have left off beseiging Washington & gone, no one knows where. I surmise they will turn up somewhere most unpredictably either in a tight place or as the captors of some place & frightening the people terribly. Do not delay writing about all the news.

 

                                                                                                From your friend & Brother

                                                                                                            Geo S Hawley

                                                                                                Lieut.

 

[upside down front margin]

Dear H. The fact that I have rec^d no pay must be my excuse for the delay in returning the money I borrowed of you. It is impossible to tell or surmise any thing as to the time when I shall be paid. Please give my very best regards to all who take the trouble to inquire after your humble Serv^t G.S.H.

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