The following letter appeared in the Abbeville [S.C.] Independent Press 15 Aug 1856, p. 1, c. 3:

"Atchison, Kansas, July 21, 1856

Friend Puckett: -- Notwithstanding I have written before, and heard nothing from you, I am now seated to write you again, supposing that you did not receive my first, or you would have, at least, sent me the Press. I have received but two papers from your office snice in the Territory; one dated some time in May, the other in June, and now I am looking for the July number.

But I suppose that you would rather hear something of the war in Kansas, although it is not very interesting at this time. There is but little excitement here, both parties appear to be dormant, however, there is some little excitement with the Palmetto boys here and out on the Big Blue. At Palmetto, 125 miles from here, where we are locating, an express came in last night stating that the boys out there had been attacked by the Abolitionists; but there was no one killed or wounded; neither did the Yankees succeed in frightening the boys away. About twenty or twenty-five of us did intend remaining in Atchison a few days longer, but there is quite a stir with us this morning, trying to get horses, blankets, knapsacks, &c., to go out immediately -- eight or ten have laready started, and the balance of us intend going as soon as we can get horses; though we have very little hope of a fight, for the Yankees are such cowards that they only attack weak parties at night, and the newxt day, they are scattered, and only one in a place to be found. But we intend to have redress if we do have to run them down one at a time. We have seen men "standing on nothing looking up a rope," [the author underlined this phrase] and expect to see it again-- though I assure you it is no desirable sight. But we beleive that guerilla warfare is right when there is no other alternative.

And friend Puckett, I want to say a little about our finances and expenses. You know that some of us, at least, did not start from home with moeny enough to be troublesome to carry it, but I can assure you that it is a great trouble to keep it here to carry. Now, if this was a country like our own, all of us could make our expenses at least. But it is far different, there is no chance for us to make a cent here, and on the other hand, we have to pay out money every day; and more particularly when we have to keep moving form one place to another to quell some riot or outbreak. Our expenses ahve beedn continual ever since we left home, and you may guess that some of us are getting pretty low in funds. But that is not frightening to us at all, for we know that we can go from here and live, and we also know that we can't stay here unless we are assisted by our friends down South. I hope that you will remind some of the friends of the South of this fact.

Now, don't understand that I am begging for myself or others. I can only say this, that the crisis is now near at hand, and that if the South does not send us more men and more money, that Kansas is gone -- and if Kansas goes, they can have an idea what will follow. Some may say that we ought to have gone to farming when we first arrived here, but they will recollect that it was too late in the season to go on to a bald prairie to commence a farm when we would have been compelled to haul all our house logs, rails, boards, &c., from ten to fifteen miles; besides those of us that have been sick (only few) have been in, you may say, actual service most of the time. If we had had a farm already stocked, and in a state of cultivation, we might have made more produced than we could have gathered, for I say, as I have said before, that this is the richest and most productive soil I have seen in any of the States.

I could say a great deal more about our expenses, but I think it unnecessary. But I will say that some of our party have been compelled to spend over $500, and we all ought to have had that much to spend. But we sing to each other a verse in the song of Jordan, which says:

'If you get out of cash and want to cut a dash,
Go to a hotel for your boarding;
And when they ask you for the cash,
Tell thm that you'll settle on the other side of Jordan, &c.'

Now you have my letter, if you think ____ [part of line at bottom illegible] and make anything of ____ [part of line illegible] to the friends of the South, for ____ [part of line illegible] though you ____ [end of letter, 1 1/2 lines, illegible]

G. W. A. G."

The illegible part is his farewell, and does not appear to contain anything of importance.