1861 August 3 Alexandria, Va

Dear Father, I received your letter & was glad to hear from Home
& hear that all of the Family is well you need not give any trouble about my
touching tobacco or stimulating drinks you know that I promised you that I
would not touch anything of that kind when I left Portland I thought
I would write to you & let you know that I am bound to keep that promise
Long as I live so that you need think I can how much you write about it because
it reminds me of the promise that I made to you before i left portland tell
Mother that I received some cake that she Baked & sent to me & tell her I was
glad to get something from home of that Sort & I want you to tell her that the
next letter that I write it will Be to her & tell Aunt Eliza & Henry & William
that I shall answer this soon as I can tell Henry that John Polles has not been
seen since the time we began the Fight at Bulls run & they think that he was shott
or taken Prisoner & ask him if he wont go & tell his Folks that he is among the
missing & tell him I gave his respects to Clarke & tell him to tell Samuel Safford
to tell the Boys that I am all Right, & that I hope I shall see them soon I suppose
you think that this Regiment is in for three years but whe[sic] are nothing But three
months men & they Cannot hold us any Longer without they want to stay the war
we found out that whe were only three months men Alderman Kimball was out
here with Mister Lynch, & Andrews of Bideford & Mister Kimball told us of it and
he said that the Regiment had got to be reorganized over again, I wish you would
send one dollar so that I can buy a Little of something to eat the reason that I
have not got any is because that I gave George Eight Dollars of it when I was in
New York & that only Left me only 2 Dollars of the money that I got when I Left
Portland ask Uncle Joseph if he has Bot that Farm yet, I remain your affectionate
Son Joseph Leavitt

Letters from Joseph Leavitt of the 5th Maine and his brother George Leavitt were copied into a ledger by their father John Leavitt in October 1865: "because they are of value to me and I was fearful that they might get mislaid." Both boys were mortally wounded in the war, George at Second Bull Run, August 30, 1862, and Joseph at Spotsylvania, May 18, 1864.

MSS 66