Edward: Send some more please. This is just wonderful. Carol NJ ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Harding<mailto:eharding2@suddenlink.net> To: civil-war@rootsweb.com<mailto:civil-war@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 12:06 AM Subject: Re: [CIVIL-WAR] Patrick Letter Clair, This is the first letter out of the series of the few that still exist where Henry M. Patrick wrote home to his wife Sue. One thing that's very noticable is his education and how well he writes. Edward Petersburg, Va 18 July 1863 My own dear Sue: We left our camp below Richmond at four O'clock Monday morning. A couier having arrived with an order for Col B & his command to report to Gen Ranson at Petersburg as the enemy had appeared in the James with monitors, transports & other vessels, twelve in number, and were said to be landing then thousand troops at Brandon. We camped after a heavy march, about four miles from P'burg Monday night. Comp H was sent on picket. At twelve we were drawn in, ordered to feed our horses & be ready to march at two O'clock (tuesday morning). We scarcely gave them time to eat before we resumed our march passing through the City of P while it was wraped in the sweet sleep of morning. The tramp of a thousand shoed horses upon the solid pavement during the small hours of the morning must have been to the dreaming city a pleasant lullaby. We continued our march, being accompanied by two pieces of artillery till we reached the vicinity of Brandon where the enemy were said to be landing, when we sent out scouts to learn where the enemy was & what he was doing. They soon reported that no enemy were to be seen either on the land or in the river. That they has landed about twenty-five the evening before and destroyed a little fort called Fort Powhatan which our forces had vacated several weeks ago, & which was occupied at the time by a few of the Petersburg militia, who had been sent there to act as pickets. At these the Yankees threw a few shells whereupon militia pickets left and reported a heavy force landing. Capt G. Willard who was not with the Regt on our march around R'md, but who was at Camp Ruffin with some sick horses, says he concealed within ¼ mile of the enemy's boats for six hours on Sunday with a spy-glass & thinks they had no men on board but their crews. The P'urg papers of yesterday say the enemy are evacuating Portsmouth & Norfolk & that these boats up the river is only to attract our attention while that evacuation is being done. We returned to this place Wednesday. Yesterday I went to the city, subscribed for the Daily Express for you, for six months. I also had my pretty taken for you, which I will forward the first opportunity. To-day we are drawing clothes: new 1 pr pants, one jacket, cap, two shirts, two pr socks, one pr shoes. I do not know what to do with my old clothes as I do not like to throw them away & there is no market for them. I had more clothes before than I wanted to carry with me, with the exception of socks & pants. We have not drawn any money yet__have not been paid off since Dec'/62. There are some NC Regts near us which are kept paid off promptly. I do not understand this. If I had a thousand or so dollars I could make several hundred dollars by advancing the money and buying their wages. I saw yesterday while in P, John Brookfield, besides a great many other N. Carolinians. John said Miss H was well & that they were expecting Mrs. Brookfield & mrs. Rach soon. If they arrive before we leave here I will call on her if I can get out of camp. I have made the acquaintance of Mr. Hurst who clerked for Mr. Eberstein & whom like him very much. Tell Mrs. G that Sgt Griffin is very well. He says had he known that Mrs. G was trying to get him a sick furlough while he was in the hospital he thinks he could have got it. As it was he was not much sick at first & when the surgeon came around to examine him to see if he needed such a furlough, he was almost quite well again. Says had he have known anything of the furlough being in store for him, he would have been "bad off". Your last letter that I have received, that of the 28th, contained a request from Mrs. Allen requesting me to write what had become of her worthy husband, how he was & how he looked. I have not seen him in about two months, but whenever I have written I have always endeavored to speak of him. If he had been sick I should have heard of his illness. Sgt Griffin informs me that Mr. A has at last got a furlough & has gone home. Mrs A therefore knows more of him now than I could write her. Tell her that as to answering her question, as how he looked, he had got to be about as ugly as a white man ought ever to become. Tell her that I congratulate her & him on his getting his furlough. Were I of an envious disposition, I should almost envy him his pleasure. I will not murmur how ever, for as the old maxim says, "every dog will have his day." I still live in hope of being with my loved ones. The reason I assign for not having received a letter or letters from my darling since the one mentioned above is that I directed you to address me at Richmond. They will find me after a while. I wait for them as patiently as I can. Sgt G informed me a few days ago that he had received a letter from Mrs G in which she stated that she was at your hous to the tableaux & concert. Spoke of it in a very complimentary manner & said you were all well. This relieved my anxiety considerably. Charlie C is going home on detail, after a horse, in a few days. I sometimes almost wish my horse would die, so that I could get a detail for the same purpose. But then it would cost me so much to buy another horse. We cannot buy anything like a good horse here for less than seven or eight hundred dollars. I asked Mr. F to look around and see if there is any horse or horses that I could buy that would do for this service & what they can be purchased at. If I could buy one or two at a justifying price there, I would get permission to sell mine which is very thin, here, and if I could buy two by selling one of them in Petersburg & with what I could get for the one I have and the advance on the other would probably inable me to make myself (illegible words) leave of absence to go home for fifteen days. Address me at Petersburg. My love to all. Keep my little ones for me. Tell Gennie I have a little book for her for her to help her mama for her daddy. Yours ever true, Henry ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CIVIL-WAR-request@rootsweb.com<mailto:CIVIL-WAR-request@rootsweb.com> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message