Camp on the Rappahannock

Virginia December 17^th 1862

 

Dear Affectionate Friend and Sister Mary Ann

Again I am permited to seat myself to answer your very kind and affectionate letter which I received last night it still found me in the land of the living and at preasant enjoying good health. I can truly say I have a reason to be thankful for that while my comrads around me fell victims to the Rebles shot & shell and I am yet spared but who can tell whoes turn will come next it may be mine but I will hope for the best and wait the Ishue /

 

You cannot imagin how welcome youre Dear kind letter was it cam when I was droped in sorrow and disapointment but youre kind and Sisterly letter gave me new hopes and cheared my drooping spirits for about two weaks ago I rec^d a letter from home stating that Father was not expected to live and not hearing a word from Watervill since you can imagin my feelings and thoughts when going on to the Battle field in face of the enmies canons and face death as I had to for four days. and then haveing crossed the river and fought them three days in the intrenchments / leaving then to cross back and take the back track that was hard but such was our fall I will give you some what of a discription of our movements for the last two weaks. two weaks ago today our Regt was orded on picket and the next day the rest of the Brigade moved 15 miles and we remained on picket for one weak and then joined the Brigade but we had orders to move imediately with three days rations and thursday morning the canons began to roar and we comenced to move towards the sene of action arived on the field of action at 12 N I tell you the air was smokey an well fild with shot & shell we got the river briged a little befor sundown and one Brigade / crossed. friday our Division crossed and our Brigade moved to the front and then the Battle comenced but the Brigade did not suffer very bad that day but Saturday our Regt took the out posts an we moved up about 2 PM and we had to cross an opan plaine in the face of the Reble canon and they thined our rancks pretty fast a canon ball came through our ranks a little to the right of me and killed two and wounded three and the guns from our own side was playing over our heads and some of our Regt was wounded by our own canon but the Rebles suffered as well as us for one of their Regts charged on our Regt and we repulced them with a heavy loss. Our Regts loss that afternoon was 63 killed and wounded at 10 P.M. we was relieved for we had got short of Amonition. Sunday we lay on the reserve. Monday we lay still till after dark and then crossed the river and in the morning their was not a Regt of Union troops on the other side the river.

 

have written about all I can on this sheet I will finish on another

look on 5^th page /

Continued from 4^th Page

18^th Dec           Good Morning Dear Sister and a cold morning it is but no snow on the ground. Dear Sister you imagined my thoughts very acurately about receiving letters from you onley I did not judge you quite so hard as you imagined but I can say truly that it is a great source of pleasure to me to get a letter from you. I should liked to have been at home Thanksgiving day and partook of the luxrious of life with you but no I spent that day on the picket line and the night to and it was a cold one to with us

 

I hope you and John had a splendid time I should think you might he is such an agreeable chap if he is such as he used to be. but the greatest match / I have hurd of lately was Hannah & George Merlic that is the last of all but just as they can agree not as I care but I hope she was highly entertained by such a spritely young man!

 

I receivd a letter from Hannah about two weeks ago but I must say I never was so surprised as when she told me the reason of her not writing to me you of course know her excuse but it looks very curious to me why if she had any confidence in me what ever why she did not write to me amediately and let me know the worst but know she kept writing to me all winter and in the spring droped off by degrees I cannot over look that in her I think she done very wrong and I guess their was some / thing else besides her hearing of my being drunk which is a right down falshood (but enough of this). I have to stop every few moments and warm my hands for it is a bitter cold day. I do not know what will become of us and our cause & country the fate of our Union is cealed I am afrade for our hed men is quareling so that the Army is getting demorelized, taking our beloved General from us in the first place put a damper to every ones hart that belonged to the Army of the Potomac for ever man dearly loved M^cClellan and was ready to die for him there is no man in America that can handle this Army like him. I tell you that if this Army ever goes home it will not be very safe for any / to call M^cClellan a traitor or a Reble for if he does he will get hurt. Now Burnside has failed in his first attempt to drive the Rebles I do not know what will come next but however I must close for the mail will go soon pleas write soon and all the news

 

Direct as usual

                                                                        Loyal P Hulburt

Mary Ann McElroy                                        1^st Sergt C^o H 2^nd

            Watervill                                             Regt Vt

            Vermont

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