B. F. Batchelor to his wife - December 1, 1862

Camp near Nolanville Tenn.
Dec. 1st 1862

My Dear Wife
With lighter heart than I have felt for many months-made so by the presence of our dear brother-I begin this letter. George has written Pa the circumstances of our meeting on the field & I will only add that my astonishment could hardly have been greater had my love appeared in his stead; he is as fat as a genuine Berkshire & throws me quite in the shade. Though the Abolitionists were unusually spunky that morning & kept up an incessant rattle with cannon & small arms yet they were forgotten in a moment & George & I side by side chatted on as gaily as when building "Castles" of happiness to come on the fields of our loved Texas-On return to camp another source of joy was mine in reading the letters sent by him. I approve letting Dr. Knox have your Piano to take care of-also rending our place to Maj Blane another year-Think Rosa had beter be hired to Lovett she no doubt wants to be with John & acts lazy & trifling to get you to send her to Gonzales. I'm sorry she does not come up to expectations & fear I shall have to try the virtues of Birch to extract laziness when I get home. Lem has made a good start in camp life and bids fair to be of great service to us. We have quite a number of Negroes in camp & I think there is but little danger of his running off-You urge me to return home on Furlough-My Darling is not more anxious than I to visit home again, but Love there are several things to be considered. My stay would be short and would not the pain of parting again outweigh the pleasure of my brief stay? I have known several instances where those on Furlough returned, disgusted with camp life & were very poor & dissatisfied soldiers afterwards. I am not thoroughly innured to being out of doors & am as rugged as a Russian Bear-is there not danger of having to undergo a change in coming back-And again here would be George who regardless of position elsewhere has come to share danger with me, left alone & might lose his life for the want of a true friend & strong arm in the terrible hour of battle-But darling to rise above all personal considerations to a proper sense of patriotic duty, ought a soldier to turn his back on the field thronging with vindictive invaders at such a time as this? Our army Love is outnumbered four to one & it is only by force of strategy & valor that we have kept them from entirely overrunning and violating our land. Because so many get Furloughs would not justify me-We have thousands in our army who have never fired a gun at the enemy & are soldiers only in name, but these will have their reward, and they will not dare lift their skulking heads when in presence of the real soldiers of this war. I have several times written about getting a Furlough but then we expected large accessions to the army from the conscription & have been sadly disappointed by the meagre result & poor material-one veteran volunteer soldier is worth 20 of them

I received Pa's lengthy & well written letter concerning my transfer to Genl Baylor's Command only a few days ago & will say if Pa can effect the transfer and get me a Major's Commission I would be glad to accept it for three reasons; George would also get position-I could see home--& there is little prospect of going higher than a Captaincy in this Regt for many months, as the promotion system is applied to us. Do not think me too sordid in these remarks, love, for having toiled a long time & earned promotion I think I am entitled to it. There are many now commanding Regiments whose only fitness is derived from books-while mine has been taken from the fields & practice is the best preceptor in war matters-Pa can try & if he fails we're nothing loser from the effort & will bide our time. A copy of the "Louisville Journal" has been rec'd announcing the death of poor Mark L. Evans & the sad task is mine of notifying his wife which I will do today. Evans was by promotion Lieutenant Colonel when killed though he had not rec'd his commission & he is so styled in the paper-I have not heard a word about Joe Andrews for a long time, the last was that he was seen at Aberdeen Miss. on his way to Texas-as this was months ago I am afraid something has befallen him. I have slipped our little darling's curl of silky hair in the case with your sweet faces. My love I hope you will not feel bad about my not getting a Furlough; for after reading this & talking with Pa on the subject if you still insist I will certainly come to see you, for my patient and noble hearted Julia shall not have a desire I will not gratify if in my power-I recd a letter from Sister Winnie & one from Teenie last week & answer them today-With love to Pa & Ma, a kiss for babe & hoping this will find you well I am Dearest

Thine Frank

Rugeley, H. J. H. ed. Batchelor-Turner Letters, 1861-1864. The Steck Company, Austin, TX 1961.