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Thomas Covert, Letter #3
Camp Hutchins, Dec. 3rd, 1861My Dear Wife:
It is with pleasure that I sit down to let you know that I received your letter last night. I was glad to hear that you was all well, but sorry that you do not get along any better. I shall try to have a part of my wages paid to you monthly. The Captain has promised me the Saddlers place & if I get it, it will be a good thing for me & I hope that I shall get it. We have got our overcoats & boots & will have the rest of our cloths today & tomorrow. I can't come home till after then, but do not look for me till I come, for I don't know when they will send me. I do not feel verry well to day, but I hope that I shall feel better by tomorrow. I was on gard Sunday and cought cold & have a hard pain in my right lung, but I think I shall be well in a day or two. Tell Edie that I take her picture and look at it every day, and that I will come as soon as I can. I send you in this letter one dollar. It is all I have to send. You must excuse me for not writing more as I do not feel very well.
Yours As Ever,
T. M. Covert.
Dictated by Aviva to me on a Saturday morning in Basel, one hundred and fifty years, to the day, after Thomas Covert sent it.
Edie was his daughter. The themes in this letter -- homesickness, health problems, struggles to support the family financially while off at war -- will recur.
Posted by benrosen at December 3, 2011 09:13 AM | Up to blogWhy was Aviva dictating this to you?
You should post photos of Thomas Covert, his wife Katie, and their daughter Edith.
Posted by: Karen Rosenbaum at December 3, 2011 09:27 PMAviva was dictating because I really wanted to post it 150 years to the day after he sent it, and I had the kids all day, and if I'd been trying to barricade myself off alone to do it they would have been sure to find a strategem to get me back out again. This way everyone was involved! :-)
There are some photos in the book you made... do you have electronic copies of them, or do I need to re-scan?
Posted by: Benjamin Rosenbaum at December 4, 2011 08:41 AM