Camp Green Meadows, July 29, 1862.
Dear Mother: —
I received a letter from you dated the 17th July — one from William dated 22d
July, and another from you dated June 3, yesterday. I begin to have hopes that
your birthday letter may yet turn up. Letters are rarely lost, even in this
region. The Rebels captured one of our mails early in May, and may have got
your letter.
I am glad you are enjoying so much. It is not at all
unlikely that I may have an opportunity to visit you in August or September for
a day or two. I shall do so if it is possible without neglecting duty.
We are not as busy here as we would like to be, but we are
delightfully camped, and among a friendly people. The greater part of them are
preparing to move to Ohio and Indiana, fearing that we may go off and let the
Rebels in to destroy them. We receive many letters at this camp from Rebels who
are in Camp Chase as prisoners. Their wives and relatives call almost daily to
inquire about them and for letters.
Last Sunday I dined at a Union citizen's near here. There
were eleven women there whose husbands or brothers were at Camp Chase. I took
over a lot of letters for them. Some were made happy, others not so. There had
been sickness and death at the prison, and the letters brought tears as well as
smiles.
Good-bye. — Affectionately, your son,
Rutherford.
Mrs. Sophia Hayes.
SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and
Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 312-3
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