Fort Pike, La.
Nov. 30, 1862
Brother Amsden,
It is with pleasure that I seat myself down to write a few lines to you and tell you how I am getting along. I am well and enjoy myself first rate, and hope that you and your family are enjoying the same blessing. I have enjoyed very good health most of the time since I left home and I am in prety good working order at presant. I weigh 180 pounds. We are taking life prety easy at presant; we don't have much to do and we have very good quarters and enough to eat and drink but the water is poor, but we have coffee or tea twice a day. We have to drill four hours in a day and we have to go on guard once in three days--then we don't have to drill.
It is a healthy place here, and there has been but few sick since we came here. We get a good fresh breese of wind from the lake and it is a good place to catch fish but the worst trouble that we have had is we have been over run with mosketoes. They have been as thick as you ever saw flys around a peice of fresh meat, but the nights are so cool now that they don't trouble us but little now; but it is warm enough tonight so that they are buzzing around my ears while I am writing--but enough of this.
We have taking a good deal of property from the rebels since we have been here. We have a steam boat here the most of the time on purpose to go out on. We took a lot of lumber, five or six hundred thousand feet of the best that I ever saw and we have took over two hundred head of cattle and eight or ten horses and some hogs and a good many other artles and twelve prisnors and about two hundred contrabands have come to us for protection since we have been here. We have over a hundred here now and we have sent some to another fort near by. We have found enough for them to do; it saves us some hard work that we should had to have done if it had not been for the darkes. I had charge of about 25 of them over two months and keep them to work; that was all that I had to do. Most of them are pretty good to work. I have quit it and gone back into the Company to drill with them; I like that business better.
Ellis has been sick, but the last I heard from him he was on guard. Ezban has been prety well. They are at Fort Jackson, 80 miles from New Orleans, and I am 40 miles from New Orleans.
We went on board the steam boat last Wendsday. Two companys of us, F and G, and sixty Negroes, and went across the lake and went up to a brick yard to get a load of brick; and when we got there we posted a guard out in the woods on both sides of the water, and the darkes went to loading brick, and about three o'clock the guierrillas fired on our guards and wounded one of them in the foot. But the guard shot him dead and loaded his gun again before that he new he was wounded. Our guards killed two of them and wounded some. They were on the other side of the water and we throughed a few shells over into the woods and before we could get accrossed to them they fled. They don't like our big guns--they through shells to far for them. We had three of those guns on board and men to fire that was used to it, and have been in battle before. We finished loading our brick and put on some wood and went back to the fort; we see no more of them. We intend to make them another call soon. There was about 150 of them. We took two men that lived there; we surpose that they new all about it, and as near as we can learn that one of them sent for them to come and atack us, and the other gave the signal when to advance on our guards. This one keep a store; we took what few goods he had.
And now I will give you a little scetch of our voige across the water to Ship Island. We left Boston Feb. 21 for Fortress Monroe. We arrived at the fort the 24 about noon. The 25 we left the fort about noon. We saild very well untill the night of the 26 the wind began to blow, and when we went around hatteras we came very near being recked. The morning of the 27 the waves run very high, but at night the wind went down, and we saild on untill the morning of the 28 about 9 o'clock we run on to a sand bar (this was off Cape Fear).
We fired a gun and was answered by a rebel steamer, and soon we see two steam boats and they were rebel boats, but soon we saw another boat that proved to be one of our boats. She came to assist us. She took on board three companys and we throughed overboard a number of thousands dollars worth of property; then the steam boat hitched on to our boat, but we could not start, but when the sun was about an hour high, the wind began to blow, and the ship began to rock, and we started and run about ten miles and anchored, but our ship leaked very bad in the fore part of her and we had a hole stove into her when we run on to the sand bar, they drop the anchor down before the boat had stop, and she run onto it and stove a large hole in her, and we had to pump and bail water for two hundred miles.
March 1st we sailed for Fort Royal; we arrived there the 2nd about 4 o'clock. We anchored and layed there until morning the 3rd; then we went to Seebrook landing where we stayed one week and they rigd up the boat. And the 10th we went on board the ship and saild--we went about 80 rods when the chain broke to the wheel so that they could not steer the ship, so we run into the mud and did not get started again until the 12th. Then we sailed for Fort Royal. We went down near there and anchored and loaded again. We had to on load our ship before we could get out of the mud. The other boat carried it down to where we anchored, and while we were loading on our freight again, some of the men meet the captain of the boat coming up from magisene, and they went and looked, and he had bored a hole into it, and we surpoze that he ment to blow us up but he (was) taken and a guard with loaded guns waited upon him on to another ship and they carried him to Ship Island. I believe he was a rebel and meant to destroy us if he could and save himself. He run a number of hundred miles out of the way, and when we were on that sand bar we were out of the way, and rebels close by us.
The 13th we saild and the weather was pleasant, and we saild at the rate of 14 nots an hour. The 14 we overtook a gun boat; she came up to us and wanted to no where we were bound. We told her to Ship Island; she said Ship Island also. The 15th it was pleasant but the waves run high; we were off the coast of floriday. There was an appearance of a gale but at night the wind went down. The 16th it was pleasant and the see was smooth, and about 3 o'clock we haild a steamer. We fired two guns but she fled; we took her to be a rebel boat. The 17th it was pleasant and we are sailing sloly towards Ship Island. We past Kee West this afternoon.
The 18th it is pleasant and the wind is fair, and the sails are spread, and we was under good headway. The 19th it was pleasant and we was traviling fast. One man died last night and was lored into the sea today, and at night we had heavy thunder showers and it was very warm. The 20th it was pleasant, and we reached Ship Island, but did not land. We tried, but could not. The 21st we are still on the ship and moveing, and we have run into two or three brigs and smashed them up prety bad. The wind blowed so hard that we could not keep from running into them.
