Near Abbeville, Miss, Dec 5th, 1862Dear Sarah,
I have no encouragement to write letters to any of you. To look anxiously for a mail, and finally it comes, our Co. gets a sack of letters, I anxiously look over them, two for John, none for me. Perhaps some of you have wrote, but they have failed to come. John had a letter from Sarah and Leander. Says S. Baltzell is in Springfield. I wonder if he is exchanged and coming to the Reg. I am really sorry to hear that Hugh is getting no better. I fear he will not live to see this war over. But if he should die, it will be a great comfort to die amongst friends and know he will be buried decently. If I was to die, you never will hear me complain if permitted to die as S. Andrews did. I got a paper this morning of the 4th. Burnside has done nothing. But he could a had Richmond before this if the Pontoon Bridges had come up. Our Cav swam the Tallahatchie, and our Reg crossed on a plank tied to the old post of the destroyed bridge. At ten oclock at night the plank broke just as half our Co. got over. Dave Copple, Cane, Katthoffer, and H. Smith fell in, lost their guns. We are the center or color company, so we had to fix the plank or poles up for the rest of our Co and Reg to cross. We worked all night on a temporary bridge and had it fixed so Cav and some artillery commenced crossing by day light, and our Reg pushed on for Abbeville four miles, and nothing to eat except crackers. We got to Abbeville in ten minutes after Gen Lee's Cav did. The news came in last night that our advance was in Grenada, forty miles north of this, had a small fight. If this is true, you will know it by the papers before you get this. Our division (6th Gen McArthur) is left behind to guard and work on the R. Road. I suppose we will move up or down rather, as the road is finished. I do not think the army will go much further than Grenada until the R.R. is in running order to that place. I believe there is a R.R. comes in there from Memphis, but I guess it is worse damaged than this one. It is time that ourEnlistment details:
Cain, James
Copple, David
Katthoffer, John
Smith, Henry
©2006 C.S. Parkinson
