Letter from Corporal John Griffith Jones, Camp Bates, Kentucky, to his family in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, [21 September 1862] [page 1 of 4]

Description

In this letter, John remarks that he cannot remember ever feeling so healthy. He describes the journey to Cincinnati which commenced at six in the morning on Monday the fifteenth of September.

They arrived at Chicago at seven o'clock on the first evening of the journey. They then had to travel on through the night to Olido, Ohio near Lake Erie, where they received a good breakfast in a beautiful eating room. They travelled for another two days before they saw Cincinnati and it was the 18th of September by the time they arrived at the camp. John writes that they are now on top of a high hill above the Ohio river and that it is rather warm in the daytime and rather cold at night.

He notes that no trade occurs in Cincinnati after four o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone who can carry arms have been taking part in the drills. John was on guard last night but he has not yet seen any of the rebels. He notes that three of the men were injured on the pickets last week. He ends his letter by asking his family, if they are writing home to Wales, to tell them that he is healthy and as comfortable as can be expected.