Letter from Samuel S. Brooke to sister

Creator:

Brooke, Samuel S. (Samuel Selden), 1841-1918

Scope and content:

Written from Orange Court House, Virginia. Letter regards life in camp and general Civil War news.

Language:

English .

Other descriptive data:

Camp near Orange C. H.
Augst. 18th, 1863

Dear Sister--
I wrote a long letter to sister Fenton yesterday & have, I believe, written myself out of news & and everything else. I am afraid I shall have to write you a short and uninteresting letter.

We heard yesterday that the Yankees has retreated to the other side of the Rappahanock. What their next move might be I don't know. Some seem to think that they will go on the peninsulas or somewhere on the south side of the James River, but I do not think so. I think they will always keep an army between us & Washington, & their army is now too weak to be divided.

Fenton says in her letter that she & the Dr. have gotten situations in Camp Jackson. Where is Camp Jackson? I do not remember ever to have heard of it. I hope they will be comfortably fixed & succeed as well as they wish in their new situation. I expect that Maj. Bruce will get a transfer to Engineering dept: he is applying for it. I hope he will succeed. He is tired to death I know with this kind of service and so am I. Marching I do detest & fighting I love no better, but there is no other alternative for me. I am not an Engineer & anything else that I know of but a blockhead an annoyance to myself and all concerned with me. I had thought of running off & jumping aboard the Florida or something of the sort but when I reflected that the Florida was probably too far from shore for me to jump into her I abandoned the idea.

We are however very comfortably fixed here, have a tent & plenty of beef to eat, etc. I have not been out of camp but once since I have been here, they are very strict and no one can leave camp without a pass signed by a Maj. Genl. It is most agreeably cool this morning, something like fall, heretofore it has been scorching hot & I am glad to see a prospect for a more agreeable spell. I have been looking out for another letter from some of you. When I am not on duty I just lie in my tent and calculate the probability of my getting a letter on that day or the next and am almost always disappointed. I do not believe I get half the letters you write me. I have not heard but once from you since you married & that has been a month ago. One letter a month! But I know you have a great many things to occupy your mind.

Dr. Bankhead has just come in & I have to entertain him as no one else is here. He comes over very frequently. I am afraid I shall have to cut my letter short as I have been talking to him until it is nearly time for the mail to go. I shall look daily for a letter from some of you. How are the girls in Danville? I hope you will be able to find a school they will like better something more private than a regular boarding school I would suggest. I think there are serious objections to a boarding school such as I imagine [Mr. Dames'?] to be but you all know more about all that than I do. I would give anything to see you all if it was only for 5 minutes, but it is an impossibility to do so now. We have now but 6 officers in the whole Regiment exclusive of the Field & staff. The Regt. is divided into 5 companies commanded by Capts. Wharton, Woolfolk, Garland, Green & myself, & one Lieutenant. Clarence Woolfolk is now Capt. I suppose that you knew that before. I must now close as it is moving near to the time when the mail starts & Dr. B is dinging in my ears so I can not write. Write to me soon very soon. Give my best love to Mr. A__, Aunt Louisa, Fenton, the Dr. & the boys. Give my best love to the Girls when you write to them & remember me to all enquiring friends.
Your devoted brother, Saml. S. Brooke.

Subjects:

Confederate States of America. Army—Virginia Infantry Regiment, 47th
United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Personal narratives—Confederate
Correspondence

Names:

Brooke, Samuel S. (Samuel Selden), 1841-1918

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