Camp 4th Mich. Cavalry Near Gravelly Springs Ala Feb 12th 1865 Orderly Gooding is all right how is Miss Dexter I received your letter of the 25th of Jan. the eighth of this month I answered it the ninth but it got mislaid and this morning I found it had not been sent so I will try again (I have comenced on the wrong side of this sheet but if it dont read straight send it back) I am enjoying myself about as well as could be expected we have good quarters built Frank & myself ocupy one tent and we are very comfortable a good fire place in on corner our bunk on one side the company desk in the corner oppiset the fire so that we have a good place to write and we have a goodeal of writing to do if you could look in & see us you would say we ware taking soldering rather easy and beleive we are. this is sunday morning we have just had Inspection and will have most of the rest of the day to do what we please in I would like to be at home to day I beleive I could pass the time as pleasthtaly away so here but time flyes fast and I dont suppose I ought to feell in a hurry for the time to come when I can say I am a soldier no longer. we are having some of the nicest kind of weather for the past few days. thare is on little fault in some one I suppose you would think it of not much concequence but it makes a differance to ones feeling that is we dont have half enough to eat and have not had for the last twenty days it has been roast corn a goodeal of the time but I guess we shant starve It is no wonder to me now how the rebles live since living as we have for the last few weeks but we live in hopes of more hard tack & less corn before long and I guess we will get it. I see that some of the papers are talking of peace but I dont see much prospect of that yet my ideas of the way the things are running are not much changed from what they ware last fall if they dont have to be a great change in the presant Adminstration before we have peace then I will miss my guess I hope I am not right and that we will have peace before long. but honastely I cant see any good reason to expect peace now nor do I beleive the Southern leaders will accept any terms now but the other than their independance I think if our leading men could only let the Negro alone or let him go for what he is worth and not get him mixed in with everything they undertake then thare might be some sense of talking of a settlement you will see my Negro notions or (copperhed notions) as some call them are not much changed. but enough of this. Frank says put in a good word for him he dont know who I am writing to James D. is all right he is sitting here near me reading he is quite inquistive as to when I have heard from Miss D. of course he finds out all about it. Lt. Col Pritchard has gone home for a short time he has had comand of the regiment for some time and is well liked. you said Hattie had [Written on right-hand side of Scan 4] a beau well who is he some smart fellow I suppose I hope so a least [Written upside down on top of Scan 4] O E Gooding