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. near Belle Plains, Virginia, March 3, 1863
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Camp of the 97th Reg. N.Y.V. (97th Regiment, New York)
near Belle Plains, Va. (Virginia) (Belle Plains, Virginia)
March 3d 1863. Dear Mother,
It is some time since I have
received a letter from you: the last one
was brought by Maj.
Northup (Northrup, Charles (Major)) , which I an-
swered the same evening. I expected another
ere this, & presume it is on the way. I wrote to
Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) , at some length, on the 27th & 8th inst.,
& of course, haven't much additional to com-
municate just now. But being somewhat at
leisure, & knowing that you like to hear from
me often, I take this opportunity of writing again.
The weather has been very fine, for a few
days past, & is beautiful today. Last night
it rained pretty hard, for a short time; but
has dried up completely again. The roads
are in many places very bad yet, of course.
I am “officer of the Day” today, & also
“officer of the Guard”, as we have but one now.
The Guard is now “mounted” every morning
at Brigade Headqrs; the Guards of all
the Reg.s in the Brigade, marching up there,
& having “Guard Mounting” all together.
This is in accordance with a recent order
of Col.
Leonard (Leonard (Colonel)) , who now commands the
Division, in the absence of Gen.
Robinson (Robinson, John Cleveland (General)) , &
the innovation is strongly disapproved.
Yesterday Mjs. McGee (McGee (Major)) & Com- stock ( Comstock (Major)) packed up their few remaining Sutler's
goods, & went to Washington (Washington, District of Columbia)
, leaving no one
in charge of the tent which they occupied;
& consequently, last night, their tent was en-
tered, boxes opened, & about 20 or $25
worth of tobacco, matches, cigars, station-
ery &c. stolen. While the Reg. was out
on drill this forenoon, assisted by Serg.
Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald, Frisbie Clark, Lieutenant Sergeant) ,
the “Serg. Of the Guard”, & some of
the 1st Sergts of Co.s, I searched all the
tents of the men & officers, but no tra-
ces of the missing property could be found.
Dark clouds are blowing over from
the west, & there are plain indications
of rain. Tell Gustavus (Palmer, Gustavus M. (Captain)) , that Capt's Parson (Parson (Captain))
& Jillson (Jillson (Captain)) , have been gone
nearly two weeks over their furloughs,
probably intending, & wishing to be dismissed.
The officers are quite indignant, that they
have remained away so long, thus de-
priving others of a chance of obtaining
furloughs, as but two can be absent at
a time. When they return, Lieut's Hall (Hall (Lieutenant))
& Watters (Watters (Lieutenant)) , are next on the list, &
after them Lieut. Alexander (Alexander, George (Lieutenant)) is promised
a furlough. I don't know but I can
get one so as to go at the same time. Do
you think I had better try? The time is
so short, that I couldn't stay long at home,
& it might seem an aggravation to re-
turn so soon. But we may have to
engage in heavy battles before long, & the
future is so uncertain, that it might
be well for me to take the opportunity
of even a short visit home. What do
you think? I had about made up my
mind not to ask for a furlough.
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