1st                           Virginia

Camp Near Fredricksburg

            March 9^th 1863

My dear wife I received your kind letter on yesterday it was dated the 28^th Febuay. I haisten to answer it this Monday morning to inform you that I still engoy very good health and get along very well engoying myself in eating hard tack &c dear Mussy the letter you sent me with a dollar and 3 postage stamps in it was received on the following day after I received it I wrote to you informing you that it had been received by me it appears that you have not received it yet I also received a letter from you stating that the one

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half of the field was plow the other half you say Oliver will plow and sead it down this spring which will be all rite. but it would have been better if it had all been plowed last fall and givin the sod a chance to rot. you may tell Hanah Hock that it will be very uncertain whether I will sea Cousin Jacob or not as his regement has latly been mooved to a place which is colled bell plains some eight miles from where we are encamped I have sean Jacob often before thy moved he was always harty and looked well If I should sea him I will tell him to write

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that his wife wishes him to write home Dear Mussy the dollar you sent me I will tell you how I spent it I bot one pound of butter for which I paid sixty cents I also bot two bites of chease for which I paid ten cents for the ballance I bought in tobacco the butter tasted very well to me as it war the first butter I eat since I left Cockeysville dear Mussy the wether is fine and warm here the rodes here rather muddy on account of frequant showers of warm Rains we think that as scoon as the rode gets good we will be moved from here perhaps into a battel at Fredricks

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burgh or on to Richmond or some other place to fite to free old Abes negrows on last friday we had a grand review of the division which we are attached to it was a very grand sean and I thought it was the pretteest site I ever sean Thy ware about twenty five thousand men in the field all in uniform and in ranks we ware reviewed by Generial Hooker and his staff and ades it looked so well so many soldiers mooving all at one time I was much pleased with the site

dear Mussy I was down at the falmouth station

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or depot on the railrode about four miles from our camp I met with my old friend Joseph Bowdish their he has been latly appointed a quarter master their he belonged to the 105 Regement he Issues out provisions for the the soldiers he used me very well I eat one of the best diners with him that I have eat since I left home and when I was leaving he made me a present of one pound fresh butter one glass jar of apple jelly which is very good he also

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gave me about one pound of good chewing tabacco and about three pints of very good old whisky so that you may know that I will have a change or or rather fancy or extra living this week Joseph showed me little Rose Clements likeness he also has Mollys & Marys likenis These are the mades of lady Clements Bowdish told me that he sean lady Clements in Washington Citty some time ago she was on a visit to sea hir brother that is in the army you wish

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me to let you know how long long I listed for my time is three years or during the war unless scooner discharged you also wish to know how I get my washing dun now I have done my own washing ever since we left Cockeysville the citizens that lived here before the war have all left with thir famlies and negrows and is now in the rebel army and their famlies protected by the rebels thy are no farming don here fine farms orchards and fences are all distroyed and nothing

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but a perfect win or waste. even the best houses has been burnt and distroyed the peaple here are all soldiers we do all our own cooking live in log cabins and will be compeled this summer to fite for the freadom of old Abes Negrows. we have not got our prey yet but hope we will get it shortly Dear Mussy I close this letter by sending you my love and 22 kisses please give my love to Oliver and Mary and all the rest of the friends I write to you every week I think you do not receive all my letters

good by at present WRodgers

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