1862 July 14 Harrison's Landing Va

Camp in the Field near Harrisons Landing Va July 14th 1862
Dear Father----I now take this Opportunity to write these few lines
knowing how anxious you are to hear form me as I suppose that you have heard of
the change in Position that General McClellan has made from the Chickahominy
to this river which was made in seven days by fighting all of these days & nights
& as this Division was a rear Guard you can Judge the Position that this Division
was in I can tell you I was about played out by the time I arrived to this place
but after A weeks rest I have improved & now feel Just as well as ever & I have Just
as much confidence in Genl. McLellan [sic] as ever so it is the way with the rest of the
Boys & there is one thing more & that is this McClellan is bound to go to Richmond &
he has got the Boys that will follow him Just where he leads Mc is loved by the whole
of his Troops I only wish that them that talk so much about him had to come out
here & fight the battles, I do not like to go into A battle Field but Just as soon as I am
called upon I am willing to do my duty when I am able & when I am not they cannot
expect me to but every one that this regiment has been in I have been  so that
I have been will & been in every one of them & never shrinked from doing it when
called upon when you first enter the Field you will be all of A tremble but after
you have been in five minutes Just long enough to get worked up all of these
fears all go off & you do not care about going away I do not say this in A Bragging
way because I know that I had experience most for A year past this regiment
in in A bad predicament Just now being without A Colonel or Lieutenant Col
or Major but there is one thing about it & it is this we have got A good name from
our Division & Brigadier Generals & what move do we want our Flagg received
three bullets through it & as we were on the rear guard McCellan spoke to the
Senior Officer of this Regiment & asked him what Regiment it was & Captain
Edwards the officers name told him that it was the fifth of Maine Genl Mac
said bully for the Fifth & said that he had hearn[?] of their noble conduct of the
Regiment & he thought A good deal of it & all others that acted Nobly  on the
Field & that he should give all of them their due this Regiment is not the Reg
iment it was when it left Portland A year ago when it could muster one thousa
nd & Forty men for duty strong but now cannot raise three hundred for duty
the others being killed wounded & taken Prisoners in the Battles that they went
into & there is others that have been discharged for sickness in this last Fight the
Regiment lost about sixty killed wounded & taken Prisoners but there is one
great loss to the Regiment & that is our Lieutenant-Colonel whose name was
Heath he was A good Military man and had courage & so it was the case
with the Colonel who was wounded & the Ajutant behaved nobly on the
Field & I must say it was so with all of the line Officers I am not ashamed
of the Fifth Maine our Chaplain who has preached to the Regiment
Sundays has gone home on A Furlough there is one Regiment that I must
mention & that is the seventh Virginia who is in General Shields Division
who came here the other day they are Advance sett of Fellows the other day
they was out on Picket & got in A skirmish with A Virginia Regiment on the
other side & they drove them about A Mile you see that it would not do for
them to be taken by the Rebels because they would not show any mercy to
them I must close this letter by saying that I have not recievd  any from you
since I received yours of the twenty fifth & do not know what to make of it
because you must have received the one that I wrote to you after I got here
because Just after I arrived the first thing that I did after pitching my
tent was to go Y write to you & I have not received answer yet there is one
thing more that I will write & that is I know you will like to read &
that is this you have spoken to me about intoxicating Drinks & I have
never said anything about it & that is this the Regiment draws Whiskey
after being on fatigue duty such as building Forts & now I am comeing
to the best of it as I know you will say & be pleased & that is this I do not draw
nor drink any now as I told you I would not I shall keep y promise I have
felt Just as well without it as I know I would with it I am well & enjoying
good health give my love to all & tell Henry that I answered his letter the
same time that I did yours of the twenty fifth, Tell Lizzie that I see George
about every other day as his company is not farther than A quarter of A mile
from here, he got two slight wounds but is now as well as ever From you
Affectionate Son Joseph Leavitt

Letters of Joseph Leavitt of the 5th Maine and George Leavitt of the 5th New York were copied in a ledger in the fall of 1865 by their father as a remembrance of them.  Both boys were mortally wounded in the  war, George at 2nd Bull Run and Joseph at Spotsylvania.


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