Barrier writes during a period of relative quiet: "We still have old Butler cooped up under his gun boats at Bermuda Hundred. We have had no fighting in this quarter since the 19th." He reports that all are well, cheerful, and hopeful that soon the war will be at an end. "We are so near the enemy," he says, "that our pickets talk to each other." Barrier says that, since they started the Plymouth campaign, his regiment has suffered 200 killed and wounded. As he is out of shirts, he asks his father to send him two, as well as two pairs of socks, for which he offers his thanks.