Letter from Luther Bruen, Fort Hamilton, NY to Augusta Bruen, 1861-08-05
I send you a piece of the Ft Pickens flag
Fort Hamilton
August 5th 1861
I confidently hoped, my dear one, that I should hear from you tonight, but the mail brought no letter. Better luck tomorrow perhaps.
You will find my receipt from the Comly's in the lower left hand pigeon hole of my desk, or in an envelope in one of the pigeon holes in the safe, or in the top left hand pigeon hole of hte same, there may be some in each place. The last receipt is there, so that you will know how much subscription is owning.
You may as well discontinue the Gazette, if you hear of my confirmation; if you hear something else, you can wait till I return.
Tell John Howard to take up the checks which D.H. hold against me and surrender the collaterals, I hold. I wish he would make them pay over at least $ *800* & I would like to have take up the Hydraulic Co's draft & Newt Betts and Bickford's notes. I hope he will urge my wishes strongly & make him come down. I dont think they are as safe as they might be & I can see no let up to there hard times. Before they are over, I am afraid we shall all go to pot together. I want the money out of their hands & if it can not all be got at once let him take what he can get and wait a little while for the balance. Davis professes a great regard for John & if he will only talk spirits to him pretty strong I think he can manage him very easily. He has not a great deal to do now I suppose , so he may as well do that as anything else, or nothing.
Your announcement of Jerry's departure for the Prairie Chicken War moved me to *out* the city today & buy the powder he sent for by me & going off in a desparate hurry I did not take any money with me & so was unable to pay for it. The agent promised to send it tomorroow. If he does it will reach Dayton in about 3 days and if Jerry's supply is short you can send him some. The shooting season came on me unawares or I should have attended to the business sooner, tho the weather has been so warm that I have never worn the coat to the city in which were Jerry's memoranda. There is no use in apologizing, however, for the truth is I was not as clever as I might have been.
I am anxious to hear what answer you will make to my last two letters, in reference to keeping house. I believe I have never described a casemate to you yet so I will make the attempt tonight. The room I am writing in is about twelve feet wide & 18 or so long, with an arched ceiling. I have a small bed-room, just large enough to hold a bed cleverly in the middle; and in the rear is the gun room, with an entrance about two feet by 18 inches & two port holes for windows. The walls are very thick and on the arch overhead there is a thick layer of earth upon which the grass grows most luxuriantly. So you see that although we are alive & kicking the grass is growing over out heads, just as if we had *"searched"* to kingdom come. The earth & exposure to the weather, I suppose, cause the dampness of which all the officers except myself, complain so loudly. It is not nearly as bad here as it is at Fort Pickens, for there Major Clitz tells me, the green mould will grow up on your shoes in two days. Our casemates have no back-door to them & there is no way of getting out of them into the ditch save this the embrasure & that doubles up my back work confoundly. I don't think the devoties of crimoline could get thro' at all without a great deal of trouble. _ I neglected to tell you, I believe, that I have had a visit from Mr Burrows & some Dr of Brooklyn. We had a very pleasant chat and I received him with as much cordiality as if I had that there was nobody like him. _ all on Belle's account you know, of course!
How are the sisters? Don't forget to keep me posted about them. What has become of Robert? Could not the venerable Micawber write to me occasionally? Has Quince come home? Tell R he had better get him a place in the grand army. Has anything been heard of David? how do he and the Indians get along? I hope they will be kind to each other & have a good time generally.
August 6th
No lettter today_ what's the matter? _ In yr next please send my Life Insurance Policy. I shall probably know to morrow whether I am a Major or not. If I am rejected you may count upon seeing me very soon; if I am not, I shall expect to have you here very soon - so that we shall meet soon any way, but if I go to D. I doubt whether you will care much to see me, for I shall be crosser than a bear with a sore head. I hope I may hear from you tomorrow, particularly if the news from Washington should prove bad. Good bye, dearest
Your old lover Luther
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August 5, 1861
Bruen, Luther Barnett
Fort Hamilton, NY
6 pages; + envelope
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Bruen, Luther Barnett -- Correspondence
Catharine Mitchill '31 Collection of Family Letters, Wellesley College Library, Special Collections
MSS.6.164
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http://repository.wellesley.edu/mitchill/164
