Confiscated Paper in camp at Vicksburg July the 25th 1863 Dear Lizzie thru the Blessings of God I am permited to wright you another leter I have just finisht a leter to you but it has bin so long since I have writen to you that I cant tel you anough in one leter so I wil mail about 3 to you at once I have one that I rote at Jackson with a pencil that is in the wagon that has not com in yet I wil send it two when it comes well I feal to day like a hundred milds march has not hurt me much I would love to sea you & I hope it wont be long til we shal meat again I got a leter from you while I was at Jackson I am looking for one now evry hour Lieutenant Meadors has or Richardson I should have said got home safe & I gess you have got your money we marcht thru a long space of contry coverd with pine timber with here & thare a larg farm & som very good young corn that was planted after the first was destroid or else they amd for it to not get eatable til the war seast in that part on my way I went inside a house to get water & lookt in & sean Bob Paterson laying in thar resting I walkd in spok to him & he new me in a minut & I stade som 2 hours with him he seamd glad to sea me & we talkd over som old times he was perold at Vicksburg & was making his way in to Tenn & then he said if the green river folks woud let him he would take the oath & stay at hom & tend to his oan business he is afrad to take the oath til he finds out whether he can com hom or not he talkt very interesting & spoke of old times as being the hapest of his life & the tears in spite of his eforts to keep them down would fill his eys he is lik many others completly whipt & wiling to submit I loved to be with him I did not look on him as an enemy but an old frend I pited his condision & felt sory for him he told me to writ to his family & tel them that he was stil alive & trying to get home was not very well but was trying to get to his onkle in Tennesee We got som leter from Ashby by the mail is all rit thare & Ky is all rit also voluntiering is going on rapidly thare they dont talk of resisting a draft but say they had rather voluntier & the work is going on rapidly I recon you think I cant think of any thing else to writ about but the war well so it is the war & the union first & then somthing else I say hurah for the union & the Constitution & if you have any men about thare that cant think of any thing else to talk of but nigar & dont like this nigar war tel them to go to grass & stem pusley[?] for they only want that for an excuse any way to keep from coming in the army We have plenty to eat & ware dont make your self uneasy about me for I am doing very well & shal endever to do the best I can wright me som good long leters & of late date as you can dont date them ahead but mail them imeditly after writen or not write til you can start them imeditly Our mess has bin redusd som Georg & Wesly has gon up the river John Falkner is dead John Clark has gon back to his old mess Benet Carey in bad helth & Martin Daley is not well Peter Leak is snug Henry Osk Sam & myself is all rit & Jack our cook he is allrit & we like him very well & he vows to stay with us he does all of our cooking & seams as one of us we give him his chois to join the nigar regment or stay with us & he said he did not want to leav us we pay him for his work & he picks up cloths to do him (writ to me what you think of my plans) the line above was rit after the leter was don you nead not take the babys likness as far as I am concernd I would love to se her & kiss her litle lip but her likness is mout like a heap of being her & I think money throad away your likness is like you but hers in a month wont be lik her abit Tel Elizabeth Prichett not to direct her leters to the 87th for they com here & we cant get them to him You must sell them catle the first good chance & dispose of the money to the best advanteg I wil draw som more money in a few days & wil send it the first chance at least we think we wil tho we may be put to moving & not draw in a month Let me no how we stand & what you think we nead don on the farm first you may I think get some rock hald & throde in a pile for to wall a well in the yard between the south west corner of the kitchen & the corner of the other house so we can run the water off of all the houses in it now I dont mean to give any body a big money job but if you can get som one to get up & hall rock for a sow or for a calf or som other litle porperty that you can spare well get it don the rock is the bigest job the well must be tolerble big one & beween 12 & 15 feet deep 15 is the best but if you think proper we wil wate til I com home gut I want you to learn whare you can get the best & cheapest lumber & nisest I dont want stuf I want som good oak flooring anough to lay about 3 x 18 feat bilding I wil say a thousand feet & the man that wil give you the best & cheapest lumber is the man I want to floor another house & paseg & porch I want it sawed & hald this fall & put in the shade & lade strat & in a pile to season the shade is the best (thick one inch long 9 feet) I have not desided what sort of a house or when we will build it but seasoned lumber is no drag & if I never live I wil it my children wil sea if Wheler wil saw it for $10 dollars & give good lumber if he will imploy him the money sead when he earns it Mack Patrick J. Anderson http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=patanderson 9654 Baltimore Avenue, Laurel, Maryland 20723