Annapolis, April 5, ’64.
Dear Father, — . . . We are having a continued storm here, without the slightest cessation. I don’t think we have had three pleasant days since we have been here. They have with two exceptions been snow-storms, but the snow quickly melted away. The only difference between here and home is that it is much more moderate here than there. I suppose you have had snow all the time.
Our camp here is much better than the Readville one. The soil here is sandy, so that the water is quickly absorbed. An hour or two after the storm is over there is scarcely a puddle to be seen, and the ground is dry and hard almost immediately.
The regiment is in a very healthy condition indeed. We have but seven or eight sick in the hospital. . . .
Johnnie Hayden’s battery has come here from Knoxville. I suppose I shall see him soon, as he is encamped about a mile from where we are.
Horace Howland is coming on to see us, from New York, in the course of a week. We shall have quite a class meeting if he gets here.
Colonel Hartranft, who is in command of the troops now here, said that our camp was the best one around Annapolis. This is quite a compliment for a raw regiment.
I see no probability of our leaving here for some weeks. Burnside has established his headquarters at New York for the present. . . .
