Camp Comfort Ronoke
Jan 25/63

Dear wife
I seat myself this beautiful sabath morning to inform you I received your kind letter and read it with pleasure. Was glad to hear you was getting along an well as you say you are. I am well at this time as common with the exception of cold which I have in abundance, enough almost to kill a cow.

We have removed from where we was when I wrote you last. We are now some three miles from town close to the railroad in a beautiful white oak grove. Close to a creek that affords plenty of water for cooking and washing, we are tolerably well situated at this encampment. The most of the messes have built chimneys or flues to there tents which make them very comfortable in cold weather.

I am very well satisfyed here at this camp but would be better satisfyed if I was at home. Camp life has no charms for me now like it did when first went in the service. I get very tired being confined in camp so long at one place. We cant get out camp without a pass which is very cofining to me to stay in camp all the time. I havent been from camp but once since we left home, that was to town on business. In place of this being a camp of instruction its a camp of destruction all mingled and commingled together. You might sit in your tent of a night and hear some singing, some praying, some fiddling and dancing, and at intervals you might hear some one bawl out my trick by god, high, low Jack and the game, four times while you are nothing. Prayer going on in the next tent to whare they are playing cards all at the same time. Each fellow attending to his own business.

If from the above you may draw a feint idea of camp life, while I write you this I am siting in my tent from which I can hear the Rev Mr I dont know who he is, preaching. He is our intended chaplain. I think he is one of those one horse fellows and a methodist at that. I think preaching in camp is like singing salms to dead horse for all he good it does.

I dont know as I shal go to hear him unless I start to xxxx, I have to go that way and probably I may stop awhile and listen to him if I am not pushed. If it were not for the money he would be some where else.

We get nothing to eat here but salt beef. and bread, sugar and rice occasionally. The sugar we save to sweeten our tea, which is made mostly from sassafras roots boiled in a pan. I havent eat anything but beef and bread since I left home, nothing here but wheat bread and bull beef twice a day. I have eat so much beef that I am actualy ashamed to look a cow in the face.

We have organized the regt, Ferguson in our Col William Graeham lieut Col, Nowning maj. I am very well satisfied with our officers, they are all first rate fellows. I think maj. Caldwell was cut intirely out. He will be our quartermaster according to appointment, a very good one too.

I want you to feed my mair good until I come home. Try and mend her up if you can a little, be careful though with food. It your food gets scarce buy a load of hay from some person it you can. Dont sell anything in the shape of provisions for its going to be very scarce, cant be bought for love nor money next summer.

I will bring my letter to a close as the boys wants there rations. Write to me again soon, direct in care of Col Ferguson. Please excuse my bad spelling and vulgar language. Nothing more at this time.

Yours affectionately

I. V. Reynolds