Letters of Rev. John W. Alvord

the Young Men with the Chaplain in the vicinity—& some other excellent gentlemen constituting a kind of voluntary commission — & I am playing the travelling agent, visiting the regiments, hospitals &c, ascertaining their condition wants &c, & directing them to the Depot at B's. If there is no chaplain then I find the next best man in the Reg't sometimes the colonel or some Christian brother who will take charge of the regimented distribution. Some Regt's have most unworthy Chaplains — & in such case I do what I can by the same side method. This is the work which one man (perhaps three, one for each large division of the army of the Potomac) will have to do permanently. Such a man must be possessed of force tact influence — be ordained — so that he can preach, attend funerals, prayer meetings & perform all missionary labor in Regt's where there are no chaplains. Here is a great field & he would be universally respected by Chaplains & all good men in the army, as he would really be the man to supply every thing needed — an order from him or the Depot if the article was there, being all that w^d be needed. They have many more ways (in the Camps) of sending in to Washington than friends here have of sending out, would know when to send in the migratory state of the army so that nothing would be lost & so doing away with all this humbug of "Army Expresses" &c, Adams Express, or a freight car, the general Depot, & a notice to the Chaplain or order by the outdoor man for what he wants given him being all that is needed, this simplifying & saving expence. The value of the material, appreciated by the Regiment, securing its transportation (& that

[sideways on left side] P. S. I have just heard from Rev. Bush. He says all is right in N. Yk. as to Delegates & that the Convention is to be held in about 2 weeks—

Do not make public my plans for our more immediate responsibilities in the above commission in case the young men fail. I think we ought to have a man abroad here in the army even if the whole work is assumed by them—as we have prominent & special interests which will need looking after, we could perhaps have the nomination at least indirectly of one of the camp agents. Perhaps the one man who undertakes this work at first —(for it will be best to begin with only one) he will have the helm of the whole concern in hand, the despository agent him being only engaged in receiving & delivering packages. Though all, of course must be under the direction of the gen'l committee, and the earnest enquiry here now is who shall this man be. They have but little stuff in Washington for such use,

Had you not better go at once to N. York — fix matters with [illegible] & John, see Bush & the Young Men. Know as soon as possible, what is to be done & have a little hand in gearing the machinery. I feel the need of an operator at that end of the line. Have written Bush, but get no reply, & fear he is still sick, cannot tell you yet when I can come. Rev. Quint insists upon my coming up to Darnestown, & Gen'l Banks has invited me to do so. Please answer all my cor-respondence there on my table. Dont let it accumulate. Rev. Childs is good for the colportage , & press hard up the collections, especially in Boston vicinity. Please see the schedule of time in association at the right hand of my desk.

Yrs J. W. A.