Lewis Bullard Writes Home

by Martha DeWolf

Camp Burrill

Alexandria VA

September 18^th, 1864

Dear Parents, Brothers, & Sisters

Your late letter has been received & its perusal has afforded me much pleasure. I received at the same time a vest, stamps & a paper & am much obliged to you for sending them. I tried on the vest & found I could not button without letting it out considerably. So you can surmise that I have not lost much flesh since I enlisted.

Matters continue about the same at Camp Burrill, although the Col. for whom the camp is named has arrived & taken command of the regt. The Col. arrived here Saturday Sept. 10th.

It was a hot, sultry afternoon & we marched to the city, received the Col., marched all over the city & then back to camp, sweating in our clothes so that water could be running down them. The Col. made some remarks to the boys saying he was glad to see them & c. & stated that if he had the whole regt. with him at Galveston he would not have been a prisoner for 17 months. After his remarks an opportunity was given for all the old members of the regiment to shake hands with the gallant Col. Of course we availed ourselves of the privilege. Our band & glee club serenaded him in the evening favoring us with some splendid music.

Our duty has not been less arduous & severe since the arrival of the Col. Last week Co. S of the regt. was detailed to do duty in the city. Since they left we have had the same guard duty to do & now we consider ourselves fortunate if we obtain a whole night of guard. We drill in the morning before going on guard & with afternoon immediately after the coming off. I assure you soldering seems like work to us at present.

There is considerable sickness in the regt. at this time & much of it is probably caused by the severe duty we are doing. The Surgeon has ordered an ounce ration of whiskey & quinine to be given the boys twice daily & says that all shall be compelled to take it whether they wish for it or not.

The boys are of the opinion that if the officers would render the duty less severe it would be a better antidote for the sickness in camp than whiskey & quinine. Another soldier of our co. has gone & his name is stricken from the co. roles. Edward Grant of Medway died Sunday morning Sept. 11th of typhoid fever. He was considered dangerously sick about a week. He was 18 years of age & was a quiet, good-natured fellow & was very well liked by the co. His remains were embalmed & probably have reached his home before this. Two soldiers in co. F died the same day making three deaths in the regt. on this day.

I saw a sight last Friday which I never witnessed before & which I hope never to see again. A deserter who had (illegible) his bounties 17 times realized the sum of 9000 dollars by so doing was shot not far from here. All the troops in the vicinity were called out & formed in a square all the men present had a good sight of him. A band playing the rogues march the firing party & his coffin carried by four men preceded him.

He appeared quite cool & unconcerned carried his head high & talked & laughed quite gaily with the officer by his side. After his death sentence had been read he made some remarks to the people present. He said he was worth 20,000 that it would not do him a cents worth of good. He advised the soldiers to serve their country well & faithfully & ended by saying that a little whiskey would not do the boys any harm. A prayer was made by the Chaplain, his eyes were blindfolded & he was seated on his coffin. The word