 | Letter to Chloe Unity Blair |  |
1863-12-22
I ll take the presant
op
potunity
portunity
of answering your kind letter of
the 10
inst[2] which came to hand a few days
a
go
you
dont
no what pleasure it was
afforded
me to receive your letter an
here that you all
wer
gettin on well. I am sure thare is nothin that
affords me more
plesure than to recieve a letter
from any
of my frends or relation
at home. but
its
sildom I get a letter I had
bin
exspectin a letter
from you too or three weeks before I received it I
wreaken I will have to excuse you this time far not
writen sooner an hope that you
will doo
beter next
time. this will in farm
you that my self
an Brother
are both well an
much hopeing this will reach you indue
time and
find you all injoying the same great Blesing and
all all other
Blesing that home can afford, we have
some sickness in camp now which come from
exposure
I wreaken. Flem Gregory[3] has bin quite sick
for the last four or five days. he has the pnuemonia
but is not dangers I dont
think, he
is something better
today, he is all the one
that is sick in our company an I hope he will bee
soon up
for it is very Badly dun
Christmas is close by and I se no chance for me or
James to get home. I would like the best in the world
for one of us to get home by Christmas if we could
and I think one of us was to get a furlough and
if the officers would doo rite we would get one. but
if they can get g home whenever they pleas they dont
care for us, I havent never applide for a furlo
but James have bin after one an cant get it started, I
beleave if Capt Herndon [4] would start one for him
he would get it but he is Just too lazy to write it
out, thare is ent a nother company in the regt but
wh what gets more furloughs than our company doo
and I dont be leave its anything else but because
John Herndon wount dont start them, I wreaken the next time
we orgune Organize the armey we had better all bee Of
ficers or privates one for thare is too much dif
farence made in them, Capt Herndon expects to get another
fur lough soon after Christmas to go home but if I
had it in power he would not get one til the last
man in his company get one. We are here now dooen
nothen in the wa world not eaven pickett duty
and my oppenion the most of the men that dont
get fur loughs be fore thare three years are out
will go when thay are out thay say so any how,
I dont mean to say that I will go home but nearly
all the men say they will if they will dont call out all
the men that have put in substitute an furlough
all the old soldiers that have bin out so long, I
am a posed to desertion as much as any boddy
can bee but I say put every one on equal foottin
for this is a rich mans war an a por mans fight, [5]
I be leave thare are some of the men that have but
in substitute are dooen a great eal of good but
the most of them are doo en more harm than good
they are just speculaten on the poor people, an
soldiers, I must stop a bout the soldiers for
I wreaken you think I am going the other side of
my self, I dont think think thare will be much
Christmas seen here this time but I hope you all
will have a good time, I exspect there will be a
weding near you in the Christmas Memory
Inman[6] starts home in the morning on furlou
to get marred I hope he will ge have a good
time, I exspect he is going to take Miss Mary
Fullar, I dont no, I will stop James & cousin
Thom Joins me in love too you all, you must
write soon an give me all the news, no mamare
The 38th Virginia camped at winter quarters in Kinston, North Carolina from October 8, 1863 to January 30, 1864 (except for a brief period in early November, when the troops were in movement). Opinions of the camp varied: some soldiers did not like living in the "low, sandy, dismal looking region," but Corporal Linnaeus D. Watkins liked the "splendid long houses" and the abundance of supplies (Gregory, 46).
According to the OED, "inst." is an abbreviation for "instant," which refers to the current calendar month; for example, the 10th instant is the tenth day of the calendar month.
"Flem Gregory" probably refers to James F. Gregory of Company D, who enlisted with the Bookers at Whitmell. He was admitted to Richmond Hospital in July 1863. and was on sick furlough from July 20-August 29, 1863. He returned to Company D until he was wounded in action at Drury's Bluff on May 16, 1864. He entered the Richmond Hospital with a severe leg wound, then was transferred to a Danville hospital. He deserted from the Danville hospital on the 26th of September in 1864, but returned by the end of the year. He was taken prisoner at White Oak Road in April of 1865, but was released in June of 1865 (Gregory, 98). See also John Booker's letter of February 19, 1862, where he reports that "Fleman" has a severe fever.
Captain John Herndon (1838-?) enlisted in the Company D along with the Booker brothers on May 24, 1861 at Whitmell. John Herndon's brother Ralph organized the company and was its first captain, but he was not re-elected and therefore resigned. After serving as a lieutenant, John Herndon was appointed captain in July of 1862. He remained with the regiment until April 1, 1865, when he was taken prisoner near Dinwiddie Court House (Gregory, 102).
In referring to "substitutes," John Booker expresses his anger at the inequities of the First Conscription Act, which permitted a conscripted (drafted) man to hire a substitute to serve his term. As is evident in John's letter, this provision produced much tension between the poor and the wealthy. Often substitutes would desert a day after appearing in camp, then agree to substitute for someone else. The First Conscription Act also allowed each soldier who enlisted for three years to take a sixty day furlough each year (Current, vol. 1, 396-99).
Memory Inman, who enlisted with the Bookers in Whitmell in 1861, received a medical discharge on November 11, 1861. He was conscripted at Danville on August 28, 1862 and was reassigned to the 38th Regiment, Company D. Like the Bookers, he was wounded in action at Drewry's Bluff on May 16, 1864. He returned to duty on October 11, 1864 (Gregory 104). See also James Booker's letter of September 30, 1862.
| Letter to Chloe Unity Blair | |