Letter from Corporal John Griffith Jones, from a camp near New Orleans, to his family in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, 22 September 1863 [page 1 of 4]

Description

John thanks God for giving him back his health and for giving him happiness. He's happy to hear that T. E. Hughes has arrived home safely and hopes his health will be restored soon. He asks his parents to tell T. E. Hughes that their leaders, Burbridge and Colonel J. J. Guppy have returned to work and that General Burbridge has been appointed leader of the Division.

John's parents want him to apply for a furlough but John says that his request was refused because of some doctor. All the doctors in his regiment have gone home, one because of illness and the other because three of his children have died and his wife is unlikely to survive. John is convinced that Dr Wood or Angel would have given him a furlough.

John asks T. E. Hughes to carry a hymnbook with him when he returns. He mentions that the trees around him are full of oranges and that they're eating lobsters. He believes that this is the best place they've been to since leaving Camp Bandal. He writes in English at the end of the letter.