1862 February 10 Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md.

My Dear Father
Yours of the 6th inst has just been received now in regard to your letter in which you expressed fear that all was not right I will only say that I have left my Home & all I
hold dear, am deprived of my am deprived of [sic] all liberty must be ordered about by men that I have no respect for must do this or that whenever they say it wether I wish to or not A private must put up with A great many insults which if he was his own Master would not do. I could fill A number of pages with complaints I can bear hard fare & can put up with many privations (which of course we have to)but I cannot bear to have those I have left behind at Home think I care nothing for them & would that which would make them ashamed since I have belonged to this Regiment I have tried to so conduct myselfe that I can look back with pride & say my name has never been on the black book it is not pleasant for one that is way from his Home to receive letters that
that[sic] express the least doubt of his good behaviour, here we will let it drop there is no news that I can write, there is no prospect of our leaving Baltimore we are in Genl Coopers Brigade which is nothing more than A Home guard it is composed of the 2d, 3d & 5 Maryland ed & 5th New York troops must be stationed in Baltimore for the place is not safe untill this Rebelion is crushed & when that is to be is more than guess one thing I am confident of I shall serve out the full time for which I enlisted I know there are A great many that think the war will be ended shortly, but on what they lay their predictions I cant see I may be mistaken if I am so much the better as yet we have made little progress in the crushing& if every movement is as slow (although sure) it will take A long time before the last Battle in this war is fought there are to many in the employ of the Government that are traitors & to many that are making fortunes to close the war in A hurry. there are A plenty who are true to the Union as long as they can line thier pocketts & no longer a man that will take advantage of his Countrys misfortunes to fill his pocketts is no man there are plenty that do this & have respectful positions, the Messrs Jacksons call often & I am always glad to see them I saw B D Peck in the Fort A few days ago he looks as large as ever, I do not receive the Advertiser regular I have not receivd but two in A fortnight I will try & write often
From your son George



Letters from George Leavitt and his brother Joseph 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.


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