Letter from Luther Bruen, Nokesville, VA to Augusta Bruen, 1864-03-25
Nokesville March 25/64 My Dear Wife: Yours postmarked the 21st reached me this evening. In it you complain of not receiving a letter from Tuesday till Sunday. I wrote to you on Tuesday morning before breakfast, mailed one on Thursday and on Sunday. So, you see I was not neglecting you, if the letters did not reach you. This week I wrote you on Tuesday and Thursday, and now on Friday I am beginning another. Neglected darling! This is a very ugly night. It began to rain this afternoon and has been doing so ever since. The poor fellows on picket and on guard will have a rough time. Sitting in my warm dry tent I pity them, but such duty must be done, and the weather will sometimes be bad. They have had less of such weather this winter than usual, for it has been unusually dry and pleasant, tho' sometimes bitter cold. I have written another letter to Sella, adopting your suggestions to make some remarks on forgetfulness. I hope my efforts to benefit the little puss will not be altogether lost. My rose-colored fancies about the place in the Bureau of Military Justice have been suddenly blackened since I wrote. The Senate has amended the bill so as to reduce the rank to that of a Major of Cavalry, whose pay is a few dollars per month more than mine. This makes the place undesirable. If the House refuses to agree to the Senate amendment, I will continue my efforts to secure the position and would accept it if the pay were only that of a Lt Col. In the hope that it will do so, I wish my friend in *D.* to help me what they can, so that I may be prepared for any emergency. I think however that the House will agree to the Senate amendment. They may perhaps modify it so as to have a Col and L Col or a L Col and a major. I have never liked the idea of living at Washington very much, yet I thought with the pay of a Lt. Col and without any very laborious duties to perform, I might manage to live very comfortably, and perhaps by writing making something besides my pay. It is an extravagant place and a very poor one to raise a family in, I am afraid. It would be hard to keep the boys from contracting bad habits and girls are more exposed there than in most places. It is and probably always will be a licentious place and the floating population has ever had a bad reputation. There is said to be however, a resident population, very exclusive in its character to which strangers generally do not gain access, -- something more than political position being requires to unlock their doors. -- I acknowledged the receipt of two papers in my last and have got some others. Keep on sending them. When I have read them I send them to Capt Pease, who reciprocates. Your Uncle John's letter has not reached me yet -- will get it to-morrow I suppose. -- The order for the reorganization of this army was published in the Washington paper to-day. The Second Fifth and Sixth are the corps which are not to be broken up. The First is transferred to the Fifth. What now constitutes the latter, is to be consolidated into two divisions, how many divisions are to be made of the First is not stated. Gen. Warren is command the Fifth, vice Sykes who is banished to Kansas. I should not be surprised if one Brigade was to be assigned to Gen. Ayres who commands the Division. Sykes will be very much disgusted by his banishment, and Ayres about as much so at having to come down from a Division to a Brigade. I don't think I shall be very much distraught at being sent back to my regiment. The last rumor about us is that we are to be sent to Martinsburg, near Harper's Ferry. It is not likely however that our lines will fall in such pleasant places this summer. Nothing in the #order I have attended to indicates that Gen. Meade is to be superseded. There is a great change in the Generals but so far as I know they have sent away more good than bad ones. They will no doubt order some excellent ones here -- indeed they have already done so. Love and Kisses to the little ones and their mother from Thine LBB#
Please fill out
this form to alert us to any suspected errors in our transcriptions. We value your input.
March 25, 1864
Bruen, Luther Barnett
Nokesville, VA
4 pages
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Bruen, Luther Barnett -- Correspondence
Catharine Mitchill '31 Collection of Family Letters, Wellesley College Library, Special Collections
MSS.6.296
This image is provided for educational purposes only, and may be protected by copyright. The permission of the copyright holder is required for the reuse of this image.
http://repository.wellesley.edu/mitchill/296
