No 37  Rossville Illinois  Aug 26th 1864.  My Dear Husband,  Yours of the 4th and 8th of Aug. is just received; I am very sorry that you are feeling so badly, I do indeed feel quite axious about you, you have been complaining so long that I fear at length your health will break down entirely, and then if you cant get a leave of absence, I may never see you again.  When you are feeling so badly, you ought to excuse yourself from duty, and be careful what you eat, and try to procure such vegetables as will induce a healthy action of bowels. Cheer up my dear, the "blues" ar'nt good medicine at any time, particularly now, so far away your little wife; who could soon affect a cure were you at home. In the first part of your letter where you thought of trying to get home in about a month I was quite delighted and began to devise means to start home immediately, but before you finished writing you had started some place, you knew not where; and now I have no time to look to, when I will see you.  But such are the uncertainties of a life in the army; your time is not your own; so we will try to bear these disappointments in a spirit of
