Aug 6^th 64. Georgia

on the front line of battle in front of Atlanta 2 milds from the City

 

Dear Ruth and children i am tolerable well at present i arived hear to the few little remaining band of brave and true patriotic survivors of the old 6^th on the 27 of July and the nex day we had a battle in which Major Enis and Capt Glick and seven others found a soldiers grave i am sitting in rifle pit behind the breast works whare the rebbel shels burst all around me and there musket balls whis past my head every minit now while i am trying to write a few words to my dear family / there is only 98 left of the regt for duty. they have been in 8 battles on this campaign 6 of which i was not in by being sick and going back to Nashville i can plainly see from hear the steples and spires of Atlanta confound the rebs they knock dirt all over my things so i cant half write and there sings another bullet through our brush shed of brush and while i was spreding down my old gum blanket to sleep on last night a grape shot struck the works close to me and nocked the dirt all over my things i had to stop writeing just now and get ready for a fight but it proved only our skirmishers advanceing our company was on the skirmish line nite before last i had the pleasure of fireing / 17 shots at the Johnies we have to go back to the rear in a revene to do our cooking as for fires whare we are would be plainly seen by the enamy there works and ours are only a fourth of a mild from each other and in places 3 hundred of each other our lines are 14 milds long circleing partly around the hard fought for southern city Atlanta is a large place covering 4 milds each way the rebs have been whipt at every fight in the last battle there loss was 6000 while ours was only 2 hundred and 11 the nonveterans as they went through Chattanooga after being musterd out got all our bagage that we left there my knapsack with rest so i could not write untill now the postmaster fetched up some paper yesterday / it pains my poor heart to hear read some parts of your kind letters O may the lord help us both to do our duty towards each other and to live that when this life and its troubles are ore we may rest with Jesus in heaven whare sorrow and pain never comes there our tears will be wiped away and we will spend a never ending eternity on that beautiful gloryfied shore if we are faith to the end O may the grace of god support us and help us to keep our lamps trimed and burning untill death

 

Now dear Ruth i will write as often as i can and if i fall in battle pleas forgive my folly and imperfections and be kind to our dear children O if i was at home well the war will soon be over. pleas write often J. G. Scoville

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