2nd New York Veteran Cavalry

Item LTR-7250

Description

Original Civil War soldier's letter. 3 pages written in period ink.

Greenville, Louisiana
June 8,1864

Dear Brother and Sister,

I received your letter today & was glad to hear from you. I am well and in good spirits and am not homesick nor any of the boys was, but Pratt Martin. Moor says to tell you that he lies. Tell the Doctor to discharge him for we don’t want him. All the boys in the Company are down on him. He found out that we was a going to stop in the city and he was well and come back to the Company, and stayed two weeks, and we had orders to go to the front, and he was taken very sick with a lame back and the Captain got the doctor to send [him] to the hospital. If he comes back here, the boys will kill him. They call him the Capt. Wilson’s pet.

We have been out to the front and stayed three weeks and a very hard time of it. We was in the saddle four days and nights. We did get a chance to sleep only in the daytime, for they keep us out on scouts nights. We have come back to New Orleans again, but we are a going to the front tomorrow and join our Regiment, and they keep us on the move all the time. We have had a little of the fighting here. Was fired into one night when we was no scout, but we was lucky, for we didn’t get hurt; only one of our horses got shot through the hip.

Charles Grey is well and with us. He has been sick and is well again. We turned in our horses today and don’t know when we will get them again, but we are a going to join the Regiment tomorrow.

This is all I can think of this time. Give my love to all. Good Bye.

M.D. Rice