1861 December 23 Fort Grafton Near Yorktown

My darling wifey

I wrote you a hurried
letter on yesterday which I hope you have
received but for fear you have not
I will make myself liable to the charge
of repetition--I am now with the company
here in quite a thickly settled neighbor-
hood about a mile from the fort is
a very fine house, inhabited by very
respectable folks, an old lady and
her sons and daughters--and I have
fixed on that place to board you for
some time, if I am not elected
professor--But this latter, I can't help
hoping for and expecting--and if
I am not, I shall be greatly disap=
pointed--I have written quite a long
letter to Mr D'arcy Paul of Petersburg
in order to enlist him more firmly
in my behalf--I hope you have
written all those letters, I requested
you to do and besides, done every
thing that was necessary to advance
my claims--You must leave nothing
undone--I have done all I can.
I have sent you Lieut. Brown's letter

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and one from Capt Southall and Lieut
Peyton--I sent you a very complimen-
tary one from Major Goode by
Slaughter Ficklin--Slaughter was at
lur camp on Saturday evening and
expected to leave for home next day
so I asked him to carry it--it was
directed to Dr Smith and he wouldn't
carry it unless sealed, but I expected
you to open it and put on the
back in pencil "for Mrs H P Cochran"
Let me know if you have gotten
all these letters because I cant
afford to lose any--and be very
careful to see that they go safely
to Dr Smith--Ross, one of the young
men, to whom I requested you to
write is Major in Col Baldwin's
regiment--It is now only three weeks
before the election and immediately
upon your learning the news, if good
telegraph: if not, you can write it.
It will be necessary to get my discharge
if elected: and I dont want any
delay about that, because every day
of delay, keeps me that much longer
from you. I suggested in my letter
to you yesterday, that the petition for

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my discharge should be signed by
all the Board--see to it.
Gen Magruder has been trying to
get us excited on the war question
but we have gone into winter
quarters and are preparing for the
cold weather which must certainly
succeed this mild and beautiful
weather--

There is no news of any interest
down here--the mail facilities are
very bad, which accounts for my
not writing more regularly.
I recd mother's letter and shall
answer it soon. I hope Maggie
is better--

With much love to Va & your
mother I am yours devotedly

Tell Va that I have recd her cap and
it is beauty and a comfort--two men
offered to buy it the first day I put
it on. I believe she said something
about making more for the soldiers
if so, tell her to make them of
coarser yarn.

Mrs. H.P. Cochran
Charlottesville
Va

Howe Peyton Cochran Sergeant, Co. H, 1st Virginia Artillery In this and previous letters, Cochran writes about his efforts to attain a teaching position at Randolph Macon College. See particularly letter of November 20
MSS 9380