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Alonzo Bump Civil War Letters
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Letters, newspapers, and diaries deteriorate over time. The ink fades and the pages become discolored, making reading difficult. A magnifying glass is helpful sometimes to enlarge print. Besides being old, Alonzo Bump's letters are hard to read because his sentences do not begin with capital letters or end with periods. His spelling is also poor.

Directions:
Transcriptions and enlargements of the eight letters cited in the Alonzo Bump and Albert S. Green essays follow. Read a letter's transciption. Then read the letter and transcribe the document without looking at the one provided. Use the zoom feature in the Page icon on the web toolbar, if necessary, to further increase the size of words. When done, compare your result with the given transciption. Do they match? After two to three letters, try deciphering one before reading the given transcription. Then compare your result. Does your result match the given transcription?

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Virginia Feb the 23 1863
Camp Near White Oke Church

Dear Wife

i now sit Down to right you a few Lines to Let you know that i ame no Better i Go to the Doctors every Morning But he Don't Do me eny Good he has Got a Plaster on my Back and it is all Blistard But he Don't help it eny and if thair is eny such thing as Gitting My Discharge i shall have it for i ame not a Goin to Be eny Better neather for you wanted me Play off and i have made up minde to stick to it till i Git home Mary i Don't want you to

worey about me for i ame Doing thiss to Pleas you and i hante Done eny Duty in 2 weaks for the Doctor Excuses me from Duty mary i can Play off if i ame a mine to and i ame a Goin to stick to it right to often Mary now Dont' fret about me fori ame Doing well We have not got our Box yet But A S Green was Down to the Landing Sauterday and he sez that thair is a Lot of express Boxes Down thair and i Prasume mine is thair to i ame Back to my Company again and i ame a Goin to stay thair till i accomplish what i have under took
mary i ame Glad you Got the 20 Dollars i sent you and as soon as i Git my Pay again you Shall have some more mary when you are a mine to send me a Dollar or two you can But Don't rob your Self and mary if they would send me to a hospital and i can get my Discharge by Paing for it i shall Git it you Can Bet mary i Got your Letter and Ell Burks Friday and i was Glad to hear from you the snow is about 1 foot Deap hear now But tomorrow it may all Be Gon Tell Ell Burk that i wish she was Down hear to see the Boys they all send thair Love to hur and all the rest tell Ell to right to me often and marchia to for i Like to hear from them Mary send me some Postage stamps for i am out mary right often and oblige your husban Alonzo Bump
So Good By for this time
Kiss Mattie for me 50 times
Give my Love to all the Girles in the mill who inquire after me and tell them to right to me

Letter

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The Alonzo Bump Letter Collection contains nearly 150 letters rich in detail about a soldier's life during the Civil War. Original documents and transcriptions are part of collections and research materials available at Brookside Museum, Ballston Spa, New York.