 | Letter to Chloe Unity Blair |  |
1862-02-19
I have bin long in
tenden
write en to you, an
to night
I will tri
an
rite you a few lines
in order to let you no how we
are, I am as well as I could exspet
to be under the present sercum
stances,
Jimey is quite sick &
have bin for the last week,
I dont
no
whats the mater with
him, he have weekened
down as
fast for the last week as I
ever saw any one, he
dont eat
any thing
scercely
a tall,
he seems to be restin very
well to night he
dont
complain
but very little, tho I am a
fread
he is a go ing to have a bad spell
I wouldent
be grug
nothen if
he wer at
home whare he could
Grigary [3] is quite sick he has the fe-
ver, they are sevrel more of the
boys complaining, the most of
them has the mumps, Sirous
Burnet[4] a member of our com
pany dide last week, Mr, Faris [5]
expects to start home with Bilia
this week, Nathanial Robertson [6]
& Neal gilbert [7] left here a
few days a go, to go to the harse
pittle they expected to get
furloughs to go home from thare,
Clifton Pinick [8] got here yes
tid day, your letter come to
hand in due time, I wer glad to
here that you wer all well,
Jimey told me to tel you that
he would have ritten to you
before now but he was not
able,
ceeps Jimey from I sleep, give
rite soon to your affectionate
cousin
ly ritten leter
The 38th Virginia spent December 26, 1861 to early March of 1862 in winter quarters near the battlefield of First Manassas. Many of the soldiers were ill due to the extreme cold, rain, ice, and snow, as well as to the diseases that were circulating in the camp, particularly the mumps (Gregory 10-11).
On March 2, 1862, James Booker was admitted to Richmond General Hospital #18 with chronic diarrhea (Gregory 82).
"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 of 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 (Gregory 98). He entered 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, and was released in June of 1865 (Gregory 98). See also John Booker's letter of December 22, 1863, where he writes that Flem Gregory is ill.
Josiah Burnett was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital on October 26, 1861 with typhoid fever, but returned to his company on the 16th of December, 1861. He died of meningitis on Feburary 12, 1862 (Gregory 84). See James Booker's letter of September 6, 1861, where he first reports that Burnett is ill.
"Mr. Faris" is probably William Faris, who enlisted with the Booker brothers at Whitmell and was discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability on January 27, 1862 (Gregory 93).
Nathaniel Robertson, a native of Pittsylvania County, enlisted in Company D with the Booker brothers in May of 1861. He was furloughed from February 15 to March 17 of 1862 so that he could recover his health (Gregory 121).
Cornelius Gilbert enlisted with Booker brothers at Whitmell. By July of 1862, he was promoted to Color Corporal. He received a gunshot wound to the head at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, and died at Chimborazo #2 on July 3, 1862 (Gregory 96).
"Clifton Pinick" probably is Charles Clifton Penick, who was with Company D from its founding in May of 1861. He served as a Quarter Master Sergeant in the Confederate Army until he was paroled at Appomatox in 1865. He later became a missionary in West Africa and the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church Richmond at Shenandoah Flats (Gregory, 117). Penick is also mentioned in James Booker's letter of November 24, 1862.
| Letter to Chloe Unity Blair | |