To the Same.

Cambridge, April 29, 1862.

You were unlucky in not being in fighting trim for the battle at Newbern, but I think you did well in not risking another fever. I hope to hear of your perfect recovery of health and strength by the next accounts.

I almost envy you the excitement of the active uncertainty of the camp and your picket duty. To be a mere looker-on. leading a very dull life and finding nothing of interest but the newspapers, and these very meagre and tantalizing, is a condition of passive uncertainty in which it is very hard to be cheerful. I tried the theatre last night, and got quite waked up. A little comedy in these tragic times is a healthy stimulant.

You will have heard from home about the flood and the dike being washed away.

There is one thing in which I hope to interest you, if you have the leisure to attend to it,—a little “contraband” business. You remember Mrs. Mary Walker whom you saw at Mrs. Lyman’s last summer. She is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and once the “property” of a Mr. Cameron, now deceased,—one of the wealthy first men of the place. Her mother and her children (some of them) are still in the possession of the old gentleman’s heirs, — a Mr. Cameron, Jr., and a Mr. Mordecai in Raleigh. If you can make it convenient to inquire of any escaped “contrabands,” who hail from

Raleigh or vicinity, if they know any such people, and where and who they are, and all that is known about them, — whether any have escaped or are likely to escape; and if you can find it possible to communicate with them and inform them of what you know about Mrs. Walker; or if you can find it possible and convenient to befriend them in any way, you will do a good thing, and put me and all concerned under great obligations to you; and please write me all that you find out as soon as your leisure will allow. I intended long ago to write about this business, but have neglected it till now. An agent at Newbern keeps a list and an account of all the “contrabands” that come into your lines. It was one of the results of the war that Mrs. Walker and her family were reunited. This happened through the efforts of a high official who accompanied General Sherman in his memorable visit to Raleigh in 1865, and who in a short stay of two hours in that city found time personally to make certain inquiries which resulted in so much happiness to this excellent woman. Her mother had died; but her children were found, and they afterwards joined her at Cambridge. ³⁸

The next letters were written while Chauncey was suffering from a slight injury. The injury had been slight, but the consequences were serious. On the 28th of March, he had bruised the instep of his right foot. A physician was called the next day, who found him feverish and suffering much pain from this hurt. A mortification of the skin soon followed, and for some days the symptoms were threatening. But the danger was checked, and before long he moved about on crutches. The recovery, however, was very slow; and it was nearly five months before the injured part was healed. On October 1st, the memorandum of Chauncey’s physician, who has kindly given me these details, states that the patient “walks six miles a day.”

During this period, Chauncey suffered much from his confinement, and from depression of mind at finding how sluggish

were his powers of recuperation. Now and at other times, he suffered the evil effects of some imprudent habits, — a too sedentary way of living, the practice of excessive smoking, and extremely irregular hours of sleep.