December the 23^rd 1864

 

Sherrill & I having finished our shebang I set down to tell you some more a bout Savanah but as you dident know what a shebang was I’ll tell you since wedge tents played out the boys calls any thing they have to sleep under their shebang if it is nothing but an oil cloth stretched up but the one we have just made we drove stakes in the ground & nailed pieces a cross making the frame & weather board & covered it with a shelter tent & put a scaffold a bout a foot from the ground for a bed which makes a shebang complete, but as I promised to tell you some more about savanah it is the valuablest capture that this Army ever made the rebs left nearly ever thing they had here they done well / to save them selvs we got some of them at last & if Foster from Hilton head had of done as well as we thought he would we would of got them all there is more big forts here than I ever saw at one place and big guns in nearly all of them some spiked & some not we got 26 locomotives & a lot of cars & a large amount of tools the ware houses are filled with nice cotton I recon there are millions of dollars worth of it just ready for shipping & a good many other things that I cant now name Savanah is about [?] miles from the coast on the Savanah river it is large enough for large vessels to run up in high tied to the citty Savanah is an old citty & has been a great shipping point enough of that this time. we learned through the paper of the big fighting done in tennessee since we left there & we hope they will clean old Hood out before they quit /

 

I dont know how long we will stay here we have went into camp it is the opinion of some of our officers that we will stay here some time but I dont know our next expedition will be in old south carolina I guess & our army are anxious to get into her some say they want their pockets filled with matches. last night was about the coldest night I have seen this year there were a little ice to be seen in places this morning also alittle in my canteen I have suffered more with heat here than I have cold. Christmast is clost here but I havent saw any thing to imitate christmast yet we get newyork crackers now the best we have had baked perhaps for the army of the potomac. So I am a bout done for this time I wish you a lively christmast & a happy new years tomorrow General Sherman reviews his army I wish you could one see this / army on review it is a grand sight to any one that never saw the like tell America & Columbus I wish them a happy new years & that they must be good children I send them some money for I dont guess they have any & if I live I’ll come home some time to stay with them & bring columbus a knife & America & grant a pretty so thats all this time after my sincere reguards    Josiah Bradford

 

PS our regiment has been consolidated but I dont know our number yet direct your letters as before till I tell you how           Josiah Brad

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