Jacinto, Mississippi

Monday morning, July 7^th, 1862

My Dear Wife:-

Fathers letter an your note came to hand yesterday evening and I hasten to answer them.  You had wrote to me about Pap selling the hay.

There is but two and half dollars due now to the Seminary.  I hope though that you will pay off the whole five, it will then be settled.  I think John Foster has some money yet and he will see Corrington and pay off my subscription.  I will not send much money by mail unless you need it very bad, but I could send you one hundred dollars, if there was an express close here.  But there is none nearer than Cairo that can be depended on.  If I get the chance to send to Cairo I think I will send to John Foster seventy five or eighty dollars.  You can if I send, take part of it to use yourself and Pap had better take fifty dollars of it.  He has I believe a note against me for fifty dollars, if he has not, he can apply it on some other note.  I will only keep a few dollars if I have the chance to send any home by express.

I wrote to Lucy for you to tell John M. Hamilton to bring me a lot of stamped envelopes and half ream of this size letter paper.  If he calls on you I wish you would give him the money to buy them with, if you have it.  If you have not the money, borrow it and I will send you the amount.  I had not thought of Albert paying for the mule but I suppose there would be nothing wrong for him to pay a reasonable price for it.  You will let him use his pleasure in the matter and it will be all right with me.  If he decides to pay for it, he will have it valued at once, or let him and Pap or lee or any body else say how much he will pay, then he can pay for it whenever it suits his convenience.  Tell me how they decide the matter.  I am glad to hear that Isaac Jones is at home.  It is better for any one to be at home that is sick.

I am glad that there was no abolition votes in the North Fork precinct.  What to you say now Pap?  Is there any Abolitionists in the North Fork Precinct?  Or are they all gone to the war?  I have the election returns in the Salem Advocate.  George F. Tryner and Dick Smith was here Saturday morning and told me about Doctor Green and J.S. Martin fighting.

Tell mother that I know that she is anxious to see me, but that it is very uncertain when I will be at home.  I am not afraid of being forgotten by her, even if I do stay three years.  As to you looking for me home, you need not look till I write that I am coming.  If I find that I can come home, I will write to you if I have time before I start.  If not, I will come without writing and get home when you are not expecting me.  You need build no hopes upon that however.

I do think that every well man that is in the army ought to stay along to his Regiment and try to help bring the war to a close so that all may return home in peace.

I know that there is hundreds every day going home.  Some on sick furlough, some on leave of absence, and others without either.  If it was necessary for me to be at home and I could not get a leave of absence or furlough, then I would do as others do, risk being disgraced by Courtmartial for leaving my Regiment without the sanction of my officers.  My mother would prefer not seeing me at all rather than see me with such a blot on my name.

I sent you a note in a letter that I sent to Lucy Chance.  You have no doubt received it before now.

On the 4^th we was paid off for four months.  We have never paid for our clothes yet, so that gave all the boys quite a pile of money, $100.80 each.  The Paymaster paid this Company over ten thousand dollars and paid this Regiment more than one hundred and twenty thousand dollars.  Don’t you wish that this Regiment belonged to you four months, you would be almost rich.

We was last Saturday sent out on two days scout and went south on a road that I have never been on before.  We stopped in the woods about ten miles east of Marietta and found that about one hundred rebel cavalry had just left there the evening before and gone down the Fulton Road.  You will remember that we was at Marietta just two weeks ago.  We returned to camp last night at dark.

The 3^rd. Michigan which is in our Division has been having a fight with the secesh sought of Booneville, at the very place that I told you of us having two skirmishes with the some time ago.  They had to bury about thirty rebels and had some of their own men wounded.  I think we will have a fight with them down about Marietta one of these days.  We cross and recross over the same ground that they are continually scouting on and we will certainly meet before long.  During our scouts I see many amusing mistakes made by some of the citizens, but I am now too lazy to write them.  When I see you I will tell you some of them.

Good bye,

William A. Smith