Swisher, Daniel to sister [Lydia A. Bishoff]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.40.17 Author/Creator: Swisher, Daniel Place Written: Bolivar Heights, near Harper's Ferry, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 19 October 1862 Pagination: 4 p. ; 21 x 25.7 cm. Order a Copy
Swisher traveled towards Winchester to follow the Rebel army. They wiped them out of Charlestown and came back to camp again. He is tired by hard marching in the rain. Swisher tells Bishoff he would come home if he could, but he can't. He then explains that he is waiting to see whether "Mr Abram" is going to put his proclamation into effect, for if he does, Swisher is "not agoing to stay." But "as long as I am Fighting for the right Cause I would Rather Die at the point of the Enemys Bayonets than to Have the name of A Deserter," he says. He and Dick are tent mates and have agreed that if "old Abraham is going to free the niggers" they "wont fight to free the niggers." He will then "Desert in spite of old Abe and all his Abolition Army." Although he "neve Could asertain what they Meant to Do intil now," he believes it can now be "Distinctly seen that they mean to free the niggers [and] if it Be The Case I am as Big a Rebel as those that Are fighting against Them," he says. Swisher tells Bishoff that it would do him good to see the children at the mill - for they are always in his mind. If he stays healthy, he believes he will be at home before many months elapse. He requests that Bishoff get her likeness taken and send it to him (by mail if no other way). He promises to pay her for it when he gets paid.
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