US General Hospital
Near Fortress Monroe, Va.
June 9, 1865

Dear Mat,

As it is Sunday night, I will try and pen a few lines and I hope they will find you well for I am in the best of health. I almost hate to write for I want to send you money and can’t get any to send and I know that you are in want of it and expect it from me so I hate to write until I can get some to send to you.

But why don’t you write to me? I feel anxious to hear from you and am waiting patiently day after day for a letter and am so much disappointed when the mail comes in and I find that there is no letter for me. I was very much pleased to get your letter from the company and would like to answer them all in full but it would be useless for me to do so. And my only hope is that you will not get in want of anything until I can get some money for you.

You must try to get along until I can get back to the company for I can’t get paid until I get there and when I do get paid, you shall be my first care. I have tried hard to get them to send me my Descriptive List so that I could get my pay and get home on a furlough for if I had it, I could get a furlough. And when I got to Washington, I could get my pay and I believe that I could get out of the army if I got home. If I could get a letter now and then, I would not care about a furlough for my mind would be easy for I am worrying now all the time and can’t get a letter from you. Only think of it. I have been in this hospital for more than a month and have had only one letter from home. But I won’t find fault for I can’t tell how you are situated now-a-days. If ever I get out of this, I will try to work where I can get my pay when I need it and not have to wait for someone else’s notion. I can get out of the army now by losing the most of my bounty, but I won’t do it. I will stay till my time is out first and I would do them any good while I stay for they have broke their contract with me for they promised me that I should have my discharge and all of my bounty as soon as the war was over and now they want to stop part of my bounty if we get out before our time is out.

There, they have just come and taken the names of all of us veterans but what it is for, I can’t tell. i only know that we have either got to go into the Invalid Corps or to our regiments or else we have got to go on duty here. One of the three we have got to do and it is hard telling which it will be. But I hope they will send me to my regiment.

I will stop now but I shall write more before I send this. Give my love to all kind friends. Good night my pet. I was very much in hopes of getting a letter from you today but I was disappointed again. Do try to write, my pet.