1862 January 19 Camp Franklin St. Johns Semenary Near Alaxandria

Dear Father I received your letter of the 13th last night & enclosed in it was a etter from Mother, I am well but it is raining quite hard & the mud is as Much as a a foot thick deep you said that you sent two stamps to me I have not received them yet but I do not need them now I have Bought some since I have been paid off, I think it is kind of strange that I do not get any answer from A letter that I wrote to George much as two weeks ago, you said you would like to have me write to tell you what Camp or every day duty, the first thing to do is to get up at roll call at six in the morning then comes the doctors call which is at seven then comes the breakfast call which is at eight then comes the Guard call which is at halfe past eight then comes the drill it is Just as the General orders, he may order A Brigade or Battalion or Company drill either of these comes off at halfe past ten Oclock if it is Brigade drill the General will drill the hold[sic] Brigade or if it is A battalion drill the Colonel will drill the regiment or if it is Company drill the Captain or Commanding
Officer will drill his own company our company is learning the Zouave drill which we have been learning for over three Months, you wanted to know who was our Captain we have not got no Captain but I suppose Lieutenant Harris will be made Captain & second Lieutenant Deering will be First Lieutenant, when we come off these drills there is dinner call which is at twelve then comes dress Parade which is changed from seven in the evening to four in the afternoon then comes supper at Five then comes taps at eight & taps at nine when we have to turn in then our days work is dun. From you Son Joseph Leavitt.


Letters from Joseph Leavitt of the 5th Maine and his brother George of the 5th New York 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