Genral Hospittall wind mill Point Va

Feb the 10^th/63

 

Friend Almore

                        To pass away the time I will write to you a kind of a journal of the doings in this Hospittal I wrote to you before I left Camp Bayard but have not received an aswer yet supose it is to the Regiment I come here the 18^th of January it was not much when I got here thair was no beds but merly a few tents not enough for all of the men thair was sixteen hundred come at the same time with me thair was twenty six from our Regiment wee left the camp erley in the morning and arived here at darck had nothing to eat that day nor the next we had the good luck to get some straw to lay on no fier it was quite cold after a day or two we got some very poor hard tack to eat I was in lack becous of not having a very good apitite was very lame with the rumatism after staying one week and laying on the ground we got some bead steds with slat botoms but no bead sacks and a litle grean pine wood to keep warm with had two snow storms and eney amount of rain we get to eat hard tack and a litle fresh beef and some coffe once a day and some times a litle tea it is a hard case to make a live of it but I thinck I shal thair has but one of our men died his name was Fitzgerald of Co L he had the cronic diarea I doant see as my helth is eney beter some lame yet have to go with / cain I am all uesed up a staying out doers and the hardships the campaine under Pope I have not don but one weekes duty since the 5^th of september and that was at on before the batle of Frediburg I thinck that if nothing hapens I shall be in maine and spent next sumer I have breached myself in my stomach so I cant ride on a horse if my helth was good I would lk like to see this thing through as I have got into it the place whare we are now is betwen Aquia Creek and Potomac creek a point that makes down on the Potomac River it is the most out of the way place that ever I got into in my life thair has bin about five thousand here and the mortality has bin very grate some fifteen or sixten died evry twenty four hours all for the want of care but that is the way after a man has done his duty in the armey and ruind his constitution he is of no acount for the reson that he is a soldier and has don his duty for the administration he cant get home nor no care here but if thair is a niger comes round he is pitied and fed on the best. I will tell of nothing but what I know. when the armey went to washington after the defeat in august last tiard and sick so I cold not ride on the advance into Merland and could not get into eney Hospittal for some days for the reson that they was all full and had to lay out on the ground eney place that could be found without eney tents and nothing to eat but what I bought thair was a lot of nigers come in they could hav lage new tents found for them and a plenty of nice soft bread and buter at that very time thair was / two or three thousand sick soldiers that could not get eney whare to stop except out doers and was a dieing all the time that is they way that the soldiers are uesed and maine will will stand and and see her men abused and say nothing about it for fear that she shall lose cast with the presant govement I cant see it in that light but no mater eney man that is fool enough to enlist had ought to sufer some that is to a cirten degree and I am a geting my punishment for being here when my helth was good I enjoyed myself when I was mounted on a good horse and out a scouting and have a hack at the Rebs scouts thair is an excitement about it that I like my buisness was a scout most of the time for pickets and artilry it is rather dangrous at times but it does a man good to put all his energies in play some times and play the yankey I have some good stories to tell you when I get home if ever I do I will tell you one litle circumstance that hapened to me last July I was out on a scout  to the Raphanock River and thought that I would like to cros and see what thair was a going on the oather side so the Rebs was reported in force four miles back from the river but being one of my pecularulites you know I did not beleave it so when it come darck I swum the river and loked sharp for pickets but did not find eney whare I was being of the road I went about six miles and the first thing I knew was with in the Rebs lines and with in one hundred yards of thair camp a hard place but as good luck would havit was not seen wall I thought that it was as wall to be hung for a sheep as a lamb so I would look about me and see / how large a force they had and having got all the information that I could I started for home but had not got far before some one halted me I had by moving about mist my way and run into thair iner picket thair was a hard charnce for a man to run the gauntlet for six miles of mounted pickets but I had to run for it and not much time to thinck about it I did not do much halting but some tall runing about that time he fierd and that started the reserve and they after me it was out of the road across a large field when I got eight or ten shots then come a piece of timber that was all rite but I had to get to the river but it was to teptin to let them go without giving them a shot or two thair was two horses round with eney riders for some caus or oather an I struck for the road and come in to it about one fourth of a mile in advance of the Rebs about twenty of them you had ought to have herd the yels they saw me then comenst the tug of war the best horse and best riding was to win it was a long strech of five miles to the river every time that they come near enough they gave me a few shots but I beat them by jockey ship would brake at a ful run for a mile and then come to an esey galop untill they come within a quarter of me and give them a shot or two and run again but it come very near being all over with oald Zeb when I was in the river it was deap and quick and I got sevral holes through my blouse but lost nothen but my havis sack and my papers it was shot off my sadle with a bulet but I [?]ped four sadels in the rase my oald rifel done his duty that time but

 

I will close for this time if you can read this you ar a good scholar

                                                                                                Zeb

SOURCES