Sister Emma; It is with pleasure I seat myself to answer your short letter

Camp 106th Regt N.Y.S.V.
Warrenton City July 20th

Sister Emma;

It is with pleasure I seat myself to answer your short letter which I have just received.  I was pleased to learn that you  were well and also that you were getting along so well with your studies.  I hope you will try and out do the best scholars in the school.  I was also much pleased to learn that you were getting along so well with your music and that your ______ spoke so well of you.  I hope to be able to come home this fall to make you all a visit and I hope you will be able to entertain me with some good pieces of music that you can play to perfection.  It is raining quite hard jest now and perhaps you would like to know how we are situated.  Well we have taken the ramrods out of our guns and stuck our guns up by the bayonets in the ground and tied our goon blankets up on them and are setting flat on the ground under them.  and in this situation I now set with my portfolio on my lap writing to you so you need not wonder at my poor writing.  and this is better than we have sometimes.  I have not been inside a house for six weeks.  I must close, give my regards to Miss Olin also all the rest of my old acquaintance, and when you write again tell me what Lorily Nighengale is doing this summer whether she is married or not.  Nothing more this time so good-by.  Write again  This from your brother D.W.S.

(In upper part of pg. 2)

P.S. I sent you $15.00 and I will send the other $2.00 over D.W.S.