Name/Title
AU Monroe, Abner - 1863-04-14 letter to Daniel W. LambertEntry/Object ID
1990.1.505Context
Camped at Moscow Tenn
April 14th 1863
Respected Cousin
It is with great pleasure that I have seated my self this evening to try to answer your welcome letter whitch come to hand this evening and was recived and read with the greatest of pleasure and to let you now that I am well and hearty and enjoying my self as well as a soldiers life will permit me to and hope when these few lines reach you they will find you and Deborah and all the rest enjoying good health which is wone of the great blessing well Dan you dont now how tickeled I was to get a letter from you for it had bin so long since I recived a line from you that I begun to think you had forgot me but I guess you have not I now that I have not forgot you and the pleasures that I enjoyed while I lived at your house Dan now body nows the pleasures of a home untill they have left wone and gone far a way then they feel the loss of home and friends both well Dan we are a guarding the railroad and wone or tow briges over wolf river thier is our regiment and tow more and wone Battery is all the troops that is here wee have throwed up a little breastworks in three Diferent places to ... from the enemy and we put our time in standing picket and Drilling twice a Day it goes alittle against the grain to Drill for we have Drill so much since we have bin out but it dont make any Difference for our old Colonel takes us out nearly every after noon and Drills us tow hours on Double quick and you had better think it gives us a good apetite for hard Cracker we call them Mrs Lincolns sweat Cakes but we draw light bread three days out of a week well Dan now for something else I have heard it in tow or three letter from home and Chesterhill and they all think that I am sechess because I wrote something about fighting for the neagroes well Dan so a fellers heart is all wrte it dont make any difference what people think a bout you does it I am for the union soul and body and always expect to be and if I was Discharged to Day i would Enlist in less than two days again for our Cause is just and Conker we must or lay every Yankee low in the Dust and I am wone that will be contented to serve my three years out willingly if they wont me to well Dan I am not tired of fighting for the union nor never will be well Dan you said that every slave we took weakened the southern army I am with you thier I think the Proclamation hurt the South as bad as the ball of Fort Donelson and every neagroe we Captured from them is as bad on them as if we had Captured a bushel of corn or a bail of Cotton for they would Raised that much if we had not got them dan I am perfectely willen that the neagroes shall be freed and sent of by thier selves you always nowed that dident you for dont you remember when John Brown maed hes reid in Virginia how I went against you and Ike Porter on the subject it does look purty hard for a soldier to risk his life for the freedom of neagroes but then we must save the union and it will free the neagroes to and I dont care if it takes the life of old Jeff and all of his Crew wonece they had the rains in thier hands but the horse run off and throwed the rider into a fit of Confedracy and old Abe got in to the sadle an checked him well Dan you must not think that I am sechess for I am as far from it as any body a living well Dan I reckon your are somebody for seartain since you have got a new house and pleanty of land and all you have to do is to live now and enjoy it you have got a nice little farm well Dan they have comenced giving furloughs in our regiment now thier has several gone home now but thier has none started out of our Company yet but they will tow start in a few days they will get 30 days furloughs but only tow gets to go out of a Company at a time and it will take about 20 months to give them all wone al them lieks but the officers and seargeants and Corporals will get the first wones so I dont think I will get wone before my time is out but If I live that long I think I will except of wone then well Dan I am on Camp guard to night and I am sitting up and writing while all the rest is in bed Asa and Eligah are both well and Asa is in bed and begining to snore well Dan I will tell you what kind of grub we draw we get light bread half of the time and the rest hard crackers and fat pork and beans and a few potatoes [--lt] homony some molasus and a little whiskey and several things to [-egious] to menention but we get pleanty the most of the time some times we run out and then they is a kick up in the kitchen they are going to fill all of the old regiments up with Conscripts and I think it is a good idea for thier is so many peaces of regiments and so many officers a getting pay that is not doing no duty I got a letter from Jonathan Fawcett last evening he is in port Royal and well and hearty well I must bring my scribbling to a close for it is getting late and nearly time for me to go on guard so no more at preasant please excuse mistakes and bad writing for thier is pleanty of them give my love to all that enquires after me and keep a good ration for your self and family so [mo] but well wishes from your well wishing Cousin
Remember me when this you see and I'll rememer you think of the last time you saw me and I'll do so to
Abner [L] Monroe
to Daniel W Lambert
and Deborah V Lambert
Direct to
Moscow Tenn
53 reg to Co B in Care
of J O Parrill
Smiths Division
Via memphis Tenn
Write soon Write soon
