Sunday April 27th 1862
Camp Chase Columbus Ohio
Affectionate Wife.
I received your kind letter
of James Ormsby yesterday. I was anxious to hear
how you would like the news. of our going to Dixie.
I wish you could feel contented for me to go, as I am
anxious to go on I care not how far or how soon
Perhaps if things at home had not taken the turn
they have I would not be so anxious. I feel myself
an outcast from home, and I care not what becomes
of me when I was at home I felt as uneasy as a
fish out of water, and nothing but my love for you
kept me there as long as I was. I have an irresist-
-able desire to be roving around somewhere all the time
I am not contented to stay any where for any
Length of time, and the longer we stay here, the
Worse I am off. I am glad that you are a restraint
over me, for the devil onley knows where I would
stop if it was not for you. But bless the Jesus
we are a going to get away before long we drew our
Sabers and belts pistol. holsters Cartridge and cap
boxes yestarday and will probley leave this week
The Quartermaster says we will onley stay at
Wheeling Island one night, and I do not know where
we will go from there. We have to drill 7 or 8 hours
a day now, but we cannot learn to much in the time
we have to stay here. I do not know whether I will be
able to drill much or not for I have had the rheumatis
in my right shoulder for several days so I can hardley
move it. I got wet and caught cold and it setled in
my shoulder. When we get our straps all on we will
have as much harness on as a woman Oliver got
here all right, and the Fowlerites are all well Cale has
has gone to the Post Hospital as Drs Nurse in the upper
[page 2]
ward, this Hospital is a far different thing from those
at camp Dennison, every thing here is clean and
the rooms smell sweet, and every thing is done in
order and Doctor Brown is a man that is not doctoring
to but in his time and get pay for it whether he
kills or cures. I help cary one of our boys down to the
Hospital Friday night which was the first time I was
ever in the sick room they will not let any one in
without a permit from the Post Surgeon Brown
The boy that I helped cary to the Hospital had a
congestive chill he was taken when on guard and
when he got back to the tents he was about gone up
we all thought he was dying he lay so for about 4
hours he could not speak. There is four of our company
in the Hospital now, one of them has the bloody flux
very bad. There is a good many secesh in the Hospital
here with our boys. I went down the lower side of the
camp yestarday to see the Rev. Mr. Reeves [??] Lieut.
Reeves of the [52nd?] Regt. I found him and his wife boath
well she is boarding at the Four Mile House which is
just at the edge of the camp they came from camp
Dennison last week. They say that there is about 500
Wounded men there, and about half of them are
Sesh. Union & sesh mixed in tokether side by side
and some of the sesh swareing at our volunteer nurses and
surgeons they would not have a damed Abolitionist
dress their wounds. If it was me they wer swareing at
I would poison the dam cusses as shure as Dixie. The Officer of
the day caught a sesh in the act of sliping a letter through
the prison, here and put him in the guard house
the sesh was out on ,, Parole of Honor,, so he thought he would
get some of the rest out and put, he had a lot of paper and
25 dollars in the letter the paper would get them
out and the money would help them off but it was [nary?] go for them
[page 3]
Four Negroes Slaves wer set at liberty yestarday
from the Prison, they gave them a new suit of clothes
and they started west with a splendid lot
of tomb stones bettween their Rosy lips as they wer free for
the first time. The 61st, 52nd, 50th Regiments have
been consolidated into one Regt. to be called the
61st Regiment. 250 sesh left yestarday morning for Johnson
Island the rest of them will be moved in to the upper
Prison this week, that Prison is stouter and it will not
take so many guards. The Col. of the 61st Regt. ordered
one of the Cavalry boys bucked and Gaged because
he asked him a question when on guard mounting
but they did not try it if they had there would have
been bucking going for the Bloody Sixth wer all mad
at such an outrage. Col.Mood sent a lot of Infantry
men down to the Four Mile House to empty out the
whisky and ale but when they got there they wer afraid
to toutch any thing and they came back with their tails
between their legs just like any sheep dog. But the Col.
was not going to give it up so, se he called on the
,, Bloody Sixth,, to go and they fetched out 15 kegs of ale
and a lot of bottles full and pourd it on the ground
except what they drank and stole, several kegs full
wer carried in to the woods. Some of the boys felt
Pretty good to day after they came from the woods
The Lord God says Col. Moody will have to pay for
the damage (I hope he will) We are to draw regular
Cavalry hats tomorrow and pants als We will not
get the pants any two soon I have had to ware my
overalls for two weeks to break joints in my pants
We are to have Upper Lips to ware on our shoulders
I was talking with Quartermaster Hunt to day he
told me that all our Carbines Pistols & Sadles wer
read for us at Columbus and they would be shiped from
[page 4]
there to Wheeling as soon as we could leave here
we are all ready to go except there is not men enough
here to guard the Prisons safley without us
I have just returned from preaching we wer called
out on parad at three oclock and then they marched
us to the ALTER they knew damed well we would
not go unless they took us in that way. But I dont
think the preaching done the boys any good from the way
they sware when the Major marched them off
I think the dmed old cuss of a Preacher lied
like Dixie for he sayed that God had fought our
battles and won our victorys, now if he has done
all that why is it not in the papers, and why has
he not been bromoted. I believe it is all a dam hoax
and that Trimble is out Electioneering for him to
get him in Gen. McClellan place If God is doing
all the fighting they might as well discharge th sixth
for they wont fight under his command worth a dam
Well Diana I have been all day at this letter
writing a little and and then runing around a while
and then write again But I must close now for it
it most sundown Write as soon as you get this and
address to camp Chase as before onley write on the
bottom of the envelope
(this beats hell) Following the Regt.
I would have writen to Jeff before this but we are
busy drilling now most of the time we stop to
eat and rest once and a while I could write nights
but when the boys all get in the tent it is about full
with any one writing I will write to Jeff some time
this week Diana you must not blame me for not writing
to you for I wrote as soon as I got your letter I shall
write often as I can when we leave here but we cannot
hear from each other as often as we do here, of course
I remain yours untill Death Bine to Diana US. Lyda