Knoxville East - Tenn. Mar. 1st /64 Dear Lewis Your letter together with Emily's and Edgar's of Feb. 15.th was duly recieved. I was very glad to hear about Alfred. Tell Edgar that I was very happy to recieve his letter and if I come across any postage stamps shall be sure to send them. We are not traveling about much now and so I dont have [struck: much] [inserted: a good] opportunity to get them. This is the first day of spring and a miserable day it is. It commenced raining night before last and continues up to the present moment with no prospect of its cessation. I hug my blankets pretty [2] close such days as this. Yesterday we were mustered for one months pay on our new terms of enlistment. I dont see any more prospects of our going home than I did a month ago except the fact that Longstreet is on his way back to Va. and all of our available force is following after him. Our having no horses saves us from being with them. I thought back along that the reason we were kept here was because Longstreet was menacing the city and that we would go as soon as he cleared out. Probably we wont stay here much longer. At any rate It dont bother me much. The longer we stay here the better the weather we shall have at [3] home. There begins to be a good deal of discussion about politics in the army. As far as I have been able to learn the soldiers are nearly unanimous for Abraham Lincoln for our next president. For my part I hope that he will be reelected. It would be a great wrong to him and it might put the war back a year or two by puting a new man in his chair. There are very few better men than Ab. Lincoln to put at the head of the government and you might get one much worse. Without filling this letter with politics which I am sure will be of no interest to you I will close [strikeout] hoping that I may soon be home where I [4] can talk all of the politics I please without going to the trouble of put my gab down upon paper. If you were upon the opposite side from me in politics I might talk away in order to get up an argument but as you are not I might as well quit. I thought at the last presidential election that I should be near enough 21 at this one to vote, by a little cheating; but I guess I must give up the idea unless soldiers are allowed to vote. If you could peep in at me now and see me siting Turk fashion in the back part of my tent with my toes stuck under my blankets I guess you would laugh. It is raining quite hard outside [struck: outside] and every now and then a drop of water comes spat upon my paper or head. Give my best respects to all hands Your aff. brother Frank A. Waterman [envelope] Mr Lewis W. Anthony Providence R.I.