February -14- 1862 [1863] Merphersborow tennisee [in another hand: 79.reg.ill. vol. Co. I] Dear wife it is with pleasure that i sit down to rite you another letter, i rote one day before yesterday in answer to the one that i received the same day the one that you and phebejane sent to geather, i got a big letter to day from you, it was dated January the eight, i got one from [f] mother in the same invelop o i tel you that they done me a sight of good to read them tel mother that i am glad she rote that letter to me for it done me so mutch good, i tel you the teers roled down my cheeks when i read it, o my dear wife I often take a cry for you al when no body knows it, you said you was sory that you had hurt my felings, but I did not think hard of you, but you said that if you did not get any more letters from me you would not rite any more until you got one from me, i thought if you knowed my condition you would not think strange of me not riting, that is the [2] my feelings was hurt [struck: th] to think that i could not rite often to yo and that you would not understand my condition, i don't want you [struck: th] to think that i think hard of you a bout any thing for i dont but i have a grate feeling for yoo and for al of the rest my love grows stronger for you and for al the rest, i am so glad to here that you are groing in grace and makeing progres towards the promised land i can say to you that i have made some advancement in the divine life since i left you, i expect to come home a beter man than i was when i left, i am glad and thankful to god, that i ever had a christian wife, and a good and pious mother to care for me, i know i use to be wicked, but by your kind words and good influance and good example and by the mercies of god i am what i am but may god make me stil beter tel mother that i dearly love her, and i wil never forget her kindness to me [3] tel phebe jane that i simpathise for her but thare is thousands in the same condition, i have seen scors of men [struck: ke] killed that had familys to leave behind them and that is not al but they are unprepared to die, for they are nerely al wicked in the armey, but it is not so with s Joseph walker for he was a man of god until the last and not only so but a holy man of god, him and me had some hapy times togeather i some [illegible] places he always told me that he had a clare conscience and that al was right betwen him and his god, it is no use to rite mutch about the boys this time for i rote one the other day to you and phebe jane and i told you al that i could in it about the boys, i came out unhurt i got a hole shot through my pants leg, i felt the balls pass my face, there was twenty five killed dead [strikeout] on the field of our regiment. i got Joseph Walkers licence yesterday in a leter [4] i got four stamps in the licence, i wil keep the stamps and use them and pay for them but the licence i wil send home in the next letter that i rite, i get lots of letters from you now and you dont know how mutch good it dos me, i wish i could rite to you as often, but you must excuse me for i wil do the best i can for i know how you feel when you dont get word from me, i don't know how long we wil stay here but i think our division wil stay here to hold this plase i hope so any how but the rest of the armey wil move forward before a grate while there is about fifteen divisions here we have bin in front until lately but now we are working in the fort it wil be a grate fort when it is done, i hope we wil git to stay in it, we are thirty miles form nashville we had our grub to haul from there until now the cars [rine] through now I think we wil get such rations once more, we had to eat parched corn in time of the batle and could not get aplenty of that, i have talked with a grate many rebbels and i find them al friendly and kind i tel you it is awful to think that we half to kill them on the account of some wicked leading men