Letter from Charles P. Summerall to his son, January 6, 1918
Title
Letter from Charles P. Summerall to his son, January 6, 1918
Source
CP10
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Date
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Relation
Charles P. Summerall Collection
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/22
Date Valid
Text
[Page 1]
Hdqrs 1st F. A. Brigade
France, Jan. 6, 1918
My dear son,
I have neglected writing direct to you, but all my letters to mother are for you also, and I know that you do not doubt that your dad is thinking of you and loving you all the time. You must be very busy with your lessons
[Page 2]
and I do not expect you to spend much of your play moments writing letters.
There is a great deal of snow and ice here and I never see it without thinking what fun you would have coasting down the long, clean hills or skating on the lagoons in the park of this Chateau. Sometimes, the automobile gets stuck
[Page 3]
on the road and then we send for the nearest plow for a team to pull us out. Once we worked for hours to reach a passable road and did not reach the Chateau till late in the night. I have a National-six limousine and keep very comfortable in it. I also have a Cadillac, temporarily being repaired. But there is much to do. The motorcycles are a great help and get through
[Page 4]
the snow quite rapidly, the men push them over bad places.
We keep fires in the fire places in the Chateau. It is an old feudal castle and no one has lived in it for 50 years. There is a lot of lovely old furniture in it that mother would revel over. My bed is in an alcove, where many a great noble has probably slept and a great old state carriage is in the big carriage house and stable.
[Page 5]
This is a very old corner of the world. The Romans fortified some of the cities and many of the walls and fortresses still stand. There are lots of quail, ducks, and wild boar in the country but no one shoots them.
All our horses have been [illegible]. I ride a very good looking mare, 16 hands high, bay sorrel. She is very quiet except
[Page 6]
when she sees a train. You would probably laugh to see me in my steel helmet and gas mask. But we are quite used to them and often wear the helmets all day.
I constantly think of the difference of time. It is the middle of the afternoon here and you and mother are probably getting ready to go to church. When I go to bed, you are
[Page 7]
probably going to dinner and I am far away and long at work when you get up. Our latitude is so great that the sun makes an arc for from the zenith and the days are very short.
Someday, we shall come here together, you and mother and I and what a time we shall have.
I send you both all my love and kisses all around.
Your loving,
Dad
Hdqrs 1st F. A. Brigade
France, Jan. 6, 1918
My dear son,
I have neglected writing direct to you, but all my letters to mother are for you also, and I know that you do not doubt that your dad is thinking of you and loving you all the time. You must be very busy with your lessons
[Page 2]
and I do not expect you to spend much of your play moments writing letters.
There is a great deal of snow and ice here and I never see it without thinking what fun you would have coasting down the long, clean hills or skating on the lagoons in the park of this Chateau. Sometimes, the automobile gets stuck
[Page 3]
on the road and then we send for the nearest plow for a team to pull us out. Once we worked for hours to reach a passable road and did not reach the Chateau till late in the night. I have a National-six limousine and keep very comfortable in it. I also have a Cadillac, temporarily being repaired. But there is much to do. The motorcycles are a great help and get through
[Page 4]
the snow quite rapidly, the men push them over bad places.
We keep fires in the fire places in the Chateau. It is an old feudal castle and no one has lived in it for 50 years. There is a lot of lovely old furniture in it that mother would revel over. My bed is in an alcove, where many a great noble has probably slept and a great old state carriage is in the big carriage house and stable.
[Page 5]
This is a very old corner of the world. The Romans fortified some of the cities and many of the walls and fortresses still stand. There are lots of quail, ducks, and wild boar in the country but no one shoots them.
All our horses have been [illegible]. I ride a very good looking mare, 16 hands high, bay sorrel. She is very quiet except
[Page 6]
when she sees a train. You would probably laugh to see me in my steel helmet and gas mask. But we are quite used to them and often wear the helmets all day.
I constantly think of the difference of time. It is the middle of the afternoon here and you and mother are probably getting ready to go to church. When I go to bed, you are
[Page 7]
probably going to dinner and I am far away and long at work when you get up. Our latitude is so great that the sun makes an arc for from the zenith and the days are very short.
Someday, we shall come here together, you and mother and I and what a time we shall have.
I send you both all my love and kisses all around.
Your loving,
Dad
Collection
Citation
Summerall, Charles Pelot, 1867-1955, “Letter from Charles P. Summerall to his son, January 6, 1918,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed April 20, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/22.