Camp Smith July 21, 1862
My Dear Mother
We reached here in safety on Saturday morning after a rather tiresome march. My company marched from Alexanders to the springs on Friday and that was rather a forced march of twenty seven miles. On Thursday night we got shelter in Alexanders stable loft and so were sheltered from the rain, of which I was very glad as it would have been rather hard to have had the men to lay out the first night in such a rain. I found Guss here and succeeded in getting fixed up very comfortably in an old field about midway between the springs and Paint Rock. Our men are coming in tolerably well and by this evening I think all of our men will be here, as soon as we get them all together and regularly mustered in, it will be necessary for one of us to go on to Raleigh to get shoes and clothing. I suppose I will be the one to go, but don’t much wish to as I have no particular love for Raleigh. If I do go I will pass through Asheville but it is doubtful.
If you write to me or have any letters or packages to send, direct them to the Warm Springs. I will write to Nannie today and hope that package has turned up safely and that you will forward it here—without opening it. Tell sister Anna, I tried to make a cup of cocoa today but failed rather. I will try again & hope for better luck. Love to all.
Your Affec Son
T.W. Patton
Sources: Christopher Watford, ed. The Civil War inNorthCarolina: Soldiers’ and Civilians’ Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865, Volume 1. (Jefferson,NorthCarolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003). Original in Patton Family Papers, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill.
