Newport Newse

Nov 1th 1863

Dear Sister

I received
your letter dated Oct 25th
yesterday and was glad
to hear that you was getting
better and that Mother was
getting better to she must
of hurt her pretty bad
to lay her up so long
you must have your hands
full of work to do the
whole of it you must
make the boys help you
when they are around
you must lern them how
to cook and mend their
own close I have lernt so
that I can put on a patch
quite slick and I can
[page 2]
cook rite smart I do not
no as I could make very
good pies or cake but I
could cook meat or fish
as good as I want to eat
or make a jonny cake when
I get home I am a goin to
keep batchelders hall make
my own close and do my
own cooking and live independent
of evry boddy we was mustrd
in for pay this weak I think the
payroals are all maid out
ready to sign and we are
here clost to the pay master
department it is only acrost
the river at norfork I have
just ben to dinner and a
pretty good dinner to we
had stewed beans and you
no that it is my favorite
dish we live pretty well
[page 3]
here we get soft bread
and fresh meat evry other
day and potatose and onions
and we have had cabbage
and turnips two or three
times but we have to by
all our vegatbles with
company funds but the
funds are getting short
and we shall have to
live on uncle sams rations
we can get plenty of oysters
at twenty cents a quart
and sweat potatoes at a
dollar a bushel but they
ask an awful price for
some things they ask forty
cents for butter and thirty
five for eggs and scarce
at that milk ten cents
and half water we are on
the grand peninsula whare
Maclelans big army started
[page 4]
from their old camp grounds
show pretty plain now thare
is a strip of land three miles
long that was covered with
camps it is all grown up to
big weeds now our brigade
have ben puling them and
cleaning it up for a
drilling ground they have
pulled about fifty acres
whare the weeds was as
thick as they could grow
and as high as a mans
head you write as though
Coll had got to be a (hard?)
boy it would of ben better
for him to have come with
us I hope that the Knox
famley will get ketched
in some of their capers thay
have done enough yeares ago
to shut up the whole family
whar they will have to look
through iron bares fore
a while please excuse
bat writing and spelling
this is from your brother

Alfred Holcomb