Letter written by Rush P. Cady, lieutenant in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company K, to his mother of Rome, New York, from Camp of the 97th Reg. N.Y.V., February 6, 1863
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Camp of the 97th Reg. N.Y.V. (97th Regiment, New York)
Feb. 6th 1863. Dear Mother (Cady, Daniel (Mrs., Fidelia W. Palmer)) (Palmer, Fidelia W. (Mrs. Daniel Cady)) ,
I have but a few moments to write
before the mail will go out, & as it is so long since I have
written, I will now drop a few lines, & write a longer
letter tomorrow or next day. I intended to have writ-
ten this afternoon, but as often happens, the business of
the Co. interfered to prevent. I had to copy a lot of the
Final Statements of Deceased Soldiers (since the organiza-
tion of the Reg.) (& send them to the Adj. Gen. at Washington (Washington, District of Columbia)
.
On Tuesday last, Mrs. Hill (Hill (Mrs.)) arrived from Washington (Washington, District of Columbia)
,
bringing the box of articles, for which I had sent to Mr.
Mendenhall (Mendenhall (Mr.)) .
- It contained a Sword belt for Lt.
Alex (Alexander, George (Lieutenant)) .
A pair of Shoulder straps for me, a mess kit large enough
for three or four, & also dried apples, rolls, chocolate
apples, &c, which Mrs.
Mendenhall (Mendenhall (Mrs.)) sent. It was a
welcome box indeed, & the articles were purchased at
a very reasonable rate. Yesterday morning Alex (Alexander, George (Lieutenant)) &
I started our men, & we like it first rate. Have Gard- ner Clark (Clark, Gardner) to do our cooking, washing &c. And we live nice-
ly, & I think it will also prove cheaper than before. At any
rate we are highly pleased.- This noon we had some of
those tomatoes, opening the can for the first time, They
were quite fresh, & excellently cooked, according to the
directions you gave (Except that we had no butter) so that
it was a “dainty dish” fit “to set before the king.” We had
also Ham, (fried), apple sauce (with lemon-flavored), Soft
bread & chocolate of the first finest flavor.- So you see that
our table is not meanly spread.- But we can live
as well as one could wish, having a great variety.
I have not yet opened that pound of tea.
The weather has been exceedingly bad for the past
few days. A week ago Wednesday night (as I wrote to Grand-
mother) there was a hard snow storm, which continued
throughout Thursday, afterwards turning to rain.
On Sat. last I visited Belle Plain Landing (Belle Plains, Virginia)
, about 3 miles
from here. I can give you no adequate idea of the con-
dition of the roads. Hundreds of army wagons were
going to & from the Landing, drawing rations & supplies,
for their respective Regts. The scenery in the vicinity of
the Landing is very picturesque. The whole country
intervening between here & there is covered with
camps, & netted all over with new roads.
Yesterday considerable snow fell again, completely
covering the ground, but at night it changed to
rain, & has continued, with some intermission since.
We are anticipating the arrival of our box
from home, as it is about time for it to course.
It is getting late & I must close. Yours &
Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) ' letters were received a day or two since.
You had not then received my letters written
just after we were paid.- I think It takes a longer
time for letters to go from here to Rome (Rome, New York)
, than from there
here. My letters from home are generally rec'd 5 days after
their date, & from N.Y. (New York) 4 days. I have been writing a
letter to the citizen, but from some interruptions, was un-
able to finish & send it this week,- will send it next.
Love to all, & write soon. Excuse haste & blots.
Troops are being shipped to Fortress Monroe (Fort Monroe, Hampton, Virginia)
& from there
to NC (North Carolina) (North Carolina)
.
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