Camp near Catletts station

April 29^th 1862

Dear Sister Aggie

                                                                                                                        I have just received & read your letter which I received with much pleasure. I was very happy to hear that you were all in such good heath & I hope when you get this that it will find you still in possession of the same blessing I was also very happy to hear that you had received the money I sent. I hope soon to be able to send you some more as 2 more months pay is due us tomorrow. I thank you very much for offering to keep my money for me but it I think it would be a very mean ungrateful act in me to send my money to you / to keep from Mother for it is her I want to have it. I dont want it to be saved I think that let every day provide for itself. I got my watch cleaned & a new crystal put in it but I broke the crystal before I had it 24 hours. I will send it home the first opportunity & you can use it for to keep school time or if you have got one & do not need it give it to Anne. It is keeps very good time you will have to get a new crystal put in it We are still in the same camp that we were in when I wrote Anne The first & second brigade / have gone in the direction of Fredericksburgh & we are every hour expecting to follow. I do hate this thing of keeping us at the tail end of the Army after being in the advance of the whole army all winter & troops that might properly be called raw recruits are pushed forward right in front of the enemy while we the best drilled troops in the service & the flower of the whole Army are kept away behind. I am getting sick of such a way of doing & if they dont take us on right away I wont care when they disband us Troops that were not enlisted till after we came east are now before Yorktown. Well there is one small consolation & that is that it / is not our fault We received the news yesterday that New Orleans is taken. I dont want you to let the Miss Pattersons read my letters for I expect they would think them rather dry besides there is too much room for criticism. Please give them my respects. I would like to hear very much how poor Johnnie Patterson is getting along I got a letter from Bob this morning he is quite well & expects to get his buisness settled up in 2 or 3 weeks & rejoin his Regiment. I will be very happy when he comes back. Though from what you

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