The cars ran off the
track below Gordonsville yesterday, consequently we have no mail to-day. You do
not know how anxious I am to hear from you. Your letters relieve the distress
of my mind like a soothing balm placed upon a painful wound. I am sure I could
forget the loss of our dearest earthly object much sooner if I could only be
with you; but time will blunt the keenest thorns of anguish. I shall walk over
and see your brother this evening if he does not come to see me before then. He
was quite well when I last saw him, and had been busy repairing the roads.
The weather remains
intensely cold, but the wind has abated somewhat to-day. I think yesterday was
the coldest day I ever experienced, and it was made worse by the strong biting
wind which blew incessantly. It is most severe on the wagoners and others who
are out and exposed so much. When I saw the First South Carolina Regiment
starting off on picket yesterday morning in the bitter cold I felt for them, but
they seemed full of the life and vigor which the troops of Lee's army always
display under the most trying circumstances.
I gave my old black
coat to my brother. It fits him well and he is very much pleased with it. He
has been keeping a chicken and it is now nearly grown, so we intend to have a
big dinner soon, and will make a pot of dumplings and also have stewed corn and
Irish potatoes.
I have been living
in the same tent with Dr. Tyler. We slept together and were very comfortable,
but I got a tent for myself yesterday and will have a chimney built to it and
be ready to move in by the time he gets back. He and I are good friends and
always get along very agreeably together, but he is too fond of drinking and
gambling to suit me.
News is very scarce
here now, and it would be difficult for me to write you a longer letter.
SOURCE: Dr. Spencer
G. Welch, A Confederate Surgeon's Letters to His Wife, p. 84-6
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