PHILIP
May 12th
It is hot here in Virginia. Our boat landed at Belle
Plain. Mary, it was the first time I was on a
steamboat to take a ride. We drew 5 days rations and
60 rounds of cartridges and are marching towards
Fredericksburg. There was a hard battle fought today.
We could hear the roar of cannons all day.
May 15th
We are in the front line of battle behind our rifle
pits and we are ready to move at a moment’s notice on
the enemy. We are about 2 miles from Spotsylvania
Court House. I am sending this by a wounded soldier.
PHILIP (con’t)
May 19th
Camp near the front, Spotsylvania
Dear Wife,
I am alive yet for which I am thankful to God for his
kindness to me. We was in a battle on the 18th and was
shelled like forty. The shot and shell came almost as
thick as a blinding snowstorm. There was some of the
hardest of fighting done that ever was fought and our
army is victorious. We took about 1,000 prisoners and
have Lee surrounded and will no doubt capture him and
his army. Mary, I am well and in good spirits. We may
have a battle at any moment. Brother Martin was
wounded the 5th of this month in the left shoulder by
a minnie ball and the last I heard from him he was in
the hospital and doing well. But Dan Luke is missing
since the first battle and suppose he is killed.
Please write soon and I will write when I can, and
will write more if I am alive or am spared.
PHILIP
June 5th, 1864
Cold Harbor, Virginia
Mary, we are in a dangerous place. We made a charge
up on the Rebel rifle pits and went through an awful
shower of bullets. We have been under continual fire
for four days. The bullets flew thick as hail. The
ground was covered with dead and a great many wounded.
One was shot in the neck and fell on me and made me
all bloody. Some of the balls came very close to me
and threw sand in my face and eyes. Shells burst so
close they made me almost deaf. At present the
bullets are flying thick and fast.
Now Mary, don’t fret.
God only knows if I will ever come home again. If
I fall do not mourn for me. Pray that we may meet
again - if not in this world we may meet in Heaven.
P. S. Please let me know about Martin and Daniel if
you hear of them.
PHILIP
June 19th
Dear Wife, I am well and in the forest of Petersburg,
Virginia. We can see Petersburg plain. Our men are
throwing shells into the town every 15 minutes day and
night. Mary, we had a hard march. We traveled day and
night and got no sleep for 36 hours at a time. We
crossed the James River on pontoons below City Point.
There was 104 pontoons. I counted them.
Mary, we was in another hard battle yesterday. Oh,
but the bullets flew thick and the cannons roared. We
had to hug the ground very close to keep from getting
hit. I do not know how we did escape as we did. It
was a miracle. In the evening we buried the dead
under a flag of truce.
Dear wife, I mourn terribly for my brother.
