5-21-1918
Dear Mother:-
We are here at last and we certainly had some ride. We saw the Capitol for the first time. I saw Florence Stayton before I'd been here 15 minutes but we were standing at attention about a block from the Capitol and couldn't make her see me. We are at Camp Foote about 7 or 8 miles south of Washington. Our camp is right on the banks of the Potomac River. We came down from Washington on a pontoon, got here Monday night. We started Sunday morning 10:00 AM. We came through even a dozen tunnels, one at Baltimore, Maryland was a 15 minute's ride. We are right in the hills and trees (beech trees) and in tents eight to the tent. We have one of the nicest corporals in the U.S. His name is Malloy from Maine.
There's just one thing in this world I regret and that is that I can't have you all along to show you the things I have seen. It certainly is great. Everything is so pretty here, especially in Maryland. Everything is so green. We certainly had a fine ride down the Potomac on the pontoon. We were towed by a gasoline motor boat. We never got to go to bed till after midnight, got our supplies about 11 o'clock. Well, I just want to write enough to let you know where I was. I won't attempt to write all I want to tonight or I'd be here till morning. We certainly are glad we got out of Camp Taylor, especially the depot brigade. We are in the Engineer regiment now.
Well, I'll write more tomorrow and every day now till I get off this full head of steam. Ha! Everyone wants to write home so I mustn't take up too much time, and besides this isn't a very good place to write. There is too much to look at. Ha!
Oh yes, the men in my squad are Smyth, Shellburn, Day, Corporal Malloy, Thompson, Deweispeleare (a Belgian from Boone County), another from Boone County and myself. Day is one of our boys from Brown County.
| My address is: | Pvt. Lawrence McCoy Co. B, 1st Btn, 1st Rpl. Reg. Eng. Washington Barracks, D.C. |
Write quick. We aren't here long - 10 days is my guess.
As ever your son,
Lawrence Mc
PS
The abbreviated words in my address read: Company B, First Battalion, First Replacement Regiment of Engineers but write it the short way.
LMc