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Monday, February 18, 1863.

Dear friend: It is with the greatest of pleasure that I do take my pen in hand to inform you that we are all well at present and I hope when these few lines come to hand may find you enjoying the same blessing. I now enjoy the pleasure of my regiment again and I am well satisfied my resolution is made perfect and as for running I cannot go a step and while my Captain stands I will shoot and if I am caused to be ever so Uneasy 1 try to grin and bear it and stamp around to keep from running and through the wet and through the dry , shin and elbow stained with rebel blood and if the presiding general of this department says go ahead, the victory will be ours the dog is too dead to skin for we are the boys that fear no noise although we are far from home we are

not yet in mind of the way the tribling have treated we friends of color and now stand as though they had done some great righteous duty and deserved to worshiped we will worship them with powder and lead and if they prove to be hard for us we will snuff the smoke from our muskets and silence theirs if we can and if they are too hard for us, we do not intend to be taken, before that happens we will have to let the h to the rear and we in front using the wings of contrail hawks

I am very cross I have wrote 6 letters and want to know why in hell is the reason are dead or is it just before you are going to die why is it that you do not write, You may make damned much of this Letter for-if You do not answer this I

will not write any more. Sir, I am he and one more: letter makes me Hell, I have go9t a fast boy (?) I can beat the ( bull frogs if South: Carolina for there is none here. But I cannot get around the gnats and mosquitoes and far as for Uncle Sam's bullies (?) they have made us take the oath and ae are now under their dominion remember in Mose Thirlkil Rie (?) and be sure that you discharge your duty and do not forget me in meantime hold your fort and do not let the girls take it for I know they are none too good to try so as get it and take position so as be as strong

as possible when we come home for fear that we might rally on
them and if you cannot stand up can I want to know if rat's tail has not growed out yet or not

or if he is dead yet in the bed if his tail has not growed out yet they say here that turpentine is good he should apply it to the root of his tail.

We have heard that Sherman froze in a good cause when he was a-coming from town with his tobacco and it was whiskeypoor fellow.

You must tell ( ) to be careful and not meet with the same if he can help it.
You must excuse me for not answering you. No more at present.

Charles E. Newton

To Mr. Mathias Embry

Mr. Mathias Embry [Bussrow] Knox County Indiana