Headquarters 56th Mass. Vols.,
Near Petersburg, Va., July 20, 1864-
Dear Hannah, — I received two letters from you at Beverly, dated on the 14th and 15th inst. I judge that you must be having a very pleasant time. . . . I think Miss Gardner would like to be out here. She might charge over some field where men had been fighting, and nearly step on many a poor dead fellow. It is the most unpleasant part of a fight to see some poor fellows horribly mutilated and dead lying by one’s side.
Raish Jarves arrived here yesterday. He will probably be put on court-martial. I went up with him to see General Burnside, who was quite kind to us. . . .
The rebels are getting a splendid range on us with their mortar-shells. They are beginning to throw them into the trenches, which makes it slightly uncomfortable, as you can well imagine. They send a piece through my shanty occasionally. At night it is really good fun to watch them. You can see them gracefully ascending until they almost seem to stand still, and then down they come faster and faster, and finally explode. As a general rule, they do but little damage, for it is very difficult to get an accurate range with them. Just as I had written this, along came two mortar-shells, and burst within 40 feet of my shanty. Pleasant life we lead here, I can assure you. Yesterday we had our first rain for six weeks, and uncomfortable enough it made us, I can assure you. The trenches were half full of mud and water, as well as all the officers’ quarters. I slept last night in a perfect mud-hole, half drenched myself. To-day we have a regular dog-day. Hot and sultry, a day that makes one feel dirty and sticky all over.
I am still on court-martial. It keeps me busy about three hours every morning.
The men had a rumor that I was appointed Provost Marshal of Alexandria, but I cannot find that there is any truth in the report.
We have had several false alarms in regard to the enemy attacking us. They are undoubtedly massed in our front, expecting an attack from us. They may attack us, however, some foggy morning.
We move out to the front line this evening. We have four days on the front line, and four days on the rear, two of the latter are passed in the rear and two in the second line. . . .