22nd it is rather chily and the wind blew hard. 23rd it was milder and quite pleasant in the midle of the day. The 24 it was quite warm and pleasant. The 25 it was pleasant and the see was smooth. We landed on the Island that day and pitched out tents. April the 5th there was five men drowned; they were in a bathing. The 11th in the night there was a heavy thunder shower and the lightning struck the guard tent and killed three men. It was the heaviest shower that I ever witness, and the wind blowed so hard that we had to hold our tent up and prop it up with our guns, but in spite of all we could do blew almost down, and we got prety wet, and our guns, and things look hard in the morning.
April 15th we went on board the Mississippi again, the 20 rigt and 26 rigt and the battery of Mass. Vol.; there was about 25 hundred of us in all and were thicker than three in a bed. The 16th we saild about 10 o'clock in the evening and saild all night; it was pleasant weather but we were crouded. The 17th it was very warm and we arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi river and anchored. The 18th we saild up the river within about 20 miles of Fort Jackson and anchored, and the mortar boats began to shell the Forts. There was two Forts, one on each side of the river.
The 19th it was pleasant and warm and we could hear them fire at the Fort all day and night. To the 20th it was cloudy and rained about two hours and then it was cooler, and we could hear them firing still. The 21st it was pleasant but cool and they were still a fireing. 22 about noon we started up the river nearer the Fort and at night we could see shells a flying.
The 23 it was pleasant and they were throughing shells. They had got the chain out of the way. There was a chain run across the river so that no boat could go up to the Forts. There were four scooners placed at equil distances apart across the river and this chain; one end of it was fastened on one side of the river and run over one of the boats and under the other and so on to the other side, and then back in the same way, only over the boat that it went under, and under the one that it went over, and that made it strong. They had to work some time to on hitch it, but our men hapened to find a man that told them how it was hitched so they made out to get it out of the way.
The 24 they commenced in good earnest about 2 o'clock in the morning we could see from 30 to 40 shells at once a flying in the air, and some of the gun boats run by the Forts, and got by some of the rebel gun boats, and about 9 o'clock we run down the river 10 miles; at 5 o'clock saild down the river across the sand bar into the ocean and anchord.
The 25 we saild around into the bay of Ronde east of the Forts and anchord. Two rebels came on board that night; our men caut them. The 26 it was pleasant and the 26 rigt of Mass. Vol. landed that day in order to go down to the Forts. The 27 it was pleasant and two more ships came in that day with about five hundred soldiers.
The 28th at night we left the Mississippi ship and went on to a small steamer and started to land but did not for we had news that the stars and stripes were raised over both Forts. The 29th we went back and went on board the Mississippi and saild back to the mouth of the river, and saild up the river within 20 miles of the Forts and anchord at 12 o'clock the morning of the 30 we saild up the river. We got to the Forts at 5 o'clock; at 7 o'clock we started again and saild up about five miles and anchord untill one o'clock in the morning.
May the first we saild for New Orleans; we arrived there at the warf at 10 o'clock; we landed about 5 o'clock and marched up to the custom house. We did not get there untill dark. There was a croud of people on both sides of the streets but we marched along as cool as we could although it was very warm. Some of them insulted us, but we keep our eyes open and march on, and when we got to the custom house we went in and put up for the night. Our rigt and 6 companies of another rigt was all that landed that night. We posted a strong guard around the house and laid ourselves down to rest.
In the morning, our co. and 7 others were put on guard around the street about the custom house. We had as much as we could attend to to keep the crowd back. We had to charge baonits on them a number of times to keep them back. This was the 2 of May, and the 3rd I went to the Evens house with 20 others to guard it; they took it for a hospital. One man died that day. At night about 11 o'clock one of the 9 conn. rigt was stabed and brought to the hospital. He was stabed in the bowels. He went in to a drinking saloon and got tight and got in to a quarril and got stabed. He was alone but the guard heard the row and went and found him. I saw the docter dress the wound but the poor man was so drunk that he did not reallise much of anything and the poor man died the next day at 2 o'clock. This was the 4; all was quiet in the city, and at night this man's body was carried to be burried.
The 5 there was some of the rigt went on board the ship to go up the river, but there sick was left here. All was quiet and some of the men had opend there stores. The 6th all was quiet and buisness was more lively, and the stores was opening, and the teams was at work. The 7th we had a fine shower; I went down to the mint. All was quiet, and buisness more livly. The 8 some of the rigts started up the river; they left there sick here. The 9 our provost guard discovered that all was not right about the French Consolate, so they posted a guard around it, and found two million of dollars that belong to the United States. This was the 10, and at night a guard was posted around the city bank, and the 11 thy removed a lot of specia to the custom house. All was quiet that day and we were enjoying ourselves first rate.
We stayed in the city untill Aug. 19; then we went to Fort Pike where we are still and I don't no how long we shall be here. It is the healthyest place that we have been in. You must excuse all the mistakes and poor speeling. I often think of home and my dear children and friends that I have left, and wish that I could see them all, but I cannot at presant, if ever; but it is a great consolation to me that I can pray for them while absent from them. Oh Orrin, if I never more meet you on earth, will you try to meet me in heaven? I mean to try and live so that it may be well with me where ever I am. I am in hopes that this war will end soon, for I had rather be at home to work; but I am makeing more money here, and living easier than I should at home. But I must close, so goodby for this time. Write as soon as you get this; my love to you and your family and all enquiring friends. This is from your friend and well-wisher,
M. M. Thompson
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