Annapolis, Md., April 8th, 1864.
There have been rumors in camp ever since we came here, and long before, for that matter, all tending homeward. The fond illusion is, at last, dispelled. Colonel Luce returned last night. He says Governor Blair and himself did all in their power to get the regiment home on furlough. They wrote the War Department, and were refused on the ground that we had not been out long enough to entitle us to one. I did not expect one from the regiment. All my hope was in the hospital. Only a bare possibility now remains. How fondly I had hoped to see my loved family before active operations were resumed was not fully realized until now. I try to bow submissively. I cannot forget that I still owe my best services to my country.
I have been blest with health such as I had not enjoyed for years while engaged in the peaceful and, to me, congenial, avocations of life. Mail facilities are good, and I will try and catch the few rays of sunshine it affords.
