Mark notes that it has been two years since he left Vermont. He remarks on his military service, which included "one short campaign on Susquehannah". Criticizes American generals Hull and Smythe, and the decision to go to war "with an empty treasuary". Discusses his current occupation as a distiller, noting that distillers receive high wages in the region, amounting to thirty to forty dollars per month. Notes that money is plentiful in western New York, but that the disorder caused by the war has been destructive for the region.