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have just returned home last eve[ning] from Washington, being there to see about getting the body of my

Friend Whitting, Sir, We received your kind and welcome letter inquiring for my boy Billy and in reply

April 7/64— father i have been here to se yo and yo was not at home i leave my best wishes hoping yo

And as this is Christmas night and I alone in my Shanty will improve it in writing You althouth there

excepted it and had a verry nice time yet I think had I been in New York or Brooklyn that I would enjoyed My-Self

are now Priosners of War Who have Served and fought in the regiment Since the Orginization and for my

Since my return to the regiment we have been very buisy, and we still have a great deal to do in the

The next day after my return we received orders to be ready to move at a moments notice which we did

about noon the Same day took our backward track to the front of Petersburg, near to the place where Captain

is now in Charge of our Regimental Quarter Master and I will Send it home with the first Officer of my

There is no news of importance with us that would itnerest you So I will close by Sending my best respects

Ashton has spoken (at my instigation) to Mr Otto the Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior

that it is the Secretary of War's "policy" which prevents exchange, and if this is true, I pray from my

I got it, looked into it with wonder, and felt that here was something that touched on depths of my humanity

Shall I live to write my Shakespeare book and a score of gorgeous romances?

Rely on me, Walt, for anything you want done here, or anything at all in my power.

Of the O'Connors, Thomas Jefferson Whitman wrote on June 13, 1863: "I am real glad, my dear Walt, that

My dear Walt: I am enraged and ashamed with myself to have never sent you a word responsive to your letters

It was such rain as we have often seen here from my windows, only this time I saw it all alone.

The rascally Congress taxes me in September fifty dollars in a lump, besides my usual income tax, so

Ellen O'Connor related in a letter on November 24, 1863, that the Count had said to her recently: "My

My dear Walt: I am enraged and ashamed of myself to have never sent you a word responsive to your letters

It was such rain as we have often seen here from my windows, only this time I saw it all alone.

The rascally Congress taxes me in September fifty dollars in a lump, besides my normal income tax, so

Of the O'Connors, Thomas Jefferson Whitman wrote on June 13, 1863: "I am real glad, my dear Walt, that

Ellen O'Connor related in a letter on November 24, 1863, that the Count had said to her recently: "My

Brooklyn Tuesday even'g July 5 1864 My dear friend I have had the misfortune to fall back a little since

same as if written to her—I do not write much, nor do any thing hardly, but keep as quiet as possible—my

physician thinks that time, with the change of locality, & my own latent recuperative power, will make

I intend to move heaven & earth to publish my "Drum-Taps" as soon as I am able to go around.

love—also Ashton—I will write should there be any change in my condition— Good bye for present, my dear

Of the O'Connors, Thomas Jefferson Whitman wrote on June 13, 1863: "I am real glad, my dear Walt, that

O'Connor related in a letter on November 24, 1863, that the Count had said to her recently: "My Gott,

know I got home all safe—I do not feel very well yet, but expect to, or begin to, pretty soon—I send my

I think I never in my life felt so wholly blue and unhappy about any one's going away as I did, and have

Brooklyn Sunday afternoon July 24 1864 My dear friend Since I last wrote to you my illness has been gradually

much the same as usual—I keep pretty old-fashioned hours, rise early, dine at 1, & go to bed before 10—My

head feels clear & comfortable, & my strength has returned almost, but not quite up to what it was.

I rec'd Nelly's letter, I could not get over to New York that afternoon—Nelly, my dear friend, you must

try to bring [it] out myself, stereotype it, & print an edition of 500—I could sell that number by my

all, as there is confusion in the opposition camp—the result of course I do not pretend to foretell— My

to Coney Island—& occasionally a tour through New York life, as of old—last night I was with some of my

I got a letter from Charley Eldridge yesterday—I suppose he is now in Boston—My dear friend, I often

count on our being together again, may be quite soon—meantime good bye & God bless you & I send you my

—O how the rain is pouring down as I write—at the other window sits my mother reading the Sunday Herald—quiet

I said, What is it, my dear, do you want any thing?

Richmond— Walt— Jeff, of course you must take this up to mother soon as you go home—Jeff, I have changed my

51st—George's letter to me of 16th I sent to Han—should like to see Mr Worthen if he comes here—give my

remembrance to Mr Lane I have writ to George several times in hopes one at least may reach him—Matty, my

In addition, he altered phraseology: "What is it, my dear" became "What is it, my boy?"

My hospital ministrations are very fascinating with all of their sadness.

My friend, you must accept the men's thanks, through me.

