UNITED STATES PRISONERS CAMP,
POINT LOOKOUT, MD., Sept. 29, 1864.
My Dear Mother:
At the battle of Winchester, fought the 19th of this month, myself, together with seven others of our company, were captured, namely Henry Warren, Emerson Winstead, Pat Wooten, Bunyan Barnes, Edwin Barnes, Byrant Stokes and Joel Taylor. All of us are in very good health. All of us have written although some of our letters may be lost. Give my love to all the family. Please write as soon as you receive this. Direct me care of Major Brady, Provost Marshal. Let me know whether Blake was killed or wounded. Goodbye, believe me as ever.
Your sincere and affectionate son,
WALTER.
When I remember all
The friends, so linked together,
I’ve seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather,
I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted,
Whose light are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed;
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
—THOMAS MOORE.
Letters from two brothers who served in the 4th North Carolina Infantry during the Civil War are available in a number of sources online. Unfortunately, the brothers are misidentified in some places as Walter Lee and George Lee when their names were actually Walter Battle and George Battle. See The Battle Brothers for more information on the misidentification.