Camp on the Neuse May 13, 1862 Dear All, I wrote last evening just a line saying that I was well &c and sent it over to the city by Capt. smith as I learned that the mail would go this A.M. & I did not like to miss any opportunity of communicating after my sickness as I knew you would be particularly anxious. I shall begin this to day & perhaps add a few lines each day. I am officer of the Day for the first time to day & have been busy all the morning (it is now 11 A.M.) attending to the cleaning of the camp, digging cess pools at the cook tents, &c. &c , and am now sitting in my new Sibley tent resting for a few moments and overseeing Napolean prepare the - beans - for - baking-. Napolean has been boiling them this forenoon & has just brought them in in a pan for baking & I have added the molassses & showed N. how to cut the rine of pork, he has hacked up a great chunk in getting it right but it will be used for frying -potatoes- &c. since we encamped here we have had fresh beef & fresh soft bread (real nice too) served to the Regt three times. I generally manage so as to keep supplied with the bread by buying several loaves at a time & I can always get a couple of days stock of meat which is about all that is best after living so much lately on -salt- meat. I omitted to state above that the Coln is to have part of my beans. I am afraid you will think I care for nothing but eating but I really write now that you may know just how comfortably I am living & what good hearty food I get. Have had apple sauce (dried apples) twice, paid 50 cents for 2 1/2 pounds. The beans I carry down to our hospital cook & he bakes them I paying him him for it in his stove. Had a -very nice- piece of -roast beef- last week which he cooked My regular supper is coffee tho' I prefer tea when I have it & toast - not very bad for soldier's fare. All my cooking is done at our open fire so my steaks &c have some cinders on them but are real nice for all that. I must leave off now & go make a detail for fatigue work this afternoon. we are getting our camp in fine order, laying out & turnpiking the streets. leveling the parade ground & cleaning up all underbrush &c all off to the river. I have not seen as clean & healthy looking camp in the Division as our own. All my Co. tents are nicely floored & it is quite general in the Regt. we tear down Rebel barracks a mile below us to get the boards, build rafts & float them up. - 11 o'clock P.M. I am sitting up to night to go the Grand Rounds. Have been Page looking up the "Regulations" to see how to -go them- & will now spend a part of the hour or more that I have yet to wait in finishing this letter as I have learned that the mail did not go yesterday as was expected but will go the morrow morning & I may have a chance to send this over in time to go in it. So here goes & first in respect to drills. In this I am getting on certainly as well as I expected although the Colonels to use his own exression is putting me through an "-ordeal of fire-" In co. drill I succeed pretty well & tho' I make some mistakes I can catch the co. oftener than they can catch me. Please remember that I have never before had the -least command- and I assure you he who -commands- is entirely on the opposite side of the fence from he who -obeys- simply. Battalion drills I find much more complicated. These are at present the toughest exercise of the mind that I ever experienced particularly as I am obliged in the absence of the ranking captain of the first division, to command two companies (that is the 1st division) in all division move- ments & these are what we drill most in. I make a great many "bulls" here but not often -very serious- ones. I am studying all the spare time I can get which is really very little for the Co. has formerly been so loosely managed that there seems to be every thing to do all at once & I am continually interrupted. We very much need our first Lieut. Mr Eaton. Shepard is invaluable for I can turn over a large portion of the -writing- for the Co. to him & know that it will be -well done- but he is terribly deficient in all -drill matters-. The great difficulty in division movements is that any formation is so quickly effected that one cannot stop to think he must know & this knowledge & -confidence- in it can only be gained by -practice- and study. I have been interrupted. It is half past twelve & I must go my "-Rounds".