Beverly, May 3 1865
Dear Sister
I now seat myself to write a
few lines to you to let you Know that
I am still in the land of the living
I Have had too shakes of the ague but I
got some quinine and have got it stoped
now againe the rest of the boys is all
well young Huth was at the Hospitle but he
has got back to the rigament again Samuel
Erwin will be here in aday or too He
was reported ded Ben snyder has got back a
gain  he was in the Hospitle three or four days
the news here this morning is the surrender
of Johnson and if that is so I think the ware
is prety nere played and by the way things
looks Here I think we will be Home before a
great [???] for we have no commishened officers
in the whole Rigament nore can they get thier
commishion and thier was arigament that layed
at philipi [1] left fore Home last week and they
wer dismounted caverley thier is considerable bet
here that we will be home by the fourt of
July if not sooner I fore my part shant bet
nothing on it but I thinke myself if things
dont take adiffernt turn we will be home
before that  Well lydia I wish you would
[page 2]
see mother wether she got that letter I
rote to her and tell me wether mggie
gets my letters or not  I have not got an
answer to that letter I wrote at greenspring
Run yet the one I sent the order for my
mony  I have writen some eight or ten letters
and havnt got but too since I left Home
I do not know wether you do not get them
or what the reason is that I do not get an
answer and lydia try and find out if thier is
enny truth in John critzer being Killed Rule
got too letters yester day frome home and
they sayed they did not know for shure
Jake and Rulin has got intoo buisness they
are manufacturn patten [2] coffee  they take
the grounds and dry them and then grind
them over with alittle good coffee and that
compleets the Job  they started out the other
day with alot of it in amonkes the farmers [3]
when they came back they Had alot of corn
meale and buckwheat flour and nice role
of Butter  the farmers has bin so used to drinking
rye [4] that they thought it good thier is agreat
many ways to get alonge here  thier is all
manner of fun her[e] he would hafto be a
great man that would get Home sick in
this place  Well Lydia I supspose frank and
bill has thier nice shade to sit in thier warm
days well thier is nothing like it for we
[page 3]
I tell you now we have no shade here but
our tents but fore all that we have avery nice
place Here we are rite on tope of a hill
and if thier is enny aire agoing we get it  we
have alittle more of it than we like fore
thier is frost here most every night but
through the day it is very warm  that is
when the sun dos come out but thier is
a great dele of rain here I asked some of people
here wether they always have such wether they
say this is quite an erley spring  the apples trees
is out in bloom and I have seen onions fit
to pull all ready but things look very Hard
around here for thier is no fences to be seen
as far as your eye can carry you  the fields
is all one but the farmers her in this country
is not like ours  they scarceley rais enough to
live on they rais nothing but stock and I
tell you now that was nerley all taken
frome them when they sow grain they
harrow it in amonkes the corn stocks [5] but
when they do plough they scarecley get through the
sod  well lydia this is wash day and a great
meny of the boys is doun to the river awashing
we are alittle above common folks fore we have
too wash days in aweek  they are wensdays
and satterdays [6] them days we have nothing elce
to do  tell frank and bill to write to me when
they have nothing else to do  Well lydia I thought
[page 4]
I thought I would not Close this
letter ontill the mail would come
in and I ame glad that I did for
I got aletter frome sarah and dan [7] in
this mail and it is first letter I have
got since the sixteenth and they wer
giving me flugins [8] for not writing
I have writing more than adoze[n] a [9]
letters since I came to this place  I
was Just as much discouraged as they wer
fore thier was letters came most every day
but nun fore me but to day there was
an extry mail came in thier [???] for most of
the men but mother said I ought to
of rote consurning my mony [?] with ink
you can tell her that I sent won order in
regular law form with ink and I sent
it frome greenspring Run  the whole camp
is in a uprore since the mail came in
the news is very good and mos sets the
men crasy , there is areport here that
all the men in Hospittle is to be discharge
ammediatley  Well lydia you just tell
lib if she dont get evry letters she must
not blame Jake for he is all the time a
writing to her and [sending?] be cause she dont
answer them faster  I will close by
Wishing you all well frome your
Brother . R. H. Egbert