Charles Morfoot to Elizabeth Morfoot, undated
Altoona Pass near Kenesaw Mountain
Georgia
 
Dear Wife again I write to you I am well this morning and hope you are the same we are on the front picket line we came on again last night at dark things is all quiet in our front the rebs are sitting and walking around their works and so are we we are on verry friendly terms now our boys have been tradeing with them yesterday and this morning tradeing coffee for tobacco and exchangeing papers there has been flags of truce passing between us and them they agreed not to shoot while on picket last night about 1 Oclock there was a busy time they charged our lines on our right and opened on us we piled it to them for a half hour they dryed up we had 2 wounded only I fired until my gun got so hot I could scarcely bear the hand on the barrel / they was glad to hunt their holds again all is peaseable now I am sorry to say it but it is so most of our Brigadeer Generals were drunk when they ordered us to charge the works on the 27th it was a whiskey charge but the men had to suffer for it not more than 40 feet from me is a long trench dug and 40 or 50 men are burryed this is just where one Regt was slaughtered besides many that was carryed away these fell near the rebs works and had to be taken away after dark all inside our lines wer taken care of before dark I hope every barrel of whiskey that gets this side of the Ohio would burst and kill the owner it has been a curse to the army and always will enough of this
 
this is the day we are to be mustered for pay I am to be mustered as 1st Seargt and they are agoing to / date it back to last September and try if I cant draw Orderlyees pay from that time I dont think I will get back pay farther than to the last muster that will be 2 months Orderly and 4 Seargents pay if I do so much the better and if the pay is increased to 24 or 26 that is still better than 20 or 17 as I used to get again it is nearly night all quiet yet we get relieved in about one hour we are in 150 yards of the rebs today nearly all our Officer of 2 Regiments and a lot of Reb officers met between the lines and exchanged papers shook hands and had interductions then went back I looked on they was just in front of us well today I saw Harrison Ball he is well he was not hurt much and I saw old Lumison of Bucyrus Ira Babcock Fred Bush Laura Hofmans man / I dont kno how to write any more as this is my last paper and envelop and no sutler here unless one comes or I can borrow of some that has I cant write we got the Journals just now but no letters for our Co I must close as they will be around for the letters soon the mail is going back in the morning tell the children Pap often thinks of them of a lonely dark night when lying in the ditches and of one other to I still look forward to the time when I may meet you all in peace and this war is over the time I believe is drawing ni it may last this summer yet but I think no longer so Farewell again
 
            from your Charles Morfoot
            dirty lousey not ragged yet
                                    it has rained heavy
                                    this afternoon
                        the sun is out now
6722
DATABASE CONTENT
(6722)DL1081.09078Letters

Tags: Alcohol, Children, Death (Military), Guns, Homesickness, Injuries, Payment, Peace, Picket Duty, "Rebels" (Unionist opinions of), Trading, War Weariness

People - Records: 2

  • (2095) [writer] ~ Morfoot, Charles
  • (2096) [recipient] ~ Morfoot, Elizabeth ~ Boyer, Elizabeth

Places - Records: 1

  • (1102) [origination] ~ Kennesaw Mountain, Cobb County, Georgia

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SOURCES

Charles Morfoot to Elizabeth Morfoot, undated, DL1081.090, Nau Collection