Saturday June the 4 1864 Camp near Bottoms Bridge

 

My Dear wife

                        A letter from you at last one would think you thought the rebs has got me not yet they wont get me how they do fear the Jersey boys they have to bring them up under guard have one regiment guarding another while the other fights since i last rote to you i have been in many battles and saw the men laying thick around me but the father above willed not that i should lay their he was with me amidts all the hail of lead the woods was a great deal thicker than your fathers and walking through it you could not find a tree or bush that had not been hit and yet no one was hit only one shurly god must direct the bullets our Captin was wounded you have heard that befor this but never let any one speak of him without you defend him / their is no better men than him none that day any how out of 15 officers eleven was killed and wounded that day and 60 men was not that a sever battle we lay on the ground or not one man would have seen the end of it not one some cowards was in the rear and kept firing that was the most danger one ball struck my pistol shivering it all to attoms it was all that saved me from a bullet in the hip but that was enuf the rebbles shelled our hospital and killed a wounded man that was bad i did not go on the battle field after we had driven the rebbles off the rebbles falls back all the time and we advance fight evry day just as regalar as the sun shines we are on piket today on a railroad that leads from White house to Richmond i am writing on an old box and sitting on a chunk of wood that i have laid on an old brikbat to make it high enuf and wat do you think in the station such a station / the rebs has had it all winter and you see the walls marked with the names Co and nomber of regiment that they was in and in some places you can see printed with a pencil the name of some lady perhaps their wife or sweethart i often think of you and write your loved name on a pice of paper or bark or cut it on some beach or olive tree your kind to think of me wen you wanto and send me paper it is hard to get and postage stamps is played out you must send a stamp or tow in evry letter i have to write a wile then lay off a while since i have ritan the above the dinner has been cooked and eatan and i have been out to place my relief i have got to an officer already i was promoted on the battle field by captin Beekman for good conduct on that same field you will see it in the papers if you look in the Hearald do not say any thing about it i do not want evry body to know it it made / me feel very proud and i hope it will make you feel the same do not let any one run down the captin i think a great deal of him Abraham Stryker was wounded baddly in the side he was my tent mate billy Byer is thought nothing of hear now Warren Rutan was wounded and ask him to help him off the field and he would not do it but laid behind a log and let poor Warren blead almost to death then Ribbans his tent mate came along and he caried him off with the help of another corporal i am very glad your going to get the baby christand i have thought of it many times it pleases me but evry thing does pleas me wat you do now keep a good heart in your breast and you will be satisfied i think my luck has turned since i came in the army for evry thing goes well with me unless it is becaus i have changed my ways wen i come back we will be members of the same church together if the lord wills it so and i think he will i have forsaken my old habits and i never intend to take them up again let me know how you like it now good bye and try and write more frequently tell your father i am sorie the dog is ded but it is all right keep a good one for me and i seen hank statts and Frank Duffield they was not hit

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