June 8, 1862, at the Union Encampment 
              near Baltimore, Maryland

The rumor that we'll be leaving here soon was confirmed 
about an hour ago by Captain Campbell.  We've completed 
our training and based on the treatment we receive from 
Sergeant Sterling and Captain Campbell we've done pretty 
well.  We're probably as prepared as the Army can get us 
to go into battle.

According to the Captain our regiment, the 5th NJ, and 
one of the new New Jersey regiments that's also been 
training here, the 21st, will be forming up tomorrow 
morning and be on the road south by 6:00 am.  We'll be 
in Annapolis by the 11th where we'll be loaded onto ships 
for a trip down the Chesapeake Bay.  The ships will get 
us to Yorktown, Virginia, enemy territory, sometime on 
the 13th. 

The Captain says that it should only be a few days after 
that before we "see the elephant", that means be in a 
battle, for the first time. From what we've been able to 
find out General McClellan's having a real time of it 
down there around Richmond.  Them Rebs, who we already 
knew was fierce fighters, get even more riled when they're 
fighting on their own land. I guess that's understandable.  
If this war was being fought in Rancocas I'm sure I'd get 
pretty riled and fight someting fierce to protect my home.
It seems now like Rancocas is on the other side of the 
world.

We also got some pretty discouraging news regarding the boys 
in the 5th NJ who are at the front now.  When we left 
Philadelphia back in May, word was some of us would be being 
reassigned to other regiments because the 340 of us, that's 
the true count, would make the 5th NJ too big a regiment when 
we joined them.  Now we've found out that we're all staying 
together, which is good, but the bad part is that it's 
because the 5th is taking such a beating that now even with 
all 340 of us it still won't be back to its original strength.

I write Ma and Pa about once a week and things at home seem 
to be fine.  They seem to get better war news than we do, and 
from what it seems things aren't going real well for the Union.  
Well wait'll the Rebs get a load of the new 5th NJ!  

We'll be doing a lot of marching tomorrow so I guess I best 
turn in.  I think more and more now about what being in a 
battle is going to be like.  Sometimes it keeps me awake.