Mother, I have not felt well at all the last week—I had spells of deathly faintness, and bad trouble in my

—My head was the worst, though I don't know, the faint weak spells were not very pleasant—but I feel

(near 3d st)—it is not a very good place, I don't like it so well as I did cooking my own grub—& the

Mother, of course you got my letter of Tuesday, 3d, with the letter from George dated Bristoe station—I

a week —so I thought I would write you a few lines now, to let you know— Mother, I suppose you got my

want to go down in camp once more very much—& I think I shall be back in a week—I shall spend most of my

you are well & in good spirits & Jeff & Mat & all, & dear little California & Hattie—I send them all my

somewhat impressed, but I could not see any thing in it worth calling supernatural—I wouldnt turn on my

could write— Wednesday forenoon—Mother, I didn't get the letter in the mail yesterday—I have just had my

breakfast, some good tea & good toast & butter—I write this in my room, 456 Sixth st.

not worry & feel unhappy about money matters—I know things are very high—Mother, I suppose you got my

believe I worry about worldly things less than ever, if that is possible)—Tell Jeff & Mat I send them my

Whitman is possibly referring to Captain John Mullan.

feel in health these days, dear mother—I hope you are well & in good heart yet—I remain pretty well, my

saw him this morning—I am still around among wounded same, but will not make you feel blue by filling my

neglected again to send him word—I have not heard from home now in some days—I am going to put up a lot of my

know one bit more on what they are writing about than Ed does— Mother, you say in your letter you got my

I hear from him, before sending them— I remain well as usual—the poor fellow I mentioned in one of my

I send my love to you & Jeff & all—we are having a very pleasant coolish day here—I am going down to

post office to leave this, & then up to my old friends O'Connors, to dinner, & then down to hospital—Well

by, dear Mother, for present— Walt Tuesday afternoon 3 o'clock—Mother, just as I was going to seal my

his "head feels disagreeable"; In a letter dated May 30, 1864 also to Louisa Whitman, he wrote that "my

Baldwin entered the army at age twenty-nine, became a captain on October 1, 1862, was wounded at Laurel

soldiers], down at the depot—[It w]as one of the same [old] sights, I could not keep the tears out of my

lately as though I must have some intermission, I feel well & hearty enough, & was never better, but my

—I] wish you would write very so[on again] too—I feel uneasy about [you]—I send my love to Jeff & Mat

want more than two or three days)—I want to see George, (I have his photograph on the wall, right over my

probably George will come out & see her, & that if he does you will send her word beforehand— Jeff, my

best way to enjoy a visit home, after all—When I come home again, I shall not go off gallivanting with my

& more shaky—how they can make any headway against our new, large & fresh armies next season passes my

it was made to me only as there was no one else in hearing at the moment—(he is quite an admirer of my

wrote yesterday to Han, & sent one of George's last letters from Annapolis—Mother, I suppose you got my

blessing on him, he says, I am no scholar & you are—poor dying man, I told him I hoped from the bottom of my

—dear sister Mat, I quite want to see you & California, not forgetting my little Hattie too— Walt 2 o'clock

can know the men so well as I do, I sometimes think— Mother, I am writing this in Willard's hotel, on my

it, are very serious about it—Mother, it is serious times—I do not feel to fret or whimper, but in my

—& how the dear little girls—Jeff, I believe the devil is in it about my writing you, I have laid out

Mother, I have just had my breakfast, I had it in my room, some hard biscuits warmed on stove, & a first

like to hear about the poor young men, after I have once begun to mention them—Mother, I have changed my

house was sold & the old lady I hired the room from had to move out & give the owner possession—I like my

new quarters pretty well—I have a room to myself, 3d story hall bedroom, I have my meals in the house

all—I will surely have to come home as soon as this Richmond campaign is decided—then I want to print my

Mother, every thing is the same with me, I am feeling very well indeed, the old trouble of my head stopt

& my ears affected, has not troubled me any since I came back here from Brooklyn—I am writing this in

Major Hapgood's old office, cor 15th & F st., where I have my old table & window—it is dusty & chilly

seen, the arrival of the wounded after a battle, & the scenes on the field too, & I can hardly believe my

for somehow I was thinking from your letters lately whether you was as well as usual or not—write how my

army this spring, to the utmost—they are sending down many to their reg'ts that are not fit to go, in my

Washington—We have had quite a snow storm, but is clear & sunny to-day here, but sloshy, I am wearing my

On March 6, George wrote to his mother: "I found my trunk up at Fort Schuyler all right the morning I

afterwards that he (the sick man) had not eat so much at a meal, in three months—Mother, I shall have my

after a long spell of rain storms, but the last two or three days very fine—Mother, I suppose you got my

every thing to fight for their last chance—calling in their forces from southwest &c—Dear Mother, give my

love to dear brother Jeff & Mat & all—I write this in my room, 6th st— Walt Walt Whitman to Louisa Van

