The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-12-06

the firing line in Virginia and in other
States.
An envelope of one Of the letters
tells it's own story of the Civil War.
OF rough paper on the outside, 2
glance inside the envelope shows that
it is made of wall paper Of a highly
decorated design in red and green and
grey. Addressed to John T. West,
Esq, Raleigh, North Carolina, c. S.
A." there is a hand stamp Of 10 with
in a circle in the lower left corner,
while in the upper right is written
"N. ". west, Manly's Battery, Cabell's
Battalion, A. N. "" The letter in it,
written by Captain West to his father,
is very near in style to the writing Of
Capt west today.
The letter is written in lead pencil,
and is dated. "Raccocn Ford, 5th jan,
1854, Rapid'ann River, Manly's Bat
terry" underneath this being written,
Last night thermometer, SO a nearby
told me. went to 10 below zero" Here
are some extracts which will be read
with interest
Dear Father:
Would have written Immediately
on receipt of your letter, but the ele-
nents nave consplred against any
thing like comfort. 1t has required
all our spare time to cut and tote wood
to keep from freezing. In the imme-
date vicinity Of our camp there is
no wood, We have to tote it some
times half a mile and it is certainly
rough and tedious work. We have
to haul forage from Orange g. House
eighteen m les, our wagons are going
night and day, and then barely keep
a sutficiency Of food for the horses.
With our wagons going all times 6
wagons We only get two pounds corn
daily for each horse. For ourselves
1t is the old story Of last winter,
except that we are now in q country
destitute Of everything except wind,
rain, Ice, snow and sleet. Last winter
we got as rations IA pound of bacon
per day and with cabbages, turnips,
forage, etc, we managed to do very
we'll. Our rations now consist Of 1-3
pound picked beef, flour and rice
daily. The beef, ] can't eat and no.
body else for the matter is that the
COMPOUNDED beef is SO salt, that boil
Ing it N a dozen waters won't get it
fresh enough to eat. New Years Day
Gen. Lee gave his troops a grand
treat-one days rations of sugar and
coffee, one day dried peaches, in lieu
of meat. The ration of coffee in our
COMPANY WIS ti1lIty-HiAc grams 10 the
man, and one spoonful sugar.
It nowed all yesterday. covering the
ground to the depth of about four
inches It hailed all night and this
morning it SHOWS again. An old citi-
zen told me a few days ago that the
past two days was the coolest weather
experienced in his latitude for nearly
fifty years. I think we are located
for the winter and 50 viii make the
best Of it. Dorce, u cook, has been
a mess. First, was an ola
rascal-informed Do-ce's master of
the whereabouts of his boy, th1nk1ng
to get the eward offered. If [ had
have had my way I would have seen
Dorce's master dead before he got
either his money Or boy, for nothing
would have been easier than to have
told Dorce to run away for a day
or two Dorce was a free negro APP
prenticed) and Mr.-Dorce's master
could have found his boy-if 10 could.
1t. Jas. NIX MINOR paid him $50 for
twelve months; also clothing and
feeding the boy. so the boy belongs
to Jim M'Kimmon. SO far very good,
but Dorce wouldn't stay with us a
minute if we did not pay him. So,
pany Gil, 90 Brooks and myself pay
each 81 per month, making Dorce's
individual pay So a month.
with regard to the SIS, you are
dollars, all the boy hes. hope to
be able to collect the remaining SIS
I remit in this letter SO. whfch I
hope will reach you in safety. You
will understand the position in which
am placed. If we don't ray Dorce,
he will certainly leave US. Negroes are
on a different footing from white
men; q Niger can go where he pleases
without a pass-not so with a white
man. Dorce is a good boy and Is Of
great service in cooking and washing
for us, but the moment We don't pay
him Off he goes to the Yankees or in