Oscar Chapin - March 17, 1863 - MO?

Oscar Chapin

Hannah Elizabeth Chapin

Camp on Elkcreak

March the 17th 63

Dear Mother i take my pen in hand to write you a few lines to let you know that i am well and hope you and the rest of the family is well we are haveing a hard time now we are in Blunts Division and he dont care for man nor beast and when we march he puts us through from 30 to 35 miles a day we marched from Lickskillet to this place in one day it is called 38 Miles our train did not get up untill the next night and we had to with out any thing to eat and i was all most starved our Conpany mules has all Died and we have got some Arkansas scrubs and they give out evry time we march i hope we will soon get to rolla and then we will get a new set of mules i wish father would come out and see me when we get to Rolla we are only sixty miles from rola now i sent Forty Dollars to you by john [illegible] and wrote a letter to you the day before we left Fayettsville and still you Dont hear from me i wrote three letters while i was at Fayettsville and still you Dont hear from me. i received a letter you last night it was Dated Feb the 1st

it was received at cairo the 5th and i received it the 6th of March that is about the time i genely get your letters and i expect there is agreat many that i Dont get tell Marcia that i have not heard from for a good while i have wrote too letters to her since i have received one from her they have me on guard so often that i dont have much time to write but i will write as often as possible and you must do the same tell father to write to me and i will resk reading it i would like to know something about the home affares tell Maggie that her otty would like to see her tell the boys that i would like to see them and i feal in hopes that i before another six months rolls a round by the way things is a going on here if they was doing as well in the east as we are her the war would be over now and we might be at home now a geting ready to plow and enjoy our selves but as it is we will have to sand the blunt so no more at presant from Oscar

Direct to Rolla Mo

10 ill cav Co j in

Care of Cap Snelling