The following letter was written by Sergeant Plympton A. Mead (1835-1910) whose signature is barely legible at the end of the letter. Plympton mustered into Co. K, 111th Pennsylvania Infantry in late December 1861. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in January 1863 and a 1st Lieutenant in October 1864. On 5 June 1865, he was promoted to Captain of the company. He was wounded at Lookout Mountain and at Ringgold, Georgia.

Plympton was the son of Charles Mead (1806-1883) and Rebecca Legett (1810-1869) of Elk county, Pennsylvania.

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Co. K, 111th Pennsylvania Vol., Capt. Jonas J. Pierce
Camp Sigel, Cedar Creek
July 4th 1862

Dear Father and Mother,

As this is the Fourth of July and everything is quiet, I will drop a few lines to let you know that I am well and hope this will find you the same. It is a very fine day but it don’t seem much like the Fourth of July. It is just the same here today as it was yesterday. But we had a speech delivered by General Cooper. He spoke very well. They fired several guns but still I can’t have it seem like the Fourth of July. There is no place to go to and if there was, we couldn’t go. We cant leave camp. I would a given anything to have been in Ridgeway but I know it was impossible so I contented myself here. It is not calculated to have everything as we would like to so I take the time as they come and say nothing about it. I think this is the best way.

There is several of the Elk Co. boys sick but not very bad yet. I don’t think we have a very good surgeon in this regiment. Cas[tor] Maylin, Joseph Neiteriter, George Taylor, Orlando Campbell is in the hospital and [Israel] Gibson he is in the hospital at Frederick in Maryland, about forty miles from Harpers Ferry. Uriah Rodgers is nurse in the hospital at Winchester. James Harm is a going to get his discharge. The rest of the boys is all well at present.

We met with a man to day from Toby. I guess you are acquainted with him. It is Charley Simon.

You wanted I should tell you what I thought of our colonel. I think he is a first rate man but he has been promoted to Brigadier General—or at least he is acting. I am sorry he has left us but we are in his Brigade I believe Coope has command of this Division. The Boys don’t think much of him. I believe that is all the news for things are quiet in this valley. We haven’t seen any of the Johnnys here. [paper crease] They don’t think there is any around here. There is some talk that they are a going to recruiting for this regiment. I don’t know but that I can get a chance to recruit. If I can, I will come home. The captain wanted to know if I thought I could get some men in that country. I thought by that he had some notion of sending me back there. I heard the other night that Dick had deserted when he got his finger shot off. [paper crease] the other day that he had left….

I can’t think of anything more so I guess I will close this. Write often and let me know how you get along. My love to you all. Goodbye from your affectionate son, — Plympton A. Mead