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Regiment: 18th Michigan Infantry
Battles Mentioned:
Historical Figures: Quincy A. Gillmore
Camp Ella Bishop
Lexington Jan. 4
th, 1862
Dear Hattie
once more I
sit down to have a few minutes
chat with you but the chat is
all on my side now for you
are not near enough to do
the answering now but it is a
great consolation to me to know it
will come bye and bye I do not know
what I should do if it wer not for
the privilege of writing once in a
while God Bless the man that invented
writing for this would be worse
then Purgatory to me if I could
not get those little pacages from home
to cheer me up & give me news of loved
ones there. they are the means of whileing
away many a lonesome hour for
they are read and re read until new
ones come to take the place of old
ones. they are always slow enough
coming & far enough between to
yet I am better off in that repect
then a good many for some dont get
letters of times then once in twos as
three week I should be lost if I
did not get them oftener than that,
one fella told me last night that
he had not sent but one letter
home since he had been in KY
nor written but three either he
is not thought much of at home or
he dont think much at that is certain
I wrote you a letter Thursday
morning (New Years) in answer to
two that I found here on our
return from Louisville
I was Some what tired & in a hurry
& did not write all I wanted to
as in the Shape either but I
Suppose you made it all out & I was
glad to get it to for I know I
always am I often let my meals
get cold to read your letters
& would got without them to wait
until after eating to send them
perhaps I am rather singular about
it but cant help it. but I guess that
is about enough on that subject it
is the most I ever wrote anyhow
there is but little news afloat but
what you get nearly as soon as we
do I will tell you of some things
which happened as our trip to Louisville
that I did not think of when I wrote
you last we came near having a
time in Lexington while waiting
for the cars to take us out
the citizens & Negroes came crowding
arround to see what was going on
& Some Slave owners came to see if
their _Niggers_ wer with the Reg
the Col ordered a guard placed
to keep them back out of the way
& Some of them Showed a little resistance
& acted as though they had a right
there one man drew a revolver
& threatened to Shoot when
the Lieutenant that had charge
of the guard ordered to charge
Bayonets he got a little
excited & had the men load
their guns when there was no cause
for it he carried it too far altogether
the citizens are down on him &
Swear they will Shoot him if he is
not careful I have not heard as they
blame the man any it might have
led to Serious trouble if the
Colonel had not iniefered & counter manded
the Lieutenants orders & ordered
the Boys back to their Posts
while in Louisville a couple of
Niggers that are in our Co (one of
them is the capts waiter & the other
is one that the Lieutenant hired of
a union woman in Lex) went
down town & got to far into
the city & wer nabbed by the
Police as runaways
they wer put into a slave pen
& capt had a great deal of
trouble about them for one of
them had his revolver worth about
$15 capt came near loosing it
& served him right to for he might
take care of it and not let the Nig
have it the Colonel of the 103
Ohio had a Nig nabbed at the Same
hole & he went there with two
companies of his Reg & ordered the
doors opened & let the Niggers all
out otherwise our Nigs would
have stood a poor chance they
would have been Sent to lex
the Lieut. Nig would have been all
right for his mistress consented to
have him come into camp but the
other is a runaway & his Master
would have used him rather rough
I wish they would adapt some plan
to keep them away from the army or
out of this Reg at last for they are
a cused nuisance but few of them
then are worth their salt &
are the cause of a good deal of
trouble. I never told you how
our Colonel came out with his
affair the thing came to an end
(like every thing else) after a long time
he was partially beat in his
courtmartial & it was carried
to a higher authority I think to Washington
& it resulted in his favor he was
Sustained in his course they decided
that he was right in not obeying
Orders to drive Negroes out camp
& his Sword was delivered up to him
last Christmas & he took command of
the Reg. the Boys gave him three
harty cheers on Dress Parade they wer
glad to have him back in comd of them
the most of them like him better than
they do Lt. Col. Spaulding
the night we came from Louisville
was very cold & frose quite hard
Since. then we have had very
moderate weather for this
time of year just enough
rain to keep it muddy and
slippery arround camp
this morning it rained considerably
until about 10 when it cleared
up & is pleasant but very windy.
We have but little to do to
day it raines until to late for
inspection (9) So we are having a day
of rest I suppose there will be preaching
this afternoon as we have a chaplain
now he joined the Reg about two
weeks ago he seems to be a very
good man our pay is
very slow coming but we now have
the promis of it next Tuesday I
have been busy for the last three days making out Pay
& muster Roll for the months of
Nov & Dec but don’t expect any
pay on them for two months
yet we may get it before
we have to muster every two
months wheather we get any pay
or not. It is a job to make out
the Papers there has to be four Set
of them & they must be just so or
be made over again
I have moved my quarters to
the captains tent he & I occupy
it alone & it is quite comfortable
to what I was in before I could
do nothing there for I have considerable
writing to do & 18 boys in one
tent made rather a noisy place for
me to do it I have a cot bed
to sleep on so that I am off the
ground I find quite a difference
in it to the capt & Lieuts
want me to mess with them
I think I shall for they have
things cooked a little different to
what the Co cooks do it &
have earthen dishes to eat off
of so that it is a little more like
home to what one old tin
plate & cup is & sit on the ground
to I am going to make myself
as comfortable as I can
while I stay in the army
it will be rough enough at best
I told you in one of my
last letters of a Mr. Bond that
was after a discharge for his Boy
he got it yesterday & I am glad
of it to for the Boy would have
died here & may as it is I
think he has the consumption
or is near to it J.B. Davis
is not So well as he has been
the doctors begin to think about
giving him a discharge I am
affraid they will be to late to
do him any good unless it is done
very Soon he will die here in
a Short time if he was where he
could have the comfort of home &
a mothers care he might recover.
that is one great fault with
our Surgeons they either dont
know or dont care what ails
the men when Sick & dont half
take care of them a man must
have one foot in the grave and
the other on the verge of it before
they pay much attention to them
to get them out of this place to
one where they might be made
sound men aggain if attended to
in time we have two in the
Post hospital in town that are not
thought will live J Adams
from Madison or Fairfields & WE Austin
of Blissfield
Some time ago the Boys thought
Gen Q A Gillmore was rather
a hard case opinions have changed
wonderfully since the most of them
think he is more of a man then
he had credit for he seems to think
considerable of the men of the 18
th
but not so much of the officers
he is in camp every day
inspecting the guard & always
gives them praises on their
neet appearance & attention to
duty his orderlies say he pays
our men more respect than he does
any other Reg when saluted by
us he always returns it in a
gentlemanly way & always has a pleasant
word for them that is within the
last two months we begin to
think the fault of hard usage
does not lie with him but in
Some other Source
I must hurry my letter to a close
for it is nearing Dress Parade time
give my respects to your father
& and all you folks tell C.N.V O
I am well & would like to know
how he is write soon and give
all news Kiss the boy for me
& have him kiss you I wish I wer to
do it my self but it is impossible
now Good Bye from your afect
Husband S.R. Norton