Washington May 18 1864 Dearest Mother, I will only write you a hasty note this time, as I am pretty tired, & my

Did you send my last letter to Han?

come home for a short time, & pretty soon—(I will try it two or three days yet, though, & if I find my

by him soothing him, he was wandering all the time, his talk was so affecting it kept the tears in my

there also, but I do not go myself at present—it is probable that the hospital poison has affected my

system, & I find it worse than I calculated—I have spells of faintness & very bad feeling in my head

, fullness & pain—& besides sore throat—my boarding place, 502 Pennsylvania av, is a miserable place,

written to George since—I shall write again to him in a day or two—if Mary comes home tell her I sent her my

those terrible long lists—Still there is a sufficient sprinkling of deeply distressing cases—I find my

I lost nearly half of my Co. but we won the fight . . .

always find they like to have me very much, it seems to do them good, no doubt they soon feel that my

away some gay tunes now, though it is quite late at night—Mother, I dont know whether I mentioned in my

region, makes a good officer—Mother, I could get no pen & ink tonight—Well, dear Mother, I send you my

army as a first lieutenant in the Eighty-fourth New York Infantry on May 23, 1861, and was appointed captain

& surgery, instead of being racked through the long journey up here—still may come in here—Mother, my

a bad place, armory building, where the worst wounds were, & have absorbed too much of the virus in my

ambulances—tell Jeff the $10 from Mr Lane for the soldiers came safe—I shall write to Jeff right away—I send my

infantry, that wouldn't do the same, on occasion— Tuesday morning April 12th Mother, I will finish my

envelopes, & one to George—Write how you are, dear Mother, & all the rest—I want to see you all—Jeff, my

sis is—I am well as usual, indeed first rate every way—I want to come on in a month, & try to print my

My dear comrade, I have been very sick, and have been brought on home nearly three weeks ago, after being

sick some ten days in Washington—The doctors say my sickness is from having too deeply imbibed poison

into my system from the hospitals—I had spells of deathly faintness, & the disease also attacked my

as soon as I had strength—But I am making too long a story of it—I thought only to write you a line—My

dear comrade, I am now over the worst of it & have been getting better the last three days—my brother

I never think of you but it makes my heart glad to think that I have bin permited to know one so good

biography, The Ferry Boy and the Financier (Boston: Walker and Wise, 1864); he described their meetings in My

Though Trowbridge was not an idolator of Whitman, he wrote to O'Connor in 1867: "Every year confirms my

appeal very strongly—(I sometimes think only one going among the men as I do, with personal feeling & my

My dear sir, your contributions are very, very welcome—they go to the direct sustenance, cheer, & comfort

Brooklyn December 4 1864 My dear friend Your letter of November 30 came safe, & was truly welcome—if

shall come, almost certainly—Then Charles Eldridge is to be transferred to Boston—I am indeed sorry, on my

Mother remains well, & in pretty good spirits, better than I would have expected—My brother George still

remains a prisoner—as near as we can judge he is at Columbia, S C—we have had no word from him About my

book nothing particular to tell—I shall print it myself—also my new edition of Leaves of Grass—Most

Brooklyn September 11 1864 My dear friend Well I am still home & no event of importance to write you

My illness has passed over, & I go around the same as formerly, only a lingering suspicion of weakness

their having any visitors—So you see I am still in business—Some of the cases are very interesting— My

mother is very well, & the rest the same—We have heard from my brother up to the beginning of this month

is well —We felt pretty gloomy some little time since, as two young men of the 51st N Y, friends of my

John Gibson Wright, captain of the Fifty-first Regiment, reported on August 8, 1864 that, when he had

to relinquish command of the regiment, George "discharged the duties of the responsible position to my

(Wright rose from captain to colonel in the Fifty-first Regiment; he was appointed to the latter position

Captain Samuel H.

I have made up my mind that the camp hospitals are pretty well cleaned out, the worst cases are here

The more I see of them in the Army, the higher & broader my estimate of them.

So, doctor, I still remain here in Washington, occupying my time nearly altogether among the wounded

Brooklyn July 9 1864 My dear friend I rec'd the letters this afternoon, two in the envelope with a note

I had grown worse, quite a good deal, & I was about making up my mind that I would have to stand a good

seige—but yesterday the current changed, & I felt better all day, & in the afternoon went out riding with my

The doctor to-day tells me my throat is markedly better—In my letter to William I told him I had rec'd

can make them out—As to me, I still believe in Grant, & that we shall get Richmond—we have heard from my