Camp of the 29th Regiment,
Ohio Vet. Vol. Inft.
Dear father,
Your letter of the 8th came to hand on the 15th and I was
very glad to hear from you once more. It had been so long since I had heard from you that
it seems as though good times were coming once more when I receive letters from you. -
Mother has written to me quite often since you left home and I am very much obliged to her
for doing so. - Since you have been gone my regiment has been in a good many battles and
have lost a good many men.
My regiment has had about 200 men killed and wounded out
of 400 and my company has lost about 32 men out of 56. All of my tent mates, James Walsh,
Charlie Gove and William Gilbert, have been wounded on this campaign and I am left alone.
- My health has been so very good that I have not missed one mile of the march and I have
been in every battle of the campaign. I have had two muskets shot out of my hands by rebel
balls and a short time ago a 6 pound shell went through my tent within 6 inches of my head
but as yet I am all right side up with care.
We are now within a mile and three quarters of the centre
of the city of Atlanta. We have got all the railroads cut and we are sending shot and
shells into the city all the time. - Every night there is some part of the city set on
fire by our shells and it seems to me as though it must be a very uncomfortable place to
live in. Almost two weeks they have not shot one shell at our brigade. I think they have
none to spare and are saving them for the time that we will have to charge them. This will
represent the position of our army.
The numbers are the numbers of the army corp. The length
of our line of battle is 13 miles, nearly half of it is held by the fourth and twentyth
army corps. All of the fighting that is going on is where the 23 corps as we are trying to
shove the army around to the right. - Almost every day the rebels try to break our lines
somewhere but as yet they have made nothing, for every time they charge on our lines they
lose 4 men to our 1 for we are in good breast works and they have to come across the open
fields to get at us.
Every day a good many deserters come over to our lines
from the rebel army. Night before last 100 of them started to come into the 1st division
of our corps, but as they did not have a white flag, our men fired one volley into them
and killed 20 of them. The rest of them (80) came in and have been sent North. - We have
had plenty to eat all along this march, but just at present we can't eat any pork, as they
are using the cars to bring up big guns so we have no meat but fresh beef every day.
However we get along first rate. They have established a bakery close by the army and we
get soft bread one day in three. We think this a treat as we have not had any soft bread
for three months. - There is rumor around in the army that Longstreet's corps is coming
down here to reinforce the rebels. If this is the case, we will have our hands full, but I
should think that General Grant could keep the whole rebel army in Virginia busy so that
they would not think of coming down here.
General Grant don't get along so well in the east as he
did in the west. The fact of the matter is, the rebels have got their biggest and best
army in Virginia, and their best generals. I wish we had such an army as the army of the
Potomac down here. We would eat up Hood's army before breakfast. - I see by some Cleveland
papers sent me by Miss Frankland that the hundred day men think they are seeing very hard
times. Why the poor sinners don't know anything about soldering and it makes me laugh
every time I read there woeful complaints. If they were with Grant or Sherman, instead of
behind the forts of Washington then they might grumble. - The weather has been very warm
during the months of July and August.
This month it has been raining almost all the time, but it
don't seem to cool the air any. Sometimes I think that when this summer is over I will be
nearly black enough to pass for a negro. - I was of the opinion that you would not like
the Isle of Man very well, for I know that traveling only makes a man think more of home.
I wrote to mother a short time ago for a gold pen, some writing paper and envelops and
some postage stamps. If they are not sent, please send them as soon as you can for I need
them very much. - There is some talk of us getting paid off pretty soon and I guess that
we will soon get some greenbacks. There is a good many of them now owed me from the
government, but I have no more to write this time, so I will bid you a goodbye. Give my
love to mother and the children and accept the same yourself.
From your loving son,
Caius C. Lord
CO. I. 29th Regt. O.V.V.I.
1st Brig, 2nd Division
2?th Army Corps
Via Chattanooga, Tenns.
Editor notes:
Caius C. Lord was born November 23, 1842 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the son of Hugh Lord
and Ann Kelley. They were both from The Isle of Man, but they married Dec 6, 1835 in
Cleveland, OH. The mother he refers to is his step mother Elizabeth.
After the War, Caius married the Martha Frankland he mentioned in
the letter. She died around 1870 and he moved to Valley Falls, KS. As an elderly man,
Caius C. Lord (C.C. Lord) moved to Seattle, WA. and died Dec 24, 1932.
The letter comes to us from Greg Wickenburg, a
direct descendent of the author.
A letter home (Confederate)
