White River Lang Ark October the 1st /64 My Dearest Lizzie For fear you should claim the prize of sending me the first October letter I shal write you one to night not but what I hope that yours of Oct may be lucky anough to be toren open first the day is peasant anough tho rite mudy as resent rains has made it so we had quite a storm on the night of the 29 Aug & yesterday it raned all day tho nearly clear to day yours of the 19th & 20th of Aug came to hand day befour yesterday a good letter & I do not know whether it is worth while for me to tel you how I love to get a letter from you or not but let me ventur to say Oh how charming is evry sentance or every word I took the litle scrip that you wrote last & the letter that Alice sended to me & put them in my pocket book for keep sakes. I am sory that you have to buy all your meat next year & may advice is not to buy any for a long time that is put it off til late as a change for the beter is likely as gold is falling all the time & to my opinion bacon will be as cheap next sumor as pork is now & I would prefer buying my meat as I neaded it I think it best & you will not be so apt to looze any weight I would recomend an other cow but they are so hie & then you have not feed for them dont let speculators make you think that if you do not lay in your meat early that you will starve for its not likely atall I recon you think that I can write all sorts of letters since you received the last I was rather sober that evening & I shal not apologise any in this for I think you wil charge it all to my sober & canded reflections of home & the exigences of the times. you must let all them sows run awhile any how as I wish a start of Hogs or we are brok up sirtain this year is the worst of all I knew that at first & you wil have a harder time of geting along as all of my labor has been exhausted & you are thrown on your owen resorses with the litle earnings that I send home there is big talk now of going home to vote as to the election you may say is it so I reply that I do not know some say that Generl Denis says that 75000 troops is going home & Col Crebs says that we are going but some how I do not think so I would love to have a short resess & visit home & loved ones but would not this be a grate blunder rite now while we have the Rebelions by the throat I think so but I am willing if Onkle Abe thinks he can spare us I shal Aquess = John Clarke is on picket to night he give me a chew of tabacco to day & said that a Lady in Illinois sent it to him & then he said that he had the best wife in Ills (that was a big asersion was it not) I chewed the leaf a litle then I spit ( then fumbling in my pocket as if fealing for something) then said that I didnot beleav a word of it & he nead not tel me so tho I had to acnoleg the chew of tobacco good & changed the subject to something else as I dident wish to quarl I was out at Arkansas river to day with a scout & Mart Mann & me stade back & did not come in with the scout & hunted muscasdine & grapes & soforth after we got anough we took out our revolver & had a shooting match at a tree I beat him a litle if you had one bin close you would have thought that we was fighting a litle batle there was no danger of rebels or we would not have bin out thare 6 milds from camp shooting at a tree we do prity much as we please here we never have any role call or drill nothing but picket the two Cos up White river got in a litle fight the other day & I supose you have herd eare this of the fight at Morganza we lost 35 kild wounded & taken prisners of the 87 Ills vols our two Cos up White river come off best in there litle fight they kild one Lieutenant & taken 7 prisners our loss one man wounded if I get scatering in my thought you may charge it to me wanting tobacco so bad as I have non now & when I want a chew I cant hardly set still I will get me some in the morning I am nearly barefooted I signed for a pare of boots at Morganza & they have not come yet tel ant Hulda that I will have to have my letter printed for her to read & she may read that letter in the central that I sent you the other day as it is as much to her as any body I will send you some muscadine sead in the next leter for you to plant I would send then in this but it is to big to send any thing in plant them by an old stump in a warm place they are sorter like a grape vine now Lizzie I must close by saying to you to write soon I am well & harty yours truly Mac Mac I have promisst & have thought that I would write on the suject of the Bloomer dress I have no nice Ilustrations to send I wish I had as also the speaches of some smart ladies & gentleman two on the subject showing how much helthear it is than the dress now worn of nowadays by ladies the weight being suspended from the sholders tharefour making it much helther as the weight would as is be hung from the waste & of corse has to be tied as lased tight enough to hold up the dress the dress is not only much helther but would be a check to the many percular deseases of Ladies that is so prevalent in our Contry the dress is much warmer much easeer to travel in & much more adapted to a ladys repeeted steps over the house or yard than the old clownish garb worn nowadays by thoes who should have if posable a preferance at least in some things I would hail the day that this fashion would be adopted by our Feminon Companions thare is of corse some objections for one that of Ladie puting on the briches but as they have to act any way now I think it no more than there right & if we never regain them any more we can congatulate our selves a litle on the down fall of the 15 yards sistem & rejoice a litle over the thoughts of not quite so much cloth theas hard times so saying I am yours truly Mac to Lizzie this pictur that I send is not very good tho it is the best I have & wil do for you to look at Patrick J. Anderson http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=patanderson 9654 Baltimore Avenue, Laurel, Maryland 20723