Camp near Danville
Oct. 22, 1862
Dear Wife,
I take my pen in hand to write a few lines to let you know that I am well and hope these few lines may find you all to enjoy good health. I have hot heard from you for some time and I thought I would write to you again. I received two letters from you, one mailed Sept 26 and the other was handed to me by John Hawn and you cannot imagine the pleasure it gave me to find that beautiful likeness of yours, and I would have sent mine if I could [have] had it taken but I had no opportunity. But if you look at my old one you can see just how I look for I weigh 176 lbs, so you may think that I am pretty healthy. I had a letter from father the same time that I got your likeness and he was well and he said that he had looked at a piece of land for us. He said it laid four miles from Napoleon and was to cost $500.00 five hundred dollars but did not say how many acres there was, but he said our money should pay for it and if I would not like the land he would pay us the money back again. And I wrote to him to buy it and it would make you a home till I could be with you again and he wrote that he was going to Indiana in a week or two and I think he is going to get married but he did not say anything about it, and I would not have you say anything about [it] to the folks there for there may be nothing of it and then he might get offended. If he writes to you let him know how much money you can raise to pay on that land for, I do not know how much you have standing out on interest and then he can tell whether we can pay for it or not. I think we will get our pay before long and they say that they will pay for six months and if they do, you may look for 75 dollars for I will not keep over 3 dollars of that, but if there is any prospect of my getting a furlough I would not send it all so that I could come home.
I must now tell you what bad luck our boys had. Last Thursday the 3rd Battalion that is Co. I and K, C and G went out on a three day scout and General Morgan fell in on them with about 5,000 men and captured our whole force, which consisted of 8 companies of our Reg., in all not over 500 men. Our boys fought desperate but were overpowered by numbers and had to surender and were set free on parole. The reason I was not with the boys was that I had no horse to ride as my horse took sick the day be fore they went and I turned him loose and he went away that I could not find him and have not seen him since. Andthey say that Quartermaster Souers is coming from Louisville with 500 new horses for this Regiment. Col. Gahm says that he will do his best to get this Regiment to some good place to recruit up and if that will be so, I think that I will get a furlough and come home but it is hard for me to promise anything, for they do not give any furloughs at present but if we go into winter quarters I think we will get a chance to come home.
The other letter that I wrote to you I wrote at Shepherdsville and from there we went to Shelbyville and from there to Frankfort the Capital of the state and the 4th Ohio and 5th Kentucky Cav. were ahead of us; and the 4th Ohio met the rebels and had quite a skirmish and the rebels retreated and when we were there about a week we were ordered to report to General Dumont, that is Co. I of the 4th and our Co. There we got orders to start for Verselles a nice little town 13 miles from Frankfort. We started about 7 in the evening and when we got out about 7 miles, we run on the enemy's pickets and they fired three shots at us and hit one horse in the leg below the knee. They fired some eight shots but done no damage. We dismounted and followed them about a mile and then laid over for the night. The next morning we started and went to town and there the rebel flag floated on the court house, and we saw a rebel running on a horse and we took after him and run him about a mile, and there we met six more and they fired at us but did not hit any of us and we followed them a piece further and there seen about 300 and then we turned back and took down the rebel flag and then returned back to Frankfort and were there a week and came back to this place and tomorrow we are going to Lebanon. This is the nicest country that I ever seen.
I think I have given you all the particulars that I can think of at present so I must come to a close in hopes of hearing from you soon. Write soon and direct to Louisville Ky. Tell Lillie that Pa would like to se his two little girls and see how much they have grown. You must be a good girl Lillie for I think I will come home before long. No more at present but remain your true and affectionate Husband
George Kryder
To E. S. Kryder and all inquiring
