Fort Richmond Bay View1 Staten Island, NY September 12th/62
Dear Niece Melissa:2
I have just returned from the forts on Long Island3 where I have been all day on detail duty with a squad of men looking after clothing and equipment for our Brigade.4 On returning to camp, 5 I found your letter forwarded to me from Dunkirk.6 It afforded me the greatest pleasure to hear from my old home once more. Amid the bustle and duties of camp life it came to me as a welcome guest, calling to mind once more the quiet happy scenes of childhood when the tramp of mustering squadrons and the horrid din of battle was not heard in our then happy land. The scene has changed now. I am in my tent on a high bluff overlooking New York harbor and the bay below. I have sat down to answer your letter.