Silas Stepp to Eleanor Stepp

                           May .29 day .18.64

my dear wife  i seat my Self this morning to rite you

aline to let you now i am yiet alive and on the

land of the living  my health is tolerable good  i

aint bin very well afiew days  my bowels has bin

runing of[f] some but they are getting better  i am

able for duty  i hope this will find you all well  i

got your letter yisterday of the 22  i was glad to here

from you and here you was all well  i aint much

news to rite you  all is quiet on our lines  i Supose

the enemy los in v a is about 75 thousan and

ours is about the same  pore men  how they suf

fer  i am Sorry to here times is sow hard in your

section  i am oneasy about you and the children  i

hope people wont pres on you too much sow you will

have to suffer  wee get bred plenty and alittle meat

some times it is Just bread  ihave rote 2 letters to

ben to swap for mee if hee can  if hee aint got them

you can let him nowet  i want to come  one

man died our of our company the other day by

the name of Shown from tennesee  wee have hot        [Pvt. J. B. Shown of Co. C]

wether here and bad water  i tel you my dear you

dont now how bad i want to see you and the children

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itel you it is hard for aman to bea drag away from

his family  i wood give any thing i have got to get

home and stay with you the rest of my days  i will

doo the best ican  you must doo the same  i hope

wee will see each other again  i wood bea sow glad

to strike hands with you  i tel you my dear i

am pestered nearly to death Some times  it is now

wonder if you could Just see how wee live and

doo  you dont now much aboutet   it is enough to make

aman think of home all the time  wee will have

preaching to day in camps  it aint often wee

here that  iam sorry to here the wimmen and

children is Suffering for bread  tel mee if you

have got enough and how your truck look

i am sow oneasy about you i can see now peace

here that is any satis faction to mee  i often think

of old times that wee have had to gether   i wood

bea glad if i was there to day  you must excuse

my bad riting  when i go to rite i cant hardly

rite  i hope to here from you soon  give mee

all the news  rite if you ever her from F. M.

Stepp or J. M. Stepp  i cant any thing of them

houdy my dear wife  .S. H. Stepp  .E. Stepp