Point Pleasant, Missouri

Sunday night, March 30^th, 1862

My Dear Wife:-

Yours of the 7^th and 8^th inst. was handed to me this evening.  I was glad to receive a letter for it had been a month since I even heard from you.  I am sorry that you are afflicted with the sun pain again this spring.  Why don’t you try the garlic on your big toe.  I did intend to write a note to you yesterday but was detailed to take a squad of nine men and go with thirty others under the charge of Capt. Nelson, down into the swamp to hunt beef cattle and we did not get back till late this evening and when I got into camp your letter was here.  The 26^th had quite a little battle last night with a flat boat that dropped in close to the shore, with the evident intention of either attacking our picket on the bank or capturing some of our small cannons, but the firing from our boys was rather too warm to suit them and they steered into the current and floated by, no damage done to any one so far as is known.

Island no. 10 is still in the seceshers hands and may possibly be so for some time to come.  We are now enjoying real soldiers life, plenty of hard and dangerous word and some days, pretty hard fare, something like some of our friends are no doubt enjoying at home.  Corn bread, mush and corn coffee for breakfast, corn coffee mush and corn bread for dinner, and then for the sake of variety we take the same for supper.  Then maybe the next day we get plenty of crackers and meat, sugar coffee, etc.  Sergeant Breeze says for me to tell you that he has gone to bed and is well.  Sergeant Bebe has been sick a few days but is better.  Corporal Young was rather under the weather a few days but is now well.  John M. Hamilton has a severe cough for a few days.  Foster Moon is better.  He was out with me yesterday and today.  I think he will soon be stout.  I have lately received a letter from Lucy and Nancy and have answered Lucy’s and will answer Nancy’s in a few days.  Tell her that she will have to pay the postage on it for I am almost out of stamps and there is none to be bought here.  However I think she will be glad to pay the postage on a letter from me.  I have quite a lot of stamped envelopes, etc papers, in my trunk at Commerce, but I don’t know when I will get it.  Lieut. Charlie Lee is still there and I don’t know when he will rejoin us.  I wish he was here now.

Nancy says she heard that our Regiment was to be disbanded.  Such a thing seems quite probable but I am not expecting such a thing.  You will excuse me for not writing more, for the camp is in a perfect uproar.  Bob Guy is just like Eli. W. Boring, he will argue anything he pleases and he is bothering me so that I can hardly write.

I hope to get another letter from you in a day or two.  We are about to have a Grand Review tomorrow.  In my next I may tell something about it.  For the present,

Good bye,

William A. Smith