John McCoy, letter, to Martha McCoy, 1864 July 12

your favor of the 24th June came to hand on the 5th inst. and as usual it was thankfully Recd. I was very glad to ^hear^ you and the children were all well also father & mother. the Doctors favorable opin-ion of M-Janes Recovery I hope will is well foun -ded— But Gardner Poor Alick I shudder when I think of his name. his cruel fate, if true but I still have hopes yet that he still survives. that the report that he fell on the third of June I cannot believe. Since I received your last letter I sent to the news room for the "N.Y. Herald" that continued the casu-alities of the 2 & 3 June I read over & over every name of those that belonged to the 8th N.Y. Gardners name I could not see the 1st Liue in his company was killed and also Col. Porter in command of the Regt I saw the list before to satisfy myself as above I examined it again and I repeat I have hopes. and as for Brother ^Tom^ his career is hid behind a dark cloud Greggs Division has been in action several times but further I know not

delay not one moment in giving me any information ^concerning^ either of them as I will be uneasy until I hear more of them. but bad news from that quarter would not dispoint me much— With regard to my own health I have nothing to report very favorable for the last three or four days I have a slight attact of the chronic Diarehia which still continues but as yet I consider I am in no dan-ger. when last I wrote on the 2d inst I was on the sick report with my eyes ^&^ canker in the mouth, tho got better but infact the weather is so warm at present that general debility prevails among the Troop. as for myself I feel very weak. the rations are good enough. but I cannot eat salt meat although we have excellent boiled ham as I ever saw. we give the most of our grub to negrow Boys for washing our dishes. we get tea every evening for supper the only thing I relish when I mix it with milk which I purchase at 20 cents per quart. indeed since pay day I have bought nearly all I eat you may think it extravigant but I think it is better to spend a little in order if pofsible to give me a little strength until the extreme hot weather is over. the men in ^our^ Regt. is dying very fast the firing over the graves is heard to often for me you may be on guard with a man to day tomorrow or next day you will hear he is dead with Typhoid Fever Frequently the men drop in the ranks with sun

stroke and carried of to hospital on a stretcher most of them is moved next to the grave yard—- It is still rumored that we are to gow to the front we are all ordered by the commanding officer to draw what clothing we want as we may be ordered to march in a minutes notice. Troop came into the city yesterday from the north it is supposed to take our place. but I still ^think^ we will be kept here for some time yet as the 2d Mass. is the only Regt. qualified to defend the fortification around the city. and this place is of considerable impor-tance to the government on [illegible: [guess (MKR): a/c]] of the revenue aris-ing from the confiscated estates. and the cotton crop looks splendid (to good for the rebels to harvest). The slaughter at richmond is awful but I am satisfied the will fight it out this sum-mer. I think this is the last campaign of ^the^ War but the Troops ^will^ suffer severely on both sides before anything decisive can be accomplished. you still owe me three letters previous to this dated June 19th 23rd July 2d I sent you 40 dollars on June 21st. I should have heard from you by this time as I have only 30 days to file my application for indemnification as per insurance. I think my letters is neglected as Chateaugay or you would receive them quicker Albert is old enough to go to the post office for a

letter and I think you might send him and not depend on the casual call of strangers at the office and the necessary delay of remiting them to you after. for some time past I have written to you regular and I hope I will be able to continue to do so therefore you should make arrangements to receive them regular. I expect two months pay soon that ^is^ for May & June I will remit all I can spare as soon as paid. Gold has run so high that in fact there is no stated value for it. be as careful of the money as you can for I still think Green Backs will come up yet I mentioned to you in a former letter about buying a heifer for Beef that of course you will use your own Judgment about. all I can say be careful at the same so long as you have any money keep your self and the children as comfortable as you can. please let me know what you pay for things at Chateaugay and how markets are in general. I hope you are wise enough not to neglect sending the Boys to school. I am afra-id you may let them work round for a mere nothing and thus spend their time when the might be more advantageous employed at school.

you have had ample experience how the Boys were used previous to this summer and I hope you will have sense enough not to play the same game over again- you will try and cut the dam as early as pofsible you might make a little bee as I think there is men enough that owes me for past favors if the have not forgot it to cut it all you and the Boys can take care of it and get some person to draw it in. I think there will be enough to feed Both cows if you save it right I want you to winter them Both if possible as the manure will be worth something I hope I will be home in the spring to use it myself fix the stable early in the fall so that you can save all the manure- Give my love to my father and mother and all the rest of the family tell Davy that he is very slow in answering my letter perhaps he is [illegible] to write any if so I must excuse him—- I am shure father will fret about Gardner if his untimely death is confirmed (as God

send that it may not) the unknown fate as yet Tom will naturally cause him trouble advise him to take matters as easy as possible. he may pine and fret but it will not recall one iota of the deeds or trasactions of the past nor will it bear any influence on the fate of the future. he must bear no mind that according to the common course of nature he is very liable to have that unavoid-able enemy death declare war against him at any time therefore during his little time of probation here he ought to make himself comfortable as possible. give me all the particulars how the old man & old women get along. write me all about the children seperately I want to hear how pip can talk. tell me how the Boys behave themselves and in Fact were I in your place I could find material enough to wirte a letter every day but as the mail is closing I must close to.