Letter from James to Parents. February 21, 1864#

Clarksville – or – Boca del Rio, Texas — February 21nd 1864

Dear Parents,

I received two letters from home, day before yesterday, and as I have leisure time today, I will write some letters and first on the list will be one to home. It is Sunday afternoon and the air is so balmy and pleasant and just warm enough to feel comfortable; and instead of tents, us Officers, are quartered in comfortable houses. We have been here 5 days and the men are very well satisfied with the change. We have had one Norther since we have been here, but it cleaned off very pleasant this morning. I was anxiously awaiting an answer from you, announcing the receipt of the intelligence of my having been paid off up to the 1st of January, so as soon as the Steamer was seen off the bar I detailed 4 men from my Company, got about and pulled out to the Steamer to get the mail. I soon had the pile of letters overhauled and was fortunate enough to get 5 letters for me and 3 papers. You made no mention of the fact of your having received the news of my being paid off or the receipt of the 10 dollar bill. Will fortunately mentioned it in his letter so my anxiety was removed, and this you probably have received from Adams Express the $190.00. I was glad to hear from Durlyn of his visit to Barnum’s. He seemed to enjoy his visit very much. I will try and be home by next fall if possible. I suppose you are aware that I mustered as 1st Lieutenant for 3 years, but you need not be uneasy; I do not intend to stay any 3 years you know. By next fall I will probably resign and may be sooner if things turn out right. I have a chance of making a little money now and I intend to improve it. Out of my salary of $120.00 per month I can save, say about, $80.00. It costs considerable to leave, keep a servant, cloth and feed him and to keep myself up to the standard of an Officer. So far as drill is concerned, my vision of making a little money at this place, outside of my pay, turns out to be a delusion and a snare. They have made this a sort of entry or stopping place for the teams going to and from Brownsville, Brajos Santiago and have sent two other Company here and a Captain from the Engineers as Commandant of the Post so he will pocket all the requisite I suppose. Now I shall expect you to make use of my money in getting furniture and clothes and making yourself comfortable in general. If Father should get to building again, or get into some business when he can use my money, why do so. Should he be successful in making money enough to keep the family comfortable without my pay, why, I will resign in the course of the Summer and come home, but I am not going to come home until I am satisfied we can keep up appearances and move in the circle of society in which we properly belong. Without so much pinching, you may wonder at my laying so much stress on this point, but it is indelibly impressed on my memory. The mental suffering I endured from the mere fact of knowing I was poor for six long weary years. I worked and suffered and endured insult from Dr. Barker because I was too poor to resent it or offend him. He knew I was depending on him and he took advantage of it. But things have changed; I am appreciated and treated as a soldier and a gentleman out here. What if I do see some hardship and trials, I can retain my own self respect. At home I was to prove, or at least Mother was, with all due respect to her, to let me associate with the poor and common class, and too poor to mingle with that class of people which through taste and from habit we belonged. That account for having so few associates among the young folks of the Burgh. I dearly love my home, it is in my thoughts by day and in my dreams at night and I look forward, hopefully and with much joy, to the time when I can once more walk the Street of my own, my own Nation City. I can appreciate the feeling of John because I have been there; the treatment of the Dr. is calculated to depress the manly and independent sentiments of a young man, I hardly know how to advise him. At any rate, he can now afford to assume a more independent attitude with regard to the Dr. From what I know of the Dr., he will treat John a great deal better if John gets him to understand that he is wholly independent of him. Rather than John leave him, he will treat him better I believe. I am glad John is practicing with the dumbbells, he ought to learn the manly art of self-defense (boxing), which I am. I can learn Will several new points about countering with the left, making terse lunges with the right,

and all that sort of thing when I come home. To change the subject a little, I hear that all the three-year men are going home, Byrd, Van Namm and all those that refused duty after four months imprisonment are discharged and I believe are going home. Wilson and Camp have accepted Commissions in our Regiment and arrived yesterday at Brazos Santiago. I have not seen them yet, they are 2nd Lieutenants. I believe they did not have to go before the board of Examiners for some season. Cousin May sent me her pictures; she is 22 years old she says. She seems a very fine girl from her letters, but she is certainly not a handsome one judging from her pictures. I don’t know whether I mentioned or not the fact of coming across a Mr. Dickenson, a clerk in the L.M. Department, who is well acquainted with the Jackson family, having been in the same business (keeping a public house) in a neighboring village. Mr. Jackson is considered a wealthy man, owns considerable property. Major Morgan has resigned I believe, and is now in charge of some Government Plantation on the Plaquemine somewhere. The 176th is stationed in Madisonville near Lake Ponchetrain, somewhere they are to form part of the forces in the attack of Mobile. There is nothing particular going on about here; there being nothing else to do, there being no chance for any rowboat exercise, I am teaching some of the men to read. I have commenced with my non-commissioned Officers, 9 of them. They are very anxious to learn, and they are in all different states of learning. Two of them having got as far as ba-ker la-dy etc., some learning their ABCs and other spelling go-fo-ho-no-le. They are not very apt scholars but awful persevering, they keep it up right, straight along and th ink it a big thing if they learn to spell 2 or 5 words in one lesson. They are about the most thick-headed crowd I ever did come across, t hey are very superstitious too. When I laughed at the idea of the Devil appearing in bodily shape in this world, they could not seem to conjure the possibility of my not believing it, they spoke up, “’scuse me Captain, but I have seed wid my own eyes, yer can’t fool dis yer chile, I k now de debble when I seed him, seed him offen.” I am very comfortable now quartered in a large house with nothing particular to do and plenty of time to do it in. I am going to send to New Orleans for books and improve my time reading, no one knows though how long it is going to last perhaps all summer and may be only a short time, everything is so uncertain. You advise me not to follow in the ways of the Mexicans. I hardly know what you mean but I certainly shall not follow them much. 1st,, because they are very dirty and wear too much hat. 2nd, I can’t speak the language and it smells too nasty in their huts. Even my servant treats them with contempt and drives them out of the cook house where they hang around.

Yours Affectionately,

James D. Wade

1st Lieut. Commdg. F Co. 16th Regiment Corps de Afrique