Gunboat “Cincinnati”
Mississippi River
March 10/ [18]63

Dear Sister,

You need expect nothing but dry and uninteresting letters until something takes place to break the monotony of this kind of life. Vicksburg still remains in the hands of the rebels notwithstanding the reports in Buffalo to the contrary. Vicksburg will, in my opinion, only be taken by a long siege and a great deal of hard fighting.

LafayetteThe gunboat “LaFayette” went down the river as far as the point in front of the city yesterday but out of range of the enemy guns and opened fire upon the encampments and batteries with some of her long “rangers”. The shots fell short of the encampments but whether they did any damage to the batteries is more than I can tell.

We had a little exercise at target shooting yesterday. A target was anchored in the stream a short distance from shore. Each division was marched ashore and formed into a line and allowed to fire so many rounds at it. There were so[me] pretty good shots made and some very wild ones “I tell you”.

Another sham monitor ran the blockade last night. The rebels fired eight-five or eighty-six shots at it, so the watch said who were on deck at the time. I heard “nary” [a] gun for I was indulging in a deep “snooze” upon a piece of canvas hanging on two hooks. I hardly think if all the guns in rebeldom had been fired off they would have aroused me from my slumbers.

The weather has been very changeable for some time past. One day it is so warm you can hardly keep your shirt on, the next day it clouds up and before night we have a real old thunderstorm which makes it very disagreeable for us poor fellows who have to stands watch with no shelter save that which a leaky awning affords us. The river is now very high and still continues to rise. If the soldiers who are encamped on this side of the levee don’t soon make tracks for the other side I’m afraid they will have to swim out, for some of the tents are half in the water now.

There is a report going around the boat now which says we are going to St. Louis to be repaired, but like all other reports, you may believe or disbelieve as you choose. For my part I’ll never believe it till we get underway, although our boat needs repairing bad enough. But I hope the report is true for I’d like to go to St. Louis first rate.

John Fox and Leopold Snyder are well. The crew is very healthy at present. There are very few sick men aboard. With what little money our venerable uncle has given us we have bought a few articles which are not served out as rations and we are now “living high” as the “boys” term it. I am going to ask you to send me some of “Duryee’s Cholera Morbus” medicine if you can find any way to do it conveniently. Don’t get angry because this letter is so short and uninteresting. I write more than half the time because I know Mother will be troubled if she don’t hear from me. Sometimes the boys ask me what paper I hold correspondence with I write so often.

Write often to

Your Brother,

Daniel

Footnotes

USS Lafayette dress with flags, circa 1863-65. Photograph. NH 51191. U.S. Naval Historical Center. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h51000/h51191.jpg.