Henry H. Covert to Lucinda Van Pelt, 30 October 1864
H H Covert
Camp Norfolk Rail Road
Sunday night Oct 30 1864
 
My Dear Wife
            i receivd your letter this morning and i have receivd three so i will answer them all at once i have been on a another raid and had a nother fight we went on the road wilson went you can see men all along the road not beried the rebs would not berry them their bones lay their to bleach in the sun and even we did not burry them such is war in one little meddow i saw seven their is were the rebs burned the ambulances and the wounded was left their to starve and die hard lives i tell you it made the boys mad to see a soldier lay like that and that to ware the rebs passed evry hour in the day it was not a hunderd yards from their / and it was right by a house to the mean dirty skunks we killed a good many we let them lay just as they fell but wen we left of course they come and put them under one reb was looking out from behind a tree to get a shot and a bullet just grased the tree and went right through his head we brought one skull of a man one of wilsons raiders i broke off a pice was going to send it home but i thought you would not like it we lost no men out of our company but one man was killed accidently the ball going through his thigh he bled to death in three minnets it cut off the main artery i passed tom stryker in the night he was well i could not get by him i do not know wether he come out all right or not but gess so the infantry had it pretty hevy i have got evry thing you / have sent shirt envalopes letters ten dollars and all you are very inquissitive you think i think you are tow i give you monney enuf and i do not see wat buisness it is of yours wat i done with the rest of my monney i got pay day 148 dollars and sent you 130 of it and the rest i spent to my own apitite i was sick and did not want any thing that i drew from the goverment and bought things that i could eat and that is wat i done with it and now i be damed if i want you evry letter wat do you do with your monney how much did you get did sich and sich pay you i send you as much as i can spare and now if i tell you wat i think i think you keep to much monney by you you keep a great deal more than you put on interest you had better keep it close i will tell you wat i wish you would do give father monney / to make up that 300 dollars so he has just even monney 20 dollars he sent me and som little more 16 dollars i think ask him give him enuf to make it even three hundred and i sent a letter to pool to get me an artticle and i want you to give him three dollars the first time you see him and not forget it sure not forget it i have got evry thing i want for winter comfort except a rubber coat and i want you to buy me a good one one of the best mind their is severl kinds one of the best and large enuf to go over my overcoat let father get it he can try it on let it come nearly to his feet now if you think any thing of me get it as soon as you can the rainy wether is coming now and i want to keep well and dry he can send my boots in the mail tell him not to make them to hevy i do not know wether you can send the coat in the mail i think you can the old postage rates is not over 4 lbs but i think soldiers can get eight lbs tell father to put the directions on the bottoms of the boots as well as on the rapper for some times they get loos and then they do not know who they belong to past a paper with directions on the bottoms of both so if they come loos i will yet get them
7770
DATABASE CONTENT
(7770)DL0245.032107Letters1864-10-30

Tags: Anger, Death (Military), Destruction of Land/Property, Injuries, Mail, Money, Payment, "Rebels" (Unionist opinions of), United States Government, Weather

People - Records: 2

  • (2720) [writer] ~ Covert, Henry H.
  • (2721) [recipient] ~ Van Pelt, Lucinda ~ Covert, Lucinda

Places - Records: 1

  • (262) [origination] ~ Norfolk, Virginia

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SOURCES

Henry H. Covert to Lucinda Van Pelt, 30 October 1864, DL0245.032, Nau Collection