Dear Mother,

I received your letter last night.  I was extremely delighted to hear from you.  It appears that you have not got any letters that I have wrote since I have been in the Battery except the one I wrote at Pleasant Valley.  I have wrote three since but have received no answer to any of them till last night.

It has now been six months since we were paid off last and everyone is out of money.  Even if we had money, we could not buy postage stamps here now.  I had a good supply but lent most of them thinking we would soon be paid off and I could get plenty more.  I am sorry that your health is poor.  You must not work too hard.  When I get paid, I will send you some money to buy your clothes and the children’s.  I am well off for clothes now. I was rather bad off for shoes for some time ago but have a good pair now.  I have not been well for some time back but am as well as ever now.  I wrote a few days ago.  You will probably get that before you do this. 

We have all got log huts built with canvas roofs and a fireplace at one end.  We get along very comfortably.  We have had some pretty cold weather but it is very pleasant now.  We had a very nice soup for Christmas dinner but I could not eat any.  We had coffee and a gill of whiskey.

You must take good care of Freddy for I want to see him again.  How does father get along with the house?  What is he doing?  Does he get plenty of work?

What does he think of the nigger question?  I have had an opportunity to see how the negroes are treated and to see what kind of people they are.  There is not one half as intelligent as a dog and they are a great deal more inhuman looking.  They are fit for nothing but slaves.  Everyone wants a good stern master or the nigger will be master himself.  I think that if they are freed they ought to all be shipped to Africa.  I had a great deal rather fight for the Southern Confederacy than fight to free the niggers.  There is a great many of them that are officers servants and the privates have to wait on them more than they wait on the officers.

Send some more stamps.  If I get that other letter, I will write.  Direct your letters as before.  My love to you all.  Goodbye for this time.

From your son,