No. 7 June the 22th.. 1862
Richmond Virginia
Camp Norten
Dear Father I withe pleasure this bautiful Sunday
Morning take My pen in hand to drop you A few Lines
to Let you no how I am geting A Long I am well
& enjoying good health & hops threw the blesing of the
Almity that thes Lines May Reach you in Dew time
& find you all well and enjoying good heatlh
Father I havent nothing of interest to write you the only
news I have is that our Brave General Stonewal
Jackson has gain Another victery over our envading
Scounderling & also their has bin hevey Scrumishing
all A Long our Lines this week & it is thought that
their will be A general ingagement at this point in
A Short time & I will Say to you that W.. A. Lowery
has bin Discharge on the account of his health
he will be at home in A few Days I Sent A Leter by
him & it I Sent Ten Dollars in Money whitch is A
present to you from your Son W..T. Martin I would have
Sent More but we havent Drawed any Money Since
we bin in this Country I will have to Close for to day
we have got orders that our Regt has to go on picket
June the 24th.. 1862
Dear Father I Again have taken the pleasure to write
I will Say to you that on yesterday I Received A kind
& interesting Leter from you whitch James johns brought
to Me your kind Leter Gave Me great Satisfaction to hear
from you to hear of you all being well & geting A Long So
well in your Leter you wrote whitch James Johns also
tells Me that your wheat & Oats Crops was intirely
Ruin I was Very Sorey to hear of it but Let us not get
Dishearten for thoes that has Must Looss although it
is nature for persons to Grieve after their Losses
your interesting Leter found Me well but I am not very
well to Day I this Morning taken the Dierreea & My
bowls pains Me Very Much {Tern Over} Paige 1st..
[page two]
in your Leter I Recd you wrote that your Corn Crop Loocked
find whitch is Some hops of Living I think that if I Could
get Some Corn bread to eat that I would fell A great deal
beter than I do fell although we get plent to eat but it is
jest flourer bread & beacon Day after Day evry Sunday we get
beef & Molases So we are geting perfectly tired out on it I would
give one Dollar for A good Mess of Greans or beans or I wood
give one Dollar for one qt.. of Milk I have give A Dollar for A
qt.. of Molases I have heard Several Soldiers Say they have
oferd five Dollars for one Meal of Vituals I heard one Man Say
that had oferd twenty Dollars for one Meal of Vituals &
Could not get it; this Man that oferd twenty Dollars Said
he Did without eating five Days, & I have heard A Many A
Soldier Say that he had March three Days on eating parch Corn
now this Loocks Like heard times you people their in Pickens
thinks it heard to have to do without one Meal of Vituals
So when you Set down to eat Some wet Reigny knight think of
thousands of our good Soldiers who are Lying out on the ground
on picket Duty without any thing to Cover them only their
Cloths to protect the Reign of them & very often I am in the
Same Condition but yet I do not grumble for it is My Duty
how often I do think of you when I am in Such Condition
to think oh..if I had Some plaice to put My weried head &
Aching bons in your hous how good I Could Rest & Sleep
but Still I think that I am fighting for My Country & on A good
Cous & I feell almost as well Satisfied as if I was in your house
In your Leter you wrote that you Could not Sleep that you was so
uneasy About Me Father I do not want you to be uneasy A
bout Me for i am doing the best I Can & I think that I am
Doing Splended I am tolible well Satisfied although I would
be very glad to See you all & Spend the time of A Short ferlow
with you all but times is so glumey hear & evry body is Loocking
for the time of A bige batle that theirs no Chance for A
Ferlow under the present Scircumstancies
So I dont want you to Study About me in no way only
that I am well fat & Sacy & geting A Long the
best Sort {Page 2nd} Tern Over
[page three]
Father I have nothing that is very interesting to write in
the way of war news only we Loock to be Call in to A
fight every hour our Situation hear is Such that we
Dont no what Day or hour we May be Call to act in
the defence of our Country Again when we are Cal on to
act we Cant tell who of us will Come threw Safe
But Father their is one thing that perhaps would be
interesting to you & that is I am Glad to Say to you that
I have Change My way of Living that I have put My hold
trust & given up My heart to My God & also I feel that
My God is with Me & I feel that he will be with Me in the
hour of Batle Let it Come when it will
Father I will Say to you that our Regt is in an offel Condition
at this time their is About Seven or Eighth hundred
Sick in the Regt & I will Say to you though I am Sory to Say
we have Since we have bin in this State Losst nine out
of our Regt Company W. F. Fitzgerald; Wm. Perkins
D.S. Bruer; W..H. Myres J.B. Myres W..A.. Berditt
Y..J. Berditt Harrison Brown & Agustis Smithing
those are the Names of the List who have Died in our Company
half of our Company is Sick at the present Some of theme
are very bad of
I will Say to you that their was hevey Scrumishing
A Long the Lines During Last knight this Morning
About A half an hour be for Day their was very hevey
Scrumishing going on & their is Some Litle fighting going
on to Day I bleive I have writen all the news that is of
interest Father in your next Leter write to Me how
Much John Freeman weighs & if any of the Children
has growed Much My Weight is one hundred &
Seventy five pouns
I will bring My Leter to A Clos for I expect
you will get tired of Reading My bad Compose Lines
Give My Love & Respects to al inquireing friens
if their be any & Recd My best Respects to your
Self & family I Remains your Soon till Death
Wm. T. Martin Oliver Martin