Camp Wm. Penn, Philadelphia,
Thursday, Dec. 10, 1863.
Dear Sister L.:—
I have just time to write you a line. I had just two days to spend at home. Trains not connecting and being behind time delayed me. I got here to the camp last Monday and was immediately assigned the command of a full company.
Next day I was put on as “officer of the guard” and my letter writing and everything of the kind are coming out slim.
My regiment is full. The field officers are Colonel Chas. W. Fribley, Lieutenant Colonel N. B. Bartram, formerly Lieutenant Colonel Seventeenth New York, and Major Loren Burritt. The second lieutenant of my company is Jas. S. Thompson.
The regiment is in barracks, just moved in on Tuesday. We are eight miles from Philadelphia, but the cars pass frequently and it is not too far for camps, twenty minutes trip.
I was officer of the guard the day we moved and not allowed to leave my guard, and when the officers’ baggage was unloaded some one took my valise and I cannot find it. It was worth sixty dollars to me at least, and all my papers were in it. It may come to light and the end of the world may come in 1867. One is as probable as the other.
The weather is clear and very cold. I must close. Will tell you more next time. Write soon. Address “Lieutenant O. W. N., Company K, Eighth United States Colored Troops, Camp Wm. Penn, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.”
