*** Marion Brimberry has entrusted me with a folder of Civil War letters by William A. Smith and has asked me to type one letter every day or so and post it to this newsgroup. I have typed the letter true to the spelling and grammar of the letters in my possession. If I add any errors of my own, please forgive me. David Thomson *** Camp near Hamburg, Tennessee April 30th, 1862 My Dear Wife:- I know that you are very anxious about me. I will therefore take every opportunity of dropping you a few lines. My health is better than when I wrote to you two days ago. Since then we have moved about four miles farther south and are now that distance from the river. It takes great deal of hauling to supply such an army as we have here and the roads are almost impassible, but they are being made good very fast. It is hard work to get cannon over such roads as we have here. The weather keeps wet and cool, making it very wet and disagreeable moving around and camping out. This is the first encampment that we have made since we landed here. Our duties are about the same that they are for common, except at Point Pleasant where we had the heaviest duties to do that we have done in the service. We are well supplied with provisions now, and good provisions, except the crackers. We have been troubled with mouldy bread (crackers). I return all that is mouldy but when one side of a box or barrel is mouldy the rest tasted of it. We get some as good smoked hams as you ever saw. We again today heard cannonading towards Corinth but have not heard the cause or effect. Guess they was shooting at each other. I hope they wont kill any body but take a lot of secesh prisoners. Our lines extend for several miles across the country and as fast as they move there is telegraph lines put up. There is two lines extending south and southwest from the river, one from Pittsburg landing and one from Hamburg. The land here is very poor, being rather hilly. The hills are almost as red as I paint Brown (???). In the Hollows there is some rocks of a gravelly nature, which seem to be full of iron. There is also good springs. The timber is very poor. Post oak and Black jack with an occasional chestnut and scrubby Beech along the hollow. There is no farms here that any one lives on. I see an occasional place that reminds me of the Lassater place and these places up in there. What few acres that I do see, have been cultivated in cotton last. There is a cabin close to here with several hundred pounds in it. Our men use it to sleep on. The house is used as a guard house for our Regiment. Our Colonels tent is close to it. We was mustered for pay today, but we may not see the money for some time. Good bye William A. Smith

*** This is a continuing presentation of Civil War letters written by William A. Smith. The letters are made available through Marion Brimberry. I have attempted to type the letters as true to the grammar and spelling as presented to me. David Thomson *** Camp ten miles south of Hamburg, Tennessee Sunday evening, May 4th, 1862 My Dear Wife:- You can hardly conceive how anxious I am to have a letter from you. I have not had a letter from you since three weeks last night, but have wrote at least four and I feel confident that you got the one with the money in it, for I sent it by Sergeant Breeze and he gave it to Eldridge Jones at Patoka. You certainly had time to answer it. Why is it that you have not answered it as well as the rest. You cannot tell how it makes me feel to see hundreds of letters each day and none for me. I wrote you a week ago, I hope you have received it before this time, but it may be that you do not get my letters any better than I get yours. We have moved again our encampment about five miles, and now we are within one mile of the line of the State of Mississippi. We are under orders to march again tomorrow morning at 7 o’clock. In fact we had our horses saddled and out waggons loaded this morning, but the order was countermanded and we lie over till morning. I would wait till after we move before I write but that would be too long, as I have always wrote to you regularly each week and some times two letters in one week. The weather is wet and rainy today, but I hope we may have good weather tomorrow. We are having skirmishes with the enemy almost every day, which comes off to our good. Yesterday there was a very brisk cannonading for some little time. I have not heard the exact result but hear that our guns drove the enemy in at a little town called Farmington. It is about seven miles from here. I do hope that before next Sunday I will be able to give you an account of the taking of Corinth. You are no doubt looking this way with an anxious mind and hoping that it may come off to the glory of the Federal arms. I hope it may, and I think it will be almost the death struggle of Rebellion in this part of the Southern Confederacy. Our scouts are capturing and bringing in prisoners almost every day. The country around our camp is rather hilly and very poor. The last years crop along here was nearly all cotton. I have seen yesterday something that you will not be likely to see for some time to come. It was a field of wheat headed out and in bloom. But there is not much wheat or rye growing in this part of the country. In fact there seems to be nothing going on but the war. This war will blast the fortunes of hundreds and thousands of people, both north and south. What a pity that this war every commenced; how soon will it end? I was left back at our camp a couple of days and one night to take care of some things that we could not haul. If I ever saw a lonely place, it is a deserted military camp. I have thought that the Sandy Branch camp ground just after Camp meeting was a lonely place, but only think of a camp of ten or fifteen thousand mean all leaving within an hour or two, except two or three men to each company. At night all is still except an occasional laugh or the neigh of a horse. You must be aware that such a time any one is bound to feel the stillness of the place, which could not be felt only on account of the great company that was saw on the ground but a few hours before. Foster Moon and William Arnold are both still in the hospital at Hamburg. Foster is better. Sergeant Beebe is there also. I have had a diarrhea for some time but keep up and do my duty. I hope I may be able to do my duty as long as I stay in the service. Charlie Lee is with us now. He went home from Cairo as we came up past there. I now hear that John Hamilton has gone to Evansville Indiana. I hope he may soon be able to go home. You will excuse me for the present as I sent you a note in a letter to Dave a day or two ago. Good Bye, William A. Smith