The following letter was written by John Myers of Co. G, 195th Pennsylvania Infantry. John enlisted as a private on 18 February 1865 and deserted on 21 November 1865. He mentions Franklin K. Myers (b. 1844) of the same company who also enlisted on the same date and deserted three days before John. I’m not confident but I believe John was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where many of the men were recruited.

John’ letter was written on stationery with a rate colorized lithographic illustration of the “Camp of the 195th Reg. Pennsylvania Volunteers at Berryville, Va.” Berryville is a few miles east of Winchester in Clarke county, Virginia.

See also the 1865-66 Letters of George W. Fraser who also served in the same company as John Myers. They were published on Spared & Shared in 2018.

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

Washington
August 18th 1865

My dear wife,

Here I will send you this letter where you can see how we had our camp at Berryville and I will state you how to lay it and you will find my tent. It is the second tent in from the west end in the second street marked with ink and you will find on top of the picture which is the east side and if you lay it down that the end which I have written on is eastward, then it is right.

Further, I want you to come as soon as you possibly can. Start right away when this comes to hand and bring all the money along that [I] have sent you for may you must stay a while with me because if you don’t come soon, then I will desert. And now do so and Franklin Myers wrote home to his wife to come along with you and tell her if she will go along with you then she shall for it is more company to you and don’t forget and come as soon as you possibly can for I wouldn’t like if you would come and we would have left so that you wouldn’t met me here.

Just inquire for G. Street Wharf. I think William Mul can find the place so I must close. I am in a great hurry so that letter will go off yet.

— John Myers

Don’t forget and do so.