In Camp on the west side

of the miss about 25 miles below the mouth of Red river May 22^ed 64

 

            Dear Brother

                                    I received your kind letter dated the [faded] giving an account of mothers Death and it was a hard blow for me but I was looking for it after I hurd she was so bad It is all for the best. her sufering was not long you say but it was hard I suppose. you must must be very lonesom now since father and mother are boath gone you say that Mariah is with you yet & you will keep her a while I suppose it is the best you can do & I suppose it will cause a good ele of talk but who cares for that as long as she behaves herself I have hurd severel times by way of ain / that she was married but as you have said nothing about it since John went to war I dont think it is so. I am glad to hear that uncle Andrew & aunt Hannah was with mother at her last I would like to have bin home and seen her onse more but it seames rather doubtfull wether I get home before my time is out for it looks as though US will want all his boys in the field this summer So you will have to keep up good couradge & get along the best you can & setle up affairs as well as you can how do you think it will be a bout that suit afair with John Dunlap I have not hurd eney thing about in quite a while do you think we will ever get eney thing from them I suppose you have prety much all the other afairs setled up have you hurd eney more from A.D.N. /

 

well now I suppose you would like to hear how we are all geting along you have hurd about all those that was wounded in the battals of the 8 & 9 well what was left are all well except B. K. Shuart he was not able to march when we left Alexandria so he and Capt B F V[faded] went on a boat & I have not [faded] since

 

We have had some hard marching since we left there & some fighting on the 17 Co A. F. I. C. was sent out as scirmishers along the left flank of the column most all day through woods & swamps and about 2 oclock we came out on a plain where the rebes had a few cavilry and a batery or so planted & they kept our cavilry in check untill night & the next morning we found they had left for a better position about 2 or three miles ahead and there they made an other stand it was on alarge plain & [paper hole] / hollow through the middle the rebes had thear line on one side & ours on the other & they had a rite sharp artilery fireing for awhile but the rebes had to dig out and our army advansed in line one after an other about one mile or more in lenght [faded] look spendid. the rebes [faded] ted 3 guns for us one small [faded] was with the cavilry & tooo other 10 lbders the rebes threw a 30 lb solid shot and it struck betwene our batery and the infantry a bout 20 rods in front of the regt on our right and bounded a long catering along untill with in 4 rods of our co that was the nearest shot we had but soon after Co A & F was [faded] scirmishers on the left and soon found some rebes they had a scirmishers a crosse a field & they had taken made a [faded] of f[paper hole] work with a fence [faded, paper hole]lot of cavilry a pecking

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