The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-04
War Letters of Thomas CaHey
zs Young Montgomery Soldier Writes Of Gold and Hard
ahips Of Winter Camp from Which He Can See the Yam
--kees Drilling - $50 49,:

enterprise would be hasardous in the
extreme. Sometimes go down, to the
beach and watch the movementss Of
their vesselss in Hampton Roads and
the heavy masses of. infantry drilling
In divisions on the Opposite -shofe. n
we could only erect batteries at WI
ioughbys Point we could give the ras-
Gals . hard time Of II but the armal
fment Of the Fortress enlectually pre-
to- content ourselves with the refieo-
tion that they may some day be tempt
ed to leave their ocean bound strong
hold and give uS an even chance on
the main land. They have been quite
busy for some days past In concentrate
ing troops at Newport on the opposite
shore ON the Elizabeth River--and
some Of those who profess to know say
It IL designed by them to attack Gen.
eral Magruder ut Yorktown. while
others think the movement II only q
feint to attract our attention from
other points that troops could conven-
iently be landed for . forward march
| on Norfolk.
1 think however. few. days yell suf-
| nee to demonstrste whether we are to
| have battle this winter or not and II
we do you may expect to hear Of the
Yankees getting the worst eSkfng
| they have received during the whole
war. We are now in our new quarters
and are as comfortable as any soldiers
can be. Our cabins are sixteen by
| eighteen feet and only eight men oc-
! cupy one which gives us ample room
| for comfort. We have beds and mat
| tresses and II would do yoh good to
see us collected around the IRE at
night and hear the long yarns the boys
| spin to each other. Our mess have
bought q cheap article Of cups and
cup board in one corner as you ever
| saw. We have hired q small niger
at one dollar and a half per week
and with him to assist we manage to
/ get our cooking done with but little
/ trouble. Since we came down here I
have changed my, mess for special
Freasons. The mess I am, now in is
composed as follows: Morgan L. Bob
bitt. chief cook. Frank L. Smith gener-
al waiting boy, Archibald II. AIRING
i ton. caterer, Charley McAnnerney and
William B. Jones wood getters. John
\ p Elsberry and Henry Myers general
assistants, and your humble servant
director In chief. or in other words
do nothing only when the spirit moves
me which 10 precious seldom assure
you.
1 AAO abOsP hnAhcQ bVyb 8tc GA my
friends and we have as merry a time
| Of II as II we were surrounded by the
loved ones at home and danger was as
far away from US as could possibly be
imagined. am now contented but
the weather Is too awful cold for COM
fort. II 1t were not for guard and
picket duty would not care for the
cold hpt when a fellow has the wea-
Their to take as II comes IL 10 decidedly
uncomfortable I can tell you. I had
charge Of the pickett guard on Sun
day night and Monday last. and will
have to go again tomorrow. which
think IL "Crowding the mourners' a
littlsvfoo much. 1t don't do any good
\ to complain Of these things for when
you are detailed. you have to go or
march to the guard house which ever
you please. The latter IL no good pia ce
to be In now as a fellow has no fire
and of course freezes nearly every day
during confinement. Notwithstanding
the uninviting aspect Of the institution
we have some fellows in the regiment
who manage to break into It about
once every ten days. and have now
become so accustomed TO It that they
feel unhappy when at liberty.
Cavalry auA Artillery.
We now have o company Of Cavalry
ana one OF flying artillery attached "a
this regiment. The latter have . park
L ~ ti&Ht Eiut0u SVuuQu AuQ IuGp
ever get a chance at the enemy you
may be assured they will leave their
mark in their ranks. The cavalry are
of about as much use as circus CON-
pany, and. all the benefit I can see that
they viii be to us Is to procure infor.
nation. You may tell Ma I have four
pairs OF wooden socks but II she sees
proper she can send more by John
Pierce. have clothes enough I think
to last me till leone home. provided
the Yankees do not take them from
me. Our Company now have a new
uniform that costs twenty-eight doll
lars. and as each man had It to pa$
for it made sad hole in our communal
ton money. We now have foti<
1t before January.
! received letter fran Fannie Gre
CORY a few days ago in which she
informed me that she was married "a
a Mr.. Brady of Tuscaloosa. My health
now Is as good as usual We have
only one sick man In our company
and he IL recovering. The Buford
boys are we'll and the same may be
said of Willie, Hub and Paul. wrote
Ma a few weeks ago: did she get the
letter. Direct az heretofore to Nor
folk to care Of Capt. Pheian, also
wrote William last week. Did he get
the letter? I got one from him lass
SATURDAY..
Your Bro.
Thomas
p. s. You mentioned seeing the mo-
Their of young Carey taken bv the
the Yankees at Fairfax Court HOUSE
In July last, The young man was IN
Norfolk a few weeks ago having been
exchanged and went on TO Manassas
to rejotn his company. tried to see
him but could not get off from camp
4 IL -
the boys who did see him that he was
In good health and that he was COM
fortably clothed by the kindness OF
some Of the ladies of Washington City
| There were thirty-six others In COM
pany with him and all believe now
are at Manassas and ready to give the
Yankees another chance at them
I received a letter from Uncle Hen
derson yesterday in which he informed
me that his own and Grandpas families
were very well at the time II was writ.
ten. He says that he is engaged In