Louisville K.Y.
		    Dec 17th 1864
     Dear Lucy
			your letter
of the 6th I received the 13th
it found me all right
only I thought you had forgoten
to write I have received but
two letters from you since
I come from home. four weeks
to night since I got to this
camp we have had a few
days of cold weather it is
warm and rainy now & mud
no end to it I never see
it any worse I wish any one

in Mich.. who complains of mud
could see our camp
         	        glad
you said you ^ ware glad we ware
not with Sherman I wish
we ware time would pass faster
than it does now and they
cant have more mud than
we have hear     our Army near
Nashville are having some hard
fighting nowadays Thomas is agoing
for Hood they have had
a hard fight withing two days
our loss is heavy the wounded
are share they can be taken
care of a goodeal better than
they could when we ware down
in Ga..     I guess Frank is
whare he can see something
of the fighting I suppose he is
at Nashville    I have heard nothing
from him since I left him at
home    Delaforce is here has had
a sore thumb so that he could
not write is getting better now
Simmons & Davis are in the same
tent with me Tip is just reading
a letter that he has received from
home     we have received new
horses & new eqipments all throug
out and are ready for a move 
as soon as we get orders
we may stay here a month yet
         may
or we ^ move out any day
I hardly know what to write
dont feel much like writing I
promised to write a good may
letters when I was at home
but I have writen to no one
but you & my own folks
		I think I will stop
Wishing you a Merry Christmas &
a Happy new Year
		         Othniel