Maridian hill Camp Bates Near Washington

A         Sept the 10, 1861        R

 

Rosepha I recived your letor in due time And you dont know how glad I was to hear from you I recived your letor last night just sun down I take my penn this smorning to anwser it whither I can finish it to day or not I do not know for we are very busy here in camp now We have all got our horses and all fixing boxes to feed them in to day we will geet our horse ecuipments our uniforms will soon be g along to if thay are not all redy here I will not have so much of a chance to write after this as I have had thay say now after we geet stratined around we will hafto drill eight hours a day But I can write sundays as we have nothing but a dress prade in the morning at 10 Oclock then we all march to a Grove a short peace from the Camp where we have Preaching by our chaplin the rest of the day is ours I will make it my buisness to do my writing after this on sunday I wrote to Mary and Charly the same time I wrote to you but yet have recived no anwser I shal look for one the next / mail which arives I have allso writen to Mr Lyon & Louisia this week. you want me to give you a decripsion of Camp life well I will do the best I can I will give you the order of the day so near as I can. At five Oclock the bugal soundes which is meant to geet up twenty minuts lator it sounds a gain which is meant to asembel for roall call and if you are not thire when your name is caled you go into the gard house for 24 hours so you see they are very strict the next sound of the bugal is to water the horses and then comes the funn thire are a bout six or seven hundret horses here in Camp soom of the horses geets away soom falls of soom geets hurt and soom dont two of our men got considderabil yesterday one got thowd from his horse and the other got kicked. the next is to feed the horses thir oats then coomes the rush for Breckfast it would make you laugh to see us one from each tent geets racions for the rest. he takes a big black four qurt iron bason one to geet cof in a nother to geet meet in our meet in the morning is generaly bacon or smoked pork whch you know I am very fond of our cofey is non to good color as we as it boiled in a iron pot and we have no eg to settit with thire I have to leave you and go to doe somthing els /

 

            Thire I have got to writing again how long I can write I do not know maby I can finish my leetor. we have fresh meat to or thre times a week which I dident have to home you know for supor we have rice and molases or homeny and molases and black tea whch is about as good as clover hay steeped up thire I have got to quit again we can have milk if we pay eight cents a quirt for it, at half past tenn the roal is a gaine caled for drill we drill one hour that is we have don so we will havto drill more now. Thire I have got to quit again. at At half past three the roal is caled again for a nother hours drill. at 9 Oclock at night the roal is is cal is caled a gain. That is about the order of the day. The boys thorough out the camp ar very much excited to day. thay are disstiubeding the horse equipments we are like a parcel of litle boys every one trying to geet the best when their is no best to them. Thire are four of us in a tent we have a litle stove and a blanket a piece I sleep as sound as though I was in a bed at home in bed. I can not say that I do not like Camp as it is very romantic and you know I have soom thing of a romantic nature. Thire is a camp right across the road from ours of a bout nine hundret men from Rhod island thay have a band of music / and it is a playing most all the time so you see we have music plenty of music. We went to Washington monday after our horses nothing is to be seen in Washington or that is in the part of the Sity we went but army wagons and horses thire was six thousand horses coom thire the other day you can see hundrets of Army wagons moving in evry direction. I have got my papor most full and and have not wrote half what I wanted to either. This is not a very fancy sheet of papor to send to a Lady but you must excuse mee as the smaler one would not hold enough. I am glad to hear that you are all well. I should liked to have binn at your picnic but I wasent. We have bin sort just binn sorting out our horses our Company has got all iron grays. W We left our first luetenent at Syracuse to fill up the company he has just arived with 16 meen two from Marcellus falls. In regard to that promis I made to your Aunt mary tell Luseeta 8 put in if I dident enlist so I think I am free from that promes. But tell her if she insist on my going I dont know but I will hafto make it a special buisness soom day to coom and take her out their

 

My papor is most full and I have not got half don yet so I will hafto hafto take another sheet of papor. Tell Ja James Hess when you see him / that I said any young man who can rais a pair of Wiskers ought to be a shamed to stay at home when his country needs his help as bad as it dos now I will try Rosepha and take your advice and be carfull who I asociate with as a genral thing we have a good seet of meen in our Company. But the abcence of Female socity has a tendency to demorlise any seet of meen. We shall not stay here over three or four weeks where we will then go we donot know, but it probely will be soom where in virgeny. In regard to the war news we get once and a while a papor so we can keep very well posted I guiss it will bother you soom to read this leetor as I had to write it in a hury and by od spelts as I got a chance I will try and not geet shot in the Back and when I coom home, if I ever do I hop my Friends will not have to alter this good opinion / of me if they ever had one thire I guess I will hafto draw my leetor to a clos you will pleas write as soon as you geet this write me a good long leetor to

 

Charly if course give you my picture as I sent it by him to give it to you I will have my picture taken as soon as I cann I wish you would send me yours when you have it taken it would please me very much if you would. Give my respects to Adia and all the rest of the girls and to all of your folks likewise. Thire good by for the presant I have writen you a good long leetor I shal expect one in return

 

            yours till D Death John

SOURCES