Monday January the 12 /63
Dear Wife
I have just received your kind letter and I thought I would answer it right off. The first thing I done I looked for a letter Sadurday but it rained so the mail dident come until to day. I was glad to hear from you. I am well fat dirty raget and saucy. I have got a good apetite. I can eat a jackass and chace the rider. It is verry mudey here. It rained Sadurday and the roads are so bad that I dont think we could march now. Generl Geary orders us to fix up our tents. He says we shant live here this winter. I told you I was raged. My pants are wore out but there was just some new cloes come and I shal draw a new pair. My old ones was a poore pair. They were cotton. My jacket is good yet. It is quite unhealthy here. There is a quite goomeney sick ones in our regement. They sent some to Elezandry to the hospitle. Three out of our compeny. I dont think they will ever come back to the company again. They was very sick. You stated that you heard that Jacob Batcher was dead. That is true. He died at Harpers Ferry but Perly Tilbury is well. John Landin I dont know eneything about. He haint here. The boys from the Center are all well but I cant tell you eneything about Billy. He never has written to us but I think he must be in Harpers Ferry yet. You stated the people up north began to think the war would never end by fighting. I dont know what to think about it. It is a hard cace but most every soldier thinks it will never be setteld by fighting and I guess it wont but they have got to settle before long. It cant go on in this way much longer. There will be an awful time in the spring if the war goes on. Every soldier that I have seene say that in the spring I am going home and that will be the cace. If there is eney deserts we dont call him a deserter but we say bully for him. I hope he will get home but I dont suppose the people up north say so. If they see a deserter they will poke their fingers at him and say there is a deserter but let them men come down where they can see the show and see how it is cared on. That will settle a mans mind. You musent believe all you read in the paper. They always put the best side out and if they all skedadel I dont know but I shal do the same. But I guess we shal all be discharged by the first of May. You sead David Brown was dead. I am sorry to hear such news. He was a good boy. James Brown has ben verry luckey. I dont see how there is so meney comes out alive where there is such a shower of bulets. I should think it would kill every man. I wish I had ben home to eat that good diner with you. I dont as I ever should stoped eating. How odd it would seeme to sit down to a table and eat a meal of vitels. Here we boil a little coffe in a cup and fry our meat on tin plates and then sit down on the ground or on a log and eat it. I wish you could see us cook once. I think you would laugh at us. We split the end of a little stick and slip it on the tin plate and sometimes the plate will slip off and away goes the meat into the fire but we dig it out all covered with ashes but we dont care for a little dirt. We eat dirt and all. We have enough to eat now. We draw soft bread half the time. We get a loaf a day a piece and when we draw hard tacks we get 8 and sometimes 9 a day. We have all the coffe we want and about all the sugar we need. We draw pork and beef about a pound per day. We get beef half the time and rice and beans every three days. About a gill of each. I have got rice enough to make a large pudding. I wish you had it. I shal have to close for the want of room. Give my love to hour folks. Dont forget to write all the news. Ciss Maty everyday for me. I would like to see you all verry much. No more so good buy Charlotte.
From Charles to Charlotte
Charlotte my cough is better. I dont cough much eney more. I am tough as a beare and can stand most every thing that eney man can.