Newbern June 27th [1862]

Friends at Home


I take my
pen in hand to write you
a few lines in answer to
one I received this morning
under date of June 13th I was
glad to here from you and
to here that you was well
this leaves us in good
health and enjoying the
comforts of life as well as
can be expected under the
present curcumstances we
have to go on guard evry other
day this is the hardest duty
that we ever done the men
do not like it at all it
is to mutch saluting officers
[page 2]
the officers are very thick in
the city thare is more officers
than privats we see them
drunk and carousing about
the streets evry day some
times a half of a dosen at
a time but if a private
gets a little down he is
turned ofer so the provost
marshal and his pay taken
away if he goes to his
quarters and makes no disturbence
and the officers find it out
it makes no difference he
has to be punished fore
it one day when I was on
guard the Lieutenant
of the guard was so tite
that he did not no what
he was about thare was nothing
said to him about it he
was an officer he had a
[page 3]

perfect right to drink as
mutch as he is a mind to
if it had ben a poor private
he would had to go to
fort totton with a ball
and chain for four months
and his pay taken away
I am thankful that I have
no taste for intoxicating
drinks so thare is no danger
of my getting into enny
sutch scrapes it is not
quite so hot to day as it
has ben for a few days but
it is a raning a little it
has ben awful hot for
a week past it farly [???]
burnt I took of[f] my shoes the
other day and went down to
the river to wash the sand
was so hot that I
could not walk in it
[page 4]
I saw Chester [Coarmise?]
The other day I did not
know that he was in newbern
untill i saw him he has
ben out here about a year
he is in dibbles store they
are enroling all the white
citisens here they have
got to come to it it will
make the sutlers and
merchants squirm some
I guess it serves them rite
they should stay at home
and not come out here to
get the poor soldiers money
away from him I wish
that they would make evry
one of them go in to service
I got that book that the
boys sent and I will send
them another in a few days

Alfred Holcomb