Monday morning May the 16 1864 camp on the James river

 

My Dear wife

                        it is with great pleasure that i can once more send a few lines to you for 14 days i have not been out of the saddle but to fight we fought for 8 days evry day the first fight i lost my testament and that is all but we lost out of our rejiment 40 killed wounded and missing we came on towards richmond and once we was 1 mile and a half off their we had a big fight the rebs under stuart attacted us on all sides but we drove them off and captured their artilary then we crossed the chickhominia at bottoms bridge and moved on to the south of richmond one man was wounded in our company and billy was struck by a spent ball making a blake black mark you can see it yet i suppoes that you are very uneasy about me but you must forget that now i will tell you missey you have heard how many was killed now let me tell you i was right in the battle and i have not seen one of them that was killed not one but i seen two dead rebbles but wen we was marching along i saw 15 miles of wagons all loaded with wounded / out of the forty we lost only two was killed the rest wounded and missing we have traveled some 2 hundred miles since i sent you a letter it is with the greatest dificulty that i get paper to send you this letter and their is no mail so it may not reach you but i hope it will i want you to send me some thread in your letter and if you can send me some paper and envalopes i have had no letter from you since your picture come but that is nothing no one gets any no mail comes so we can not get any letters you must not forget the thread we want it very bad give my love to all them friends that book of aunt susans is about them pirats i do not know wether charley acey brought it back or not we cannot remember long after we got in the army i keep a direy then i set evry thing down in it so i can tell you evry thing you ought to see the soldiers goes through evry house tare up the beds evry thing strip the house of evry thing flour milk butter bread indian meal even take the clothing of some of the poor wimmin it is a splended country very good land and some of the housands is very fine ones take evry thing things that will do them no good one dutchman in our company has got as fine a blanket shawl as evr you saw wat good / will it ever do him nothing he will have to through it away befor long in the road then you will see someone elce pick it up cary it a mile or tow then he through it an army is a terible thing one house you see the officers make a detail that is so many men to go out of each company to get forrage i was detailed out of our company the first house their was a very fine girl she was dressed very nice she was afraid poor thing i pittied her i told her that no one would insult her i did not think i felt so bad i could not take any thing out of the house then me and a dutchman by the name of stryley went on across the fields and come to a small house and old woman was making short cake we gave her 75 cents for as many as we could eat and i tell you we had had nothing in three days we eat a few then the rest we took and gave her some flour and meal for to make more she said that she had to give 3 hundred dollars a barrel for flour at richmond and i guess it is true but as you go through the country you see plenty of grain and at evry building we get corn for our horses strip the country of every thing i stole some chickens and one of our fellows a corporal stole or went right in the house / and got the brass kittle just such a one as yourn to cook them in we never get out of the saddle long enuf to make a cup of coffy so you must no that i cannot write to you or any one elce i would like to answer all the letters but i cannot you must write their is a terrible fight going on now at petersburg we hear the roar of the cannon the boys says that it is like gettesburg one morning in the eight days battle we got balls for brexfast about 4 oclock the rebs charged on us but we was reddy and they soon run we saw them going across the field i fired at one and the bullet tore up the dirt right by his feet you ought to see him jump right up in the air then he run then we had to lauf you would think that no one could escape to hear the bullets whistle they sing like a bee in your ear but i do not mind them a bit more than so much corn captain i did not appear to mind the bullets as much as he did my brexfast is reddy hard tack fresh pork and coffy now good bye and remember me in your prayers as i do you in mine i never forget my dear little wife at home their is none around hear to compare with her tell mother that i lost that testament she gave me in the first fight we had we was supporting a battery and i had it in my vest pocket i would not have taking 50 dollars for it tell her to get me another one if she can i can get them hear and have got one but it is to big good bye kiss the party little boy with the pretty little eyes

                                    your dear husband

do not forget that thread         Henry H Covert

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