1861 October 27 Camp Federal Hill Baltimore

Brother William Your last letter is received as I have A few moments I will try & write you A few lines the work on our Post is now finished with the exception of mounting A few guns but that will be done by men hired for that part for my part I am not sorry that we have got through for it was the hardest digging that I ever had as soon as I get A chance I will send Home some specimens of the different kinds of clay we had to dig through the Fort is verry strong & it will take A verry large force to take it from us I cannot tell how many guns will be mounted some say fifty & some say one hundred the guns are so placed that one part of the Fort protects the other part & every gun points direct on the City Father in his last letter wished me to let him know how Federal Hill was situated now that is A tough Job for me but I will tell you as near as I can how it is situated it is about the same as MonJoy to Portland with the exception instead of the Hill being at one end of the City it is about the Cnter of the Hill commands the Bay & the City lays the same as if Portland City commenced at Hog Island & extended from Hog Island round to Tukeys Bridge all the Wharfes are right in Front of the Hill & the Hill is about two hundred feet from the water now if you can make anything out of this all right, we have commenced drill since we got through working on the trenches, Company drill from one halfe past eight to one halfe past eleven Battalion drill from one halfe past two untill four with knapsacks Batalion drill is tough, one hour & A halfe constant drill with about fifty lbs on you back is no Joke I have got A tremenduous lot of clothes & when they are all in my knapsack it is hard work to get it together you say you had A chance to go as Sergant Major in the Fifth of Maine what do you know about serjent Major duties if you can get A chance in either of the other Regiments why dont you go it will not hurt you how are they getting along in the twelvth & thirteenth I have about six letters to write to day this is the third one & how I am going to write the other three I dont know I will write you again soon remember me to all From your Brother George


Letters from George Leavitt and his brother Joseph 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 int he war, George at Second Bull Run, August 30, 1862, and Joseph at Spotsylvania, May 18, 1864. Presumably Brother William survived the war.

MSS 66