Bishop is not feeling well. He has stopped smoking. There is some talk that Company B. is going to leave LaFourche Crossing and go down to the next station at Algiers (not apparently present-day Algiers which is around 50 miles away). He writes Mr Knapp telling him that he bears him no malice, etc. He forgives her for refusing one of Mr. Ely's houses, implying that there was a time when he wouldn't be forgiving. He bears no malice 'against him or anyone else as I think that providence will take care of everything and punish everybody that need it eventually.'
Lafourche Crossing La.
April 1st 1863
My Dear Wife
today I feel rather Billious and do not feel like running around and neither do I feel like lying down so I thought I would write to you. there is in reality no news. I feel as if I was going to have the Jaundice but perhaps it is nothing more than one of my usual billious turns. I have been suffering for a few days from looseness of Bowels probably occasioned by overflow of Bile but that has got better and I think that perhaps I may have to doctor for Jaundice. I stopped smoking some days ago and I am satisfied that it has been beneficial to me and I intend to stick to it and not smoke any more if I persist to hold my resolution. I want to return to you if I can a stronger man as it regards my nervous system than when I left you. I am aware that for years my dear wife that I have been in the habit of using Tobacco to excess and I find that I can content myself very well with chewing so that I am determined to give up smoking. I know that it has injured my faculties and my nervous system. My head feels so much better since I have stopped smoking that I feel encouraged to persevere in it, in fact I donot hanker so much as I did when I first stopped. My dear how I should prize good health, it is what I have no[t] possessed for 15 years.
The Troops are marching within 4 or 5 miles of this situation to join Gen. Weitzel some 5 or 6 thousands of them so that we do not fear an attack while they are so near. there is a rumour this morning that Co. B. is going to leave this station and go down to the next station to Algiers about 12 miles this side ofN. Orleans. I am in hope that we shall go as we shall be nearer N. Orleans and so much nearer home that dear place which is the fond aspiration of every soldier that has got any principle in him.
My dear wife it was only day before yesterday that I told you that you were as dear to me as ever and of course I have not changed any in that respect since then. my dear I feel the love that I feel for you permeates all through my system and fills every nerve with pleasure so that you see my dear how great a blessing it is to have a wife that one can love and respect. my darling I hope that I never shall cease to love you as well as I do now. some folks think that it is beneath a man to make love to ones own wife but I hope Providence will give me strength of mind to always consult your comfort and happiness. My dear wife if loving presents so many attractions to you as it does to me I am sure that you will never tire of it. of course absence makes the heart grow fonder but I think if we truly love that we can live together without getting tired of one another. My dear we are but imperfect creatures I know and I know that my disposition is perhaps difficult to suit but I hope to have sufficient control over it to consult to your happiness especially if I love you which I feel that I do. if I am spared to join you again I will endeavor to prove to you how much I value your happiness and love. if you will only continue to love me so that I can have that want of my nature satisfied I shall be happy as far as this world is concerned
give my love to the children and kiss them for me and believe me to be your loving Husband
J.D. Bishop
my darling I kissed your Dagueratype yesterday as I could not get to the original. you may calculate my darling that I shall kiss your picture once in a while if I cannot kiss the original. my darling shall I ever have the pleasure of meeting you again. I hope so and I will not doubt it until providence prevents it. I can bear the separation my dear wife if it secures me your fond love and now that I am assured of it I know that I have one source of happiness that will solace many lonely hours and I hope that kind providence will bring us together again in his own good time and I hope that that will be some time in June.
my darling what should you think of sleeping month after month on some hay with your blankets thrown over it. I think I shall prize getting in between some good clean sheets along side of my darling. it seems as if I prize the time if I should ever see it when I can lie down at night with the certainty that I shall not hear the cry of fall in [fallen] men. sometimes it is a rainy night and we stand waiting for an attack and finally conclude that it is a false alarm and all tum in with our clothes on. but I have got so that I can sleep pretty well whether we have alarms or not.
I think I must finish this letter tonight as the mail sails from N. Orleans or the Vessel that carries it does. I donot hardly know what to write. I have written to Mr Knapp telling him that I hold no malice against him &c I did not blame you my darling for telling Mr Ely that we did not think that I would live in one of his houses. the time was when I would not have done it but I do not wish to bear malice against him or anyone else as I think that providence will take care of everything and punish everybody that need it eventually.
well my darling I love you dearly and donot hardly know how to content myself away from you but of course I cant help it until my time is out all I can do is to look at you in your picture and read your letters over and over. my darling I shall always remember you with gratitude for you[r] conduct to me since I have enlisted while I was with you at your cousins in New York and also when I was home on a visit. my dear I am afraid that I did not always take into consideration that you were the weaker vessel but you know that I am not much more than a child where my feelings are concerned. I shall look to you my darling if I ever get home to govern me and keep me in the bounds of moderation. you know my dear that I have no one that I can look but yourself for advice and counsel in matters between ourselves.
My darling do not forget to write often and fill your letters with as much affection as you have hithertoo done and I shall try to do the same. kiss the dear Children and believe me to be your affectionate Husband
J.D. Bishop
