Army of the Mississippi Tishamingo
county Mississippi May the 11th 1862
Dear Father i Seat my Self to write you
afew lines to let you know how i am
gitting along i am tolerable at this time
i have been Sick three weeks with the
pneumonia i Staid in Mobile tuo week
and come to camp this day was a week ago
and have not been able to do any thing
Since but i will report for duty in
the morning the health of the rigt
is not very good Several of our company
is Sick the watter is very Scarce here
So much so that we can hardly git
any we have been moveing to day we
have moved one mile from where we was
we are in two miles of the yankeys
they had 3 or 4 litle fights this week
and our men run theme evry time on
Thursday Price took 800 prisoners and on
friday nearly the whole army was
orderd out and our Rigt went
[page 2]
they marched Six miles and atta
ced the yankeys supposed to be Some Six
or eight thousand Strong in a field
where they was camped and comenced
fireing on them they fired one time
and run and left evry thing they had
we did not loss many they lost
a good many our Rigment did not
git there in time to take a part but
they got Blankets and coats knap Sacks
haver sacks oil cloths and a great many
more things Lewis Hall got a fine rifle
gun i think we will have it in earnest
before long but i think they will find
it a hard road to travil if they it
for there are so many men here thee are
Some 200 thousand round corrinth
and we have Brest work 20 miles long
there are one houndred of our Rigt
went out on picet yesterday and
is out yet James Jones went we dont
drill any here or stand gard either
[page 3]
we had to reorganize for the war yesterday
Lt Edward Noble was elected Captain cap
[cuning?] got four votes R M Chatam 1st Lt
Serg Muliking 2nd and Marion Carlile 3rd
Lithgoe is Col Maj Shaw Lt Col and
i dont no yet who is Major i think we
have got the best officers we ever had yet
the wether has been very cool here at
knight but it has turned very warm
now i think it would be ahealthy
place here if we could have watter we
are in the woods where the land is very
rich about two miles north from
corinth i dont think we will Stay here
long for the watter will give out in
three days i wish they would take us
back to South Carolina for the roads
is so bad here wher it is not a shoe mouth
deep in dust it is in mud when
it rains it is the mudiest place
i ever Saw they Say that it is worse
than it is in Virginia we had to
[page 4]
travel 1800 miles to git here we are 320
from Mobele and i dont no how far
from home i want you to write to me as soon
as you git this and let me no hou you
are gitting along and when you got a
letter from Daniel and Presley and when
you heard from William i heard that
they have gone to virginia if i could
git off i would go to him but there are
no chance to git off all of the men that
is over 35 years old will git off before
long and then the companys will have
to be filld up from home with
them that is between 18 and 35 tell
Fenton that if he comes in i
would like for him to come to our
company tell i will write to them
as soon as i can i will not pay for this
letter for they will go surer than
they will to pay for then you can
pay for them out of the money
i sent you and use the balance as you think
[end of letter]