At Hospt Mead's Station Va

Mar 30^th 1865.

 

Grant came up here yesterday to the left bag and baggage. There was a thunder shower last night and it rains now. Last night the rebs massed troops right in front of where we are that is the 1^st Division and made a charge tore up the arbatis and got into the ditch in front of the breastworks  then our men jumpt up and blared away the batteries opened fire and the little Cohorn Morters howled aufuly I never heard so many Morters open fire at once before: it hapened at 10 at night and the shelling ended at 12. the pickets passt / all night as usual. The attack was made near ft Steedman under the impreshion that nearly all our force had been sent off to the left to cooperate with Sheridan against the South Side Road. I think 50-60 killed and wounded will cover our loss but the rebs must have sufered severeley perhaps as much on the 25^th when they captured ft Steedman. Your papers of the 4-10^th came here at last but got into the 39 New Jersey reg oing to a mistake in the direction the Mass being left out. The other papers of the 12^th came here at once and I thank you / kindly they were just what I wanted most.

 

Mr. Thurston has sent me a number of Congregationlist and I wrote him a letter. We have plenty of work to do now

 

It is no use for the Johnnes to try to break thrue our lines it cant be done if we are on the allert always. I am well as usual and hope you and yours are the same.

                                                                        Nath M Ilsley

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