State of Miss July the 28 63 from you
Catharine I have got two letters with stamps in
Dear,, I will drop you a few lines to let you know that
that I am well and so is W^m Hen come to us last
night he has had the fever but is well all but being
weak but he walked from the Bluffs here yesterday
a distance of eighteen miles we left our old camp the
the fourth of July and formed a line of battle before
Jackson the eight we was a bout two miles from the Rebbels
Brest works at this place we run a gainst the Rebbels
pickets when the order was given to throw out skermer
shers then Co A was diploid out in front of the Regt
a bout one hundred yards in advance and drove the pickets
in to wards there brest works there was a great deal of
shooting done on both sides but our men did not get hurt
there pickets would fire on our men by the time they would
get in five or six hundred yards of them and then fall
back our men would always return the fire there was
fighting all the time from the eight until sixteenth
at some place on the line on the morning of the sixteenth
our Regt and the sixth Iowa had drove the pickets to
there Brest works then the order come to advance on
there Brest works it was a trying time the boys could
see the cannon sticking out at the Port holes and our men
had to march a cross an open field a distance of
a bout five hundred yards the boys was all
furnished with sixty rounds of catridge when
the signal gun was fired and the Bugler sounded
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the charge when the men all started at the same time
the the rebbels opened with six pieces of artillery on our
men the firing be come Jeneral a long the whole Brigade
the way the balls did sing was a sight the fifers and
drummers had to carry the ded and wounded off of the field
we carred off two ded and twenty five wounded it is a
kind of work I hope I may never have to do a gain our Regt
advanced to within one hundred and fifty yards of the
works when they was ordered to halt and lay down
the boys lay and loded and shot as fast as they could
they exposed to shell and canister of the Rebbels for
four hours when the rebbels out flanked the sixth Iowa
and caused them to fall back on our right which left
our right exposed and we was ordered to fall back the
order had like to have been too late for we come very
near all being taken prisner Peter minks was taken
and I hear that he is paroled and gone home the boys all be
haved as brave as men ever did with but few exceptoins
they all fell back in good order and lay on their arms
night next morning at daylight our colonel P <?>
Cutterson told the Regt he wanted them to go in side of
the fort he gave the command forward when every man
marched forward expecting every minet to receive the
fire of the enemy but when they got to the fort it was
empty they had left in the night ours was the first
flag that was planted on there Crest works the Negroes
say they lost a good many men there is no better
soldiers than than Will sullivan and Wm steel
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Wm steel shot two hundred and twelve shoots
the day before the battle the soldiers is all in
good heart and if they get the chance they will do good
fighting the rebbels crossed Pearl river and
burned the bridge our men built a bridge and followed
them and taken a good many prisners we are now
camped near black river on a high Piece of ground
with beech trees it is thought we will stay here for
a month or two there is no rebbels here only a few guerrillas
the weather is too hot to move an army far and the
water is to scearse the health of our company is
tolerable good Zeke Wilkerson has the ague Louis Ander
son has not been well for some time he looks very bad I
think he has the consumption I dont think he will live
long here you wanted to know how John A Miller
got a way John had not been well for some time
but the doctor said there was nothing the matter
with him but his looks showed that he was bad
off and he kept getting worse I do believe he
would have been ded before this time if he had staid here
he baught a pair of pants and a coat and went on
a boat as a sitizen I let him have five dollars and
he said he would pay you the money I want to know
if he has done it or not for my part I dont blame
him for going home John was always a good soldier
as long as he was well we got the handkerchiefs
that you sent by Miller and the tobacco that you sent
by Connet I was thankful for them all
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you wanted to know if kirk was to have my
bradle or not that was the bargain and I
thought I had told your father so before
I left I think the fighting is a bout done
in this state every thing is destroyed here in
the way of buildings they are raising lots of cain
we have fine times eating ro[s]ting ears we Jenerally
get plenty of fresh pork for we kill the hogs
where ever we find them tell Fy she must write
that I write all I know ^{to you} and I want you all
to see my letters it has been some time since I could
get to send a letters home and I expect you have
been uneasy about me but I am all right yet
and I do hope will remain so
there is talk of furlowing again but I dont
know who will get to go I will come as soon as
I can
tell them all to write tell all the girls
to write to Wm Sullivan for he is a good
boy and a good soldier he pict up a catridge
box in the rebbels camp with Benton
Sullivans name on it he says he knows it was his
Cousins Hugh Gaston Catharine Gasto