Camp Suffolk

Suffolk, Va.

Jan 31^st 1863

 

                                                                                                            Dear Parents &

Sisters I received yours of the 22^nd and was glad to hear from you and to get your pictures you all look as natural as can be I think that they are very good pictures the boys all say that I have not done any thing but look at them to day and they say that they dont blame me neither. You took a good deal of trouble to get them taken for me for which I am very thankfull /

 

I told you yesterday morning that we were ordered to go to Blackwater so we started and went out 9 miles to where the rebs had got their bateries planted right across a swail as bad as that one down by old Uncle Thorps but wider and thick woods, and our men had to go right up through that narow road and they throwing shell and canister right through the opening for the road. There was onely two Companies of of our Regt out they went out the night before Co C & Co B. they was in the battle and the orderly of Co C was killed none others were hurt I believe in our Regt /

 

We started in the morning and got there just in time to see the poor boys all cut to pieces and lying dead all a long the road and groaning and dying and the rebs had scoted so we had no chance to help in the matter but we had a good stomach to meat them after seeing how they had hurt some of our companions wouldnt it make any one desperate to see men laying dead with a leg or an arm or their heads shot of and laying a little ways from them. We would grate our teeth and clinch hold of our muxets and go ahead as fast as we could we lost about 100 killed and wounded / and we lost about 20 horses The rebs lost so many horses that they had to draw off some of their artillery by hand we found pieces of scull bones and little pieces of flesh of the rebs on the field where their artillery stood and there were 17 horses all in a small place all in a pile as you might say and we found 10 dead rebs in a house and they said that they were carying of dead and wounded all of the time one old negro said there had been 4 dead men in his house and 60 wounded and that was a small part that we killed there were 3 dead rebs left on the field one had a bullet whole right in the midle of his forehead just as near as you could put your finger on it and there was blood all over the ground and looked as if there had lots of rebs been killed. P is safe I reckon. W^m R. Pelton

 

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Write soon and I must go to roll call now

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