Digital Collections @ St. Lawrence University

Mother, I take the present oppertunity to write a few lines

Mother, I take the present oppertunity to write a few lines
Mother, I take the present oppertunity to write a few lines
Mother, I take the present oppertunity to write a few lines
Mother, I take the present oppertunity to write a few lines

Overview

Creator: 
Sunderland, Darwin
Subject: 
Sunderland, Darwin
Coverage: 
Grafton, VA
Source: 
Original letter: ink on paper, 4 p.
Language: 
English

Transcript

Grafton Virginia
May 4th/[18]63


Mother,
I take this present opportunity to write a few lines to you to let you know that I am well.  We are still in the front of the enemy and do not know how soon we may be attacked.  Saturday night a dispatch came that we were to be attached before morning so we were keep to work making breast works and cutting timber out of our way so that day light we had everything ready for an attack and almost every man was wishing for the battle to commence but to our utter disappointment the rebs did not come[.] we lay on our arms all day looking for the devils to come but they don’t not[.] we were ready for 10,000 if they had as large a firce [force], but they did not come and I do not think they would if there had been twice that number[.]  Everything looks gay here now.   Fruit trees look splendid.   They have been in bloom about one week garden flowers are also beginning to blossom.  I am now in a house where there is two nice young ladies[.] I have been having quite a good visit with them[.] Tthey have a brother in the army he is in the grand army of the Potomac.   We have had something of a trial of soldiering for the last ten days but do not know what we shall do to go through the next week[.]
It has been 11 days since we last had any mail and we do not know when we shall get where we can get any.
This has been the fourth letter I have written since I started from north mountain but whether you have got them or not I cannot tell[.] if you have not, you probably will in course of time.  The two companies that were taken prisoners are peroled [paroled] and some of them will soon be at home I think for they James Hall from our school district was taken prisoner and Frank Eddy from the falls [.] Lieut Glass is here now and his wounds are doing well.   All our wounded are doing well.   It is reported that we killed 127 rebs and they killed 3 of ours[.]
No more at present[.] you may write and direct to Washington D.C.
D. W. Sunderland
I send you a picture of a soldier after one weeks campaign[.]

Rights

Rights Management: 
Original materials may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (more information).
Date Original (Precise): 
May 4, 1863

Technical

Digitization Specifications: 
Scanned at 600ppi on Epson 1000XL scanner as 48-bit RGB uncompressed TIFF images. Images resized to 960 pixels wide, 150 dpi, and saved as JPEG (level 10) in Photoshop CS5 with Unsharp Mask of 60:1.
Date Digital: 
September 27, 2011
Format: 
image/jpeg
Type: 
Text

Location

Series: 
1
Box: 
1
Folder: 
19