John D. Stevens (1836-1921) was serving as a private in Co. K, 60th New York State Volunteers when he wrote this letter in mid-March 1862 from Camp Goodrich. He enlisted on 2 October 1861 at Ogdensburgh. In April 1863 he was promoted to Corporal, just before he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Chancellorsville. After he was paroled, he returned to his regiment and was with them until receiving a gun shot wound in his left hand on 19 June 1864 during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and sent to a hospital for the remainder of his service.

John was the son of Sylvester Stevens (1812-1898) and Eleanor Downing (1818-1888) of Hermon, Saint Lawrence county, New York.

See also—“Desperation on Culp’s Hill: A 60th New York privates story” (John Banks’ Civil War Blog)

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

60th N. Y. Regiment State Vol.
Camp Goodrich
March 13th 1862

Dear Uncle Henry,

I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am well at present and I hope that these few lines will find you the same. We have moved from where we was. We have moved back to towards Washington. Took the railroad from Baltimore almost to Washington. The whole regiment is on the railroad now. We have got in a very nice place here now. We can see plenty of slaves here of mail and female. It is a pretty country here. We can see some large farms here, some nice houses here. We can hear them fighting every day here. We can hear the cannons here most every day now.

We live in barracks right on the railroad. We can see all the cars pass here now. Within six days we have seen twenty regiments pass along this road here. Some days we see six regiments pass along here going south. The soldiers have all of them have left Baltimore now. There was three large steamboats came from New York last week to Baltimore to carry the soldiers to Fortress Monroe Monday. There was sixty thousand crossed the Potomac since Tuesday. They was eighty thousand crossed the same river.

We can hear the cannons here today. We are close to the Rebels now. We are [ ] guarding this road now [so] we shan’t go in any fight now for they have got us on this road. We shan’t never have the chance as we have live. It is very sickly here. We have lost our 1st Lieutenant here now to die with the typhoid fever. We have lost six out of our company now. But Uncle Henry, the weather is getting warm here now. The frogs peep here like fun. They are plowing and sowing peas here now. It is spring here now. The weather is like your April weather there…

Uncle Henry, do you think Chub has took his [ ] yet. Do you think he has [ ] the walls yet? …I forgot to tell one thing. I got your letter that you wrote the first of the month. It was a good one. I have wrote two to mother since I got that from you but don’t get no answer from it yet. You write me first rate letters. Mary must write the same. I like to get letters from you for you write good letters, and long ones too. That is the reason I like to hear from you the best of any one that writes to me. You must excuse bad writing and bad spelling. You must write to [me] soon as you get this from me. Tell Aunt Mary I will write to her next time. Soodbye for this time. This from John Stevens

To Henry Downing.