Aquia Creek Va

                                                                                                            May 9^th/63

 

Friend Ed

                        Once more I have the pleasure of seating my self with the intention of writeing to my friends & if I am not called away to go on another exploreing Expedition I hope I shall succeede the 29 has again made a strike for her country & it has been one of the most hottest contested ones of the war for 4 days we was under / the enemys fire Saturday night May 2 they turned our right & such terific canonading as come from our batteries was never heard before or since for about 3 hours the heavens was lit up just as light as day we held them till morning when they opened again they got a battery planted about 60 rods from where our regt was & the way they sent the shells rail road iron & gravel stones into us wasent very slow & every time a line went of it took a man or two out of our ranks the rebs had all the whiskey they wanted to drink & was about / half drunk all the time & they fought more like mad men than any thing els we had them pened in & they had to fight or starve our regt was the last one that charged on the sons of bitches & we drove them to & if we had had men to support us we would have flated them out then a good many of the boys catched his man there is two in our Co that says they know they killed a man apiec I dont know whether I killed anybody or not but I done the best I could for them our Co did not lose so hard as some others this time but we have had enough killed in / other battles to make it all up we had 6 wounded & 5 missing julius Cundle was shot through the lungs is probably dead before this time Lieut ryder is wounded through the thigh about [?] as lieut steuart & he has taken aleve since & it will be pretty apt to go hard with him John warren & samuel C Fay that lives over the river are amongst the 5 that are missing dont know whether they are killed or taken prisoner andrew mun is slight wounded in the foot by a piece of shell but my [?] say stop & I shall have to for this time but old Hooker is all right yet the next thing you hear from him he will be flating the Devil out of the gray backs no more at preasent from your friend  E. J.

SOURCES