The following letter was written by James Orrin Benson (1838-1900), the son of Jotham Benson (1810-1885) and Elizabeth B. Wakefield (1810-1891) of Biddleford, Maine, who served as an artificer with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Co. B, during the American Civil War. James enlisted on 26 November 1861 and was discharged from the service on 25 November 1864.

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Camp Winfield Scott
April 30th 1862

Dear Sister,

I received your kind letter the 28th and hasten to inform you that I am well and I hope this will find you the same. Since we left Washington, I have gone through many different scenes. We had a very pleasant trip down the Chesapeake to Fort Monroe. The bay was as smooth as glass and as we neared the fort, the water was black with ducks and old squaws.

We landed at Hampton and stopped one week. There is only the chimneys standing. We encamped in a beautiful garden. The peach and plum trees was in bloom and some of the flowers also, and the grass was five or six inches high. We left Hampton for Camp McClellan. The first day was very pleasant and at night we encamped at Big Bethel. In the morning we started again on our march and about eight o’clock in the evening, we encamped at Camp McClellan. The second day our teams got stuck in the mud and we had no tents so I rolled myself up in my blanket and laid down by the fire and sleeped sound until morning.

At three in the afternoon, we started for Shipping Point where we arrived at nine when I rolled myself up in my blanket and sleeped by the camp fire in the open air. The next morning we moved into some rebel houses where we was quite well situated but we was in the water the most of the time landing forage and provision. The rebels had quite a village there. The houses was built of logs, the seams was plastered with mud, and the roofs was covered with split cedar slats. Some of them was white washed. Everything looked clean and neat. In one place was a rebel grave. It was fenced in with picks. They had a church and our troops took it for a hospital. The rebels had streets running through the village and on some of the squares they left the trees standing. They had earthworks thrown up along the river for a mile.

We staid there one week and then we started for Camp McClellan where we stopped one night and then we started for our present encampment. And since we came here, we have worked hard until within three days. I did not think that men could get so used to death as to laugh it in the face, but I have seen men do it, and I have [to] do it myself. One of our batteries has opened fire on the rebels today. We have ten batteries all ready. They are all connected with rifle pits.

You spoke about Hannah and Frank. Tell her to wait so I can come to the wedding. I have not seen Billie’s letter yet. I want to know how he gets along with heifer and [if] Dime bites him any now. I liked to forgot to say that I saw Stand Dearing the other day. I send you some cotton sees. I cannot think of anything more now. Write me again soon. Give my love to all. From your brother, — James O. Benson