Alexandria Louisiana Apl the 28th/64 My Dear Elizabeth I shal imbrace the present opportunity of writing you a letter this is a pleasant day & I am in camp resting for the 1st day in a long time it looks like mid somer the fighting seams to be over for a while tho the rebels seams very gentle yet for they keep close to us & day befour yesterday our brigade was scurmishing close anough to them for them to ask what regt it was & the other day when they got in front of our regt & our company drove them back we haled & asked them to come back & get some hard tack & sow beley but they did not like the way we shook hands with them it has bin a long time since I have writen to you & I do not no any beter plan to tel you what I have bin doing for 8 or 9 days than to take out my day book & give you a few sceches out of it Apl the 20th/64 oderd to be redy to move stil in camp at Grandecore La 21st went on picket scurmishing on our left 22nd left the pickets lines at 2 A.M. left Grandecore at day brake Army moving towards Alexandria 1st brigade brings up the rear 23rd 7 A.M. fighting comenst in front 9 A.M. heavy canonading 12 A.M. atacked in the rear 87th sent to the left flank 1 P.M. Co A on picket on the swamp 4 P.M. rebels routed in front our men taken 4 prisners 87th went to the front 10 P.M. went in camp Apl 24 got brakfast & fed 7 A.M. sadeld up Army pasing 8 A.M. heavy canonading on the river 10 A.M. heavy fighting in the rear 87th went on a scout on the rite flank 5 P.M. laying in the line of batle on the tunel hill road 25th stil in line of batle on the tunel hill road scurmishing in the rear 4 P.M. Marcht on 6 P.M. scurmishing in the rear 7 P.M. stopt & lay in line of batle all night 26th 7 A.M. started 3rd brig in the rear some scurmishing 10 A.M. rebels get in front of our brigade & the 4th Co A drove them 3 P.M. stopt & went in camp 7 P.M. went on picket 27 on picket on the Texas road heavy canonading up the river 2 P.M. stil on picket 6 P.M. released from picket went to camp 28 in camp 10 A.M. I am writing a leter to Lizie this beautiful morning finds me well & harty hoping it may find you & my litle childring altho mess No 1 is cut down in number all the other boys is well & harty John was doing well the last time I herd from him & it was thought that George Careys hand would have to be cut off so you sea I have not bin idal for severl days it has bin that way ever since I lef Franklin it is no use to tel you of the fight for you wil sea that in the papers & I do not like to talk of it for I never shal forget the roar of the 1st days fight I was leading a horse when we comenst retreating & I never herd such nois & sean such runing in all my life for a mil wide the hole woods was in a roar of horseman & footman & wagons & artilery & the rebels was poring in the batch all the time in our retreating Army a mile or 10 back we found the 19 Corps in line of batle for you sea that they had not come to help us & the rebs was about 4 to our one the retreating column fel back behind them & the rebels come on them & they pord in such a voly of musketry in to the advancing rebels that made the woods trimble this checked them for a while but they over poured the 19 boys & all fell back to Pleasant Hill & thare we found old Generl Smith with the 16th Corps & on 2nd day we whipt them & drove them back & that night the rebels fell back 16 milds & us 15 milds throing the Armys 30 milds apart but they found out that we was faling back & they turnd back & took the batle feald I have a good horse now tel George that he need not be uneasy about my horse for I have got a good one now it is about 1 hundred 25 milds from here to Mansfeald whare the batle was fought & in coming from thare we rode about 2 hundred milds sometimes I would get so tierd of riding that I could not hardly stand it very oftain we would ride all night & severl good naps have I taken on my horse & I wil tel you a dream that I dremp on my horse one night about midnight I dremp that I run in among some rebels & they all had swiches & they comenst whiping me & it hurt so that I awake & found my horse had left the rode & was brusing thru the brush & the limbs was flying back & hiting me I turnd him back in the road & found that my Company had gon on past me another time we stopt & I got down & lay down by a stump & of corse was asleep in a minut & when I waked up the Co. had got ahead of me considerable & one day we stopt & all of us was laying down holding our horses & I went to sleep & let him go & when I awak my horse was gon I run round but soon found him picking off a peace from me nearly evry time I lay down with my horse in hand I let him go now they say sadel up & I must quit no rest for the wery M A Hooker Patrick J. Anderson http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=patanderson 9654 Baltimore Avenue, Laurel, Maryland 20723