Camp, December 31, 1862.
Dearest: —
This is New Year's eve. Dancing and merriment seem to prevail. Many men and a
few officers are expecting to go home soon. Sergeant-Major Sweet will take you
this, and the McCook and Andrews spurs. We have had a great change this week.
Colonel Ewing — I mean General Ewing — has gone South, taking with him the
Thirtieth, Thirty-seventh, and Forty-seventh Ohio and Fourth Virginia. The
Eighty-ninth goes into the fine camp left by the Thirtieth, ten miles below
here; a great gain to the Eighty-ninth. The Ninety-second goes to Tompkins
Farm, the camp left by the Forty-seventh, and are great losers by the change;
mad about it, too. We get rid of divers old troubles, but remain in our
log-cabin camp, and are content, or rather pleased, upon the whole.
Now good night. Happy New Years to all. If no further
changes occur, and Uncle Joe would like to bring you up here with one or two
boys, I suspect you would like to come. Think of it, and I will try to see you
part of the way home, or all of the way. Let him start about the middle of the
month, so as to reach here by the 20th. It will probably rain and be muddy
enough, but it will be funny and novel.
Good night. If Grandma wants to come, she will be welcome,
she knows, but I mistrust the peculiar climate we have. Our weather this month
has been much better than in Ohio.
Affectionately,
R.
Mrs. Hayes.
SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and
Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 382-3
No comments:
Post a Comment