January 28th, 1864.
The all-absorbing topic with the Ninth Corps continues to be the probability of our speedy departure. No one doubts our going, but where and when? Is it strange that we would leave this place, and that right speedily? It is the possibility, should we go north, of seeing our loved ones once more, if only for a brief period. Rumor says, and Dr. Bonine, Division Surgeon, corroborates it, the different regiments are going to their respective states to recruit. Who can blame us for cherishing the fond delusion, for such it will, doubtless, prove.
Mr. Collier has just arrived from camp. He makes his presence doubly welcome by bringing me a letter from my dear wife bearing date December 30th. How precious to me are these favors, permitted by kind heaven, to keep me from despair. I do not become accustomed to the separation. I long more and more for the society of my wife and children.
Governor Blair and Dr. Tunnicliffe are entitled to the gratitude of soldiers and their friends for their persevering efforts in our behalf. Some Northern papers speak disparagingly of the high bounties offered by Government. What, then, is to be done? We must have men, and “it is beneath the dignity of freemen to submit to conscription.” So says Governor Seymour. Perhaps it may be cheaper to buy volunteers, even at one thousand dollars a head, than to enforce the Conscription Act. Our currency is a marvel to the world. It will bear the strain; and then, soldiers will vote next fall.
