H'd Q'rs Detachment

of 50^th NY Engineers Harpers

Ferry Va Feb 20^th 1863

 

Dear Wife & Parents

                        Evening and I will write a few lines to you to inform you that Charley and myself are as well as usual and I hope you have regained your health by the time this reaches you at least

 

you cannot imagine my anxiety I have to bear from you I am not my self hardly this war is a terrible thing to keep husbands from their wives and parents brothers and sisters who are sick at home the horrors of war are nothing in comparison with the separation of loved ones / and those loved ones laying sick at home and we having good health and knowing that we cannot go and see them while if we in the army was sick our friends could come and see us I believe it is better if either must be sick that the soldier should be sick than that his family at home should be sick yesterday I received a letter from Ella wrote Sunday the 15^th informing me she had come down to see Ala I was overjoyed to hear of Ellas getting better and that she probably will be able to get home the last of this week which is tomorrow I agree with Ala in thinking that Ella will recover faster at home than at Tioga / when they have so much sickness it must be very bad for Uncle Rogert so many sick at one time

 

            I have no news worth writing to day and at the present time there is another rise in the river at eight oclock when I was down to the bridge this evening the water was within one foot of being as high as it was a week ago when there was the gratest rise that there has been in the river since I have been stationed here

 

I have nothing further to write about my new ponton bridge the principle part of which lay here and the balance at Baltimore it is as it was when I last wrote / the weather here to day has been very pleasant the north wind has dried up the mud considerable the snow that fell the fore part of the week has all gone off

My stove that smoked so terrible I have turned out doors and have got a monstrous big cast iron stove to burn coal that weighs 500 pounds we do not have to build fire more than three times a day and we have a continual moderate heat the whole day and would have all night if I did not stop in the afternoon feeding it

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