81st New York Infantry

Item LTR-9645

Description

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


Yorktown, November 20, 1862
Sunday Morning


Dear Father and Sister,

I now take this opportunity to answer your kind letter that I received from you the 26th and one from John the 27th, stating that he had two of my letters out of the office, one for you and one for Lucy. I am well again. I have returned to the company again, but not for duty. My knees are weak, yet so I don’t have to do duty. You spoke of the band, we have no leader and it will all go up I guess. My horn is out for repair and sent to Baltimore to be repaired up again. There was five stamps in the letter I received from you and three papers. The regiment is a putting up winter barracks, near out of wood. I don’t know but I feel as well as ever I did. There is five months’ pay due us tonight, it leaves the whole regiment is whipped and if we ever get any pay, I am a going to send for some long wrist buckskin gloves and a pair of mittens. We can’t get anything from the sutler, gloves or mittens. I get an order on the sutler of $60 dollars and bought a pair of boots for five dollars and a $1.00 of plug tobacco that is the cheapest tobacco and the best they have. You need not say anything. I have got a nice ring most made, for Marg and one for Lucy, out of bone. I will send in the next letter. Well, I can’t write much more at present for I have to write to John Knight today so I will bring this to a bye. Give my best respects to all, write soon.

Yours truly,
Backus Ensworth

From an absent son,
Horace B. Ensworth