Camp Gambel

July the 5^th 1863

 

            My Dear Wife I agane am blest with the hapey privolig of dropping you a fiew lins in ansor to yours which I recived the third of this month baring date of June the 30 which I was glad to see and to hear that you was all well and a getting a long as well as you was well I can tell you that I am well this morning and I truley hope when those scrabld lins comes to hand tha will find you and the Children well

 

Rittey Ann I will tell you a bout how the peopel don hear on the foarth of wee marched thru the Citey and our troops looked so gay to see the banours waving and the drumes and fifes play and after the review then to our camps we did / march and then wee eat our grub and then we took a walk and went out to hide park to see a baloon rased at 4 oclock a m and one to be rased at 8 and a half and with a man and hoarse in it and a grate many of us men in we had to pay twentey five cts a peece we went in and wated untill after the time had past of the first to rase and then tha told us that the hoars had died and the man was sick and tha cold not rase it and tha had brought whiskey brandey hear and all kinds of lickures to sell and the was a bout five thousand peopel men wiman and Children and a grate many soaldiers was thare and tha got to drinking / and got drunk a grate many of them and then the bare keeper shut up and wold not let them hav eney more and then the soaldiers wanted to now of him whether he was a union man or a Copperhed he said if he had to fite he was a Jeff Davis man and one soaldier took him by the hare and drug him out and then the boys run in and tore the hole cebang up and broke and destroied every thing and then tha went and toare the balloon up and burnt it and then set the gase works on fire that tha had to rase the balloon and blue it up and the was soaldiers thare that belonged to the Mo Second Artilery and tha brought them out and one Oficer drue his revolver and shot a soaldier the soaldier / tha said had not don eney thing and then the oficers oarderd them to make a charg on the croud whear men and wimen Children and soaldiers all to gether and oarderd them to fire on them and tha don so and tha kild severel and wounded sevrel more som say tha kild 4 soaldiers som said 3 and wounded 3 more soldiers and one ball come so cloas to my eare that it made my eare ring non of us had eney arms if we had of had we wold returnd the fire shure one woman kild and one shot thrue the hip and tha say two boys was kild tha say twelv kild in all

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