Richmond va
September the 27th 1862
Dear Wife
I received two letters from you yestarday
One Isack brought with him the other I received when
I come back to Richmon our ridgment has been down
James River as fair as Charles City Court House we
left Richmon last Wensday was a weak ago or the 17th and come
back the 26th makeing nine days that we was gone
we thought to get in a little fight when we started
down there but we turned back before we reached
Williamsburg where the yankeys it was said had
landed it was reported that there was fifteen thousand
there but I suppose they had left before we could
get there we was under Gen Wises Bregade we are near
the same place we was when we first come to Richmond
I am in good helth though I am very sore from marching
and carrying such a heavy turn and can eat as harty as I
ever could if I allways can get as much meat and bread
as we have had we will not perish but we could make
use of more if we could get it we have corn Bread mostly
and Bacon and Beef we have not had any Beef in better
than a week when we march we have Bacon unless we
drive the bevs with us as some do we will get some today
I think, or they say so we throw away as much grees as
my family could make use of in some time if you had it
We bake brea and then fry meat and throw quarts of grees
away as we cannot hall it we dont throw any away only when
we are a marching When we marched down to Williamsburg
we had to leave allmost all our cooking vessels and our tents
and had to throw a great many of our clothes away such
as any body would be glad to ware at one place we throwed
away over two hundred garments pants coats shirts drawers
allmost all right new this ridgment has sold and thrown
away enough to cloth over one hundred men one shirt and
drawers and a blanket is as much as one can carry with his
gun and amunition I am sorry that you sent me any more
clothing as I will be compeld to sell or throw some away
as I cant carry them I shall do the best I can with them
we kneed socks the most of any thing as the sand and grit
cuts them to pease so bad I have darned my old socks so much
they are like the Negroo shirt they fit no way if you had a
sent some of them they would of come in good time and kep
the clothing for the children you cant imagine how glad
I would be to see you and the children I would give almost
any thing to stay at home the way every thing is at this time
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you wanted to know what I would ask for the Mare I
thinks she aught to be worth two hundred dollars the way
every thing is and I should hate to take that if I knew
I could come home to stay you may sell her for as much
as you can so you are satisfied I will be
you wanted me to wright if there was any likelyhood of
pease soon, I cant see any. they are a fighting every day or
two around Washington and our side report they get the best
end of it and the yankeys say they get the best end, so
it is hard to tell who is right I think our side whips
or the yankeys would have driven them back Old Mcleland [1]
the yankey General says they have ruined the confederate and
will have Richmond in two months if they was keen they could
take Richmond at this time for there is not many around here
to defend it. I was verry sorry to learn that you was sick
and was not well when you wrote I shall see a goodel
of uneasiness about it and wait with great impations to here
from you again one of the captains received news last night
his wife was dead and two men in other companies lost there
wives When we went down the river to the courthouse I saw
a part of the battle ground at Malvin Hill all along the
road the trees before we got there was scelped by
bullets and every fifty yards was a horse or a grave
the skin fo the horse hanging over the carcass great trees
shot in to and cut of I saw lots of bums and canon balls
and thousands of bullets some as much as a man could
lift I saw one as large as a blew water bucket some
was long as my arm nearly and sharp at one end I could
of picked up a bushel or two of bullets directly if I had
a wanted them I did pick up some twenty in a pile I
have some of them yet I would like to bring home if
every I come If we had a went a mile over further from
the road where the hardest of the battle was we could
of seen something some did go they saw something
of all that belongs to an army among other things lots of
yankey sculls and bones canteens napsacks and the ground
nearly coverd with bullets three thousand of our men was kill
in an hour at that battle and as many of the yankeys there
they burned their amunition and provision so we wouldent
get it some of our men saw heaps of melted lead where
they burned wagons loden with it the next plase we pass
through was the yankey camp ground at harrsons Landing they
had some camp there had been a hundred and sixty thousan
in camp there I saw fifty dead horse by the road in that
march and it was all for nothing only what I saw and I
was so near brok down it was no satis faction
to me I will close this part of my letter for the
lack of paper to wright more so no more at presant
J. C. Zimmerman