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Smith Family Letters

Transcript:

Letter from
James McCalment
to a cousin

July 14, 1862

Page 1 of 4

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                  July 14th

[there           Monday
is  a                 July the
military           14 1862
cartoon            Dear cusin         
in this               it is with
space]              the gratest of
plashure that i ssett down to
drop you a fyew lines to let you
know that i am well and hope
that when this comes to hand it
may find you injoying the
same   it is very warm here       
at this time   we are at the Grand
Junction, Tensee.   the Sech
is as thick as hale here we          
keep all of our horses harnesd
for an a tack but they
dident com in I gess that
tha thout it best to git
out of that for the [scratched out]
was afyerd (?) that we mite		  


Page 2 of 4

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I have not much of importance
to tell you at this time  we
had a good 4th here.  we fired
a National Salute of the guns
The weather is so ex tremely
hot here that we have all
become so lazy that we can
scarcely get out from the
shade if it continues
so much longer we will all
melt in to a hunk of lard. 
we have captured five or six
hundred bales of Cotton
around this place and our
teams are hauling it in
at this time  the Secesh are
all a round us but we go
out every day and make them
skeddle.  I did not get
hit on the head with a
piece of a shell it was a hole

 

Page 3 of 4

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  shell.  It turned me
over 25 or thirty times
but did not hurt me
it did not injure my head
in the least but bounded (?)
off and went thrue a
tree a bout 30 feet in
diameter and killed near
two hundred men in its
course.  Wilson is well and
full of life  I can say the
same for my self.  I
wish you would come and
join our Company.  We need
about 50 more men  there
is so many of our men sick
and gone home together
we just have enough to ?
21 guns and hardly that.
If you go to war go in the
artillery it is such an easy living		  

 

Page 4 of 4

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  I believe I have told
you all the news that is
a ? and I will have
to conclude my letter
by giving my best respects
to all the friends and I
want you to reserv [?] a larg
portion  for your self.

  Most sincineerly yours

(signed)  Corp. James Calment
                9th Batttery  2nd Ind.

    Artillery

  Grand Junction,
          Tennessee

    Direct your letters as
a bove

  

 

  *Note to researcher:  This letter has been transcribed by Archives staff verbatim
as the words appear on the original written page.  The spacing, punctuation, and
capitalization are identical.  Words that are unclear have been enclosed in brackets.