December the 1864
16
my Dear wife
i take my pen in
hand to informe you
this few Lines to
Let you know that
i am well at preasent
hopeing that when
this few Lins reatches
you you may be injoying
the same and futher
i am going to Let
you what the reason
was i did not write
sooner we had beign
in A fight this
week we had beign
on A march for 6
Days and we had
[page 2]
very bad wheather
to it rained and
snowed and the mud
was knee deep the
number of men we
had was 35 000 strong
we onley Lost but
about 3 or 4 hundread
in all we had
24 pieces of artilery
2 sets of pontoon
Bridgs the rebs burned
the bridge that was A Cross the river
and we coulden Cross
untill we had the
pontoon bridges
the rebs maid 2
charges on us an
[page 3]
we repulsed them
every time we onley
Lost 3 men out of
our Compny we
martched A bout
80 miles in all
and tore up A bout
40 miles of their
rail road and
burned the ties
and bent the rails
and we allso
burned all the houses
we came to and
dis stroyed all we
cam to some of the
houses that we wer in
was hanging full
of nice cloathing
[page 4]
nearly new and
Chairs and beds Clocks
and every thing and
it was all burned
their was 3 men
found near the
susuc Court house [1]
killed and striped
naked and cut in
pieces with axes
and we got a coupl of
them that we thought
don it they wer all
our men that was
killed I must
close fore this time
i aint got time
to write more