Near Harpers Ferry. Virginia.

Aug 25^th 1864

 

            My Dear Brother

in answer to your letter which I received last sunday I am happy to inform you that I am alive and well hopeing this will find you the same I am sorry that you do not think of coming to this country for I would willingly send you money if you would come but I am in hopes that you will change your mind before your time is out My Dear Brother I am glad to hear that you have stoped drinking for it does not do any one any good to drink allthough we get it here when we do any work of any kind we are sure to get our ration of whisky My Dear Brother since I wrote to you last I have seen some rather hard times since last April I have marched over a thousand miles it looks a great deal but we marched / all over the state of Louisiana. well we have been on the march ever since last April and since we came into this Department we have been chaseing the rebel cavilry all over some times we have had to live on the country on green corn and poetatoes it is not such soldiering as you do we think nothing of getting up in a mornning and marching 30^# and 40^# miles before night since we came here we have had to carry three to five days rations in our haversacks I have been in four Battles since the 1^st of last April one was the bloodiest fighting I have seen since I have been a soldier we fought two days I came out all right I got hit once with a spent ball so that my arm was pretty black for a day or two but I did not leave the Battle feild we lost considrable men the first day the second we took a good may / prisners we got surrounded once and we had to fight our way out we just piled them on every side we did not lose many men the second day so you see we have some hard fighting in this country that Battle was fought on the 8^th and 9^th of last April the rest was not so hard My Dear Brother we are here and we are exspecting to have one of the hardest fights of the war every day there as been a good deal of skirmishing ever since last sunday the rebel forces is estimated at 60^# thousand but I think if they pitch on they will get whiped for I think we have got somewhere near that and we have got a good possishion to fight them you said in your letter that you would not now me in my whiskers it does make some difference in my looks I have had a letter from cousin Robert Firth he is in the 28^th Regt. Wisconsin volinteers / he was well when he wrote Joe schofield is in this country so cousin Martha wrote to me I got a letter from home yesterday and I thought that I would write you a letter and send it in the one I am sending back I have got one year longer to serve and then I shall go home if I live so long I am nearer home now to what I was when I was when I was down in the State of Louisiana it does not take any of our pay in this country for to buy clothes we have enough found us we are going to have sixteen Dollars a month now that is three pounds six shillings and eight pence in English money and what clothes we dont draw we get payed for we are allowed 42 dollars a year for clothing so I think that is all at present from your Brother                       John Merritt

 

                                    Company D. 114^teenth

                                    Regiment. New York

                                    State voll. 1^st Brigade

                                    1^st Devision 19^teenth

                                    Army corps. Washington. D.C.

SOURCES