Alfred C. Woods to Melissa Smith, 11 April 1862
Apr 11th No 2 Second
My Dear Aunt
I do not know as I shall get a chance to send this away untill it will get old and stale but the fact is we are so close to the enemy lines that the mail does not go very regular I have heard that all of our letters were to be stopped untill after the accomplishment of this expedition so you will not wonder if my letter does not reach you when due it is now nearly two weeks since we have / Recd any letters at all and it makes me feel lonely to be so long without hearing from friends. We expect a hard fight here every day we are not allowed to fire on their Pickets at all they come out of the woods near enough to speak to us and swing their hats call us names & they tell us they will serve us as they did at the action of Manassas last spring but they will find they have rather more troops to contend with than they had then I had a narrow escape a short time ago today a shell was thrown from / one of the rebel Batteries it struck and exploded near me but I threw my self to the ground in time to prevent its doing any other harm than to cover me with mud and dirt even then it would have hurt me had I not it burst the right way Please write to me as soon as you receive this I do not know as you will be able to write read this I cannot get pen and ink and my pencil is poor I expect before you get this we will have driven the foe from this point not without / the loss of many lives I fear. My Dear Aunt I must now close accept my love and kind wishes for all while I remain your Nephew
A C Woods
P.S. I was very much pleased to hear that Uncle is so much better this winter I recd a short letter from Grand Pa before leaving Tennally Town I should like to step in and take dinner with you GoodBye
ACW
[margin]
it is impossible for me to get a stamp to send on this Letter
6736
DATABASE CONTENT
(6736) | DL1202.003 | 84 | Letters | 1862-04-11 |
Tags: Artillery, First Battle of Bull Run, Loneliness, Love, Mail, Peninsula Campaign
People - Records: 2
- (2145) [writer] ~ Woods, Alfred Covell ~ Woods, Clifford
- (2146) [recipient] ~ Smith, Melissa ~ Woods, Melissa
Places - Records: 1
SOURCES
Alfred C. Woods to Melissa Smith, 11 April 1862, DL1202.003, Nau Collection