Transcription
Addison, Ills. March 29, 1864
Dear Son,
You probably have been waiting for a long time to get a letter from me[.] I wanted to write you sooner, but since I had a lot to do and since I have not had something very interesting to report to you I just kept pushing it off. I glean from your letter of February 8th that you did not reenlist and that the 33rd Regiment is on its way home. I am also glad that you are no longer attempting to reenlist, and even though I can make sacrifices when necessary, I would not have liked it had you reenlisted, and there are plenty of reasons for that, so many that I cannot talk about them here.
Since you now only have a short time of service left, we are hopeful that you will happily finish it. And when you get back home you will of course have the freedom to do as you wish. And since I think the life of a soldier did not offer you much, I believe you will give yourself over – since you have arrived at the appropriate age when you must decide [–] to your future stable profession[.] To have reenlisted because of some advantages would have been foolish, since when you stay home and take up agriculture, you will be able to more than you were allowed to in the Army, bounty and everything else considered.
The government is no longer in dire need of troops, since nearly all the old Regiments [that have soldiers] on leave have been replenished by volunteers[.] Even if they did lack troops, they now have time to pass another law to fill the ranks. The 33rd Regiment arrived in Bloomington last week. Wim [Wilhelm] Radke has already been here for the past few days and Holzkamp came here yesterday; I know this because I spoke to him at church this morning. Both of them look good, but Radke does not want to reenlist, but will stay with the Regiment until his time is up. I do not know if Bradford Wakemann is here now or not.
We have not heard from Brother August since Hermann wrote you. Here at home we are all doing well, the weather became very unpredictable this winter. Right now it is very cold, [which explains why] there have been many illnesses and deaths, probably due to nerve fever[.] And so too Heinirch Rotermund died unexpectedly and will be buried tomorrow. Aunt Henriette Fischer became dangerously sick, but is healthy again.
Beside these things, I cannot think of anything important to say[.] We have not gotten much news from the theater of war, which means the newspapers are talking a lot more about the next presidential election, where Abraham Lincoln will probably be reelected. Write as soon as you can, since we want to hear how you and the others are doing in the 99th Regiment and whether you kept your appointment.
Mother send her heartfelt greetings, and since, like I already said, there is nothing else of interest to say, I will close with my own greetings.
Your Father,
H. D. Fischer
This letter was translated from German.
