Letter to Chloe Unity Blair | ||
1862-04-19
April the 19 1862
I write you
afew lines to let you know whare
we are, we are on the out
post
the yankees are shooting at our
men constantly
tho it is very cildom
thay hit eny of them, thay havent
shot but one man in our Regiment
he was shot thursday, the he was
shot in chin, his
name was T
Tucker[1]
be long
ing to Capt
Carters
Company, thay was a battle faught
here last weorsday eavening
thay
a good maney killed on boath sides
tho a great maney more on the
enimys
side than thay was on ours
we was not in the ingagement
theyankees sent a flag of truse
this eavning to berry thar dead,
ifthay we have a general ingage
ment
war for the best of the two
armys is here, the yankee prisners
that our men have taken say that
thay have got to whip or die
here, and I thay will have
to die at least I hope so,
John got aletter from you
the other day and one from
Mary
You must write
to me soon and direct your
letters to york
Yorktown
please let sister Mary know
when you get this tel her
Pinkney has not got here yet
he came with the
wagons
gave my best respects to all
inquiring frends and share alarge
portion for your self
afectionate Cousin
Throughout late April, the 38th Regiment served picket duty in the trenches near Yorktown, VA. Conditions were miserable: soldiers stood in knee-deep water, traded fire with the Union troops, and endured torrential rainstorms (Gregory, 12-12.) As James notes, Joel P. Tucker of Company F was shot in the chin on April 17. He was sent to Richmond Hospital from Yorktown on April 20, where he later died (Gregory, 128.)
Letter to Chloe Unity Blair | ||