The following letter was written by Thomas S. Cox who enlisted as a sergeant in Co. K of the 1st New Jersey Cavalry and rose in rank to 1st Lieutenant of Co. M.

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Officers General Hospital
Annapolis, Maryland
October 5, 1864

Dear Lieut.,

Your welcome letter was received on the 3rd inst. and I am very glad indeed to hear from you. You want to know if it looks natural about the hospital. Perfectly so. The only difference I see is there are more officers here this summer than last fall. When I came here the 19th August, there were 400 officers here but now there are only about 150. They are discharging a good many. Yesterday there were thirty and today nineteen discharged. They have been sending a great many who were nearly well on light duty to the different states to take charge of conscripts. How are your conscripts? Poor devils. I can’t help but feel for them for I tell you, Lieut., we never knew what hard service was till this summer—nothing but march and fight, fight and march.

The city of Annapolis is still duller than last fall. There is not even a theatre or Canterbury to attend nights. Kitty West I have not heard from since I left here last fall. I wonder if C. Sullivan remember her? How I would like to see him—if he still lives—to see him get off some Shakespeare.

You spoke of going there to live, or only on a tour of pleasure and observation. I would like very much to be there to go with you but it will be impossible for me to come west so soon. But I intend if I get my discharge to go west between this and spring and Iowa is where I had thought of going. But it will be some time before my wounds are well enough to think about traveling.

Please let me hear from you again as soon as convenient and believe me as ever your sincere friend, — Thos. S. Cox, 1st Lieut., 1st Regt., N. J. Cavalry