March the 11 1863

 

Dear wife i once more take my pen in hand to inform you that I am in tolerbly good helth at presant and hope these few lines may find you in good helth i received a letter from mother the other day and was glad to hear from her i will answer it soon we left memphis and went down the river three hundred and ten miles and camped there three days and then we got on the boats and come back two hundred and fifty we are three milles below Helena / at the asew pass Camped on a sande bar there is sixteen regiments with us hear i think we will go down the pass to asew City sixy miles from vixburg i think we will have some fiting to do down there we are cutting the levies along the river and the watter takes evry thing as it goes the river lacks about two feet of being all over the botoms i wish it would raise forty hier and sweep them to the gulf they are ofring piles of money not to cut the levies along hear / the fifty ninth is going to be turned into a pioneer Corps to build briges and dig up the grounde and make rodes and dig canels we wont have to stand gard or fight much then our oficers thinks that we wont have very hard times then i hope not i think if the people at home would hold there tong we could do the fiting a gradeal easier we have to do it and and we may as well do it now as any other time i think that i will make it home some day 

 

I heard from Jacob he is at Jackson tenisee he was geting better when i herd from him i dont see why you dont get my letters i rite every few days rite soon and often yours

truly from

 

John Henry

            Catharine Henry

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