Dear Perrants,
I received a letter from you yesterday, dated July the 8th. It gave me the greatest of pleasure to hear that you were all well. My health is as good as usual and my shoulder almost well.
We are camped on land that formerly belonged to President Harrison, on James River. I suppose that you have heard in Kenzua that the rebels were mowing us down right and left, but we gave them as good as they gave us, you had better believe. We killed three or four of them to where they killed one of us, although they outnumbered us three to one - they were so drunk they shot over us. But let me tell you it was a hot place; I don't fancy the place at all; it seemed impossible for anybody to live a minute, but thank the Lord we were able to pay them in their own coin. Our Regiment fought four days in the seven days fight.
IOn Thursday, when the fighting commenced our company had the first shot at the enemy made by our infantry. We were in the edge of the woods behind a fence - the rebels out in the field about ten or fifteen rods off in four ranks marching broadside. We took a rest from the fence and trees and fired. Oh! you ought to have seen them jump up and fall; they did not see us at all, altho' they were on three sides of us. We had now to fall back to our rifle pits and then there was war in the camp in earnest; the fight had actually begun. I laid in our rifle pits right under the mouth of one of our own cannons. Sometimes I thought I should go entirely deaf. Four shells came into our pits where our company was; three of them we flung out before they bursted; the other went into the bank behind us and exploded, though fortunately nobody was injured.
The enemy charged bayonets on us three times, but we cut them down with such a galling fire that they ran back much faster than they came. I fired until my gun got so hot that I could hardly hold it in my hands, and I had to stop to let it cool. On the first day one of our companies, Co. K, was surrounded and taken prisoners before they could get to their rifle pits. The night of the first day we slept in our pits. The next morning the battle was renewed and old Stonewall Jackson was flanking us, and we had to leave the pits and fall back and take a new position. When this order was given, Company E, and the greater part of our company [D] did not hear the order and were left and the rebels got them. That afternoon they came on us again. We laid in the open fields and the rebels mostly in the woods; this was a hard fight; we slaughtered them big, and they killed a great many of us; the ground was spotted with dead rebels. Here I was wounded with a piece of shell, and it seems like a miracle that I got out alive. It was just a buzz, whizz, and all kinds of noise from grape and canister balls and slam bang of bursting shells all around and over our heads, killing men on all sides. Saturday and Monday [remainder of this line of type illegible in microfilm print] Monday was equal to Friday, but I was not engaged for I could not use my left arm.
Thursday night after the firing had ceased, we could hear the wounded rebels cry for help and asking for some one to bring them a drink of water and calling on the Maker to help them. It seemed the most pityful of anything I ever heard or seen to hear the different sounds and moans over the ground. - Some seemed to be in awful agony; but they had to lay there without any one near to give them water or help in the least.
I will now close by observing that it was through the help of the Lord that I escaped so well, and I devoutly thank him for it. Please write soon.
From your affectionate son,
