Carroll Parish, Lake Providence, Louisiana.
Feb 20, 1863My Zetty,
I wish I had something nice and new to write to you, but I have not. I have no idea what I will fill this small sheet of paper with. I have not heard from you for a few days, and I am [undecipherable]. This is really a pleasant day. It is clear and as warm as June. It is drying out the mud very fast. If it does not rain again soon, we will have a dry camp. If it continues warm a few days longer, I will be in the lake washing the first thing you know. John S.[Silas] McWilliams left our mess this morning. He is the first man that has ever left the mess since we commenced soldiering. He said he had been wanting to leave for some time, but hated to. I told them all (our mess) at dinner if any of them was like Silas to leave, no one would care. Silas B. may leave, not certain. We have had no fuss in the mess. Silas just took a notion that the Dutch and Irish mess had better to eat than us. I was sorry for Silas to [go]. We have always had fun together and eat together, and he used to be a mighty good fellow in the mess, but that had played out long ago.
©2006 C.S. Parkinson