Winchester Oct. 23rd /64
Dear Father and Mother
I take my pen again to 
write you a few lines in 
answer to yours of' the7th
which I rec'd last night.
I was very glad to get a few 
lines from you again and 
hear that, Charlie was getting
better. I also rec'd two f'rom 
Jane of the 7th and 11th. 
I think I ought to get one 
or two more by the next 
mail and hope to hear you
are all well again.
I am well as usual with 
the exception of being rather 
tired and sore. I walked from
Martinsburg yesterday and it 
was rather a hard tramp
for sure 22 miles the distance 

I found Will all right and 
was very glad to see him 
once more. I presume you 
have got the f'irst letter that 
I wrote you about Ard's death,
if you have to day finds 
you a sad and sorrowfull 
family. It is a sad thing 
indeed to part with such 
a Son and Brother. But 
such is the fortunes of war, 
and we have the satisfact
ion to know that he died a
Noble Soldier, doing his duty 
in a good cause. He was very 
much interested in this 
war, so much so that he 
was talking something about 
it after it he was wounded 
and out of' his right mind.
It seems very hard that he 
should be taken away with
out seeing the Rebellion crushed 

as he earnest1y hoped for. 
I am very glad that I was 
so fortunate as to be with 
him during his last days. 
I done all 1 could for him 
and would have been glad 
to done more if it would 
have saved him. But I could 
not. I should have felt 
much better if he had been 
rational so as to talk with 
me whi1e sick. Part of the 
time he suffered a good deal 
of pain, but at times he
seemed to sleep quite easy. 
could speak but a short time 
before he died, but knew 
not what he said although 
he new me all the time. 
Poor Boy, his troubles are past 
now. The last work that he and 
I done to gather was to wash 
and prepare that box of

clothing to send home and 
I never shall forget how anx
iously and earnestly we wor
ked preparing them. Many 
happy hours have we spent 
together since he joined the 
Regt. But alas how changed 
when I go back to the Co [torn edge]
[illegible in original] I shall find the boys all 
very glad to see me and there 
will be many pleasant faces. 
But it will not be as usual. 
One will be missed, yes
Ard wi11 not be there to greet 
us as usual. It dont seem 
as though I can be very contented 
with the company again. But 
I shall try to keep good cheer 
as possible, and you must 
all do the same, for, Gods 
wi11 be don e, not ours.
It is a comfort to me that I 
have a Brother here yet. I am
with him now and shall try to
stay with him most of the time [torn]