We are asked so frequently whether we have had anything late
from our brother, Add. H., that the following extract from a brief letter
received from him yesterday, dated Camp near Pittsburg, April 24th, may be of
interest:
“Mr. Parker, our sutler, going direct to Davenport, I send
my trunk by him, that you my store it away in a safe place. We are ‘stripping’ in a manner, for another
fight. – Our regiment is going on the advance line to-morrow, and in case of
any strong attack by the enemy we should be compelled to fall back, and in that
event lose our baggage. I have a
satchel, in which to carry under clothing, &c., but will miss my trunk very
much. Col. C. goes away to0day, to stay
a month, or twenty days at the shortest, to settle up his Government business,
leaving me in command of the regiment. I
have had the diarrhea for eight or ten days, and cannot get rid of it except
temporarily. Yesterday afternoon I was
sicker than I ever was in my life before.
This morning I am so weak I can hardly stand.”
The chronic diarrhea is one of the worst enemies of our
soldiers in the South have to contend with, and will be far more fatal to many
of them than the bullets of the enemy. Add
should either resign his position or leave until his health is recruited. A few weeks of good nursing might save his
life.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette,
Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 2, 1862, p. 1
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