12th Massachusetts Infantry - Wounded at Gettysburg

Item LTR-178

Description

original 4 page Civil War Letter written in period ink:


Washington, DC

April 21st [1864]

Dear Mother,

Having received your kind letter of the 14th, I take this opportunity of answering it. You will see by the heading of my letter that we have moved our camp since I last wrote you. We are now quartered in barracks on the corner of 7th and O Street. It is on the outskirts of the city, but where we can see everything that is going on. It is a very pleasant place and I hope we shall not have a great deal of guard to do. For I don’t like it. I can’t give you much of a description of the place yet as we have not been here long enough to find out. But as soon as we get settled I will write as good a description as I can. All of our company has gone on inspection except a few of us that were excused by the Surgeon. I have got poisoned in some way before we left our old camp and it is breaking out all over me now. But I have got some tea now and I think I can get the upper hand on it. The Doctor did not know what it was and did not know how to doctor it. But I told him I would do the doctoring part if he would excuse me from duty. For as soon as I get my blood heated it seems as if I would go crazy. It itches so. But it will soon stop it. I am sorry the letters have gotten lost that have been written to me from home. And those are not the only ones for there are others that have been lost the same way. And how to account for it I don’t know. It must be that they are delayed somewhere and that I shall get them by and by. The weather here is quite pleasant now. And I guess we shall have a little better weather than we have had at this place. Where we are now puts me in a mind of South Boston. For all the buildings are old rickety things and you can see an Irish woman in every door. Besides the streets are full of young ones. From one and to the other there are any quantity of peddlers here. J. Brigham would stand a poor show here for they are going by every five minutes. One has just come up to me now and wanted me to take some apples. But we have no been paid off yet and cannot indulge. But I must hurry up for the boys are coming back from inspection and it will be impossible to write when they get in here. Give my love to all the folks and address to:

W. E. Foster
Company F, 24th Regiment VRC
7th Street Barracks
Washington, DC