Roswell Farnham to [Mary Farnham]
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Your letter of Wednesday the 22d was duly rec'd last night, & was glad to hear of your good health & fortune in letting & cleaning the house. You are getting to be a famous smart woman at housekeeping & houseletting.
I wish you were a litte stronger & you would enjoy things much better. My health is very good & my foot is improving, tho' it is slow & I must expect that it will be. I have not yet got my boot on. Today it has rained all day & I have kept very quiet which is very favorable for my foot. It is nearly well, the swelling is mostly gone but it is still weak.
The 15th Regt came in this morning early & Lieut. Herrick came with it. Some of our boys went to see the Regt. & I sent down a note to Herrick inviting him up here & he is now sitting in my tent writing.
He came just in season to get some supper & is to stop over night with me.
He came here wet, in the rain, & is now enjoying the hospitality
of my tent. His boots & coat & stockings hang drying by the stove &
he sits here with my stockings & slippers on. We are as cosy as can be
notwithstanding the rain & wind.
Herrick is well & wishes to be remembered.
It has been a dismal rain today but it will lay the dust & that is what we have all wished.
I am sorry you are so short of money. You must get some of Mr. Morey & after our next pay day I will send you some. I can't send any now as I am not sure that we shall be paid in Oct. Nov. The chances are that we shall not be paid. I need some money by me to get along with, tho' our expenses are not great. Our board the first week cost us $3.50 a piece, & this past week only $1.75, so you see that we are economical. But there is some trouble about our pay. As I understand the matter now we are not going to get as much pay as I expected, so we shall have to both be very prudent.
If we get settled any where I want you to come out here, but that is a matter
that we can tell nothing about. When I wrote Mr. Batchelder there were some
indications that we should leave but we are still here. I think from what I
see that we shall stay here or in this vicinity a month or two, but I
wish to have you say nothing about it to any one. You of course will be pleased
to learn that we are not to go forward. Since we have been here a great number
of Regts. have encamped in sight of us & left after stopping a day or
two.
I have not seen many of the sights of Washington yet. I want to see the interior of the Capitol - the White House &c. &c. before I leave but dont know as I shall have a chance at present.
I think Laura should offer to lend you some money if she knows you are out, but I suppose you can get along for the present with what you get from Mr. Morey. I cannot afford to give Laura the board of Mrs. Flanders & keep a girl without some pay, but you need not worry about that. I will see that it is all settled.
I did not see the subscription paper after it was complete. I am glad that so many showed themselves my friends.
Have you yet received a copy of the Burlington Free Press? When you do I want you to save them or rather cut out the letters & items in relation to the 12th Regt.
By the way, be sure that my scrap book down at the office is safe. I would not
loose
it for a good deal, & I should think you would value it
for my sake if nothing more.
You must keep busy & then you will not be as lonesome as you would otherwise be. I think you will have more courage than you had before. You must bear up bravely & the time will soon come when we can be together again. I feel more lonely than I did last summer for there are not so many in the tent. Tonight, however, there will be three.
Write as often as you can. I begin to feel impatient when I do not get a letter after waiting four days.
My love to Laura, and all the friends. How does Ormsby prosper?
I have not yet rec'd the collars, as the papers were not distributed at the post office Saturday. They had enough to do without disturbing papers.
Monday Morn. It is blowing terribly this morning as it has all night. It has rained most of the time since seven o'clk yesterday. My tent has stood the storm pretty well so far, tho' once last night all the pins came out on one side & the fly went over the top with a slam that waked me up pretty sudden. Herrick has gone down to his regt. If it storms like this, this letter may not get to the mail today. Much love from
Your affectionate husbandRoswell Farnham