Dear Father And Mother

I will write A few lines to let you know that I am well and I hope this will find you all the same.. We are transferred to the 2 Brigad we moved camp yesterday we are in A very nice place now I suppose we will get to stay here until we start for home or some other place I dont think we will have any more fighting to do now The 1.. Division was over to Corps hed quarters last night they had A candle prosession Peat Beaty says it beat any thing he ever saw.. most of the 1 Division was their. there was

two brass bands there Gen. Stanley [i.e., Maj. Gen. David S. Stanley] got up and spoke A while he said that we would get pay in two weeks and thought we would go home in A short time he could not tel he said it was not decided by the war department yet he didnot think it would be long until we would know.. Col. Waters [i.e., Col. Lewis H. Waters, 84th Illinois Infantry] wanted to bet Captain Gartersnaick [i.e., Capt. Frederick Garternicht, Co. G, 84th Illinois Infantry] that we would be in Ills in three weeks. I dont believe any thing he says he has told so much that was not so that we dont know when to believe him. they dont intend to tell us when we are going home. We are in half A mile of the river we can see the smoke of the steam boats as they pass. the cumberland river is awful crooked it is only 5 mile from here to Nashville by the road and by the river it is 20.. mile

There has been some of the .83. Ills up here from Clarksville and Fort Donnelson [sp. Donelson] they can tell A bout more fighting than we can they got 8.. men killed at once and one man killed an other time and that is A bout all they ever had killed.. they made one big campaign it was down to Pulaski and they went on the cars. they had augt to have the privlage of talking they never had much fighting to do I suppose they ware willing to fight if they had had any of it to do. I plowed A round last night they have the awfulest plows here [illeg] ever saw it dont cut A foot near and it hops A round wors than any shovel plow you ever saw it takes A bout two foot of land without the hors in the furrow walks out in the plowed ground. they have old

chane harness and the backband is made out of an old gunny sack they use rope lines and husk collars. Well I have wrote mor than you will care A bout reding so I will quit. Write often to

H H Maley

Wm M And
E A Maley