Letters of Rev. John W. Alvord

Aquia Creek June 15. 1863 My Dear How we are having abandoned our fort at Fal-mouth—The Army are moving up toward Warrenton. & the sick of the Hospitals are living [reward?]. We are having a hard time—10,000 in those these hospitals—poor fellows—with their wounds half healed—Love in the [unclear] stage have to be jumped from their beds to waggons having—boats & so on to Washington—Truw again to ambulance & Hospitals—Imagine the suffering—This hot, dusty weather. But they bear it nobly—as we hurry Thru on. Some They groan dolefully—^{how can They help it?} Some die—{unclear] sources below—may we hope in joy above. He

great majority however are cheerful, & nurses—stewards—doctors do all ^what they can—But we are all now out. My own strength holds up wonderfully. Had a quiet chat to do in lettering my camp books up & every thing [sent?] without loss—Cham[bray?] & waggon take the field with Genl Caldwells Quartermaster—Booth +c are with me. Am bound to Alexandria—where the Orange & Alexandria Rail R.^d is to give us a new [bake?]. Of the military states I can say but little—We do not feel dis-couraged—there is an evidence that our army are numbing with any misfortune—This rapid change is in view of the movements of the army—Troops in food spirits & health—we only want more. Why cant the new ones rush over?

Washington, D.C. June 16th, 1863

Dear Bro. Childs:

We have skedaddled—Setting off was a lively time: the order to go being kept from us until the last moment. By [dint?] of night & day we have saved everything of value: one old tent, a quantity of forage, a little personal subsistence, & a few camp utensils, being all we left behind. My horse & wagon & wall tent have gone with the 2. M. Gen. of 2nd Army Corps which I expect to head off somewhere on its march. The Chapel tent with 4 good sized boxes of publications, two trunks & divers, other packages, were loaded by special permission on Sunday morning, & after delays, anxieties, & some toil, reached Alexandria in safety. Mr. Burgster was the body guard from Aquia, I preceding him to this place & Alexandria, as pioneer. We have now a very convenient place of storage, or depot, with a Christian Merchant in the latter place from whence we have commenced distribution. Mr. B. will go out to meet the army, (D.V.) at Manassas or vicinity, at eleven o'clock in the morning. If he finds it is to stop there any time, he will pitch the tent, take the horse & carriage, & establish business. He will however take along out few publications, this being rather a reconnaisance. He will write immediately on his arrival, & I shall send him what is needed. My presence here in the city is much needed to arrange matters. I am awaiting Dr. Marks arrival, having reason to expect him every moment. As to the room, I had arranged with Mr. Fowle to take part of the Free Library Building which is kept open night & day, & have our two things which are so much alike go somewhat together—more especially in the detail of small distribution here in the city & to those who are accustomed to call on us during their visits from the army. I had commenced moving & fitting up things there, when I found this some personal friends in the P.O. Department, that this room might be retained at least for a month or two, & it occurred to me that I had better hold on to it—the cartman therefore is dismissed & I am in statu quo. It may be best to keep the mail matter here, as it is far more convenient, & be open at certain hours, while we advertise the retail distribution at the library to which, as I said above, there is always access. By this means we shall escape the criticism that we are shut up part of the day, which of late has been unavoidable. do you know that we have run against another snag? A late order stops all packages thru the military mail—the abuse of the privilege

