Sims fort La May 18^th

 

Dear Brother

        I received your kind letter of April 17^th last night and was glad to hear from home again but am sorry to hear of mothers being so bad for I was in hopes of geting home to see her onse more and perhaps I may yet. tell her to keep up good cheer. you and Josiah must try and take as good care of her as you can and if I can I will get a ferlough when we get down on the Miss I suppose you have hurd before this that we have had rather a scaley time up red river but we are geting out all right yet I wrote to you onse or twise since we had the battal at Sabine cross roads and pleasent hill but / I exspect the rebels relieved you of reading one and I dont know but boath for they captured our mail as it was coming down the river well we had a rite smart fight at Sabine cross roads and we had severel wounded in Co A and the rebes tried to cut off our retreat from Grand Ecore to Alexandria but they did not make out much at it. but the river got so low that we could not get the heavy gunboats over the rappides a bout one & half mile above Alexandria but General Banks had a dam built a cross the river below so we got them over after all. but the rebes got below us again and planted a batery on the river & burnt two transports & one gunboat & got our mail but when the boat got below the falls they soon made them hunt thear holes and we marched down by / land we saw where they had read our mail will hess found one envelop he had directed to his father & there was severel others that found letters or rather parts of them belonging to the regt. but I did not find mine but suppose it was among them

 

we started from alexandria the 13^th & on the 15 we had a short scirmish with the rebes in the after noon the next morning we had a rite smart artilery fight the rebes dismounted three guns for us when they first commensed but they soon had to dig the 161 was out scirmishing most all day the three right co wer deployed the rest as reserve Co A & F have scirmished more or less for three days & on the 16^th we had a rite sharp time of it for about one hour or so but there was none of us hurt that was deployed but Capt Fitspatrick / was hit on the right shouldier with a [paper hole] ball but it bruised it some but he is with the regt & co yet & will stay Capt Van has bin sick most all the way on this march he has bin luckey he has bin in but one action since we first went up to Alexandria that was at cane river coming from grand Ecore but I was not there I had a sore foot so I could not march & was sent on a scout but Capt was taken sick at Alexandria and I rejoyned the Co & have bin with it [paper hole] while since & have to stay with [paper hole] our time. they say that we will go down to the east of [smudged] rest there a while [smudged] well now I [paper hole] except B K Stuart he is on the boat with Capt van. well I dont know as I will have a chance to send this away so I will wait a while

 

12 PM We have orders to move in an hour and they say the mail will go out to night I dont know where we are agoing but down to the Miss I think

 

[margins]

 

Pleas write ofton and let me know how Mother gets along as well as the rest & I will write as ofton as I can tell Si I received his let with the stamps all right and will answer it as soon as I can

 

that is all this time W.N.

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