Abstract:
Letter from J. L. to his father explaining the military medical positions open to him. He is a part of the First Regiment Artillery under the command of Colonel Gordon, though he writes of a rumor that his regiment will soon be under the command of Colonel Jackson. He is mainly concerned though with job prospects and longs to have a temporary surgeon's assistant position that could pay as much as $12 a year, so that he may then move up. J. L. wishes to have his horse with him and asks his father if that could be arranged from Staunton, Virginia. In the post script J. L. learns that his regiment has no surgeon and that there are many applicants for the post of surgeon's assistant.
