Camp Dupont Va.
	Near Munsons Hill
	Jan 27th 1862
Dear Sister and Brother,
	I received your kind
letter of the 19th inst. last Wednesday
and was very glad to hear from
you, and hear that you are
all well. my health is very 
good, it has not been so good
for a nomber of years, and
my apetite is tip top. You
want to know how I contrive
to amuse myself in my leasure
moments, when we dont Drill.
We have not Drilled any
scarsely for two or three weeks
it has been so stormy here,
it has been very bad weather
here, now for about three weeks.
When it did not storm it was
so muddy that a man could 
scarsely get around, much
more Horses. You dont know
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anything about mud in NH,
it is so deep here that it
sometimes pulls off mens
boots. The soil is Clayey
here, it would make good
brick. We have made Brick
Ovens here, get the Brick from
Chimneys where Houses have
been burned down. There are
many such here, some Secesh
and some Union men, (owners)
and we use the mud to take 
the place of morter, and we
have built Cook houses out
of logs and plaster up the
cracks with the mud, and
its being so Clayey it bakes
on and makes it qwite tight and
warm, but as I was saying;
when it storms and we do not
Drill I amuse or busy myself
a writing to my friends, and
reading News Papers that they
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send us, and also in Whitleing,
making wooden plyers and
Rings, whih I make out of
Va Cedar. I have sent Rachel
two or three specmans of
my whitleing. I make out to
pass my spare time very 
well, but we have all got
very tired of staying here.
We want to move on, if
we have got to Fight; we want 
to do it now and have it over
with as soon as we can and
go home to our loved Familys
and Friends, and it looks more
like a forward movement
than it has since we have
been out here. Things indicate
and it is the impression of
most People here that it
will soon take place, and
let it come I say, and if I 
am to be sacrafised on the Alter
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of Freedom, Amen!! So let
it be, the Lords Will, not mine
be done, but if God in his provi
-dence Shall see fit to Spair me through
this conflict, I shall try and
do my duty towards him and my
Country to the best of my
abilitys, for in him I put my 
trust. I was in hopes that
the 7th Reg. would come here so
that I could see Father, but
they probably will not come 
out here now. I heard from
him yestarday. John B Chase
of Manchester was here, he
stoped in N.Y. as he came throu
-gh and saw Father, he was
well, he wanted Chase to come
over to our Camp and see me.
he is a going to See Father again
when he goes back. I received
a letter from Rachel the other
day she and the Children were
all well. Freddy was over to
Melissas; to stop a few days.
Rachel sent me a Box of Provisions
a week a go, also a vest and two pair
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of feeting. The pies and cakes
went good, and also the Butter
that she sent me. We dont
get many exterys to eat out 
here,  but we have good 
wholesom food, and that
that is good enough. We
have very good Bread indeed,
and we have Beans, baked
and Stewd, and rice, and
rost Beaf and Beaf steak, 
and Salt Junk or corn
Beaf, both are the same, only
the Junk is cured better
than the corned Beaf.
We have no Sleighing
here, it has Snowed once or
twice, but it fell only about
1/2 inch, it has not been
cold enough here to freze
very hard but a few Nights,
it is not much like NH 
climate here. There are
not many inhabitance here
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around us. They have most
all fled, and a good many
houses have been burned.
You do not know the desolation
that War makes. Houses 
and buildings of all kinds
burned and distroyed and Farms
lade wast. it is very rich
soil out here, and with 
NE enterprise it could
be made to produse as
much again as it does now.
They are teribly behind 
the times out here, every
thing looks a hundred
years behind the times.
Houses are built with the
Chimneys on the outside
from the Ground up, and
many of the Houses are built
of logs, and every thing looks
shabby. We are encamped
about a 100, or 150 rods from the
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foot of Munsons Hill, a
hill that was ocupide by
the Rebeles just before we
left M. We can see the
dome of the Capitol at
Washington, from the top of
it and some of the Potomac,
it is qwite a sightly place
from the top of it. I
have cut out some bullets
out of a tree at the foot
of the hill, which were supposed
to of been fired by the Rebeles
at our men when they used
to come scouting around. our
Camp is in sight of Baileys
Cross roades, and are with
in a mile and a half or
two miles of falls Church
two place of note in the
history of this Rebelion,
where there has been some
fighting.       And David
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I agree with you, that it is
best to let the Generals and
officers of the Army manage
the Fighting, and let Politicions
attend to Politics, but I wish
that our Army Officers
would Show a little more energy
and a little more enterprise.
I do believe that they do
let slip golden opertunitys
where they might strike
a blow with great affect,
but I think it will end
well, and that soon. That
was a glorious victory in Old
Kentuckey the other day, a
few more such and the War 
is ended, and we are a going
to a greater one here 
on this side of the Potomac soon, keep your
Ears open and Eyes pealed, things
are looking favorable for soon
puting this Rebelion down, but
I must close. I received three
papers From Franklin a few
days since, and was very glad to get
them. I suppose they were from
you. Write often, from your
Affectionate Brother   T C Cheney