April 12, 1861

Dear Jona, 

Its your husband Jonathan from Fort Sumter oh Jona how I miss you so much. The 4 months I have been away from you have been the longest 4 months I have ever experienced. Everyone at the Fort was so miserable. The Confederacy has us pinned down and we barely have any food here. I know for a fact that we will not last more than 15 days if we do not get any supplies But I do not know if we will even survive until then.  We have the food but most of us are sick from it and are in bed and moaning hoping for sweet release of death to come and sweep them away. It seems like the medics don’t know what they are doing, as a result everyone is sick and might not get better.  In fact  only ⅓ of our troops are healthy and  others passed away or are very ill. I am one of the lucky ones I am well but hungry and I do not know how much longer I can stay well. I have been coughing lately all I can do is stay in bed. I hope the Confederacy leaves because I do not know how much more we can take.

Some people have even been talking about leaving and surrendering to the Confederacy. I am not because if I do, I will never be able to go back to my house again. I wish I could go back and choose a different profession. I wish I went to law school like my dad told me to. I wish I could wake up everyday and have a good breakfast but most importantly I wish I could see you and my son again. I wish I could see him say his first words. Give me your opinion in a letter should I return home or should I stay here please. enough about me, how are you and our son. Is the family farm running good tell me all the details, Please mail me back. 

Your Husband,

 Jonathan