which was given to me a year & a half ago having become unendurable—thousands Not only good reading from other societies, but Thousands of packages of yellow covered literature, & bawdy, horrid stuff was filling this channel & pouring its tide of demoralization & debauchery thro' our army. We have all known this for some time & over do not at all regret the new order—but how is it to be avoided in our case? I determined at once to plead a strong exception to the general rule, & with the help of the City Post master, & the three assistant Post masters. General, obtained a hearing at Mr. Blair's room this morning. The result is no relaxing of the order—it must be rigid ly enforced, & impartially, as all citizens have equal right to the public mail, but, (& this is a bit of a secret,) ever, at my suggestion, I am to have access to the interior of the office, & to the bags, daily; & also the privelege of having one assistant do this, each, not being P.O. clerks, but taking the same oath of office. I have therefore just now been with testament in hand before the proper officer, swearing solemn & loyal allegiance to my country, & also taking the Department oath—so you see you have lost me in Boston; I am a Government attaché in the city of Washington! This you see will fix things, & give us more facility than before, as that bulky, unworthy matter will be thrown out. If you ask how other societies with good matter can be excluded—I answer, they do it it is done on the ground that all other circulation thro' this channel is occasional & miscellaneous, while ours is systematic, organized, daily, & universal to the army. As the army is evidently to be near us for some time to come, (perhaps too near), & we have now this increased facility, we had better have considerable stuff sent on. The paper-bound books are good for giving away, but we want also a complete small assortment of the red books: also send the June Banner & July Journal as soon as possible with what of the Child at Home you can spare: Put the Hymn Book in paper covers like the New York, for giving away & send me a good lot. My health is not the best (dont tell my wife this,)—the only wonder is that I am not dead in view of the last two weeks. I am to take it a little easier now. Please write at once, & tell me everything.

Yours as ever, J. W. Alvord,

P.S. Direct as usual to Room 15 P.O. Build ing, for the present. J. W. A.

Washington D.C June 21. 1863 My Dear By picking the Mail Bag of Genl Howard [on?] its pas-sage Through the office I [noc?] my first letter from you, dated June 17^th Glad to [hear?] you are better—out taking ex-ercise. I am much better for a day or two—indeed quite well—about at work all the time. only a little weak—Diarrhea wholly gone & hearty appetite. Dr. Marks is not here—his wife being sick—so I must remain for the present. Board at Mr. [Rumseys?] when [hunger?] over did/ I have good care. Mr Bangster taking my matt-[rass?] [hue?] in the room—

Have you [here?] to South Boston to see the new [Agt.?] & [now?] do things get on? some Bills are [to?] he paid there as Mr. [Blasland?] [write?] inform you. Are the apple [his?] [trimmed?] & other things done around the cottage which I [maintained?]? Had a good letter from [Mr.] Child today, & the en-closed from Mr Hill. Please [answer?] it as a valuable paper—The military [status?] is about what you [get?] [evening?] [evening?] in the journal—[north?], very exciting— [Write?] of [you?] Yours as ever J. W. A

Rochester Oct 10/63

My Dears

During the meeting I had no time or strength to write— & now it is over drop you a line to let you know how I am.

The meeting has been a good one—without any thing to dis-turb [harmony?], & largely attended. You will see a fall report in the Congregationalist the reporter of [ab.?] was present. I attended until my head ache compelled me to stop & lie down and then I would go again. My place being a mile away I had a quiet time without company—Feel worn, & have been lying down this mroning until now 12 [ap?]—Your letter came, and about having the house it may be best, I will stay away until

about the time you will want to go—say about 4 or 5 weeks from now & then come & help you shut up—the [place?] where you will spend the time, you must fix as I suppose the winter will be a very busy time with me.

This field looks still very hard as in comparison to my strength, but I see no other way. I am quite a stranger here—& it is dif-ficult to obtain any access to the Churches—I get a [kind?] of [unclear] meeting tomorrow between the Services, & on Monday shall go back along toward N York. Write me there, as perhaps you have before now. Sell the place of course if you can, but it will be very safe shut up during the winter—Love to all

Yours affectionately J. W. Alvord

[penciled in different hand] Gent Meige Recommends Free passage of Reading matter [original hand] M. C. Meigs qr. mr. Genl. War department Sep 1^st 1863.

Department of War Washington Oct 1^st 1863 The quarter master general in view of the excellence of the reading mat-ter [furnished?] to the army by the American Tract society at Boston. rec-commends that the quarter masters convey the packages containing their publications from the general Depot to the several regiments [where?] it can be ^done^ without injury to the public service M. C. Meigs Quarter Master General U. S. [in a different hand] Head [Qus?] Army Potomac Feb 20. 1863 The above is a [true?] copy J. W. Alvord Sec. Am. Tr. Soc Boston