Monday, January 04, 1864 - Stevenson, Alabama

#49

Stevenson Ala Jan 4th 1864

Dear Wife

I now seat myself to answer your letter of the 22ⁿ I received it yesterday Sunday was sorry to hear that you ware all so badly afflicted with colds your letter found me well as useual and am the same to day and I hope when this reaches you it will find you all free from your colds and in a good healthy condition and anxiously waiting for this sheat of scrabled paper if you have to waite as long as I do sometimes after I expect to find one you might get tired of looking but they generaly come along after awhile I wrote to you in my last that I expected to move then in a short time but I have not gone yet but expect to now every day a part of the Regiment has gone five companys went New Years day and I suppose that we are to follow soon, we have had four days of very cold weather as cold as we often get in Connectticut we had two or three days rain for the old year to leave, in New Years eve it cleared off and come round snapping cold there was three soldiers froze to death that night down to Bridgeport nine miles from this place so you can judge for yourself whether it was cold or not that is what I call mild weather for the suny south; last night it comenced storming again it hailed at first but turned to rain and is raining to day so I presume we shall have another fine spell of mud to wallow through and probably to move in if we dont it will be the strangest thing that ever was known, I dont fancy this country any great deal had full as lives stop in old Connecticut the land of stedy habits and wooden nutmegs awhile longer yet. If I could be fortunate anough to get there once more, you wanted to know what kind of a place this is I will tell you as near as I can, It is a regular mudy God forsaken hole It lies in a vally at the foot of a range of the Cumberland mountains off at the east and south is quite a distance of level land at the north & west a few rods from my tent looms up a high range of mountains rocky & scraggy we have to climb the side of the mountain about half of a mile and back down what wood we have to burn and I assure you it takes a little to keep us warm this weather there is about a dozen houses in the place and they are pretty badly tore to peaces that is what makes a big city in the South there is two depots though I forgot to mention and a few old [seatering] houses round the outskirts of the city, I am on duty now every day at one of the depots whare the commissarys stores are kept you wanted know if I was near Horatio and the other boys I am about a quarter of a mile from him about 1 ½ miles from Ed Purple and the same from Otis & Wilis Ayrs only in another direction and nearly three miles from Culver so you see that our company is somewhat scattered but if we move we shall come together again I shall be on guard to night from 10 till 11 O,clock three hours that makes rather of a long time to stand this cold weather Georgia must not get to be to fast a young lady for you know that haves a bad affect sometimes, my love to every one of you from your Husband

A.C. Smith