the
Gloucester Point May 23 / 63
Dear Mary I received your letter
of the 18 to day and was glad to heare
from you it does me good to hear
from home my health is good may
this find you the same we are having
some verry warm weather just now
as warm as I ever saw at home it
is to warm to write I will half to
wate till evning we have cool nights
nice for sleeping it is just begining
to look pleasant heare evry thing
looks green and nice wheete is all
headed oute it will not be a heavey
crope it is verry thin on the ground
thair is not much corn planted around
heare we have tore the fences down and
burnt them up for wood when we want
lumber we go oute and tare a house
down we are a lawless set of fellows
if we want any thing we take it
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we have been making a
small raid oute among the rebes
we started tuesday night and got
back friday morning we had lots
of funn it give ous a hard one going
oute we went 28 miles and did not
stop but once that was not ½ hour
we went half way before day light
we went to mathues courthouse we
wanted to take it by susprise we did
not find any rebels soldiers but some
bushwhackers we did not fere them
much they keepe them selves hid
clost give ous once in awhile a shot
but did no damage we went for
horses and mules the most we got
some verry nice once we got 225 horses
220 mules 100 catel 250 sheepe lots of nice
charages [1] and carts a number of nigers
take a hors or mule make the nigers
mounte them and fetch them in
we had funn enough to pay ous for
our trouble we had plenty of horses to
ride
[Page 3]
protecting rebel property is done with
we lived on the top shelf we got lodes
of ham sholerers [shoulders] and bacon had all
the lams we was a mint to kill eggs
plenty we had the privelage of taking
what we wanted thair was not a
house but was ransacked all over some
of the splendist residences I ever saw the
nicest kind of furniture as nice as the best
in the cities plantations from 100 to 8000
acers the best of land we went to gen
Jones the one that is in western
virginia it is a splendid plase before
the war he had 400 slaves all gone but
some old ones lots of houses we did not
find any but black folks they live in
best of stile we asked whare mass was
gone off the women are worse then
the men they would cry and sware
curse ous and pray the good lord to send
some of thair soldiers down and shoot
ous all it was funn to heare them
we burnt the court house and 4
mills good ones to and some grain
[Page 4]
I am not averry good hand at
rummaging ahouse I can take what
I want to eat I could aply the torch
with a clear concience taking horses and
catel I like give afellow a good horse
it looks hard to do so but we got
to use them worse then we have
they have plenty of old grain yet the
wheete is most all spoilt with the
weevile in the bin we got parte of a
boat load I saw some nice fields of
corn some had been hoed it was aboute
8 to 10 inches high we turned aflock of
sheepe in one field we took one prisinor
he was from richmond on a furlow
one was shot he shot at a cavelry man
the cavelry man snaped his revolver at him
it would not go he got off his horse and
marched him down and stomped his
brains oute the cavelry got shot in the
neck the ball broke his jaw he was all
alone we had 400 cavelry 400 infintry 2
guns one gune boat and ferry we went
prepared for most any thing good night mary
it is bed time