Baton Rouge La July 9th/64
Dear Mother
I have just received your letter of June 26th was glad to hear from you for it has been some time Since I hears, you speck of its being very dry no rain. it seems that it don’t rain only at one place at a time last spring when you were having so much rain it did not rain here at all hardly now it is very dry with you and we have rain most every day.. we will have a shower then the sun will come out warm enough to rost a man.. the weather is so warm when it does not rain that we do (don’t?) drill much now days but we have considerable duty to do. I come on guard or Picket about twice a week. then we have considerable Fatigue duty to do, such as loading and unloaing Boats of forage and commissary stores and halling wood & water and policing the quarters.. we have just finished up a job of unloading a large Vessel loaded with Ice that lately Sailed from the Kenebeck River. the Ice is for the benefit of the Hospitals furnished by the Sanitary Commission.. when we were working at it we had all the Ice water we wanted, and when we went up for dinner or at night we would take a chunk with us..then we would have Ice cold Lemonade, all ready made, right in the shade, Stirred up with a spade paddle. you seem to think you are going to have trouble with the Copperheads, I don’t know but you may, but if Gen Grant is Successful in his campagne which I feel shure he will be, the Copperheads & Rebs both better dry up. I think they have not much spunk up that way to be scared out by old Vallandigham.. if old Abe lets him stay in the State he is going to loose a good many Votes by it. you said you had heard from me by the way of Bill Smith when I was in Orleans. I was down after our things we left there before we went on the Red River expedition. Bill has got a pretty good position Qtrmasters orderly. All he had to do is to carry orders. you spoke of my getting George’s letters I have got but one with his Photograph.. that is the only letter and the only Photographs.. I wrote to him the other day. the 23rd Wis Regt of our Div. has gone to Orleans and I guess the rest of us will stay here. there is no other here now than our Div.. the 48th Ohio Regt of our Div have gone home. they are Veterans, there are some in it from Delaware Co.. there is no particular news to write all quiet at Baton Rouge.. there was considerable going on the Fourth but I was on Picket untill about noon so I did not have much of a time.. there are said to be about one thousand Rebs out about 40 miles from Baton Rouge quite a number of them have deserted and come in since we have been here.. the other night there was two Capt and one Lieut come in.. the boys from our post are well.. let me know if you get my money I sent.. Send yours letters by the way of New York.. I will send some postage Stamps that have no musalege on them. I had them in my pocket they got wet. maby you can fix them so you can use them. when you write let me know how the Folkes are getting along especialy them that have boys in the Co. they are all anxious to hear when I get a letter.. and I am same when they get a letter. I will stop I never wrote so poor before I dont know what ales me Write soon an often and oblige
Lu Carhart