George Eberlein
Wisconsin
“it is time to go to eat and our cook cooked a great beef soup, I will have to hurry up or their won’t be anything left for me…” George Eberlein, Helena, 27 March 1863
Helena,
27 March 1863
Dear Parents,
I received your esteemed letter on March 26 in good health, as well as your 3 dollars. Your letter told me that you are all well, and I am happy for that. Dear parents, rejoice with me, I have seen my brother again. Even though I thought I would never see him again in my life, he wrote me a letter from Memphis.
I was sick at that time and could not answer him right away. He wrote that his regiment had orders to Wirzburg and several days later his regiment came down the river and stayed one day on the Mississippi near Helena. But he did not know that I was at Helena and could not find out. The next day they went down the Mississippi to the Jehn base, and there he found my letter. At the Jehn canal there are little river boats, so he took one and came up the river to visit me. I was still sick and had only a little money, so he gave me 3 dollars.
Dear parents, you can imagine what a happy occasion this was, Ferdinand did not recognize me at first but I recognized him as soon as I saw him. Ferdinand did not have too much time, he had lunch with us, then we had pictures taken of us and he said he would send them to you to Wisconsin.
Dear parents, I was very ill, but now I think I’m going to make it. For 6 weeks I did not have a gun and no duty. But yesterday I went to a parade and today I exercised a little and I feel pretty good.
Dear parents, it is as warm here as it is at your place in May. The trees are all green and the shrubs lost their blossoms. Otherwise I do not have any news. I will send my jacket to Heinrich Wilhelm, I cannot use it this summer. This summer I have enough with one blanket and next fall I can get another one. Well, I have to close my letter now, it is time to go to eat and our cook cooked a great beef soup, I will have to hurry up or their won’t be anything left for me. All the best to all of you and say hello to Klaerchen and tell her I will be back soon.
I remain your devoted son.
George Eberlein
My boss visited us for 14 days and he brought me dried apples and corn starch, that was a big help
Biography | Ferdinand Eberlein 18 Feb. 1863 | George Eberlein 27 March 1863 | Eberlein 18 May 1863 | George Eberlain 18 June 1863 | 9 Aug. 1863 re death of Ferdinand Eberlain
Name: Skip Murray
Notes: All the civil war letters I’m posting are from the same family. They were all written in German script. We only had a few translated, and that is the ones I’m submitting. Hopefully, some day, I will have enough money to have the rest of them translated!