*** Note From David
letters from my GGGrandfather Robert Hurley that he wrote to his wife Martha when he was at Camp Butler during the Civil War. I was able to copy from the original letters, which my father still have.

ROBERT HURLEY LETTER OCT 20,1861
 

     Sunday Oct 20
     Camp Butler,Ill
 Dear Martha,

 I take the present moment to write you a few lines. Our regiment marched out in the country about two miles to hear the renowned Peter Cartwright preach. I had the pleasure of hearing him, and I suppose from what I heard him say, that this is but one such preacher as he is in this world. He is witty and what I call an odd genius, his text was selected from the ninth chapter of Matthew 37, 38 verses, he remarked that that was his text but he should not stick very close to it, and he kept his promise, he gave us a short account of his life in the west, and then as a matter of course as the soldiers composed nine tenths of his congregation he branched off on the state of the union. I learned by him that he was chaplain to General Jackson's command, at one time he told us also he was a democrat dyed in the wool. He gave us great encouragement to go on and assured us that our cause was just and demolished the argument of traitors, that the southerners occupy the same relation to our government that our fathers did to England. He gave us one of the reasons that he wanted the government sustained, that it was the best government in the world and our fathers gave it to us, and he had seven living children and forty five grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren and a whole regiment coming on. These were his own words concerning his family, I will give you his opinion of Mrs. Beauregard, he says he spent one month in New York  last winter and that he was introduced to the general's lady among other distinguished southern lady's that were sent there to be out of danger. He says that he read Beauregard's proclamation and that in it he stated the object of our troops to be booty and beauty, well, said the old preacher, if that is the case and I am any judge of beauty, Mrs Beauregard is out of all danger. God knows again, he remarked, that he would give five hundred dollars for Jeff Davis' head, he said he would stick it on a pole and keep it there as a  terror to all future traitors. Some of the ladies admire him but I think they make up there opinion of him more from what they have read and heard of him than from what we heard yesterday, he makes use of to ruff of language to be very much of an orator. ??? I want you to write to me and let me know if you got the fodder saved and how the things are doing. I think you had better sell all tha calves except for pinkeys, but you must do the best you can, if the same cow will do for beef you had better have her beefed. Let me know if George has got home or what has become of him. Tell Eddy his da would like to ??? him a while and see if he has grown any, tell him to learn to talk plain and if I live I will be home soon as to chat with him. I am good health at this time.     R Hurley to Martha Hurley