From the Burlington Hawk-eye
Camp of the 8th Iowa Cavalry, Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1863.
The health of the regiment is very good; we have here about eight hundred men, and the sick report yesterday was but seven out of the 800. We are all in good spirits, and ready for any duty. – Though we have seen some of the hardships of a soldier’s life since we left Davenport, we are still willing to deprive ourselves of the comforts of home and associations of friends until the last traiter, both North and South, is driven from our soil, or willing to accept the terms of our Government. We have been here nearly two weeks. We arrived here on the 17th, after a march of fourteen days from Louisville. Since we arrived in Tennessee we have had most all kinds of weather, and for a few days past it has been cold enough to pass for reasonable winter in Iowa, but we get along very well and to-day, though quite cool, it is very pleasant.
There is one thing I was to say to those who have friends in the army; that is write to them very often. On last Friday night it rained very hard all night, and in the morning the camp was all afloat and there was scarcely a tent but what was drenched with water. Clothes and blankets all wet and the men standing around the camp fires, we would frequently hear the expression, “well, boys, if I get some good letters from home to day, it will be all right, But what was our disappointment when the mail came to find four letters for Co. D So of course, many of us were disappointed, but we were still hopeful that they would come to-morrow. I tell you, dear friends, I believe a letter is nowhere so much appreciated as when received in the army. A few words from a father or mother, a brother, sister or friend, is calculated to make the soldier cheerful and contented, but I do not complain, only some times we think they might write a little oftener.
We have orders to march to-morrow morning at six o’clock, but where we will go I can not tell. The boys from Burlington, and all those enlisted under Lieut. J. C. Power, are well, and in good spirits, and I am happy to inform the friends of Lieutenant, that we have not been disappointed in him, but find him a constant friend to his men, and well worthy the position he occupies.
- Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, December 12, 1863
Camp of the 8th Iowa Cavalry, Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1863.
The health of the regiment is very good; we have here about eight hundred men, and the sick report yesterday was but seven out of the 800. We are all in good spirits, and ready for any duty. – Though we have seen some of the hardships of a soldier’s life since we left Davenport, we are still willing to deprive ourselves of the comforts of home and associations of friends until the last traiter, both North and South, is driven from our soil, or willing to accept the terms of our Government. We have been here nearly two weeks. We arrived here on the 17th, after a march of fourteen days from Louisville. Since we arrived in Tennessee we have had most all kinds of weather, and for a few days past it has been cold enough to pass for reasonable winter in Iowa, but we get along very well and to-day, though quite cool, it is very pleasant.
There is one thing I was to say to those who have friends in the army; that is write to them very often. On last Friday night it rained very hard all night, and in the morning the camp was all afloat and there was scarcely a tent but what was drenched with water. Clothes and blankets all wet and the men standing around the camp fires, we would frequently hear the expression, “well, boys, if I get some good letters from home to day, it will be all right, But what was our disappointment when the mail came to find four letters for Co. D So of course, many of us were disappointed, but we were still hopeful that they would come to-morrow. I tell you, dear friends, I believe a letter is nowhere so much appreciated as when received in the army. A few words from a father or mother, a brother, sister or friend, is calculated to make the soldier cheerful and contented, but I do not complain, only some times we think they might write a little oftener.
We have orders to march to-morrow morning at six o’clock, but where we will go I can not tell. The boys from Burlington, and all those enlisted under Lieut. J. C. Power, are well, and in good spirits, and I am happy to inform the friends of Lieutenant, that we have not been disappointed in him, but find him a constant friend to his men, and well worthy the position he occupies.
- Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, December 12, 1863
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