Letter from Captain Lyon to Mrs. Lyon.
“Sulphur Springs, Mo., Dec. 1, 1861.—The arrangements are not completed yet, but progressing. There is every reasonable probability that I shall be detailed on this service. The service is very distasteful to me. The prospect of returning home atones for the irksomeness of the service. I see by your letters that you are worrying about me. Now I tell you that I am perfectly comfortable physically. I have a good boarding place, at $3.00 a week. I sleep in my tent and never slept better. I have a feather bed, given to me at Indian Ford by one of the teamsters, who, I presume, stole it. I have plenty of blankets and straw. I enjoy the company of the officers. I have never regretted for one moment that I entered the service; and had I not done so, with my present views of duty I would volunteer tomorrow. The idea of personal danger to me, which haunts you so much, does not disturb me at all. You must be brave. You must be a true woman, for remember you are a soldier’s wife. Let us both be willing to peril all, if necessary, in the discharge of our duty.”
