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Camp Beaver

Sunday Morning

Sept 28^th 1862

My dear wife Cap^t Marlin returned to this Camp on friday evening last he gave me two letters which was ritten by you thy also contained a letter ritten by my daughter Mary C. Thompson which letters was a rich morsel to me it was the first time that I had heard from you since I left home if I have not only red your letters once but have red them perhaps fifty times since I received them I had got very uneasy about you my dear Mussy, was happy to here that you ware well thy are no dout but that you are very lonsome and uneasy about/

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me every hour of your life but my dear Mussy while I keep my health and am getting along well you aught to keep in good spirrits and not fret about me and try and engoy your self as well as you can My dear Mussy I am now far from you and home farther then I ever was in my life The I am now three hundred and fifty miles from you in a strange and doingres land surrounded with enemys seaking our lives every day but I hope that by the blessing of god that he will hold me as it ware in the holler of his hand protect and preseve my life and health and finly permit me to return home to engoy your company and socity of all my friend again/

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My dear Mussy you state in your letter that your son and daughter will perhaps move up and live with you untill I come home I would like very much if thy do Thy would be so much company for you and I think that you and them would agree and have no trouble you can make a bargain with them just as suits you of thy should not moove into the house with you I think it would be then better for you to rent the one half of it to some person with a small famly and thy would be company for you or else Vallentine Halk would rent the one half and moove right in do as you please or els you mite rent the whole propperty and go to some place and board untill I return/

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home if I have my health in a very short time I can send you as much mony as will pay your board and help you in all things which you may nead I would advise you to sell your two caves for what you can get and save the winterin of them but do as you think best if Oliver and Mary mooves up if he will I would like if he would plow up the clover field and medow this fall and sow it in otes and Timothy in the spring I think it would pay now Mussy you want to know what I am doing and what I have to eat well I came here as a soldier with the intention of fiting and killing rebels when I got to/

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Harrisburgh we ware all taken before an examing doctor stript entirely naked and examed whethr we ware all sound men or not I pased the exanution and sworn in as a soldier and a sound man This was on the first Sunday after I left home received my clothing and nap sack and gun and blanket and have had the privilage of laying on the ground every nite since untill since tuesday nite last and well driled in The exercise of a soldier every day our living has been pretty good we have had to eat plenty of salt bacon fresh meet tea and coffee beans homony dried peas Rice hard crackers bred pies and appels and peaches when/

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we bott them and some times a turky and a chicken when we stole them so you sea we live pretty well. on last tuesday morning William H Barr of corcica and myself was appointed by the doctor of our Regement to be nurses in the hospitel which birth we are filling now it is a good deal easier for us we have a good house to live in have a good room and a good bed to sleap in and plenty of almost every thing that we can wish for to eat except butter I have not eat one meal that we had butter or milk in our coffey since we left the town of Indiana our vituels here in the Hospitel is a varety of most every good thing except butter we had a/

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well cooked chicken to day for diner. it is now getting very sickly in our regement we have ten sick boys in the hospitel The most of them has got the bilibus fever two or three of them are very low and thy are pretty hard to attend we have had no deaths in our Reigement by sicknes yet except one. on last sunday morning some of our boys went out to gunpowder river about one mile from our camp and to swim and wash one of our boys took the cramp and was drowned he was from center County Pa—our Reigement is composed with 7 Companes from that county one from Clarrion County and two from Brookville our brookville boys are all healthy/

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yet their buisness is to gard the railrode nite and day to keep the rebels from burning bridges and tairing up the rode thy are thousands of soldiers pases our camp in the cars every day Thy are princeply from New york Mary wishes to know whether you can get my newspaprs or not The Jefferonion you can get weekly by colling at the printing office of Barton Haistings I paid him for one year in advance that time is not yet up he ows me and I will instruct him to get you his paper for another year The Republican is not printed very often it is alwass left in the post office in my box No 197—when printed you can/

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and left their you can get it. Dear Mussy Mary rote to me that she thought it very hard that I goined the Army and left home without letting hir know I was agoing you know that two hours before I started that I had no intention of going I told you that I could hardly think of going without seaing hir and bidding hir good by but it was then two late god nows that perhaps I took it hardr then she did I pray for your and hir happiness every evening before I go to sleep. I wrote you/

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a letter on last Sunday which letter I expect you have received by this time I stated in it that we would draw our mony on the return of Capt Marlin we have not got it yet but the Capton says that the pay master will visit our camp this week and pay us if he dose I will Immedeatly send you thirty dollars perhaps I may send it by the express to Thompsons if not I will send it by mail to the post office you may look for it next week I will write a privite letter to you by mail at the time I send you/

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the money you mite borrow a few dollars from your father so that you can get along untill I send yours. Dear Mussy I have dreamed but one dream since I left home I must relate it to you—on last Sunday nite I dreamed that I had returned home in the evening my home looked the same that it did when at home I thought the front doar of the room was open I stept in gran pat was setting near to the doar The room appeard to be crouded with strangers I did not now them I shook hands with grand pap and told him that I had returned/

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from the Army I then cast my eyes over the croud in hopes of seaing you you was not their I then stept to the room doar and looked into the kitchin to sea you and just as I sean the stove I awoke without seaing you and found myself laying on the ground raped up in my blanket it is very dry wether here the dust is near ankel deep Thy have been no rain whare I have been since I left home but one little shower The ground is so hard that the farmers here canot plow for their faul seding Thy are no fall grain sowen here yet. I have sent you a newspaper which/

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I hope you will receive when you receive this letter and now my dear Mussy—I must tell you that I received enclosed in your letter one sheat of papr and some Postage stamps and four kisses from you which in return for I send you eight kises and please share them with my dear Mary—oh, Musy my thoughts is continualy thinking about our dear little son Macky would to god that he was alive and living at home with you to day Then I could be happy but we must submit to the will of providance Although it is very hard in this case Dear Mussy I hope that you and all our friends [one word scratched out]/

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Including all our enemys may be ingoying good health and happines at the time you receive this you will please inform my son and daughter that I will Answer hir letter as scoon as I get time to write my letter is lenthy and yet I have not told you the one half of which I want to I will defer it to some other time My dear Mussy I will now inform you that I like camp life first rate I have been engoying first rate health ever since I left home I beleive that my health is better to day than it has been for the last five years I am entirely free from/

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reumatism and all other desises which I was subgect to at home and now my dear I will conclude by sending my love to you and Oliver & Mary C. Thompson—and all the rest of our friends—I reman your loving husband till deth         

                                                                        W. Rodgers

to Sarah Rodgers

 

When you rite to me direct your letter as follows in a plain hand

                        Mr. William Rodgers

                        Camp Beaver

                        148 Regement. P. V. Company

I. in Care of Cap^t Marlin

Baltimore County Maryland

 

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I have numbered the pages in this letter so that you can read it good by my dear Sarah

                                    W.R

when I left Camp Curtin I sent all my clothing home that I wore when I left home except my shirt & hat and socks & Boots you do not state whether you have got them or not if not thy are at J. J.T. Thompsons

SOURCES