The Civil War Letters of Forrest Little - May 2, 1862

Camp Winfield Scott
May 2nd 1862

Dear Father & Mother

I will now set down and talk with you a little while    I received your kind letter last night and I was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you [are] well and enjoying good health as this leaves me in at the present    there is not much agoing on here now except getting things ready diging intrenchments and mounting our heavy Guns     our boys send over a leaden Messenger to the Rebels once in a while    I went over to the New York 34th and see the crown point boys the other day    there was Orre Bigelow Bill Ingleson Harris Poster Oliver Currier and a lots of the old Boys    the other day I happened to go through the 92nd NY and the first thing I run on to Johan & Abe Alden     you may be sure I was tickeled to see them    they send their love to you    Father that order that I sent you didnt have my name sighned to it    you sighn it or else send it back here and I will sign it    Father I want you to manage in some way or other to send me a bottle of Doctor Knapps indian Physic    my bowels are all out of order    just take and make a Small Box just big enough to put one of them Bottles in and send it along    I have had the dysentery for 2 week so hard that I had to run every once in a half an hour    I have had the Bloody flux most all the while    I have got the piles now    if you ever had them you know how a fellow feels but I have had to do duty every day    the Officers think because I haint neve[r] been sick that I cant be    I am a getting over the Piles now    I haint got them half as hard as I did    the Papers seem to think that this war will be over in a couple of months but I dont think so    General McClellan is working it so that we shant have to loose many lifes in the battle of Yorktown    he is doing the thing slow but sure    I think that he knows what he is about    if these Rascallaly Congress men will only let him alone we shant have no Bull run nor Pitsford Landing affair    our big balloon went up this morning to take a Peep at the Rebels and to see what they was about    the Rebels sent up their Balloon the other day and our Sharp Shooters fired a few times at her and she hustelled down in a hury I tell you    but I must stop for this time    Kiss Gerty for me    write as soon as you get this
from Forrest

-- Next Letter: May 22, 1862