4th Pennsylvania Cavalry - Died at Andersonville

Item LTR-98

Description

4 pages in period ink. Charles Sherwood was captured and sent to Andersonville where he died . His grave is #2121.

Headquarters Regt 4th PA Cavalry Camp Campbell Co. Capt Dart

November 9th 1861
I was all through the Capital

Dear Sallie Maria,

I received your letter and having time this afternoon I will answer. For it is rainy and we got discharged from police duty. They were twenty of us and they all said they would not work in the rain. So they let us go. There is no news only what I have wrote. Therefore my letter will be somewhat uninteresting. We are all well but Ed Cramer he has been sick but is better now. We have bully times down here. We don’t cut up and act there hog but enjoy ourselves in a civil way. My house is large enough for five to live in but they is only four. Ed Cramer, Cain Simpson, George Taylor and myself. We sleep on the ground and take our bread and meat and set on the ground on our hind legs and eat. Just like the squirrels do. I tell you we look gay. Well if we don’t. It is as cold down here as it is up there and rains about every other day. And when it rains it is as slippery as if we was sliding in a pan of grease. We have to be careful or down goes our shanty. I don’t think we will stay here all winter for things is so bear, apples 3 cents apiece and all other things in proportion. That Sinner friend I sing it when ever I get a chance. We have two Hymn books in our tent and they make me sing out of that most all the time. I have to do all the Bass singing and Cain the aria. We have a good tenor singer in our company. He is a music teacher. But I have got the music yet and will keep it until it weans out. We have a brass band in this regiment and some times they play sacred music. Las Sunday they played the piece call Roma. And it put me in mind of the melodeon. And they played Old Hundred likewise. We had preaching and singing out of notebooks so we had quite a church. Don’t you think so? The letter of our company is M. So we are called Company M. Don’t that sound big. We have the second best position in the regiment. That is the left wing. They will be (16) sixteen companies in our regiment making about sixteen hundred men. I may be home in two or three weeks. I did think I would not come under a year but I want to see Levi and perhaps I will come give him my respects and all the rest likewise not forgetting yourself.

Write soon and direct
C. H. Sherwood
Washington DC
In care of Col Campbell
4th Cavalry Regiment
Co. Capt. Dart
64th Camp Campbell
To D. M. S. Maria Sherwood