Camp Andrew Jackson . Feb. the 26th . 1862
Dear wife it is with mutch pleasure that i sit my Self
down to pen a fiew lines to you to let you know that
i am well at presant and hope those fiew lines
will find you and our dear ones in the Same State
of health i rote you from bolen green and Since
that time we hav moved on to within 3 miles
of nashville tenasee the rebbles hav retreated and
left the place we will go in to the citty in a
fiew days we hav had a march of 75 miles
and we marched it in [3?] days and we had nothing
Scarcely to eat we would just eat dry crackers for
our breckfast and the same for our dinner
and for supper we would hav dinner warmed
[?] over but we [??] [it?] without mutch dificulty
when we left bolen green we left several
of our company [??] Some of them i think ware
Sick but Some of them i think plaid off they thought
we would hav a battle here bill hennery [1]
begged a chance to Stay he is a coward
we havent Spoke to him Since [he?] [??]
back and i hav [??bed?] [??s] with him and
I would look [??] verry plasent and you
[?] know how [plasant?] i would [be?] [??] him
Evans [2] was sent to Elizabeth town to
the hospital i hope that i never will hav an
occasion to go to the hospital ithink it is not a verry
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desireable place to go to i got a letter from
you whilst we ware at bolen green i think
this war will soon bee over i suppose you hav
heard of the grate victory at fort donelson
our men took 15,000 prisnors our mess are all well
but one and that is thomas R Jacobs [3] a boy from
fort wayne he is a good boy him and me Sleap
to gether he is well acquainted with John wort
when i get back we will go up to fort wayne
and se them and go to Edgertons and Stay in
fort wayne a day or to and then you can get
you and the children Some new dresses
our capten is not with us yet i cant Send letters
as often as i would like to there is no mall
carried here by the united states and they
hav to Send a man to carry the mail but
as soon as they get the rail road repaired
then their will be a daily mail if you dont
get a letter once a weak you must not blaim me
it wont be my falt i Shall right as often as
i can get a chance to Send them tenna see is a
verry nice countrey i think it is a head of kentuckey
there is aplenty of good water here we are
camped in a nice grove in a feald there is
lots of negroes here they Seam to be the
natcheral product of the countrey i Saw
fifty seven at one house including old
and young the rebbles here Says that we
treat them better [????????????]
[page 3]
the wether here is warm and pleasant
and the people are comenceing to do their
Springs work this is down in dixey we hav 15000 with
us and last knight i learned that the gun boats
had come up the cumberland river with 13
boats and 15 thousand troops if we move from
here we will hav an army of one hundred
and 30,000 men and we will clear out
the countrey as we go and Soon get threw
with it i must mend my pants to day i wish
you was here to mend them or rather i wish
i was their So that you could mend them
a man that exchanges the comforts of home
for a Soldiers life he aint Smart i often wish
i could get Some of your cooking it would bee
quite a treat you Said in your letter that
you was a going to Send us Some chickens and
bread if you hav not Sent it dont Send it
for i donot think that we would get it as we are
on the march every fiew days but if you hav sent
it we will hav to run the risk of getting it
dave thornton [4] is all the time a grunting he is a
lazy pup and he thinks Soldiering is to hard
for him he is to lazy for a Soldier but
dont you Say [anny?] thing to [?????] a
bout it i sent you a rebble S[??] in my
last letter [???] a Shell [to?][???????]
or [atta?] is send you a rebble postage Stamp in
this letter is has been used but you can see
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how they look i got holt of a letter
that it was on it their was two on it
they ware both five cent ones it costs ten
cents to Send a letter as far in the
Southern confederacy as three cents will in
the united States i give one of them to
John galleher [5] to Send to his wife
tell Sis and eugene that they must
bee good children and mind their ma
and rite me a letter when you right to
me you will direct to Nashville
tenna See give my love to all
enquireing friends

remember me when this you
See or think i hav forgotten the

From your drummer boy in tenna see
good by loved one for this time

my preyr is that this war will Soon be
over for i want to see you [????]
and [??] little darlings