Elizabeth and me are enjoying our home and our new baby boy, Sidney!  He's a
great big ol thing.  Lizbeth did fine. She had the baby last night at about
one o'clock.  Seems like women always wait until night time fer some reason.
Auntie Jane, the old midwife from the Colonel's plantation came over to
help.  I'd as soon have her as a doctor.  Don't trust doctors too much, I
think they've more likely kilt as many as they heal.

Sure looks like this ain't the best time to bring new life into the world.
Most all of the South has seceeded except Texas.  Im a expectin it to go any
day now.  Don't make no difference though, couples are gonna have children,
and they're gonna come when they want, trouble or not.  The Navasota
Volunteers (that's what we call ourselves now) have near a full company of
men.  There's near a hundred and twenty of us now.  We look and act like
real army.  All of us have rifled muskets and uniforms.  We have been
meeting two times a week.  We drill on Thursday afternoons, and practice
musketry and attack on Saturdays.  It don't look good.  I hope things don't
come to war with the union.  I love Georgia and Texas, but I don't know if I
could leave Elizabeth and the baby.  I ain't scart of dying, I'm scart of
leavin them here, so far from home without any means of making ends meet.
Perhaps General Sam will talk some sense into Texas and we'll stay in the
Union. On the other hand, them yankees won't leave well enough alone.
They're refusing to leave some of the forts in South Carolina and other
places that have seceeded from the union.  Them states is sayin they'll take
the places by force if they has to.  Why don't the yankees just leave and
let things settle down?  If they push much more, there's gonna be a fight
fer sure.