What a treasure!!  For a high school dropout, he writes better than many college graduates do today.  And in cursive, no less, that is also far better than many now - probably since cursive is not even readable to many of our "educated" children today.

He mentions that he is "in the best of health" and "far better than most of the soldiers".  You also mentioned that his Lieutenant was Louis McLane Hamilton a great grandson of Alexander Hamilton.  As illustrative of the intertwining threads of our life, it is ironic to note that Lt. Hamilton, was only 35 when he died in Paris in 1911 "after a lengthy illness".  It makes you wonder if perhaps your great grandfather was witness to the onset of the Lieutenant's decline.  And it gives pause to consider that the Lieutenant was named after his uncle, Louis McLane Hamilton who was killed on the Washita when a captain in the 7th Cavalry under Custer.  When you read about the Hamiltons of the turn of the 20th Century, you see names like Teddy Roosevelt (who pardoned the Lieutenant - twice} and the Astors of New York.

I can't say enough about your letter.  It is such a special example of how our lives are so often just a touch apart.