Cincinnati 221 Vine Street
May 21st 1861

(American Flag)
First page torn off.

… all along surrounded us by his people and till I hear such stories of misery as you relate I am scarcely sensible of the Love that has guided me thus. I have not heard of the Parkinsons for an age. I wrote to Bessie last. Do please my dear Miss Lascelles tell us all about them as the are all very dear to us. I suppose you have heard of the hostile preparations for a civil war in America. It is but too true. I hear nothing talked bout but war. No business of any sort doing from early morning till late at night. Volunteers pour into the city from the rural districts to join the army intended for protecting the government and the Union.. All the different shades and ramifications of political feelings have resolved themselves into two parties "Union" . and "Secession" .. Cincinnati has organised a home guard. It is thought should Kentucky (which is just across the river) secede Cincinnati will be the battle field. Several families have left the city on that account and numbers of Southerners or Secessionists have sent their wives and children north for protection which is a tacit acknowledgement that they fear the worst of the battle.. The southerners are great boasters and talk more than they could accomplish in several ordinary lives. I have heard they are hard to fight and I suppose their southern brethren will afford them an opportunity. But to hear they cannot compete with the overwhelming numbers of the Northern volunteers and their quite determination. From every prominent point. and public building the stars and stripes and you see how patriotic I'v got. Sending the stars and stripes across the broad Atlantic.