Civil War: H. M. Parker, Illinois 1862

3 1/2 pp. letter on (US Army) Ordnance Department, Cairo, Illinois printed stationery, dated Oct 8 1862, from H. M. Parker, to his brother.

The letter reads, in part,

"Yours from the Seat of War was received this morning giving me a history of your trip together with your address. I was very glad to get your letter, as I had been looking for it for some time, though I was very patient, knowing how inconvenient it usually is for a soldier to write ... I am still in Cairo ... & am satisfied to stay here as long as I can ... I have had letters from home ... They all say that it looks very lonesome since all the boys all went away. But they try to be reconciled to their lot. I also received a papers from home. In one of which I saw your name as 1st Sergeant of Co. D ... There are soldiers coming and going all the while. Curtiss Division is arriving this evening from down about Helena, Arkansas on its way up the Mississippi River to strike across the country again ...[doesn't] How long will it take at this rate to put down the Rebellion, but live in hopes, they say & so I do. Yes, be patient is a good policy. But good or bad I will stand by the Stars & Stripes while they float ... I have no doubt about their outliving me ... If I ever do [read] of your battalion being in a fight, I hope to see it spoken of in high colored words. Remember, fighting is not play & very different from reading about it. Your position calls upon you to be some help in framing the minds of the men in your Co.. & I hope you will be equal to the task. Be cool, discreet & firm in all your actions & remember the maxim of, 'Consider, man, consider' ... Cairo is in somewhat of a fever concerning the late fight at Corinth [Mississippi], the news of which you get about as soon as we do ..."