Dear Mom and Dad,

Things are going pretty good, we are camped out at Valley Forge for this winter. Its very tight sleeping spaces around here, for every 12 men there is a very small about 15 foot long 15 foot wide hut with one fire place. We are about 2 feet below ground so our hut has a dirt floor. There not very nice, you can feel the draft at night the cold wind. Its getting really hard to get around down here. The farmers try and hid there horses so that we can't use them to get supplies. There isn't much to eat, so we eat things like firecake which is just water and flower. I can't wait to come home to get some homemade cooking from mom. This is nothing like our farm house at home. Things are so much different than I thought they would be in the army. Although I'm hoping that the weather will start picking up the temperature has been in the 20s and 30s this past week. Spring is coming soon and I can wait for the warm weather.

Washington has been showing us the way these past couple weeks, hes really stepped up and shown us how to get things done around here. Hes the only one getting us through at this point. He has been really boosting everyone sprits around camp, telling us that we can take this and its only going to get better with more wins to come. Also that this is going to be over very soon. I think that hes trying to make everything look better right now because theres a re-enlistment coming up in the spring for the army. Hes saying that the things we are going through right now will be worth it after this is all said and done. But with all of this courage he is showing and pride for the army its hard not to believe what hes telling us. I mean things are not looking the best but hes doing his best to make everything better around here.

I have been doing alot of thinking lately about this spring and the re-enlistment. Although i have learned alot from the Army, another thing i have learned that its something that i went into with all the wrong reasons. I came in thinking that i was going to see the country, but after this past 6 months i have seen as much of the country as i need to see. I'm really glad that i have been in the Army for this long but, I'm really looking forward to coming home to somewhere its warm and safe. I think that things here are only going to get worse, cause of the many battle we have lost. I think that if i continue to stay in the army that this will be the death of me. I'm ready to come home and ready to see my family again.

Sincerely,
Charley Smith